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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: GEORGIA VS LSU

December 2, 2019

Joe Burrow

Atlanta, Georgia

THE MODERATOR: We begin with Joe Burrow. Joe, while we are waiting on questions, please take a moment to comment on the LSU team entering the SEC Championship game.

JOE BURROW: We're fired up to be here. LSU hasn't been there since 2011, so this is one of the goals we had for the season. So we're fired up to play.

Q. Joe, you had a pretty good year last year throwing the ball and running. Do you find this change in the offensive concept this year to the more spread has obviously developed your game even more? What would you say about all that?
JOE BURROW: I think the concepts and things we're doing this year really kind of utilize all the weapons we have on offense more so than last year. We're doing some of the same things we did last year, but obviously everyone has seen that it's quite different. We're really just utilizing the weapons we have on the outside and getting people in space and trying to make defenses make one-on-one plays.

Q. What have you seen from the Georgia defense, particularly in the linebacker corps, like Monty Rice and all them, including what you saw from them last year?
JOE BURROW: They're one of the top two or three defenses in the country, giving up like nine or ten points a game, something crazy like that. They're just a super solid defense all around. DBs are really good. They play sound in their scheme. You can tell they're coached very well. So it's going to be a tall task for us.

Q. I wanted to ask you kind of what your first memories of kind of getting together with Joe Brady and talking to him about his ideas for the offense and what your take-away was. Did you think it was going to be a game changer?
JOE BURROW: Yeah, so actually, one of my best friends from Ohio State, J.T. Barrett, was on the Saints practice squad last year with Coach Joe. So the first kind of thing I heard about him was from J.T. J.T. called me and told me I was going to love this guy. We were going to be best friends. That's exactly what it's turned out to be. It's been great for us.

Q. And did you envision, when you were like a high school quarterback in Athens, Ohio, that you would be leading a big time program on this stage with this kind of opportunity in front of you still in the next weeks ahead?
JOE BURROW: When I envision myself, I envision myself on a stage like this. I don't know if I envision myself in Louisiana at LSU, but I've always -- this is what I've always dreamed of. It's never been my dream to play in the NFL. I wanted to play in games like this, SEC, Big Ten Championship games, and national title games.

Q. Joe, what would you say about the offensive line, the way it's protected you this year as many times as you've thrown the ball. Really been playing with those guys up front all season long?
JOE BURROW: Yeah, they're one of the most improved groups I've ever been around. Last year they felt they took a lot of criticism from a lot of different areas, and they worked so hard this off-season to get where we needed them to be. They've been one of the best offensive units in the country for us.

Q. As Coach Orgeron said last night, your passing game has opened up the running game, and the running game with Clyde has opened up the passing game for you. Is that a case of two areas just really complementing each other well all year?
JOE BURROW: Yes, absolutely. We started off the season, and we weren't running the ball very well, and then about Game 4 or 5, we started really rolling on the ground. I think the difference between us this year and last year is we're kind of throwing the ball to open up the run, and Clyde and those O-linemen are taking advantage. Clyde, I think, is the best back in the country, and that's the biggest difference in this year and last year.

Q. How big was that Georgia game last year for you guys in terms of instilling confidence in you guys to go and win a big game against an opponent like that?
JOE BURROW: It was huge for us. We were coming off of our first loss of the year at Florida, and we were going into that game like, shoot, we've got to play Georgia again this week. It's not the easiest task. So we knew we had to win that game if we wanted to have a special season for the rest of the year. It just turned out that way.

The crowd was great. They played a huge part. We're kind of going into enemy territory with this week, so it's going to -- they're going to want revenge on us, so we're going to have to be on our game for sure.

Q. Then with Clyde Edwards-Helaire, what has allowed him to be as successful as he has been, especially over the second half of the season?
JOE BURROW: I think he's excelled in the passing game. You have to put a linebacker on him because he'll run the ball so well. I don't think there's a linebacker in the country that can cover him. So they really have to pick their poison. They want to stop Clyde in the run game or the pass game. He's so versatile in that aspect.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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