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FRANKLIN AMERICAN MORTGAGE MUSIC CITY BOWL: LOUISVILLE VS MISSISSIPPI STATEDecember 30, 2019Scott SatterfieldMicale CunninghamCJ AveryChatarius AtwellNashville, Tennessee Louisville - 38, Mississippi State - 28 SCOTT SATTERFIELD: Well, just first of all, obviously really, really proud of our guys, the way they fought tonight, and just the way they handled themselves the last three weeks with all our bowl practices. We told the guys, listen, we want to make this a fun experience for you guys. We want to have fun practices. We want to do some things together as a football team, and we were able to do that. We grew closer as a football team the last three weeks, and I think that's very important. I think a lot of times that goes unnoticed. But when you really have a good camaraderie and good chemistry together as a football team, then you tend to do better things on a football field, particularly when you face adversity, just like tonight. We got down 14 points early in the game, and the kids didn't flinch. I mean, they kept playing, kept battling. Next thing you know you're right back in the game, and then we grabbed that momentum and then we poured it on. But I'm really proud of our staff this year. When I told our team when we came into this thing last December and January, from where our team was then and what they were able to accomplish this year, big credit to our staff, being consistent every single day, and we've had some days that haven't been easy. We've worked these guys really hard at times, and they're like, what are we doing. But when you have a season like this, you win eight games, you overcome so much, when no one thought we were going to win any games this year, picked dead last in our conference this year, and all the things that we were able to accomplish. But it just goes to show you when you have belief in one another and you focus on the team and not an individual, then great things can happen. I'm really, really excited and proud to be a part of this team, and to finish this season the way we did with eight wins and to beat a Mississippi State team and of course coming back off of -- we had a tough loss at Kentucky and being able to bounce back against Mississippi State was tremendous for us, and honestly we'll use this momentum as we head into the off-season. Q. Coach, I know you didn't recruit these seniors, but they've meant a lot to this program. What was it like getting to see all those seniors make some big plays? SCOTT SATTERFIELD: Yeah, you know, and those seniors have had it rough. We have 27 of them that are done. Out of that 27, probably 12 guys probably played significant. The other guys really don't play a whole lot. And so I told the guys in the team meeting last night, I said, listen, there's going to be some guys tomorrow that maybe haven't played as much as they wanted to play this year, but you're going to make big plays tomorrow. Peete was one of those guys. It was crazy, man. I said, you're going to catch a touchdown pass, and sure enough, he caught a touchdown pass today, I think Michael said the first one since 2015. Boosie made a big sack tonight. Just those seniors, I'm so proud of them to stick it out because it has not been easy for them. It was hard for them. I told the team, too, we had 22 scholarship players that could have been on this team this year that for one reason or another during the off-season decided other things. 22, that's a whole signing class. So what these guys have had to do, the guys that stuck it out with us, it's so rewarding for them to be able to come out here and finish it off with a big-time bowl win right now. I'm so proud of these guys and particularly these seniors, but I'm excited for the young guys, the guys that will be coming back so we can build off of this in this off-season as we head throughout that and into next season. So this momentum is going to be huge for us. Q. Can you talk about the momentum swing, you're down 14-0 and then 31 in a row? SCOTT SATTERFIELD: Yeah, you know, it's hard to go back and rehash the game. I just know that we've been down before and our guys haven't quit. We just keep playing. You just play the next play. This is what we tell our guys: Play the next play and then some good things are going to happen. We were able to get the ball back. Obviously you go score. I think probably one of the turning points of the game was Tutu's play where he threw the touchdown pass. That was a huge play for us. It was a play that we've had on the call sheet for probably the last five games, just haven't gotten to it yet. That was a great momentum grabber right there, and I'll tell you, our guys had a lot of juice tonight on the sideline, guys on the field. Emotional at times, probably in the first half particularly with some of the calls we didn't feel went our way. But I love that emotion. So at halftime we said, listen, guys, take all that emotion and channel it to each other. We're not talking to the other team, we can't control anything that happens with the referees. Focus in on each other. That third quarter, man, it was awesome. We came out in that third quarter fired up and our guys played, and then we felt at that point, man, we're going to win this football game. Q. Your first start this season was against Western Kentucky. What do you think has been your biggest area of improvement since then? MICALE CUNNINGHAM: I would say definitely in the passing game, being able to choose my receiver down, my O-line giving me significant time back there to get the ball into our playmakers' hands. Q. You broke a single season yardage record tonight. What does that mean to you? CHATARIUS ATWELL: It just feels great. I've been doing my research and seeing how many yards I need, and I told him, hey, man, throw it to me and I'm going to grab it. Just keep coming to me, and he's like, I got you, and I mean, it just feels great, man. Q. Scott, how much do you think your team speeds particularly at the skill position helped you guys out tonight? Seemed like it was tough for them to kind of handle your guys? SCOTT SATTERFIELD: Yeah, one of the things coming into this game, we were a little concerned about their size. That's a long team length wise and they've got a lot of good size on that team. So that's a little bit concerning. We're not as big up front really as you talk about O-line, D-line. We do have significant speed at a lot of positions, two of them, three of them sitting right up here. But what we tried to do all year, we've had big plays offensively, tried to get the ball to Tutu and Dez and Hassan Hall and Hawkins, Cunningham, all these guys that can really run, so we're trying to create space for them and allow them to run, and that's how we've lived. We've lived on big plays this year. Hawkins I think went over 1,500 yards rushing this year, which was incredible, of course Tutu breaking a record receiving. I mean, that's what you want. You've got an offense that can run the ball and throw it, you're hard to defend. We also utilize our tight ends. Marshon Ford is a freshman this year that had a tremendous year for us, caught another touchdown pass tonight. He caught two, that's right. Man, he's got about seven or eight on the year -- seven, yeah, which is tremendous for him. He was a guy that was a walk-on we put on scholarship last spring and he's a freshman this year. So we've got some good young players that we love the way they can run. We try to utilize that speed, there's no question about it. Q. This third quarter, Coach talked about the juice and the momentum. Was that as well as you've played in a quarter as a team this year? C.J. AVERY: Yeah, I think that's probably as well as we've played as a team. We attacked the whole quarter. We had no missed assignments. Everybody did their job, and that's what it led to. Q. Take us through your play and how big were your eyes when that ball popped right to you? C.J. AVERY: I'm going to tell you what, we've been passing the whole preparation. We've been scooping and scoring all throughout preparation. When the time came, my eyes -- I put my eyes to the ball, put the peaks together, scooped it and I took it to the apartment. Q. Have you ever had a ball bounce more perfectly to you? C.J. AVERY: Actually, I mean, I didn't have my eyes on it too long and it bounced right into my hands. Perfect bounce. Q. Micale, you guys went nuts on the sidelines when Devante scored. What has he meant being the special teams guy and the guy that's been here for five years and for him to get a touchdown? MICALE CUNNINGHAM: I've been knowing Peete since high school. He has so much passion, so much love, just knowing where he comes from and that background he comes from, and it's just crazy to see Peete make plays like that because we actually talked about it. Like the whole time we knew he was going to play tonight, he's like, I need a run, I need a run, I'm like, I got you bro, I got you. And then a play finally came for him. Just happy for him. Q. Micale and Tutu, as well, what have these seniors meant to this program? What do you take away from what they've meant and what have you learned from them? MICALE CUNNINGHAM: I mean, a lot. This team is so close, and our bond, like you don't see one without the other, like for real. And they just like came -- when I came from high school, they took us under their wings and led us in the right way. CHATARIUS ATWELL: I feel like since Coach Satterfield and them came, I feel like all of us and the receivers and DBs and everybody came in as a family, and we just built that brotherhood because I know last year they had a bad season and it didn't really go that good because everybody was in different places, so I feel like this season we had came together as a team. Q. When you guys lost Dorian, it seemed like everything went up a level as far as the energy and everything you did. Talk about after losing him and kind of T.J. coming in and stepping up? CJ AVERY: Well, when we lost Dorian, T.J. knew he had some big shoes to fill and he knew we needed him, so we tried to keep him motivated and keep his confidence, so he played out well. Q. You mentioned that you guys had the trick play on the play sheet for several games now. What made you guys want to use it at that moment? SCOTT SATTERFIELD: Well, number one, it's the last game so you've got to get it off the call sheet, and so actually the play before that I said, if we get some yards here, we're going to call it. Yeah, we really wanted to get plus 40, midfield, kind of right in that range right there, and just -- we needed something good to happen, and we felt like that was going to be a play we could score on. And it just executed perfectly, great throw, great catch by Ford, and you know, so it's just -- certain plays, I think, that we practice that you don't get to every game, and you said, listen, we've got to get these off the call sheet and make sure, so that was a great time for it. Q. That comment about going for the ball and (indiscernible)? SCOTT SATTERFIELD: Yeah, he was probably key in that as we write these plays down. It was ironic; we talk about that. We love going for the bomb. If you go back and look at our season this year, we've thrown a lot of those, right, Tutu? There's a reason why he broke the record. But no, we want to throw the ball down the field, there's no question about it. When teams suck up on our running game it allows us to get the ball down the field, so we've been a big-play offense all season, and it's been fun to watch from the sideline. I've got the best view in the house. Q. There were home games last year where you didn't play in front of as many Louisville fans maybe, and there's been so much about redemption this year and coming back. How powerful was it to come from 14 down in front of all those fans? MICALE CUNNINGHAM: I mean, we knew that us being down 14 really knowing we've been down 21 before and came back from it, so we just brought everybody together, just stayed level headed, and you see what happened. SCOTT SATTERFIELD: I'd say this: It was like -- before the game I turned around and looked and I was like, oh, my gosh, this is awesome. You have to remember the last five games it's been rain games so it's kind of hurt the attendance a little bit. But that was home game for us I felt like. I turned around and it was all red, all the way up in the upper deck. They were loud. When our defense had 3rd downs they were getting into it. It was tremendous to see that kind of spirit and the life of that stadium right there with a bunch of Cardinal fans. It reminded me of really the Notre Dame game when we had a packed house in our first game right there. We feed off of that, we know that we can't do it without those fans, and we're looking forward to getting back on that field next year and packing that house out at Cardinal stadium. Q. Can a win like this propel you into the future? SCOTT SATTERFIELD: I mean, all wins help, honestly, just because you look at recruiting, they want to be a part of a program that wins, and they want to be a part of a program that has fun. One of the things we want to do this year, man, we wanted to have fun. Ask these players; we've had fun this year. In the locker room, on the practice field, whatever it may be, we're trying to have fun, but when it's time to work, our guys work. And then you win games like this, we want our future players to want to come in here and be a part of this. We start school back, which it's crazy we start back next week. I wish I could give the guys off a week, but I really can't. They've got to be back there next week. But we're going to probably have over 20 newcomers that are going to be a part of our team starting next week. And then as you look as recruiting 2021 down the road, that's what it does for programs. Wins like this, seasons like this, it just propels you and gains you momentum so you just keep bringing in players like these guys right here, great players and great people. Q. You mentioned the future. This defense (indiscernible). How much does that help them confidence-wise going into next season? SCOTT SATTERFIELD: Listen, you've got to think the last three weeks all they've heard on defense is how bad they were. Just like you keep hearing that crap, you've got to go out do something about it, and that's what they did. They practiced well. The drills they were working on, tackle drills every day, and then making all those kind of plays they did, like he scored tonight -- I think back to the Western Kentucky game, our defense scored -- Rodjay scored that night, should have scored again tonight. He had one right in his numbers he missed. But yeah, twice we scored in the stadium. But you used to talk about something like that, our guys took it personal, so they did a great job tonight, held that running back, I think he maybe got dinged early but came back and played, we held these guys in check in the rushing game. I was so proud of our defense the way they played the final round. We're getting sacks. It was fun to watch, really fun to watch. I think probably our most complete game really as you look at offense, defense, all other parts, probably the most complete game. That's how I want to finish our last game; that's the way it should be. Q. Can you just say what you saw -- SCOTT SATTERFIELD: I hate that Dorian was not out there, and it was kind of a deal where his foot got caught up underneath, the guy is twisting his ankle and he's trying to get out of it and kind of pushed us back. I don't like the call. Obviously nothing we can do about it, but fortunately he's back next year. Thank you all. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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