AFLAC KICKOFF GAME: LOUISVILLE VS. GEORGIA TECH

September 1, 2023

Jack Plummer

Dezmond Tell

Jamari Thrash

Louisville Cardinals

Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Press Conference

Louisville 39, Georgia Tech 34

Q. Dez, second quarter wasn't too good. What changed in the second half where you guys basically shut them down until the last drive?

DEZMOND TELL: Well, I feel like coming in at halftime, Jeff Brohm had got us hyped. He told us, don't quit; there's still some time left. Got us hyped. We came out and we played our butt off until the clock hit zero.

Q. Dez, what did he say at halftime, and have you seen a coach that fired up?

DEZMOND TELL: Well, I ain't going to lie. I don't even remember anything. I was just hyped. It was crazy, felt like a dream. I felt like we were going to win, regardless. I felt like everybody had the energy back that we brought in first quarter, and we just came out and competed.

Q. What happened on the sack? Take us through what you saw on that play and how it --

DEZMOND TELL: Well, I did a quick swim -- I know I did a quick swim on the center, got through. I seen his back was turned and he still had the ball, so I said, oh, it's time. Made that play. That made the game change.

Q. Jack, you looked like you were pressing a little early. Is that fair to say? You got maybe an easy throw to Ahmari, got you in more of a rhythm, and then from there better?

JACK PLUMMER: Not my best first half of football, that's for sure. I came back. Proud of myself for battling back in the second half, and I thought I played really well in the second half. Just got to start off quicker, and it's probably a different game if I start the game off right and do my job.

Q. Jamari, coming back to Georgia for you, having the game you did, how good does that feel for you to debut like this and come back here and do that?

JAMARI THRASH: I mean, it was pretty cool coming back home, playing in front of the hometown. My biggest thing, I just wanted to make sure that we got the win.

Q. For all three of you, you did this on a national stage. Having a comeback like this on a national stage, what kind of statement do you think you made today?

DEZMOND TELL: To be honest, I feel like we made a great statement. It shows that we can compete for four quarters straight and we can finish, and that's something we didn't have last year. We couldn't really finish like that, but this year I feel like we're finishing way better, and it started in practice.

JACK PLUMMER: Yeah, I think it just goes to show the guys we've got on the team. Collectively we didn't play great in the first half, and for us to kind of put that aside and hit the restart button at halftime and come out and play really good football in the second half, I think that goes to show the character of our team and that guys care and that they want to win.

JAMARI THRASH: It also shows that we've got guys that are willing to rally each other up and come together just to win the football game. I feel like that's a good sign early.

Q. Jack, when you have admittedly not your best first half of football, what are you saying to yourself in the locker room to bounce back, and how important is it for you at your position to be able to battle back the way you did?

JACK PLUMMER: Yeah, I think Coach Brian Brohm came up to me in the locker room and he said, hey, man, you've just got to go be Jack Plummer. I've seen it before. You've just got to go play quarterback like Jack Plummer knows how to play quarterback.

I think I did that. I started to play my brand of football and put that first half aside. I was able to kind of forget about it luckily, and then just go and play my game.

Q. Jack, you've been around Coach Brohm before. How was his performance at halftime compared to the way you've seen him in past years? He told us that he told players if he didn't see effort from some of them, they might not play the rest of the year.

JACK PLUMMER: He had some choice words for us at halftime and got us going and lit a fire under us.

I mean, Coach is here to win games, and so when we play like that in the first half, he's got to do something. Luckily he did, and we were able to respond to his challenge.

Q. Jack, you mentioned it was kind of a struggle to start off. How much does it help to have guys like Jawhar and Isaac and Maurice that can take a little pressure off you and get that running game going and open up some things for you?

JACK PLUMMER: Yeah, I thought at times the run game was really good when we got into short yardage and just being able to run the ball on 1st down. Just getting a good chunk on 1st down was huge.

I think we had a lot of yards rushing today. I think we'll continue to even build on that.

Q. Jack, can you talk about Jamari here? Obviously he had a couple great catches for you.

JACK PLUMMER: Yeah, just him being able to catch the ball and get yards after the catch is huge. Made a big catch on the 3rd down and was able to take it for a lot of yards, and then two touchdown catches is huge, him being -- it's a game of one-on-ones and he won those, so it was huge to see Jamari and all the receivers really playing really well.

Q. On the touchdown pass that he caught that put you guys ahead, did he tell you anything like that move is there, he could get it, or was it just a play that you read and saw him in the end zone?

JACK PLUMMER: Yeah, the play that was called from the sideline, we had a double move called, and they brought the corner blitz, so we had Jamari on the safety and he bit on the double move, and he was wide open, so just pitch and catch at that point.

JAMARI THRASH: All I can really say is I just appreciate them giving me the opportunity to make a play and Jack trusting me and making the play on the ball.