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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: MISSOURI v AUBURNDecember 1, 2013Gus MalzahnATLANTA, GEORGIA CHUCK DUNLAP: We're joined by Auburn coach Gus Malzahn. Congratulations on a win in the SEC West and advancing to Atlanta. Coach, can you talk about the season in general and your team as you advance to play for the championship in Atlanta. COACH MALZAHN: Well, tell you what, real proud of our team this year. I really believe they've improved each game to get here. Of course, last night, playing our rival at home, it was a big win for our program. CHUCK DUNLAP: We'll start with questions for Coach Malzahn. Q. Have you had a chance to talk with Chris Davis? If so, what have you had to say to him? COACH MALZAHN: Yeah, I got a chance I think before I left the locker room late last night. Just told him, Good job, great play, let's get ready for next week. Q. I asked Gary Pinkel this. Going back and looking at the pre‑season prognostications, probably doesn't say much about the media covering the league, but you were picked pretty low, and Missouri was picked low. When you're sitting there getting ready for summer practice, pre‑season camp, did you see the makings of a team that could get to Atlanta or you just had to see for yourself? COACH MALZAHN: When we first got here, we knew we had some talent. They had been through a storm the year before. We really were just focusing on us, getting our edge back, playing good Auburn football. We didn't have any expectations as far as numbers of wins and all that. It was just real simple: let's get our edge back, let's play together, let's improve each week. At the end of the year, our goal is to be a pretty good football team. Q. Having the prior experience you had with Auburn, how long did it take you to get back into the groove there, mesh back into what was going on at Auburn? COACH MALZAHN: It really helped me for the fact I'd been here before, three years before. I recruited some of the players, had relationships with some of the players. I kind of knew the dynamics, the administration, the fan base, all the things with that. That really helped me. At the same time they'd been through a storm. So our new staff, we had to earn our players' trust. We had to get to where we trusted them. It was a work in progress, but it definitely helped me being here before. Q. Coming after such an emotional game like this, how difficult do you feel it's going to be to get the team refocused on the next big game? COACH MALZAHN: That's what I told our team just a little bit ago, that's our challenge. It was a great night, a great win for us, our program, all that. We have to put it behind us now and move forward. We're playing a very good Missouri team that is very similar to us. Q. Coach, Missouri has those big wide receivers on the outside. What kind of a matchup problem does that present? What have you seen from James Franklin in the couple game he's been back? Do you feel he's at the top of his form again? COACH MALZAHN: Tell you what, he looks like a very good quarterback to me. I've seen him on TV from time to time, and of course watching the tape that I've watched so far. His receivers are big, long and fast. They're play‑makers. They definitely present challenges. Q. They've got a good balance there with the run game as well. How do you approach facing a team that can throw as well as it can pass like that? COACH MALZAHN: Well, I mean, you're exactly right. I think they do both pretty well. They run the football well. They throw the football well. They're balanced. That's the toughest type of offense to stop most of the time. Q. Gus, I was watching your television show earlier. You said you might sneak in and watch the Mizzou film from last night. Did you see that? Or will you just relax? COACH MALZAHN: Anytime you're playing for a championship, there's no time to relax. We felt like we needed to get a head start on them. They're a very good football team. Q. How late were you in the office? COACH MALZAHN: It wasn't that late. Q. Back to getting the players to concentrate on Mizzou, it's difficult to do that after the way you guys won these last two games. Is there any past experience, anything you try to do, to keep the players coming off that emotional high? COACH MALZAHN: Each week we present as a coaching staff a challenge to our team. Of course, it was a little easier in the Georgia win because we had an off week. We just challenged them today, Hey, we got to find a way to put that behind us. We'll talk about it after the SEC Championship game, all that. But we have our hands full with Missouri. We're playing for a championship. This team has risen to the challenge each time we've challenged them. But it is a definite factor, as emotional a win as that was last night. Q. Is the challenge as much physical as it is emotional to get ready for this Saturday? COACH MALZAHN: It was a very physical game last night. I mean, it was probably the most physical game we've had all year. So definitely we need to heal up in a hurry. Emotionally we used a lot of emotional energy, there's no doubt, playing the No.1 team in the country, everything that goes with that. As I said, this team has found a way to take it one week at a time and focus on that. That's what we're going to have to do this week. Q. My guess is the students and the fans are all still going to be talking about this past week all week long to your players. COACH MALZAHN: Well, I mean, that's part of it. That's fans and all that.  But as players and as a team, you got to put it behind you and move forward and worry about that next game. I really believe our team will do that. Q. Gus, any toilet paper left in Auburn? COACH MALZAHN: That's a great question. I know there was a lot of it on a lot of trees last night. Q. Eight years ago you're coaching Springdale, doing a great job. Now eight years later you're coaching in the SEC Championship game. How does that strike you and talk about what that ride has been like. COACH MALZAHN: First of all, I feel very humbled and very honored to be doing what I'm doing. There's a lot of really good high school coaches that could be doing the same thing. They just haven't been given the opportunity. I'm just very blessed and thankful that I've been given the opportunity. Like I said before, I've been fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time throughout my career, not just college, but in high school with great people around me. This situation is no different. Q. Tim and J.B., what was it about them that specifically you wanted them on your staff there at Auburn? What have they done this year to help you guys get to where you are? COACH MALZAHN: They've been very important. The thing that stands out about both those guys is the type of people they are. They're excellent people. They're both very good teachers. J.B. has done a great job with our offensive line. Of course, Tim, he's one of the best in the country at coaching runningbacks. We're blessed to have them. They're two of the best in the business. Q. You said a few minutes ago you thought Missouri was similar to you. What do you see as similarities between these two teams playing Saturday? COACH MALZAHN: I think about both teams being very hungry. We're kind of down at the bottom to start the year and have improved. This time of year, there's not a lot of teams that improve this late. I feel like we've improved each game. If you look at them, they could probably say the same thing. Q. They obviously have some really good defensive ends. With what you run, the offense you run, can that kind of negate the vertical push those guys can get and have been so successful with this season? COACH MALZAHN: Yeah, their defensive ends are excellent, there's no doubt. That will be a big key, trying to control those guys, trying to keep them off balance because they're very good. Q. Chris Davis obviously is going to get talked about for the way the game ended last night. What were your thoughts about the impact he made, he tied the team in tackles yesterday, and his role against stopping Missouri receivers? COACH MALZAHN: There's no doubt, Chris, he's a very physical corner. He's a very good tackler. He's meant a lot to our defense this year. He's a great competitor. In the secondary, we're going to need to play extremely well against their wide receivers. Q. What have you seen on film of Henry Josey? What does he bring to the table as a runningback? COACH MALZAHN: He's very explosive. Looks like he's strong, too. He's a very good runningback. Q. Everyone wants to talk about destiny with your team. How have you handled this aura that's been surrounding the team, the way you've been able to get these wins? How do you keep the guys focused, maintaining the overall mission? COACH MALZAHN: It sounds simple, but our guys have just bought in to focusing on the next game. Whether we're playing Alabama or a IAA team, our guys have been ready to play. They've stayed focused, practiced extremely hard. I can't think of one or two practices that I walked off the field thinking that our guys didn't have a good practice. That's just a tribute to our guys. If it's a close game, they believe they're going to win. They've had that attitude all year. Q. How does Missouri's personnel on defense or the schemes they play, does it compare to anybody you played in the league this year? COACH MALZAHN: If you look at their stats in our league, they're a very good defense. They're very good against the run. Of course, we definitely run the football. That's kind of what stands out to me. I think they're a very solid defense. Q. Growing up as a football fan, which offenses inspired what you do today? And how similar is this offense you're running at Auburn to the offenses you described in the book you wrote a long time ago? COACH MALZAHN: Well, first of all, our core base offense is really the same one I had all the way back in high school. We take our players and we kind of build around the strengths of our quarterbacks each year. That's why we're just a little bit different each year. Growing up, I mean, of course I can't really think of one thing. I was a big Steve Spurrier fan back when he was at Florida, they were doing the fun and gun, all that stuff. I don't think there's one offense that kind of I said, Boy, I'd like to be like that. I definitely enjoyed Coach Spurrier when he was back at Florida. Q. Besides the final play obviously, when you look back at the film, what were your general impressions of the game yesterday? COACH MALZAHN: Well, fourth quarter was unbelievable. There was a lot of impact plays. Our defense rose to the occasion when they had to. The fourth‑and‑one, the blocked field goal. Our offense found a way to drive the field, score a touchdown with under a minute left. Then, of course, we made the play on special teams. Just really proud of our guys finding a way to win another game, doing it in a lot of different ways. Q. Cameron was involved more than he has been the last couple weeks. COACH MALZAHN: Yeah, we have a lot of confidence in Cameron, there's no doubt about that. But Tre has been running the ball extremely well. We wanted to rest him a little bit more. But we feel very good about Cameron. Q. Jay Jacobs said it would be a disservice to the nation if a one‑loss SEC team were left out of the championship. Have your feelings changed? COACH MALZAHN: Like I said, I'm focused on the SEC Championship game and Missouri. Our league is the top league in college football. That's really how I feel about it. Q. With the team getting its edge back, trying to gain their trust, how much during that process did you draw back on the success that you had in 2010? How much did you draw back on your previous experience at Auburn in trying to get them that edge back? COACH MALZAHN: Really when we first got here we asked them, Don't worry about anything that's happened in the past, don't care whose fault it was as far as last year, all that, everybody has a fresh start. We didn't talk about 2010. We just talked about the moment, talked about what they have to do, tried to show them and be consistent. Really had a very, very physical spring. We got banged up, but we felt like we needed to do that to get where we're at. Q. Rhett Lashlee is one of the 40 nominees for the Broyles Award. What do you feel about that and the job he's done for you there? COACH MALZAHN: He's done a great job, specifically with our quarterback. You're talking about a quarterback that didn't go through spring. What Nick Marshall has been able to do, he's gotten better each week. Boy, he can really run. He's got a good arm. Rhett has done a great job of coaching him. Our overall offense, I get a lot of the credit, but he deserves just as much. He does the majority of the game planning and the work that goes with it, the recruiting. He definitely deserves to be mentioned. I think that he's done an excellent job this year. Q. How cool would it be if he's a finalist? COACH MALZAHN: Yeah, I think that would be really nice. Really, I believe he deserves to be there. Q. After the first bye week, it's where you got into the zone. What is the one area you improved or changed a little bit after the last bye week? COACH MALZAHN: We really didn't do a whole lot. We had a wrinkle or two differently, but we just did what we did. We just tried to get better at that. We try to focus on the line of scrimmage. Felt like if we had a chance to beat them, we had to win the line of scrimmage. Really feel like we did that. Q. The way the run game is going, running for 300 yards against Alabama, is the confidence level of the runningbacks to the point where you feel you can run that offense against anybody? COACH MALZAHN: Well, at this point in the season, you got to have confidence in what you do. Our guys, I feel like they've improved each week. They're playing very physical. We're going to have to do that again this week. Q.  I guess this will be your third trip to Atlanta, twice as a coordinator, once as a head coach now. How does that past experience help you and what is the feeling like going as a head coach? COACH MALZAHN: Of course, I've had two experiences before. Of course, I was with Arkansas in '06. We played a very good Florida team that went on to win the national championship. That was a great experience for me as a coach. Learned a lot. We were here in 2010, played South Carolina. We won that. It was an unbelievable feeling winning the SEC Championship, with everything that goes with it. This will be my first time as a head coach. Looking forward to it. I got to believe, being there twice, hopefully that will help being a little more experienced. Q. Auburn is a lot closer to Atlanta than Missouri. Gary Pinkel said he thinks there will be 20,000 or more Mizzou fans. Do you think it will be a neutral site or more of a home atmosphere? COACH MALZAHN: I don't know. I'd like for it to be a home atmosphere, but I don't know. Q. The evolution of this offense. Back coaching in high school, what led you to this, what guided you to this style of offense? COACH MALZAHN: Well, I was a head coach my second year that I ever coached in high school. I bought the Delaware Wing T book. I was kind of a gap‑oriented coach early on. We added the zone. Then I got with Herb Hand when we went to Tulsa. He was very versed on the zone read, all that. We kind of blended some things together, each year just kind of tried to tweak it and really tried to build our offense around our quarterback each year. Q. Going back to Rhett a little bit, having such a history with him, how easy did that make it to install the offense under him? COACH MALZAHN: Well, I got a lot of trust in him. He knows this offense inside and out. He really allows me to be the head coach and the head coaching duties that go with a job like this. He does a great job. He's got very good relationships with our players. He's been with me a long time. Q. How are you doing injury‑wise? COACH MALZAHN: There's no doubt, it was a very physical game. We're going to need to heal up as far as that goes this week, at the same time try to stay crisp. Q. Do you expect anybody to be out? COACH MALZAHN: We're hoping not. Q. You talked about the game‑winning play you had against Georgia. You said you actually practiced every situation during fall camp when you were asked about Chris Davis' play. Was that something you had from high school also? COACH MALZAHN: You talking about the return? Q. Yes. COACH MALZAHN: Yeah, I mean, as a coach, whether you're coaching high school or coaching college, you try to go over every situation that could present itself in a game, especially in fall camp. Q. You had the back‑to‑back timeouts in the first quarter, you end up completing the 21‑yard pass. Was that the play you were originally trying to get in or did you change it during the timeout? COACH MALZAHN: I think one time, the clock, we were trying to check, and it was about to run out, so we had to call a timeout. The other one I believe was a bad look. We didn't want to take a chance on a negative play. Q. Has anyone ever come up to you after a game and said, We tried to use your book to stop an offense? COACH MALZAHN: No. Q. Are you ever worried about that at all? COACH MALZAHN: No. We kind of thought about that before we wrote it. There was nothing that could incriminate anything we used. That was the blueprint we used back in 1997. Nothing about any current data, more about a philosophy than anything else. CHUCK DUNLAP: Thank you for your time, coach. We'll see you on Friday. COACH MALZAHN: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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