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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: MISSOURI v AUBURNDecember 2, 2013Jay ProschATLANTA, GEORGIA THE MODERATOR: We'll continue with our SEC football game student‑athlete teleconference. The Auburn Tigers join us now as they prepare to face Missouri on Saturday. We'll first be joined by fullback Jay Prosch. Jay, give us your thoughts on your team as you prepare to face Missouri on Saturday. JAY PROSCH: I think that our team is just coming off a big win on Saturday. We're trying to put that behind us now and focus on Missouri and really get better at the things we need to get better on and just focus on getting after it on Saturday. Q. Can you talk about your running game and having to go up against a pretty solid Missouri defensive line? What are you guys going to have to do to continue the success you've had on the ground? JAY PROSCH: I think we're going to have to continue being physical up front. I think that's one of our main strengths is that we're just a physical bunch of guys and we know how to get after it on the field. I mean, that's what we're going to have to do. We'll have to be physical; we'll have to stick together. We had some communication issues Saturday. We'll have to fix things like that and just really work on our technique and stuff like that. So it's definitely going to be a challenge, but it's something that I think we can overcome. Q. What are some of the early impressions that you have from what you've seen of Missouri's defensive line? JAY PROSCH: They look like they're very technique based, and a very strong unit defensive line. Like I said, it's going to be a challenge for us. But I think that they have some good defensive ends, and they're definitely a good team all together. So it's going to be interesting. Q. Obviously, your role is big for someone who doesn't even carry the ball. You do a lot of other things. What was that like for you? I mean, you came in probably not thinking I'm going to be primarily a blocker, but how much have you embraced having that role? JAY PROSCH: Oh, it's been incredible for me. Fullback ever since I started playing college football and playing fullback, I knew that I wasn't a player that's going to get a lot of praise or get a lot of carries or be in the light a lot. I mean, just being part of this offense and part of this team and helping and contributing is just amazing for me. I don't ask for the ball. I'm not pushing to get the ball or anything like that. I'm just happy to be on the field and helping the team win. It's amazing. Q. Last week before the Alabama game, C.J. said that Auburn has the best offensive line in the nation. Do those guys believe that? JAY PROSCH: Oh, yeah, I think they do. I mean, they're definitely a humble group of guys and they know how to work. I think that's part of where we are now. In the off‑season, we just came together as a group. We put the work in and effort. They got off the line. Probably the jump they made from last season to this season in the weight room is just incredible. I mean, it shows. Because they work together and they're a powerful group of guys. Q. C.J. Mosley after the game the other day said that Alabama just never got to set the edge defensively against your running game. Missouri has those really good defensive ends that bring the pressure. With what y'all do, is that something that can neutralize or help negate defenses that have powerful defensive ends? JAY PROSCH: I think so. I mean, we're really good at what we do offensively. We really haven't‑‑ obviously, some teams have stopped us in some areas of our running game and then others in different areas. But I think no matter what, whoever we play, we're going to find a way to move the ball no matter what, where their strengths are. Like I said earlier, Missouri has a very good defensive line and a very good defense. But overall I think that we're going to find a way to move the ball no matter how we have to do it. So it's just going to be a process. Like I said, it's going to be interesting. Q. Coach Malzahn said yesterday and he's been saying all along that this turn around season was more about looking within and working on you guys all year. But was there a moment this season or a particular game this season where you felt like it was starting to click, and that something special could be happening? JAY PROSCH: Yeah, definitely. I mean, when we lost to LSU, I think our team really found ourselves. Because even though we lost that game, we fought till the very end and had a chance to come back and win the game, and never gave up. I think we knew then that we're going to fight every game. After that game, that's what we did. Texas A&M, and came down to the end. Numerous games after that were just nail biters all wait down to the end of the game. I think really when we lost to LSU is really when we decided and we found out who we were, and ever since then we knew, you know, we're going to fight to the very end no matter what. So the whole season has just been an amazing season of our team just growing closer and closer. Q. On a more personal note, I was wondering if you could look back and reflect on your first season at Auburn and just the difficulties of transitioning to the new offense and dealing with the personal issues with your mom and then the difficulty of the tough season for you guys and what that was all like for you? JAY PROSCH: Yeah, it was probably the hardest time in my life that I've experienced. I mean, I came in and I wasn't‑‑ it took me a while to warm up to the guys. Not because of them, but just physically the way I am, it took me a while to get used to having new teammates. When you come in somewhere with a freshman class and you're part of that class, it's easier to blend than just getting thrown in with a bunch of guys, which is what happened to me. So that was tough for me. I kind of felt out of place for a while. Then on top of that, obviously, my mom was sick. That made it even worse. But when the season started it was exciting. But, obviously, it wasn't very exciting for long because it turned out to be a terrible season. But I think that it was just hard on me and hard on the team in general. I think it was one of those things where you just have to look to God and just pray and know that he's looking out for you and everything's going to be all right. It was just a bad time for everyone, but obviously we pushed through it. We're doing it and everything's good. Q. This might be a bit of a reach, but I think you probably would have faced Mizzou as a freshman, correct me if I'm wrong. But is there anything at all you can draw on from that memory going into this one? JAY PROSCH: Yeah, that was my first college start. My first game ever for Illinois. We played Missouri. I really honestly don't remember much about it. I remember the game and where we played and stuff, but not much about actually playing in the game. I think I was so excited for it to be my first game and nervous and stuff. But I don't remember too much about it. But I know that they're a good team. It will be exciting. Q. Coach Malzahn was talking yesterday about kind of the process of learning to trust you guys and you guys learning to trust him and his staff when he first came in. What was that process like for you? Just kind of describe how that went. JAY PROSCH: Yeah, I didn't know Coach Malzahn at all whenever he came in. I know some other guys did. Yeah, after he got hired, I met with him in his office, all the seniors did, and he was just up front with us. He was like I'm going to do everything I can to turn this around. He's like I'm going to put a lot of decisions in your hands and we're going to work together. He said I'm going to use the seniors to help me make decisions and influence the rest of the team. He was like just basically told us that he wanted us to work with him and it to be a back and forth type thing instead of him just being the Coach and making all the decisions. So that was really good for us because he was right. I mean, he called us in numerous times over the summer and during the season asking us questions about this or what needed to be done or what we thought. That felt good for us to know that he really cared about what we felt and our opinions.  So that was really something good to help the trust thing between us. You know, it really showed later in the season that we've really created that bond. Q. It seems like through all of his jobs he's had kind of a knack for reshaping the offense around the quarterback strengths and personnel strengths. What is it about him or his offense that allows him to be so, I guess, to do that? JAY PROSCH: What is it about his offense that allows us to use our strengths? Q. Yeah, that allows him to reshape it to whatever the team's strengths are any given season? JAY PROSCH: I think his offense is so diverse that it can go‑‑ there are so many ways that his offense allows you to move the ball down the field, whether it be passing, running, power, outside run. With the talent that we have on our offense, it really opens that up. I don't think we're really designated to one option. We're pretty good at a lot of it. I think that's what he's talking about. We're able to with Nick, he can run very well, and that opens it up a lot further. We're a great offensive line, great receivers. So with this offense, it's really hard to stop‑‑ for defenses to stop us. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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