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TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL: CENTRAL FLORIDA v BAYLORDecember 29, 2013Brandon AlexanderGLENDALE, ARIZONA THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q. Your sophomores have played a lot of football. BRANDON ALEXANDER: They have gone through it, two years actually. It's good that we have a lot of sophomores. We have a lot of juniors, a lot of sophomores on our team. That's a big part of our defense, having experience back there. Just glad we have this as a defense. We're losing two people on defense this year, both being seniors. We have a lot of juniors, sophomores and freshmen starting up. Q. Are you tired of hearing how explosive Baylor's offense is? BRANDON ALEXANDER: Not really, because it's absolutely true. They have an explosive offense, good running game, passing game. You don't get tired of hearing about something when it's true. We have to come out and play how UCF is supposed to play. It will be a great game on the 1st. Q. Nobody has probably gone up‑tempo the entire game. What kind of problems does that face? BRANDON ALEXANDER: Matching the tempo, getting lined up, getting in our spots to play. When you're moving around, they're ready to snap the ball, that's when they get a lot of plays. They get plays out of people missing lines, missed tackles. They have receivers that can make you miss in open space. They have very fast receivers. Q. Have you done anything differently in practice to prepare for that up‑tempo in terms of getting lined up quickly? BRANDON ALEXANDER: Throughout the season you have to get lined up, get ready to play the next snap. Make sure everybody knows what they're supposed to do, that's the main thing. Getting lined up and making sure that everybody is on the same page. Q. People talk about the physical challenge of the tempo they run. Hard to substitute. A lot of the preparation is what you do in the film room, read your keys, make sure you're in the right spot at the right time. Is it helpful that you had extra time to study what they do? BRANDON ALEXANDER: It's very helpful. We had our last game, we ended classes, we were able to go in and watch extra film, get everybody together and watch and see what Baylor really does, get out there and practice. But just the time in the film room is a great part of what we do. Everybody just watching that, we make sure we have our assignments and keys ready and prepared. They're a quick‑tempo team on offense. That's very dangerous. We have to make sure we come out here and stop that. Q. Do you look at wanting to play physical with them towards the line of scrimmage, get them off their routes a little bit, or just make sure you have coverage downfield and keep the ball out of their hands? BRANDON ALEXANDER: You do a little bit of both, mix it up here and there. Again, they have very fast receivers, receivers that can make you miss. They can catch and make you miss. It's a little bit of everything you've got to work on. We've been working on making sure we know our fundamentals, keys, assignments. Their runningbacks are running downhill very fast. We have to make sure we tackle very well for this game. Q. Watching film on them, what are you thinking as you're watching the film? BRANDON ALEXANDER: I think they have a very explosive offense. Their quarterback is very good. He can throw it to any spot on the field. He can actually run it anywhere at any given time. Everybody on that team, everybody on that field, is a very good player. They run well, block well, do everything well. They can score 60 points a game. They're doing a lot of things very good. We have to make sure we come out and have a good game as a UCF defense. Q. Are you looking forward to the challenge of, Nobody is talking about our defense? BRANDON ALEXANDER: Definitely, our defense, we're a stout defense. We come out here and practice every day, play each and every game every day. You never know, it might be your last game. That's what we emphasize to our players. This might be our last game. God forbid anything happens. We're ranked 17 in the country in defense. We're out here each and every week making sure we're doing what we're supposed to do because we're a very good defense also. Q. Have you seen this kind of team speed before? BRANDON ALEXANDER: I've never seen this type of speed before. They have speed everywhere, speed at runningback, quarterback, receivers, offensive linemen are fast (laughter). It's ridiculous. They're a very, very good team. We just are watching film and making sure we're doing what we're supposed to do, making sure we get aligned and everything. It's ridiculous what kind of pace they have. When watching film, we're like, Wow, they're very fast. Just go out there and practice every day, make sure we do what we're supposed to do to make sure we come out and have a great game on the 1st. Q. Is there anything you can really do to be ready for that speed? BRANDON ALEXANDER: You're not ever going to see everything 100% in the game. What you see on film, you might see a couple things they do. Once you get to the game, you just have to make sure you play and do what you have to do to win the game. After seeing the speed on tape, it's nothing like seeing it on game day. That's what we're trying to get prepared for, make it a little bit faster than possible. On game day, everything is thrown out the window. You're here now. You have to make sure you play now. First couple plays, you're trying to feel each other out. We'll make sure we come in there and make our adjustments for the game. Q. Was there an adjustment period for the players not seeing Coach Fleming out there? BRANDON ALEXANDER: Maybe for a day. I was very close to Coach Fleming. Everybody has an opportunity to just go out there and play for him. We wish he was out here, that he could come out here and coach us. He was just what we needed. That's what got us over the hump. We have Coach Summers, all the other coaches out here. Having the coaches here supporting us is more than enough than what we need. We miss Coach Fleming. Q. Has Coach O'Leary taken more of a hands‑on role with the defense? BRANDON ALEXANDER: The whole season he's been over there on the defense. That's why I feel our defense has been very good. He's been over there harping on us every day, being in our film room, making sure we're in the right spot. When he's over there even more, it's even more we have to go out there. It's even harder. When he's over there, you want to try to impress him even more. Our defense, when he's there or not there, we're practicing hard. When he's over there, seems we get an extra boost to play even harder. That's a good thing he's over there. Q. What is it about this team you've been able to plug in freshmen and they've been able to have instant success? BRANDON ALEXANDER: It just says we have a lot of depth at every position. All the freshmen and sophomores that never played that just got put in, I was in the same position a couple years ago, I got put in due to injuries, that's what happened to us. People came in and stepped up very well for us. A lot of freshmen, sophomores that came in. Coach always told us, you're an echo away from playing. That's a very true statement. I'm very proud of our defense. Q. You always seem to come up with the big plays in the fourth quarter offensively or defensively. Having that experience, is that going to help you guys out? BRANDON ALEXANDER: I feel like it really will. Each and every play it came down to, even special teams, that gave us a big boost. We had the interceptions late in the game. We had touchdowns, J.J. Worton's big catch. It's just something that stayed there. Everybody is on the sideline, nobody is bickering or arguing. We're all together. We know this is UCF. We're able to win every game possible. We should have a great game on the 1st. Q. What have you personally noticed preparing about Baylor, watching film that makes them so successful? BRANDON ALEXANDER: I honestly can say everything that they do, their offense, their defense, their running game. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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