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TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL: CENTRAL FLORIDA v BAYLORDecember 29, 2013Philip MontgomeryGLENDALE, ARIZONA THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Even though this is your fourth year, you run so many repetitions, has it been nice to have the break? COACH MONTGOMERY: It's been nice to have the break. We've had some guys banged up, nice to get some of those guys back. As far as just the reps, we get plenty of reps in practice. That first day there's a lot of freshness to us. Tempo has been good. We have a good, mature football team. Really haven't missed a beat. Q. How much did you miss Tevin? COACH MONTGOMERY: He sparks us. It's been great having him back, getting him back involved. Again, the energy he brings, you can't replace that. Q. Can you tell a difference in Blake and Glasco, too, maybe their legs back under them? COACH MONTGOMERY: I think that's all the way across the board. Blake has been great. Glasco looks revived. Like I said, it's been a long season. Getting a chance to get our legs back underneath us, getting the chance to come out here and enjoy the atmosphere, the weather, all those things. Plus you don't have class, they get to relax, concentrate on football, get ready for Central Florida and enjoy the experience. Q. Troy said yesterday that it was that Texas week where he really kind of started looking more like himself. COACH MONTGOMERY: Troy, the last month you could really see a difference in him. It hasn't been, what, seven or eight months since his knee injury. That's usually a year‑long deal. It's a tribute to him, how hard he's worked, our people trying to get him back. He's really starting to come back into his own, kind of the way we saw him right before he got hurt in the spring. It's great to see him in that role. He's a presence on the field that's important to us. Q. What do you see from UCF's defense? Will they try to stop the run? COACH MONTGOMERY: As you look at them on tape, they do a great job. You talk about their twos, their linebackers, their safeties, those guys are solid in the middle of the field. We've got to do a good job of trying to create momentum, move the chains, take what they give us. We'll see what they do when we get on the field as far as how they want to play the box, other things. But our guys are up to the challenge. We've had some great workouts since we've been out here. Q. The ability to have Tevin back, did it take Bryce a couple throws to get used to his speed? COACH MONTGOMERY: I think more than anything, just getting back comfortable with each other. Tevin running, him throwing, getting that camaraderie back as you start doing that. That's with everybody. When you step back on the field, you've been off of it for a little while, understanding how the route is going to be run, the type of speed he's going to play with. Making sure we're on the same page. It took four or five throws, some different routes, they're back doing what they're going to do. Q. Coach Briles mentioned that Tevin was as much a coach as anyone else on the offense. Is that something you could tell when you recruit or something that comes with maturity? COACH MONTGOMERY: I think a little bit of both. Maturity is definitely a factor. Those guys that have been around a little while, been involved in our offense, what we're trying to do. As they get comfortable with just their job, it starts expanding, understanding the whole concept of what's going on. That's just from the reps and maturity of being in it. There are certain guys out there when you start recruiting them, you talk to them, this process starts so early now, you get a pretty good feel. There's guys out there that are football junkies. They just live and breathe it. With Shock, he was one of those guys. He played so many spots in high school. He was a quarterback, runningback, receiver, played on the defensive side. Those well‑rounded athletes have to do all of it. Q. How much growing up can the backup quarterbacks get? Chris Johnson, can you start to see changes in him already? COACH MONTGOMERY: I saw a big change in Chris just from the spring to the fall. He graduated early so he got to come in and go to work. That knocks off some of the jitters of being there. Had a good spring, but knew he had a long way to go. Really worked hard in the summer. Came out to fall camp and really started making strides. You've seen Chris as he's developing. He's going to be a good player. When you start talking about Seth, it's invaluable, the amount of experience he got early in the season. Bryce had I think 13 throws prior to him starting his first football game. With Seth, taking advantage of each rep, each situation that you get a chance to play in has been great for him. Q. Briles said before the season that Bryce needed to find his identity. Did he find that during the season? Are y'all still seeing what his identity is? COACH MONTGOMERY: I think we found it, but I don't think his story is completely written. That's going to be an ongoing process. We still have a lot of things to do, a lot of things to work on. The thing you love about him, he's coming to work every day, finding things to get better. We're trying to find things to help. At the end of the season is when you can sit down and say, This spring, these are things we need to focus on and concentrate on. He's done a great job in that sense. Excited on the path he's started. Q. Is he a guy that beats himself up? COACH MONTGOMERY: Coach Briles and I both, when talking to him have said, There's things you've got to be careful of. You want to be tough on yourself. You want to make sure you're seeing the situation the way it should happen. You don't want to beat yourself up because you have the next play. As fast as we play, you ain't got time to put your head down. Q. What areas did you maybe see him get better at? COACH MONTGOMERY: That was part of it. I think as you get in there, get into the flow of games, gain experience, just the confidence he brought to the table. His leadership on the football was one of the those things you felt like you knew, but you didn't know the extent it was going to play out. He's done a great job of handling his composure, being a great leader on the football field. Q. He said he couldn't wait to have that adversity, where he got punched in the mouth. How did you expect him to react? Did he react even better? COACH MONTGOMERY: He did. He did. We've been in some tough football games, had some people doing some different things to us, which put a lot of pressure on him. He handled those situations the way we wanted him to. The guys around him stepped up and played well. We've had some injuries, as everybody knows, we've talked about. Those guys sitting behind him stepped up and played well, had to step up into some big situations in some big games. It's been a total unit. He's done a good job of leading it. But we've had great senior leadership throughout all of that. Q. What is it like being a quarterback at Baylor waiting in the wings, knowing what's happened these recent years, expectations to pass on the torch? COACH MONTGOMERY: If you're a quarterback, we'd love for you to come in our system. Hopefully you'd love to play in our system. We're going to give you a chance to throw the football, throw it down the field, play an up‑tempo pace. I think those guys, and I'm talking about Bryce and Nick and Robert, those teams prior, too, they've set an expectation of a level we need to play at. Each year your job and challenge is what we do to step above that. Q. What's the fine line of juggling next man up, having men come on campus and not get impatient? COACH MONTGOMERY: I think Bryce is a great example of that. Just understanding the plan. Understanding how it's going to play out. Understanding the maturity that's going to help you. It's hard in society today to be patient. Kids are wanting to come out of high school and play right now, and some guys can. But he's a great example of just being patient, understanding what could happen, how it's going to play. It's worked out well for him and us. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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