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VIZIO BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: AUBURN v FLORIDA STATEJanuary 3, 2014Chris DavisNosa EguaeDee FordPASADENA, CALIFORNIA THE MODERATOR: What does it mean to be playing in this game, to be back a second time in your career? NOSA EGUAE: I guess I'll answer first. Just the last time as a freshman, you just kind of‑‑ your eyes are everywhere. You really don't know the magnitude of the game. You're just kind of going out there and trying to play for the seniors. And then being in this moment, being a senior now, it's an awesome feeling, and there's no better way to go out. Just to go through the things that we've been through in our four or five years is an amazing experience. We're just making the most of the moment, going out there and just doing what we have to do to bring this one back to Auburn. DEE FORD: This is a great feeling, man. This is what we work for, and to see it actually unfold, it's a blessing for us. We're definitely embracing the moment right now. We're working hard, and just being a part of all these events and things like that is definitely a blessing. And being a senior, I was a sophomore at the time in 2010 and played a little bit, but really having a chance to play in a big game like this is definitely a blessing, and I'm just happy to be here. CHRIS DAVIS: Like Nosa said, coming in as a freshman, it's like we're just looking up to the older guys when we first came here in 2010, but as seniors we're the people that the players are looking up to, and we're just trying to lead by example, and we're trying to do all the things that the older guys did back when we was young in this situation. We're just here to win the National Championship. Q. Dee and Nosa, Ellis Johnson says that the key to winning this game for you guys is to put pressure on Jameis Winston. It's going to be won in the box. It's on you. Your comments on that philosophy? NOSA EGUAE: It's all about affecting the quarterback. That's what it's all about. You know, up front, that's our job is to go out there and make it hard for him, and we're going to go out there and do that to the best of our ability. We've been working, Coach Carter has been working us day in, day out, focusing on the little things, focusing on the technique. We know that's our job, and we're going to go out there and get it done. DEE FORD: Yeah, man, that's pretty much been our responsibility all year, and it starts up front. We definitely know that we have to, I think, pressure makes any quarterback average. We definitely want to put pressure on this quarterback, really affect his decisions, and that's what we're working to do. Q. Playing off that last question to the two D‑linemen, when you looked at Jameis on film, what has been your impression and what do you see there that leads you to believe that you can affect him in the ways you want to? NOSA EGUAE: He'd a heady guy. He's a great quarterback. He makes great decisions. For us up front it's just going out there and making those decisions, hurry up a little bit, make quicker decisions, make him do things that he doesn't really want to do, but we force him to do. It's all about affecting the quarterback, and we know that, and that's something that's our job and we embrace it, and we're looking forward to making the most of it come Monday. DEE FORD: Yeah, man, he's definitely a great quarterback. He can really do some big things if you give him the time. I think they're very athletic up front, and we're going to have to be fundamentally sound and really play our "A" game up front, and they're very athletic. I think we're athletic, also. It'll be a good thing to really‑‑ great opportunity to show what we can do. Q. This question is for all three guys: You all were on the team in 2010. Can you kind of just compare the teams maybe from a leadership perspective, from a personnel perspective, just kind of how would you compare those two squads? NOSA EGUAE: You know, I feel like they're two different teams, kind of hard to compare them. But the similarities are there, too, as far as them boys going through a 5‑7 season and then playing in the National Championship a couple years later. And then us going through the adversities we went through last year, and then being where we're at now. Definitely you learn from it. You definitely‑‑ you just try to make the most of that moment. When you go through something like we went through last year, when you don't get that bowl experience, when you're at home on Christmas, it's tough but you learn from it, you make the most of the adversity, and I think that's really what makes us who we are right now, and that's what made that 2010 team what it was, too. DEE FORD: Yeah, I think they're very similar. Like he says, it's hard to tell, but it's football. You're going to go through things that you don't expect to happen, but that's been the thing about this team, man; we've been able to persevere, even going through a year like last year. It's great to be at this moment now. CHRIS DAVIS: Yeah, I think it's very similar, too, even though we don't have no Cam Newton on the team. But everything we have done, we've done it together. Like they said, we overcame adversity, and we made stops and won games when we needed to. We're just happy to be in this position, and we're just embracing the moment. Q. Chris, since the Iron Bowl how has your life continued to change and how many times have you watched the rebroadcast of that game? CHRIS DAVIS: My life has changed a lot since the Iron Bowl. Every time I turn on the TV, ESPN, I'm seeing that play. But I'm trying to put that moment behind me. We've got a bigger task at hand come Monday. We're playing for the National Championship, and we're trying to bring it back to the state of Alabama. Q. I asked the guys before, if everything that's happened with Toomer's Corner and the tree, is there a little bit of extra motivation for you guys to win this game for the University as a whole? NOSA EGUAE: You know, our university, the Auburn family, they're an amazing group. They've been there for us through the good, the bad and the ugly. Any time you get to do something like this and win such a big game, it's not just for us, it's for the Auburn family. It's for the players that put on the AU before us. It's for everybody that really is a part of this whole university, anybody that supports the brand. For us we just want to go out there and put our best foot forward and bring it back home to Auburn. Q. Guys, the 4‑2‑5 has a lot of moving parts with it. How much fun is it to play in this considering the types of freedom you have, especially the defensive line guys, and of course Chris being able to move around a little bit, as well? DEE FORD: I mean, man, it's a big stage. I think every college athlete dreams to play on a stage like this. I hate to keep repeating this. It's definitely a blessing to be on this stage, and we've worked hard to be here. What better opportunity than we have than to be on national TV in front of millions and to really show what we can do and what we've worked to do. NOSA EGUAE: You know, with our scheme, it's an awesome defense to play in. Coach Johnson, he puts us in great positions to make plays. It's just about us going out there and making them, and we've got a bunch of playmakers on this defense, from the secondary, to the linebackers, to the defensive line. We're a bunch of guys that when we get in the position to make a play, we want to go out there and make it, not just for us but for everybody that fights for that 11, that defense. We're a bunch of guys that just play for each other, and that's what we hang our hat on. Q. Chris, you just mentioned how much your life has changed since that play. Can you describe or maybe give some examples of how that's so? CHRIS DAVIS: A standing ovation when I go into a class, just taking pictures and signing a lot more autographs. Q. This question is for all you guys. Statistically your defense is not ranked that high. You've given up a lot of yards but have always played better in the fourth quarter. Why do you think it's played out that way for you guys? NOSA EGUAE: You know, we hang our hat on just trying to play good defense in the fourth quarter. Our deal is going out there and executing when the game is on the line, making big‑time plays. But as far as the yards thing, that's the thing we've been working on. We've been working on cutting down the big plays, and that's something that's going to be big time in this game, making tackles in key positions when you have to make a tackle, locking in on our assignments and playing good assignment football. As far as the end of the game, that's something that's big for us. Up front we're playing 10 to 12 guys, so when it comes to the fourth quarter we're fresh, and that's really our MO for playing in big‑time situations. CHRIS DAVIS: And giving up all them yards, that's something Coach Johnson constantly harps on. He says we can't keep giving up all these yards and expect to win the games. But in the game, we tend to come through with stops when we need them, and that's thanks to the team, the defense staying together. We're playing for one another, and we wouldn't have it any other way. With the game on the line, we know somebody is going to step up and make a big play. Q. You guys have faced some pretty good quarterbacks this season, including two Heisman finalists. Now you're going to face the Heisman winner. How has that gotten you ready for what you're going to be facing on Monday? NOSA EGUAE: In this league, in the SEC, you're going to play against great quarterbacks. You're going to play against NFL quarterbacks. Jameis is no different. He's a guy that he has similar features and attributes just like some of the other guys we've played in this league. For us it's about doing what we did against the other ones, affecting him, affect him, affect him, affect him. When it comes down to it, it comes down to the big plays where it could either swing for us or for them, go out there and make those plays. And that's what we're going to key on. That's what we have to do is get after him to the best of our ability, and when it comes down to it, when it comes down to the three or four plays that are going to decide a football game, make sure those plays are for us. DEE FORD: Yeah, it definitely brings more of an initiative to play together, not give up the easy big plays because when you're playing against a great quarterback every week, you can't harp on these amazing plays to happen. It definitely pushes us to prepare more, and I think it definitely makes us more disciplined as a team because you have to play these great quarterbacks consecutively. We know how it is to play great quarterbacks, so we're definitely coming into this National Championship pretty prepared. Q. Chris, obviously you had the big return in the Iron Bowl, but throughout the season you've been doing punt returns. How big can a special teams play be for the momentum in the game, momentum shift? CHRIS DAVIS: It can be real big. It can flip field position. Our special teams coach, Coach Fountain, he always talks about momentum plays. That can be a big factor in the games, special teams. We're just going to go out and try to win the special teams battle. Both teams, we're very equal, and I think by us winning the special teams battle, it'll give us a great chance of winning the game. Q. Dee, how important is it for the defense to start fast in this game? You talked about being good in the fourth quarter, but Florida State jumps on people early and plays from ahead a lot. DEE FORD: Yeah, we definitely recognize that. People always asked us, will they be able to play in the fourth quarter? Well, they play so well in the first half, they put teams away pretty fast. We take heed to that and we know we have to come in and play with an edge and play within our defense and make plays pretty early in order to make this a game. We pretty much know that, and we're going to come into this game pretty prepared. Q. Chris, can you talk about Florida State's wide receiving corps? How do you plan to prepare for them? CHRIS DAVIS: They're pretty good receivers. We've faced pretty good receivers all year, and we're going to go into the game with a game plan‑‑ doing what we've been doing all year against the pretty good receivers. I guess Monday, time will tell. It will tell it all on Monday. Q. Nosa and Dee, we talked about your ability to make plays late on 3rd‑ and 4th‑down stops today. Today, Ellis had mentioned that in the fourth quarter especially. How much does the depth up front make you guys able to do that, and what's it like to have that kind of talent playing behind you guys in the front, also? NOSA EGUAE: Coach G, he harped on that in the spring. He said we've got to find 12 guys that are going to be able to come in here and play a considerable amount of snaps. We're not a defensive line that thinks that we've got to play 70, 75 snaps to win the football game. We know that. It's all about competition. It's all about having the second‑string guys come in, having the third‑string guys come in. We all know that, and we all feed off of each other, and it really does start for us in practice because we're competing every single day. Coach G said at the beginning, it's all going to be about competition, and the best guys are going to be the ones that start the game off, and the next series the next guys are going to come in. We compete not only in practice but when we get on that game field and in front of millions we go out there and compete, also. We're a bunch of defensive linemen that just play for each other, and that's the thing we hang our hat on. We play for each other, we play for our coach. THE MODERATOR: Guys, thanks so much. That concludes our session. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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