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VIZIO BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: AUBURN v FLORIDA STATEJanuary 3, 2014Nosa EguaePASADENA, CALIFORNIA THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: As far as work and everything he brings to the table, he's a young guy. He's battled some tough injuries. He just battled and he always works. He's always doing the extra. He's always doing the little things as far as making sure he's hydrated, all the nutrition. A lot of my nutrition stuff comes from him. He's a guy we all look up to, a guy that helps with this team and gets us to victory. Q. Is he a good piano player? NOSA EGUAE: He's a great piano player, marginal singer (laughter). Q. What do you think about your defense coming into this game? Unknown factor. NOSA EGUAE: We're a bunch of guys that's played a lot of football. We played a lot of games in the SEC. We played a lot of games in big‑time situation. We had guys that played in the national championship game. We know we may be the forgotten group, but we're together and we'll get the job done. As long as we play as a group, we're going to find a way to win this football game. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: Last year is last year, definitely. It was tough. It definitely made us who we are now. We wouldn't take it back for anything. That season definitely gave us the nicks in the armor that we needed going into this year. We're a bunch of guys that have played a lot of football. We've been through some tough times. But we keep fighting. That's the thing about us, we're not going to quit. We're going to keep fighting. Q. No.8 in the country in the red. NOSA EGUAE: We are trying to cut down on the big plays. That's our main focus. We know when we get close to the end zone, we got to fight. We're a group of fighters. That's all we are. When it comes down to it, if you can keep a team out of the end zone with the top offense we have, we're going to be successful. That's something that we're key to do. Q. (Question regarding aggressive play.) NOSA EGUAE: We don't want to give up big plays. That's part of our schematic part. We don't want to give up big plays at all. They happen when we play against great teams, big players. Sometimes we do give up big plays. But when it comes down to it, we pride ourselves on playing fourth quarter defense, we pride ourselves on getting stops, winning football games. Q. Seems you get a lot of attention up front, accolades. Maybe the rest of the defense gets overlooked. NOSA EGUAE: A guy like Cadillac Therezie, Robenson Therezie, Cassanova McKinzy, a great secondary. We have a bunch of guys that just stepped up in big‑time roles for us in the season. They're doing the types of things that help us win ballgames. There's a lot of guys, 10, 12 defensive linemen that come in the game at different times, give us a spark. It's a different guy every game. Q. Is that why you've been successful in the fourth quarter? NOSA EGUAE: That's definitely one of our key things. Like Coach E said, he said it was really going to be a focus for us. We have to find 12, 14 guys that can really come in there and play good football for us. Come the fourth quarter, we're going to be fresh, be the fresher team. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: We're 12 deep, for sure.  Some games 14. Just kind of depends on the team we're playing. Q. Do you like it that way? NOSA EGUAE: Definitely. We're not getting as many snaps, but as far as the plays we're making, we're making more plays. Q. You're limited snaps, but when you're in there you take advantage of it. NOSA EGUAE: Absolutely. Coming back to practice, we're all competing. Bowl practice, we're competing every single day. Coach sees it. We're just going to go out there and make plays with the guys who are going to stay on the field. We're going to go out there, compete against each other. At the end of the day, make sure Auburn is victorious. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: Definitely. Coach Malzahn, he preaches about competition. Nobody has a job. We're going to go out there and compete. That's how it's been all season. Guys are going to go out there, it's about competition. The cream will rise to the stop. The best players are going to play. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: Definitely. I mean, our key is to affect the quarterback. In this game. The quarterback is a great player. They have a solid offensive line, solid skill position players. For us affecting the quarterback is going to big time and that's what we look forward to going out there and doing. Q. What is the most important thing in bringing down a big, strong quarterback like that? NOSA EGUAE: For us, it's going to get our looks and make the most of them. That's what we're going to go out there and do. We played against big quarterbacks. Got to wrap him up and get him on the ground. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: He has a lot of intangibles that you see from different quarterbacks in the SEC, different quarterbacks we played. As far as a specific guy, I probably couldn't say one. But he's a great player. He makes great decisions. It's going to be on us up front to get after him, and we'll do that. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: It's been an awesome experience, something that I'll definitely cherish for a lifetime. Going through injury, redshirt. Playing on that 2010 national championship team, being able to be a starter as a redshirt freshman, doing that for those seniors was awesome. Then 2011 was another transition year. Step into a leading role as a sophomore, it was kind of tough obviously. But we fought. We won that game. 2012, a year we can all say collectively we learned most out of that year more than any. Tough losses. Nothing changed as far as the approach. We work, we work, we work. Set us up for an amazing farewell tour. That's what this year has been. It's been an awesome experience. We look forward to ending it the right way. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: It's an awesome feeling with one of your brothers, your best friends. It's an awesome experience. We'll have time to look back on it when we're in our late 20s, early 30s. Right now we're going to make the most of the moment, go out there and make sure we're on top on Monday. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: So supportive. Anytime you see a guy like Nick Fairley play a game out there at the Iron Bowl with us on the sidelines, at halftime saying, Let's get it. It's always awesome. Guys like Antoine Carter. The list goes on. Those guys are so supportive of us. Even what we went through last year, Quentin Groves was texting me every day. Push through. I know it's tough, but you got to push through it. Those guys that played years ago, Steve Wallace, guys like that. We're all family. Like I said before, we don't do it just for our family, for our fans. We do it for our personal family, but the we do it for the guys that played for AU before us. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: Definitely our goal. When Coach Malzahn walked us into his office, he said we're going to have one of the biggest turnarounds in college football history. Capping it off Monday night, we'll have that. I don't know if any team will ever break that one because it's pretty legit. As far as (indiscernible) national championship. Q. After this season, after this game in your future life, what will you be able to take away from this? NOSA EGUAE: Fight, fight. Don't ever get too high, don't get too low. Stay even‑keeled. Don't get the losses to get you too down, don't let the wins get you too up. Just keep fighting. At the end of the day you're going to get what you want if you fight for it. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: He's a great quarterback. Like I said, he's heady. He makes great decisions. As far as us, it's going to be about affecting him, going out there and making the plays when the plays count. After that, everything is going to take care of itself. It's going to be a four‑quarter game. We pride ourselves on winning them. It's going to be something we look forward to on Monday night. Q. I know coach doesn't coach you as far as position. Have you spent a lot of time together in meetings? What does he bring? NOSA EGUAE: Coach Johnson is an amazing coach as far as the football aspect. You can tell hearing him speak, he's been through it all as far as being a football coach. You just got to soak it up. I'm like a sponge when Coach Johnson talks. I try to take it all in. That's how we all are. When he gives us a little nugget. He doesn't speak with no reason. He's not blowing smoke. We try to get it done. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: Never. But you felt it on the field. We had a similar past year in the sense that we've been through some things and we got something to prove. We don't ever want to be characterized by our wins or losses, but when you're 3‑9, you go winless, it's tough. People look at you in a certain way. Like I said earlier, you can't get too up or too down. You got to keep fighting. At the end of the day, good will come. Q. That coaching staff on the defensive side, 150 years of experience, what has that meant for you inside games? NOSA EGUAE: We just try to take it all in. We just try to make sure that we're doing what it takes as far as players to execute the game plan. They give us great game plans. We just try to focus on that. At the end of the day, we'll take what our coaches tell us to do and get the job done. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: Yeah, as far as our jobs, we know we're not going to get as much of the praise as some of the other guys that are out there on the edge, in the secondary, stuff like that. But we have an important job. Coach G, he's with us 24/7. It's all about the little things with Coach G. That's what we've been focusing on. That's the difference between the end of the season and now. We've consistently gotten better every single day. For us, the defensive tackles, I feel that's been our major improvement, just getting better at the little things. We're continuing to do that. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: We were sitting front row. It wasn't on purpose. That's the kind of guy he is. Entertaining anybody that wants to hear it. Playing piano, that's what he loves to do. I've been trying to pick up the guitar for about two years now. Hasn't happened. Q. Do you sit around the piano talking? NOSA EGUAE: Yeah. I don't sing. Dee is a singer. We're just a bunch of chill guys. We don't get caught up doing anything outside of the ordinary. We like doing what we doing, that's just chill. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: There was quite a few of us. Pretty much the whole defensive line. We were all together just enjoying it, making the most of it. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: He can play anything on the piano. Honestly, it's crazy. He can literally play anything on the piano. Q. Points have been hard to come by, especially in the red zone. When is it about the defense? NOSA EGUAE: We hate that we're giving up some yards. That's what our focus has been, cutting down on the big plays. When it comes down to playing in the red zone, the end of the game when you need a stop, it's about players making plays. We got a group of guys collectively that's played a lot of football. Nothing surprises us. If we get caught in a situation, we have to go out there and execute. We're going to go out there and try to make the most of it in big‑time situations. We got a bunch of guys that love that moment. They go out there and they make the big plays. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: We're a group of guys that went through a tough, tough season. We didn't know how Coach Malzahn was going to come in. He came in with an amazing approach. He said, We're going to put last year behind us, and today is a new day. It was about putting that behind us, making the most of the now. He said every single day we're going to worry about one thing and that's getting better. That's all we've done. Since day one, it was about getting better every single day. Coach Malzahn preached it and we just went through with the plan. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: It came in mid‑summer, going through the dog days of summer. Coach Russell pushed us. He pushed us in a way a lot of guys didn't feel they could go. When you PR a person, you ring that bell. That thing was going off off the hook. That thing was constantly going off. You saw it from the guys, you know, sometimes in the past never really wanted to get better, but they were getting better. It meant something to them. It meant something to all of us. They all came into two‑a‑days and we had momentum from the summer. We just kept that momentum going. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: The coaches got to know us and we got to know them in the spring. We began to build that confidence between one another. It was tough. We got strength. The scrimmages were long. Going against the offense, it was fast‑paced, it was tough. But we began to gel as a group, began to feed off one another, and we got better. That was the big thing, we got better this spring. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: Shared some tidbits. As far as Coach Craig, he's all about telling us that those guys are great, those guys are some great players. He tells you nothing but good things. You can tell he has a lot of good relationships on that end. But nothing but good marks for the people he used to coach at Florida State. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: Not really, not really. We've had a month to prepare. We've just been watching the film, trying to get to know those guys the best we can. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: For us, it's always together. We're playing for our coaches. Our coaches are coaching for us. Everything is together. In this championship, it's not going to be the players' championship, it's going to be for all of us. Our coaches have put in amazing work, sacrificed so much for us. We don't want to just bring this championship back for Auburn, we want to bring it back for our coaching staff that put so much time to put us in the position that we are right now. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: It's big, you know. That 2012 year, I'll say with confidence, it made us who we are right now. It was tough. It was hard. The thing about it is, people see the record, they feel like we didn't even practice, we just lost games. We worked. We worked hard. We just came up short. It was a tough season. We battled the storm. We got through it. The thing about it, we got through it together. The team that lost together last year is the team that won together this year. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: He comes and he watches practice. He let's Coach Robinson do his thing. He watches practice and shares his tidbits. He picks up stuff and shares it with us. He's definitely there. He's not just on the offensive side of the field, he comes to the defensive side, too. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: I heard something about that. He's a smart guy. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: Yeah, you know, I mean, they got some solid receivers on their end. Our corners, they've played against big‑time big receivers. They're going to be ready for the challenge, make the most of it, play big‑time ball for us on Monday night. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: We've gotten better. We've definitely gotten better. Our whole thing was to get better every single day. That's our edge. We feel that's what sets us apart from other teams in college football. During the times in November, during the times in December when everybody else is just trying to save their legs and get ready for football games, we were going out there and trying to get better at our craft to be a better football team for this game, this national championship. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: Just the little things as far as communication, as far as technique. We've been harping on that as far as the defensive line is concerned. That's what we're focusing on. Take care of the little things, the big things will take care of themselves. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: We haven't had our game yet. We know that as a defense. We want to go out there and prove. This is our last time to go out there and prove, have that game we've been wanting to have all season. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: I feel like we're a focused group. We get in there after a win, no matter what we get in there on a Sunday and correct mistakes, no matter how good or bad you played. There's always going to be mistakes in a football game. We try to go out there and get better every single day. That's what Coach Johnson preaches. He doesn't get satisfied, neither are we. We're just trying to go out there and get better every single day.  At the end of the day, come game day, it's going to take care of itself and we're going to win football games. Q. What is your relationship like with some of the guys in the secondary? NOSA EGUAE: It's all of us. It's the defense. We're not one player. We are 11. We play together. That's what we hang our hat on, is playing together. When you give up a big play, it's tough. All you can do is come out there and keep fighting. Adversity is something that made this team what it is now. We're just going to keep fighting. That's all we can do. We don't focus on one single position. We focus on everything we do. The good, the bad, the ugly. And at the end of the day we're going to celebrate together. Q. (No microphone.) NOSA EGUAE: CD, he's a great player. He comes to work every single day. He puts on his hardhat. He just goes out there and he does his job. He's not a guy of many words. He's our captain for a reason. He goes out there and he leads by example. When it comes down to a big play, you need a big play to be made, we got a bunch of guys that are eager for the moment to make those big‑time plays. We go out there and just make it happen. Q. (Question regarding the secondary.) NOSA EGUAE: No, not at all. We're not worried about that. We play for those guys in the back end. Those guys in the back end play for us. We have total confidence in those guys getting the job done. It comes down to us getting a rush on the quarterback, too. This isn't a seven‑on‑seven matchup. We need to go out there and get the job done. Q. What do you see in the offensive line? NOSA EGUAE: They're similar to some of the offensive lines, big like Mississippi State, athletic like an LSU, like an Alabama. They're a solid group. They play well together. We look forward to the matchup Monday night. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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