Washington Huskies College Football Pregame Quote, 12/30/2023

Q. What has this experience meant to you so far, making it to the college football playoffs?

JALEN McMILLAN: That’s a really easy question. It’s meant the world. This is like everything I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid, so being able to experience everything really just brings back old memories of me being at the crib, and just watching the national titles with my mom and dad and being mad that I’m not here. But now that I’m here, it’s like I want to fulfill my destiny and just enjoy every moment.

Q. Jalen, what’s the preparation been like? And what have been some of the keys for you all, in terms of getting ready to play for a game with these kinds of stakes?

JALEN McMILLAN: We’ve just been preparing at the elite level. Waking up early every day and getting film and position meetings and analyzing the defense, and always coming ready to go at practice.

Q. Is there something that you can point to that has helped this team win nine straight games by ten points or less? Is the clutch gene real? What is it that helps Washington come up with the key plays in so many of these games, coming down the stretch?

JALEN McMILLAN: It’s definitely the brotherhood. We’re all tight as a group. And everybody on the team knows how to lead everybody. We’re not really just too fond of leadership. We’re always cool with accountability, and you know what I’m saying, Being held to a higher standard, so when people expect the best out of us, we buckle down and get to it.

Q. What has been your impression of your coach, Kalen DeBoer? What has he impressed on you that has been really important in your development?

JALEN McMILLAN: He lets everybody lead. You know how people say we need a player-led team, not a coach-led team? He lets us hold each other accountable. Doing that helps everybody understand that we’re all one group.

Q. And what are going to be some of the keys? You talk about the offensive preparation, going up against this Texas defense. What are going to be some of the things that are the most important for you all to find success on Monday night?

JALEN McMILLAN: Just catching the football, really. Just executing plays at a high level, and just understanding that the tempo and the faster we move, and the more we know the plays inside and out, the better we’ll be.

Q. What’s been the message among the players this week in terms of this game? What’s motivating you guys this week?

JALEN McMILLAN: Don’t let the moment get too big. People are always saying this is a huge game, but this is the same game we’ve been playing since we were little kids. So don’t let the moment get too big.

Q. How does Michael kind of set that tone? You guys are coming back against Oregon in the fourth quarter and he’s rapping on the sidelines. It’s like nothing is too big for him. He sets that standard a little bit. How does that kind of permeate to the rest of the team, his poise?

JALEN McMILLAN: Just when he walks out, his demeanor is always calm, so when he’s calm, I kind of have to find it within myself to be calm, because I don’t want to get too high, either. My quarterback, I want to be at the same level as my quarterback.

Q. Other than the poise, what’s special about Michael? What’s something you can tell me about him?

JALEN McMILLAN: His talent. Everybody knows he can play football well. I think his IQ is overlooked a little bit. I mean, the way he understands and knows the game and the checks he makes, it’s pretty crazy. So I could give him that.

Q. Can you give an example of that? A moment where he impressed you?

JALEN McMILLAN: So Pac-12, when we had that first down, it was in the fourth quarter, I think there was maybe three minutes left, and I had an out route. Prior to that, we weren’t sure what to call, because we didn’t know what coverage we were going to be in, but he told me to go to the boundary and the out route, because he knew that the safety was going to come down the man. So I mean, he just does small things like that to where it’s like oh, how did you see that? But I’m going to just trust you.

Q. Describe your relationship between the receivers.

JALEN McMILLAN: We’re all just a band of brothers. We’ve been together for so long, and we’ve experienced so much adversity and so many good moments, as well, to where it’s like we could share that, the moments together. And we’ll always have those moments together.

So we’ll hang around, pick on each other all the time. Or the biggest thing with us is we can hold each other accountable and nobody is going to take it personally. We’re going to fix it right away.

Q. Can you give an example of that, of you guys holding each other accountable? Or how your closeness has made you guys better, like an example from this season?

JALEN McMILLAN: So week two against Tulsa, I had fumbled the ball and I had one drop, and Rome had two drops or something in the game, and we got back to the locker room at halftime, and we started just criticizing each other, in a good way. “That’s not the standard we set. Obviously, get everything together, that’s not what we’re supposed to do here,” you know what I’m saying? Just getting each other right.

So we weren’t taking that personally. And we were able to just get mad at each other in a loving way.

Q. How are you guys able to complement each other, too? In terms of the different ways that you guys play, and how it comes together?

JALEN McMILLAN: If you do it wrong and leave me one-on-one, good luck. He fits he and I fit him. I think it goes beyond football, when it comes to how we play with each other. There’s, like, certain things he says during the game, and certain moments to where we make eye contact and we know that we need to step it up a little bit.

Q. What kind of things does he say to you during the game? Can you give an example?

JALEN McMILLAN: Small things like, “Hey, 11 come on.” Or he’ll look at me and be like, “This is why your mama put you in pads, you know what I’m saying?” He’ll say motivating things, I look back at the pass and I’m like I can do this.

Q. How’s your body feeling?

JALEN McMILLAN: Knees a little bit tired, legs a little heavy, but I should be good to go.

Q. You don’t feel 100%?

JALEN McMILLAN: No, I’m 100%, for sure. My legs are tired from all this running I’ve been doing.

Q. Do you feel any limitations or anything?

JALEN McMILLAN: No. I did feel limited against, like, Oregon State, but I mean, I feel like that Wazzu game, I felt 100%. So now I’m feeling 100%. I’m Feeling great.

Q. Why could you guys win on Monday?

JALEN McMILLAN: I feel like we deserve it and we’ve earned it. And when we come on the field, we’re going to just show everybody why.

Q. And you guys are underdogs in this game. Do you deserve that?

JALEN McMILLAN: At the end of the day, if you think that we’re underdogs, that’s your issue. And I feel like we have no reason to be an underdog. We beat them last year, but again, they’re a respected opponent and I wish them the best of luck.

Q. How do you guys use that underdog mentality to make you better, to give yourselves an edge?

JALEN McMILLAN: It feels like people are doubting us at the end of the day. I feel like we’ve gone 13-0. We have a great resume, so for people to say that we shouldn’t be where we’re at, or are they even good enough to play against Texas, or they play basketball on grass. I feel like it’s just people talking at this point.