Cincinnati Bearcats College Football Pregame Quote, 12/27/2021

Alec, if you would, please give us an opening statement about your excitement about playing in the College Football Playoff before we open the floor for questions.

Yeah, I’m super excited. It’s a dream come true. I’m really excited to be here. It’s a great venue. The Cotton Bowl has had great hospitality so far. And just looking forward to this week.

What have you seen on film from Alabama’s corners, both [Kool-Aid] McKinstry and [Jalyn] Armour-Davis?

They’re both good players. They’ve both got good size, good length. They both run. So it’s just going to come down to making plays. There might not be as much separation as we’ve seen in the past. It is going to come down to making plays.

You guys have had a little time to let it set in, the major accomplishment that you’ve had here and you’re a significant underdog in the game. What’s the mindset now that you’re here and it’s about time to put it on the field?

The mindset right now is just working this week, going over our normal routine, practicing ‚Äì preparing for Alabama. That’s kind of what we’re focused on right now. I know Coach Fick (Luke Fickell) said the morning, when we’re practicing, that’s got to be all Alabama, all focus on that; and in the afternoons, we can have a little bit more fun and enjoy the bowl festivities, stuff like that.

Take me through how much going against Ahmad Gardner every day has not only made you better but made Ahmad better. I know we watch it in practice every day. but maybe for those that aren’t familiar, just talk about the respect you two have and how much you’ve elevated each other’s game.

Sure. He’s a great player. I think he’s probably the best press corner in the country. Going against him every day is an unbelievable look. We get a ton of opportunities to make each other better and just work against each other and sharpen our craft.

The group of receivers you guys have in the room, not a lot of outspoken personalities or kind of divas or so to speak from a position that often does. Where does that culture come from with you guys?

I think it’s just the mentality in the room. We have a saying ‘by any means necessary.’ It’s basically just whatever we got to do, we got to go out there and run the ball a thousand times and block our game or throw the ball a hundred times. That’s what we’re going to do to win. At the end of the day, we want to win. We’ll really do whatever it takes. That includes contributing on special teams, a big emphasis, things like that.

How much have you guys talked about kind of the significance of being in this game, in terms of ‚Äì obviously you’re the first non-power school to get to the playoff. And how you guys perform could determine the fate of others down the road.

I don’t think the significance for us is anything other than the significance of it being the College Football Playoffs. It’s the biggest game of the year for us in that aspect that we have a chance to advance on to the college football finals. That is itself a huge, enormous significance. Other than that, I don’t think we’re looking at the outside factors.

There’s been some other questions before this about Alabama’s pass rush. Does that put an extra pressure on the receivers to get open quicker, just given that Desmond [Ridder] might not have as much time?

Just going to have to be able to try to get open as best we can. Whether it be early or not, I don’t know ‚Äì for me, I just control what I can control. I run my route the same way whether I know we’re going against a good pass rusher, a team that’s dropping eight. I just try to get as open as I can.

I know you said you don’t feel like you need to do this on behalf of all Group of Five teams. But being a two-touchdown underdog in Vegas ‚Äì something I’m sure you don’t look at ‚Äì do you feel like you guys need to prove in this game that you belong here?

I don’t think we need to do anything different to prove that we belong here. I think we just need to go out and play our game.

What do you think it says about your program and maybe the way you guys have operated that you were the first team to break through, the first non-Power Five to make the playoff?

It means a lot. Coach has really bought in and got the players to buy in. It’s been a long journey. I know a lot of us have been playing here for a while, a lot of guys with a lot of starts. So just to kind of see the program grow has been really cool to see.

Desmond Ridder talked about ‚Äì I asked him what the learning lessons you can take from Jerome Ford when it comes to Alabama, if there’s anything schematically or anything like that. He really talked about, well, we learned about the culture that Alabama has and what they kind of bring. I guess from your standpoint, what do you think Jerome Ford’s experience at Alabama can teach you guys about being on this stage in this game?

I agree with Dez. Jerome’s being there, he knows the culture, he knows how they work. I know they are a really well-run program. Yeah, I agree with what Dez said.