Florida Gators College Football Pregame Quote, 12/22/2020

Just talk about how important it is for you yourself to be helping lead Florida play in a game of this magnitude in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.

Obviously, as the whole team, we are very, very thankful to be able to participate in this bowl game. So it’s just it’s a huge game, just how every game is a huge game. And it’s just going to mean so much for us to be able to win the game and just be able to hold that trophy up at the end. It’s going to mean a bunch for me just to see my teammates happy and the coaches and everyone.

It’s a really big game for our program. I can’t wait to get back and start practicing again and getting ready for it because I know Oklahoma’s a pretty good team.

So Kyle Trask was voted Second Team All SEC and now it’s suddenly a question this guy’s even going to be a Heisman finalist. Is that just ridiculous, in your mind? I mean, Gator Nation thinks so.

Yeah. In my opinion, I think that he’s the best quarterback in the nation. That’s just me hands down. Ever since I’ve thrown with him since the first day that I met him over the summer and we’ve been throwing, I remember telling him, Hey, I think, honestly, you’re the best quarterback in college football.

But obviously just, like, seeing that, I was kind of confused. It’s just crazy. Obviously, I don’t know how all that works and what’s the process of that. But I think that he’s the best quarterback in all of college football, in my opinion.

What have you learned from Tre [Grimes], K.T. (Kadarius Toney), and Kyle Pitts this year?

I’d say I’ve just learned how to play dominant football. And that really doesn’t make sense. But the way that they play their game, they’re just so confident in everything that they do. And I feel like, coming into the game, that’s the part that I have not the confidence, but just that dog mentality, that no matter where the ball is, no matter what I’m doing, I’m always going to win.

In practice, I’ll see one on ones, like Trevon, they’ll throw the ball up, and he’ll make some crazy catch. And then I’ll come back afterwards and I’ll be like, “How did you catch that?” He’ll be like, “I don’t know. I just jumped at it and got it. You just have to want it more.”

So I feel like all of them really taught me just how to trust the process, put in the work, and then expect those results that I basically have worked for. And I feel like just and Kyle Pitts, he’s just crazy. Trevon is just crazy. And K.T., he’s just so versatile, it’s insane. All of them have taught me little small things here and there. I can’t wait for next year to pick up the torch and take it on.

Has there been a catch from one or three or any of them where you’ve thought in the moment, Okay, go back and figure out how he did that?

Yeah. Literally all of them, all of them. I’d say Kyle Pitts in the Georgia game, that was an insane catch he had.

Trevon [Grimes] in the Georgia game. Trevon, even in this past game, he made that catch. I was like screaming on the sidelines, running back and forth because I didn’t know how he even made that.

The one run I will never forget about K.T. (Kadarius Toney) is South Carolina, when he bounced back and forth between all those players and scored. I don’t know how he even did that. They’re all great players, and I just can’t wait to see what they do at the next level.

How satisfying is it I mean, I know you guys would rather be playing in the college football playoff game, but how satisfying is it that you’re able to be in a match up like this it’s probably the best game outside the playoff between you and Oklahoma?

Oklahoma, again, is a great team, and I’m just super excited to be able to be in Texas and just have that experience of the Cotton Bowl. I just can’t wait for us to go through that whole process of just practicing, learning their defense and their all their players and their personnel and just really go out there and just battle. Obviously, as a team, we all wanted to be in the final four, but this is the game that we have now to focus on. And we’re just going to put all our effort into it.

On that point, just how critical is it for the momentum of the program to end with a win, and how much do you guys want this for Dan Mullen, not just yourselves, for what he’s done for this program?

Absolutely. I feel like Dan Mullen, he’s done a great job with this program. And since day one that I’ve met him, I just knew that he was always a great guy and a great coach. And obviously his track record shows that.

But just getting this win means everything. It means everything to me; it means everything to the program. And just even like the fans, just to get that win under our belt and end the season on a great note, that would be great just to carry on to next year and be able to pick up that same tone that the whole team left off on.

Dan [Mullen] gave you guys off through Christmas. I guess just physically and mentally after how long of a grind this season has been, how necessary was that for you guys? And then a second question: How accurate have you been with your Tre Grimes touchdown predictions? Did you predict the one in the SEC championship game, too?

First off, I’d say, because I feel like we’ve been going at it for six months straight, no breaks, no time off, nothing, it’s just been super crazy. I feel like everyone is kind of a little bit tired. We just want to give our bodies a break. Everybody is banged up, sore. I know I’m super sore, my body, from going hard every single day.

But this year, it’s nice to get these few days off to relax, lay down. I’m with my girlfriend in Sanibel Island now. So I’m relaxed and I feel great. I’ll head back tomorrow to start getting to work again.

Trevon, no, I stopped. For this last game, I don’t think that I had did any predictions for how many touchdowns he was going to have. On the sideline, we’re walking back and forth right before he even got his touchdown. I, like, looked at him. I was like, “Yeah, give me one, give me one.” And then he jumped up and made that crazy catch and scored in the end zone. Yeah, it was just crazy.

Like, half the time he makes all of these crazy jump ball catches, and I don’t know how he does it. I just hope that next year I can do the same thing, if not better, and follow in his footsteps.

My question is: What is this time off like for y’all? What is the process of it? How much are you spending virtually preparing during the day?

So we finished the game, then we came back, and we have this time off. I think we have Zoom meetings. I’m not sure when, but I think we have Zoom meetings and stuff like that.

But this time is just so nice for everyone just to be able to go to their separate places and really just calm down and let everyone’s mindset reset. I’m pretty sure when we come back on Saturday, everyone is going to be all pumped up and ready to go.

I know I’ve been away for two days. And, honestly, I already miss it already and I can’t wait to get back and start again because it’s all I do. This is my life. I can’t wait to get back to it, get back to work and get ready for this bowl game.

I know you are trying to relax as much as possible during this time, but have you been able to watch any of Oklahoma? What have you seen from their defense?

I watched I remember watching a few games before. I know their defense is good. I know there were a few players on there. I know Brendan Radley Hiles, he was at the opening. A bunch of guys from my class, I know, are on their defense.

I know their quarterback, Spencer [Rattler]. He’s really, really good. They have a great solid team, and we definitely aren’t going to sleep on them at all. I know they’re a great team. This game is definitely going to be a battle.

But we are too. I’m confident in our team. So just put the work in and just be consistent throughout that whole week in order to win the game.

Just back to Dan Mullen for a second, just how fun is it to play in that offense?

It’s so fun. It’s my favorite thing because they just throw the ball so much. And I feel like that’s a wide receiver’s dream, to be on a team like that, where the first thing they do, the first play, they will drop back and throw the ball.

Playing on this offense is just amazing. Again, we have a bunch of great weapons. And I’m just honored to be able to play with this team because I feel like it’s full of so many great players that are going to play great on Sundays. I just feel honored to be able to be on this team and just have went through this whole process.

Even though it was COVID, I feel like I still had a great time getting to know these players. And I just can’t wait to see them all battle on Sunday.

You guys have been killing it on offense. Defense has taken a lot of criticism on Twitter and everything. There’s a lot of seniors in the secondary. Can you talk about some of the young guys in the secondary that you go against that you think are going to step up in the future?

Honestly, I would say all of them. I feel like we have all of the younger players that just in practice that I’ve seen, they’ve all they could all step up and play honestly, like, right now. I already know that. I know that next year we’ll be in great hands. And even for the bowl game, we’ll be in great hands.

I feel like, as a whole, our team next year, I feel like there’s going to be no drop off, no fall off. I feel like we’re all going to be able to come back and just still be that dominant team that we were this year.

But, really, I feel like our main focus for this game is just to be consistent. I feel like that would be the thing for me, just for defense, offense, special teams, everything. And I feel like once we could be consistent in, like, every single play, just everybody does their job, then we’ll be fine.