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00:00 We have linebacker Lee Koba.
00:02 Questions for Lee?
00:05 Lee, starting with the injury situation,
00:08 especially your linebacking group,
00:10 how difficult does that make what you guys are trying to do?
00:15 You know, it really doesn't make it that difficult,
00:20 you know, because, you know,
00:22 those guys got the same amount of reps
00:24 as a lot of reps through the fall and through fall camp.
00:28 And leading up to the season, so, I mean, they're prepared.
00:33 You know, you always never want to see one of your teammates
00:36 get injured, but when they do go down,
00:38 next man up, got to be ready.
00:39 And I feel like the guys are filled in.
00:44 How many reps did you have Saturday?
00:46 I believe I had, yeah, I think I had like 70,
00:49 70-something or 80-something snaps.
00:50 70-something snaps.
00:52 So, I guess the message for you is don't get hurt.
00:54 Yeah.
00:56 How did those young -- how have those young guys played?
00:59 I mean, all of them.
01:01 Yeah, I definitely think they definitely played well.
01:04 And, you know, they're young guys, so, you know,
01:08 I mean, everybody makes mistakes, you know, even me.
01:11 So, you know, they're always in here trying to get better,
01:13 though, and always watching film
01:15 and just trying to improve on the mistakes they have made.
01:18 So, it's good.
01:19 Talk about the blitz, the time of the game,
01:23 the decision to do it then,
01:25 and you getting the strip sack,
01:27 because, I mean, that was the play of the game.
01:28 That turned everything around and got UCF chasing you
01:32 and having to not run it much anymore but throw it.
01:35 Just talk about how that whole decision came about
01:37 and the play itself.
01:40 Yeah, so, we had been running --
01:43 we had actually ran that blitz a couple times.
01:44 In the game? Yeah.
01:46 Yeah, we had ran that blitz a couple times before,
01:48 and we came, didn't really get the loop.
01:54 We had won it, and then we ran it that time,
01:57 and, you know, we got what we expected them to do,
02:01 and I came free.
02:03 We just came tight, and at that point,
02:05 I was just thinking ball, so I just put my hands,
02:07 like, shot my hands to the ball, and it came out.
02:10 So, I was like, yeah.
02:11 Well, he never saw you, right?
02:13 No, he never seen me, I'm sure.
02:15 Okay. Did you know the ball was out right away?
02:18 Not right away, but I rolled over,
02:20 and I seen it on the ground.
02:21 I seen Jaylon Thornton get on it, so.
02:23 So, you ran that particular stunt a couple times
02:26 before the little loop stunt where you came around?
02:28 Yeah, yes, sir.
02:29 Right, and they were both unsuccessful?
02:31 Yeah, I mean, I had got pressure on one, but I didn't get home.
02:34 So, that was the one you got home on?
02:35 Mm-hmm.
02:37 B, what's the technique on that,
02:40 I guess especially on the quarterback's blind side,
02:42 to force a fumble?
02:45 Oh, you know, you just --
02:46 one hand, you want to secure the tackle with one hand,
02:49 and then, you know, just be aggressive,
02:51 and you want to be simultaneous with both
02:56 when you bring them together, and, you know,
02:57 so just really just being aggressive
03:00 through the ball and attacking.
03:01 How do you balance that, though,
03:02 because you got that blind shot, and you want to kill him.
03:05 Yeah. But at the same time,
03:06 you got to get him down, and you also see the ball.
03:09 I mean, I guess the number one deal
03:11 is try to knock the ball out first
03:12 before you put a hit on him?
03:14 Yeah, I mean, definitely.
03:16 I mean, I knew just the way the game was going.
03:19 You know, it was kind of going back and forth,
03:21 you know, we'll score, they'll score,
03:22 and, you know, I knew we needed to play,
03:25 like, to change the game, so, of course,
03:28 I wanted to get that ball out when I did have the opportunity.
03:31 You know, you don't get to come free on blitzes too many times,
03:33 so when I did come free, you know,
03:36 I wanted to make the most of it.
03:37 So you thought ball first, then shot?
03:39 Yeah, yes, sir.
03:41 Did you see anything on tape
03:45 that indicated he was loose with the ball
03:47 or there was the ability to knock the ball out
03:49 when he was in the pocket,
03:50 or was that just something you saw at that moment
03:52 and took the opportunity?
03:54 Yeah, it was really just something I seen at that moment.
03:56 We knew that they would give us chances
03:58 to take the ball away, though, so.
04:00 It's pretty rare.
04:02 This defense has only forced a couple fumbles this year,
04:04 and that was a big one.
04:06 Yeah.
04:07 I hate to ask this, but you've got four college
04:14 regular season games left.
04:16 Have you thought about that
04:18 and how quickly it's going
04:20 and appreciating the moments as they come?
04:23 Yeah, I definitely --
04:24 I try not to think about it too much.
04:26 I try to take it one day at a time,
04:27 but, yeah, I definitely know my time in college is running out,
04:29 so I just try to make the most of the opportunities
04:32 that I am getting now.
04:34 Earlier in your career, if you had that opportunity
04:36 to get a blind shot on a quarterback
04:38 that you're chasing all day, would you have taken the hit
04:41 as opposed to knocking the ball out first earlier in your career
04:44 and saying, "Man, I get a chance to whack him good"?
04:47 Or is -- What I'm getting at is just a more older,
04:50 mature Lee Koba now?
04:52 Yeah, yeah, definitely.
04:54 I just say just through experience
04:55 and just knowing the predicament the team was in,
04:57 just knowing we needed the ball, so, yeah, just going for the ball.
05:00 Yeah.
05:02 I'm sure it seems when you make a bad play, when you mess up,
05:05 they show the film 37 times.
05:07 Yeah, definitely.
05:09 How about when you make a play like that?
05:10 Do they give you equal billing on that?
05:13 Yeah, you know, I mean --
05:16 Yeah, I mean, we watch the good plays also, you know.
05:20 We watch the bad plays a lot more,
05:21 but we watch the good plays.
05:24 Yeah, yeah, I watch them at home.
05:26 How many times did the coach run that one back?
05:29 We watched it more.
05:30 I think he probably played like three, four times.
05:32 Three, four times.
05:33 When you miss a gap, it's 37 times like he said?
05:34 Yeah, yeah.
05:36 How much you watched of BYU?
05:41 What do you know of them?
05:42 Anything yet?
05:44 I haven't watched too much film on them yet.
05:46 Still early in the week.
05:48 I watched a little bit of them.
05:50 You know, they won an outside zone team.
05:52 They won a run stretch.
05:54 And they won a run stretch.
05:59 Apparently, you know, just do things off of that.
06:01 So we got to stop the outside zone first.
06:05 What's it like, you know, common in college football now?
06:09 You're going to play a quarterback who you know,
06:11 but in a completely different situation.
06:14 Yeah.
06:15 I mean, is there anything, I guess even just his
06:17 physical traits, is there anything you can take
06:19 from, you know, playing him last year?
06:21 I mean, yeah, sort of, kind of.
06:26 I mean, he's in a different scheme now.
06:29 So, you know, just going based off what the offense does
06:34 and how they try to set him up for him to make plays
06:38 and things like that.
06:39 What do you remember from last year defending?
06:43 Last year, I really just remember, you know,
06:44 just the style of offense that Pitt ran last year
06:47 was more so just run the ball, run the ball,
06:49 and try to, you know, get a big play off of that,
06:51 like play action or whatever that is and things like that.
06:55 Is there any sense of -- he's on a new team now,
06:58 but is there any sense of extra motivation
07:00 playing him again just off of --
07:02 Pitt did beat you last year with MSQB
07:04 and then kind of what he said, pregame,
07:06 Louisville, West Virginia and all that.
07:07 Is that anything in your mind?
07:11 I mean, yeah, I guess so.
07:13 I mean, honestly, it's on my mind
07:16 because, you know, we have opportunity --
07:20 we have opportunity to finish out the season,
07:22 you know, in the right way.
07:23 So, I mean, it's the next game.
07:24 So, I'm just very excited about that.
07:26 Just getting another opportunity.
07:27 Remember the video? Yeah, I do.
07:28 I do. I mean, yeah. I mean, yeah.
07:30 That's what he's getting at. Yeah, I remember the video.
07:33 Yeah, I do remember the video.
07:37 I mean, people on Twitter tagged me in the video,
07:39 so, I mean, they didn't forget about it, yeah.
07:41 It's a little different than if they had a different QB.
07:43 Yeah. Yeah.
07:46 Okay, Lee, thank you.