Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]
00:06 >> For both of you, obviously, well, for both of you, obviously,
00:09 that was a huge accomplishment you guys had down in Miami.
00:12 But is it difficult to get that now out of your mindset to focus on such
00:16 a big game coming up?
00:17 >> Yeah, it was a big accomplishment for us to go down there and make history.
00:23 It was a big thing for us, accomplishing one of our goals for the season.
00:26 But I think with this coaching staff, with Coach Braun,
00:30 has done a really good job of instilling in us this one game season.
00:33 And just being able to kind of restart our focus after we get back on campus or
00:38 after the game is over.
00:39 So we celebrated it, and we're really happy about the game.
00:45 But I think we've already kind of turned the page and
00:47 really have all our focus on this next game.
00:50 >> Yeah, I agree with Brian.
00:52 Coach Braun talked about one game mindset.
00:54 So that game was just big, just for the history of Louisville football.
00:58 But now we gotta turn the page and continue to keep building off our win, and
01:05 get this next one, the biggest one.
01:06 >> Quincy, I keep hearing people talk about how you're a lockdown corner and
01:11 they never throw your way.
01:13 But you do lead the team in past breakups, so
01:15 they're throwing your way a little bit.
01:17 Are you just making the most of your opportunities, or what?
01:19 >> Yes, I've tried to make the most of my opportunities with the very few I get.
01:25 But that just comes with preparation.
01:27 Go to the other team, whenever they're blocked on your way, just make the play.
01:30 >> Obviously, Brian, growing up here, I guess,
01:34 where did you kind of stand on the Governor's Cup rivalry?
01:39 And then Quincy, how much did you kind of learn about it after coming here?
01:42 >> Yeah, growing up here, I'm from Georgetown, which is maybe 15,
01:48 20 minutes away from Lexington, right in the backyard of Kentucky.
01:52 So grew up going to Kentucky games and things like that.
01:56 I would say most of my family, friends are Kentucky fans.
02:00 I wouldn't say that I was either way growing up.
02:03 But both of my older sisters,
02:06 they both came to the University of Louisville and were athletes here.
02:11 And so I understood this rivalry.
02:14 And it is very personal to me just growing up in the state and
02:19 being from so close to Lexington.
02:21 So but I would say growing up I was either way, but I learned pretty quick,
02:26 especially when my sisters came to the University of Louisville,
02:30 kind of to the degree of what this rivalry means to the city.
02:36 >> Me personally, I learned very quickly, being miles away, hours away.
02:43 I ain't know nothing about Kentucky and Louisville football.
02:45 But when I got here, you could be 9-0 or 1-9.
02:49 But you win that game, you did something big.
02:51 So they take it real, that's like championship game to the fans.
02:55 >> Yeah, I think you were here two years ago.
02:59 The game was pretty ugly.
03:01 They won, as they have a number of times, pretty decisively.
03:05 A lot of Ls down at the end of the game, it was mainly Kentucky fans in the stadium.
03:09 Does that stick with you?
03:11 Did it motivate you at all?
03:12 Or how do you deal with it?
03:13 Or do you just forget about it?
03:15 >> No, absolutely.
03:17 Like you said, they won the past few games and credit to them and
03:20 the job that they've done in this game.
03:23 But just talking individually, that does stick with me.
03:27 I do keep that in the back of my mind, as I think anyone should or could.
03:33 But and like I said, with me, it's a little bit different than some people on
03:38 the team.
03:39 We all understand the rivalry, no matter where you're from,
03:41 just being a part of this program.
03:42 But me just being from the state and being so close to them.
03:48 Like I said, most of my friends back from back home are UK fans and
03:52 that kind of thing.
03:54 But that does stick with us, but we're focused on this game.
03:58 And whatever happened in previous years doesn't really matter right now.
04:02 >> Brian, how much tape have you watched of Kentucky?
04:07 You watched a good amount, right?
04:09 >> Yeah, pretty good amount, yeah.
04:10 >> Does Walker kind of jump off the tape if they get a little bit of line?
04:14 >> Definitely, yeah, he's a good, they have a lot of good players on their
04:17 defense, he's definitely one of them.
04:19 And he's done a really good job this season.
04:21 So for all of us on the offensive line, it's gonna be a challenge for
04:24 us to put out our best game against them and see what we can do.
04:29 [BLANK_AUDIO]
04:39 >> Even though Devin is new to Kentucky,
04:44 obviously you guys have played him before last year at NC State.
04:47 I guess, what do you remember about him and
04:49 how does that kind of help you guys in this game?
04:51 >> Just remembering him last year, he's a good quarterback.
04:57 No matter what teams you're gonna be on, he made good plays, he made bad plays.
05:01 Just in the new system, so he's fairly new to it, but
05:07 I feel like he's a smart guy, we just gotta adjust to him.
05:11 And I don't think it's no biggie though, I think we can handle him,
05:14 just keep watching our film on him, keep doing what we do, day in, day out.
05:17 >> Question for both of you guys, obviously a huge, emotionally charged game,
05:23 and you guys seem to know the magnitude of it all.
05:26 How do you go about balancing that with trying to stay emotionally grounded and
05:30 not let emotions take over during the game, before the game, and
05:34 all that, just keeping level?
05:35 >> Yeah, it's definitely a balancing act for games like this, but
05:41 just put credit back on the coaches and Coach Baum and his coaching staff.
05:45 They've done a really good job all season of making sure we're grounded and
05:49 making sure our priorities are straight going into each game.
05:52 So I have no doubts in my mind that they're gonna do the same with this game,
05:56 even though it does mean a lot more than some of the other games maybe.
06:01 But yeah, I mean, it's just going into the game, we gotta focus on us and
06:06 everybody doing our job so we can come out on top.
06:08 >> I agree with what you're saying, but also,
06:11 like Coach Englund always tells us, play with passion, not with ego.
06:17 So don't let your ego get too big, where you get in line with the team,
06:22 the cost of the game, or something like that.
06:24 But that just fuels us to just play harder for real,
06:27 just knowing how big the game is, and come out there with a passion to win.
06:31 >> You guys are 10-1 going to the ACC Championship game,
06:37 you're gonna go to a good bowl game.
06:38 Very few people in this room or outside your locker room expected that.
06:44 When were you guys convinced that this was a team that could do something like this?
06:50 >> Yeah, I really saw this team, I saw a change in this team not too long after
06:57 Coach Brown and the staff got here in the spring.
07:00 We also have a lot of new guys on this team this year,
07:03 a lot of transfers, some freshmen too, so that played a lot.
07:07 So it did take a little bit of time for us to kind of mesh together, but
07:09 once we did, we knew it was gonna be a special season.
07:13 And so credit to Coach Brown, credit to all the players, and
07:17 the whole coaching staff, I think they've done a really good job once again with
07:21 making sure we all have that bond as a team, as units,
07:25 on offense, defense, and specialists.
07:27 And we just go out every week and play together and
07:31 play with that passion to win, like Quincy said.
07:33 So I would say pretty early on we knew that we could be special.
07:38 >> I say I caught a glimpse of it in the spring, sitting back watching.
07:43 Didn't know I wasn't a part of the spring, but
07:45 just sitting back watching the team work and everything.
07:48 It's like sometime in the spring when I see the offense go against our defense,
07:52 I'm like, it's different.
07:54 I've had a lot of stuff to them.
07:56 And then when I defend, like I said, we got a lot of players on our defense.
08:01 It's not really not one just started.
08:03 When it started going down, the net first, there's no drop off.
08:06 So I knew, okay, we've got to be something special.
08:08 I never knew we were gonna be 10-1, but I knew we were gonna be a real good team.
08:12 >> For both of you, how does your perspective on Thanksgiving and
08:18 Thanksgiving week change from when you're a kid growing up and maybe with family?
08:22 And then you get here and you don't see your family at all.
08:24 You have a game, a big game coming up, but is it kind of like a bonding experience too?
08:29 You maybe go to the coach's house or spend some more time with teammates?
08:32 >> Yeah, since I've been in Colorado,
08:37 I never got to eat Thanksgiving with my family.
08:40 So but as you keep being in college, being around your teammates, coaches,
08:45 everything, they make you feel like family away from home.
08:48 So I don't think you're missing just the flavor of the food, I can say.
08:52 But it's a bonding experience, getting to know different coaches and
08:58 stuff, just being around them during this time, knowing that you're missing your
09:01 family, so they try to be real affectionate towards you so you won't be homesick.
09:10 >> Yeah, just to echo what he said, with me also growing up and
09:17 changing into college, I've been, this will be four years going on five that I
09:21 won't be able to see my family on Thanksgiving, which is tough.
09:25 But I think it is a real bonding experience for us as a team.
09:30 Like he said, we spend every day together, most of every day together.
09:33 So we have that, it definitely is a family here on this team.
09:39 So it does make up for it a little bit, being able to go to coaches' houses and
09:43 spend the time Thanksgiving with all the people that we spend every day with
09:49 anyway, so.
09:49 >> Brian, do you have any more acting jobs, Brian?
09:52 >> [LAUGH] >> Not at the moment, no.
09:55 >> [LAUGH] >> Brian,
09:57 how would you assess the performance of the offensive line this year and
10:01 the offense overall?
10:03 >> Yeah, I think we've done a really good job talking on the offensive line.
10:09 At the beginning of the year, we had a lot of new guys, so
10:12 there was a little bit of a transition, affirmation period with some of them.
10:18 But they came in and we welcomed everybody.
10:22 We also have a lot of veterans, so
10:25 that experience I think helped us out a lot early on.
10:29 But Coach Owens and Coach Bishop have done a really good job with us, and
10:33 just helping us understand what we need to do and how we need to be,
10:37 how we need to take the field.
10:38 And just kind of the bond in that room that we have really,
10:42 I think, has reflected with our play on the field.
10:44 And we've also had some of the younger guys and
10:47 guys that haven't played as much in previous years step up with some injuries
10:50 and things like that.
10:51 So I'm just really proud of everybody in that room and proud to be a part of it.
10:56 And as an offense, I think we have a lot of playmakers and
11:00 yeah, we've dealt with some injuries.
11:02 But just like Quincy said, when somebody goes down,
11:04 we have a lot of other good players in the room that can step up and
11:07 we don't miss a beat.
11:07 So that's just a credit to the kind of guys we have on this offense and
11:11 on this team.
11:12 >> Last one, next up.
11:14 >> For both of you guys, obviously there's still a lot to play for
11:16 with the Governor's Cup, ACC Championship, presumably in the New Year's Six Ball.
11:20 But with what you have been able to accomplish,
11:22 have you guys been able to kind of soak that up or
11:24 really kind of reflect on what you've been able to do this season with in the only
11:28 seventh program, the program's seventh 10-win season and
11:30 going to ACC Championship for the first time?
11:32 >> Yeah, we soak it up.
11:34 But we always say it's one game at a time.
11:37 We accomplished a lot, but we still got more to accomplish for real.
11:40 So we just take it one game at a time and just say, we're congratulating ourselves,
11:44 cuz it's hard to win.
11:46 So after the win, we see what we messed up on and get back to the next one so
11:51 we can win again.
11:52 So I would say, yeah, we soaked it up, but then we let it go so we can win the next one.
11:56 >> Yeah, I think the biggest thing that we've done, and
12:00 I've seen most of this team do, is just the ability to stay in the moment.
12:04 And we've had a lot of big wins and a lot of success this year.
12:09 But like he said, we will celebrate it for a short period of time.
12:13 And then we turn the page and go right to the next one.
12:15 Because like he said, it's hard to win in college football.
12:19 So we have to go into the next week and prepare, just like it's week one.
12:24 Like that game determines our whole season, which oftentimes it does.
12:28 So just being able to stay in the moment and
12:32 give everything you got that week to go out and
12:34 have your best performance of your career, just like Coach Bum says.
12:38 >> All right, thank you.