USF Quotes
Head Coach Willie Taggart
Opening statement:
“What a great win for the Bulls. Wow, big time. Very happy for our players, our
coaches, and everybody that’s been involved with the program. I’m happy for our
fans, this is something they have been waiting on for a long time. I thought this was
one of the best games we played. We pretty much took care of business in all areas
of the game and we needed to do that against a very talented Temple team.”
Is this what you envisioned from the beginning?
“Yeah, winning, going bowling, and all those things. That was something we wanted
from the beginning. When I came here, my goal was to win multiple championships
and win in a first class manner. We’re not there yet, but we are climbing. We always
say climbing is easier than hanging on. Our guys are climbing in the right direction.
This is what we want. This is what we thought it could be here. Again, it is only the
beginning.”
What do you think of the fans storming the field?
“That just shows you it has been a long time coming and they showed us their
appreciation. You would like to get to where you win a lot and they aren’t doing that
all the time. You would like for them to do that when you win championships, but
you appreciate it and you know why it’s that way. Again, they have been waiting a
long time for this. I thought our student section was outstanding. When our student
section is like that it gives us so much more energy. I think it gives us a touchdown
advantage over everybody. It was great but I challenge everybody next week to
bring a friend and watch what happens then.”
Talk about the sequence when you had four possessions and four touchdowns:
“When we go fast, you see those types of things happen. We can score quickly and
have a lot more explosive plays. That’s what happened tonight. I think in the first
half we only had 25 plays, but there was some big time plays for us. I think going fast
really helped us. Then execution, we executed really well tonight. We connected on
that deep ball tonight. I told you guys we are learning from our mistakes. So that
was great to see.”
Marlon Mack mentioned they were blitzing from the outside, which left some room up
the middle, is that something you saw on tape?
“I thought our offensive line just did a great job of blocking, especially when they did
blitz. Usually when they blitz they shift across the line and across the face, so if we
could keep them to the outside it could open some creases. I thought Mack did a
great job of helping set up those blocks and then exploding through when he saw
the whole.”
What is it going to be like watching what happens in the conference?
“We aren’t watching anybody. We only worry about the Bulls. We have to take care
of us. We will take care of us and none of that other stuff matters. We aren’t
watching anybody but Cincinnati now. We will take a look at the tape tomorrow.
Then we will move on to Cincinnati with a very humble approach.”
You guys stood firm in the red zone and held them to field goals tonight, that was huge
right?
“That was big. We came out at halftime and we talked to our guys about how we are
going to stay aggressive. Then we get the ball and fumble on our side of the field.
Again, we could have easily gave in but our guys didn’t. We held them to a field goal.
I thought that was big for our football team. Just watching our guys, you see when
there’s adversity our guys respond with a positive attitude. That’s a sign of a team
that has confidence and a team that’s maturing.”
What is the status of Deadrin Senat?
“He tweaked his knee on Tuesday in practice. He ran around a little yesterday and it
still wasn’t where it needed to be so we decide to keep him out.”
It looked like Rodney Adams shook up his leg, how do you think he is?
“He will be fine. He was smiling and happy afterwards, so he will be fine.”
Can you talk about your seniors and what it means to get them a win like this?
“You’re excited for everyone, but those are the guys that have been here through
some struggles and those are the guys you want to win for. We talked as a football
team at the beginning of the year. Let’s do it for our seniors and let our seniors lead
for the young guys. We are happy for them because they have been through a lot.
They have been through different coaches and tough losses. Now to be bowl eligible,
it’s great. That’s what all those kids envisioned when they came here. Now they get
to leave here on a good note. They helped change the foundation of what we are
trying to build here. They can definitely leave here feeling good about themselves.
They can talk to their kids one day about how they helped turn the USF football
program around.”
Some people are talking about this being one of the best season turnarounds they have
seen, what happened to make this occur?
“We’ve been getting one percent better. That something we talk about each and
every week. That and to focus on the things we can control. We can control our
attitude and work ethic. Our guys have been doing a great job of that. That’s why we
are in the position that we are in. We stuck together and controlled the things that
we can. I remember telling you guys after the Maryland game that we are going to
have a good football team. Now our guys are starting to show that. We beat a good
football team tonight.”
Sophomore RB Marlon Mack
On his emotions:
“I’m excited. I’m ready for the bowl. We just have to keep pushing. We’ve got two
more games in conference. We’re already ready.”
On what he was seeing up the middle:
“Pretty much just a hole right up the middle because they were blitzing on the
outside. My O-line blocked it well and I just followed the hole.”
On the fans rushing the field:
“That was something new for me. All my teammates were talking about how
awesome it was, pulling down the field goals. We had only seen that on TV. So we’re
very excited about that.”
On the chances of winning the division:
“Coach T always tells us think of ourselves as winners and that’s what we’re doing.
Every game we learn. We just keep learning, keep learning, and that’s a good thing
for us.”
On the offensive line:
“We have some tough seniors. Those guys have just been fighting. Every time we
score it’s for them. Those guys have been fighting this whole season. I love those
guys. Without them, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”
On whether this was what he envisioned when he signed with USF:
“This is definitely what I envisioned. Coach T always preached to me ‘Let’s change
it.’ That’s really one of the reasons I came to USF, to make history here.”
On his receiving touchdown:
“I was just praying, hoping that Quinton would see me on the inside. He did, so he
threw it, I caught it, and just ran with it.”
On what has happened since starting 1-3:
“Nothing really happened. Coach T just told us to fight and that’s what we’re doing.
We’re practicing more and executing in practice, and that’s about it.”
Sophomore QB Quinton Flowers
On being bowl eligible and in the hunt for a conference title:
“It feels good. Every week, I’ve been telling the seniors, some guys that have been
here longer than me, they’ve never had a bowl game. That’s something I stress to
them, and I kind of promised them. That’s why I go out there and fight every week,
and keep fighting, even if we’re down, even if I know we’re about to lose, I keep
fighting. That’s what I told those guys, ‘let’s get you a bowl ring, because I know if I
was a senior, I would want it.’”
On the offense clicking:
“(Temple) came here ready to play. With a big team like that, they’ve got a good
offense, good defense. They came out to play and we came out to play. Me and
Marlon Mack in the backfield, the offensive line gave us some lanes to run and we
took it.”
On the fast tempo:
“That’s something we looked at in practice. They’ve played a lot of teams, and
sometimes those teams caught them off guard with tempo, so that was our
advantage, so we used it and came out successful with it.”
On the key to the turnaround in the last month:
“I would say the key to that turnaround is on Sundays in practice, we run. It sounds
kind of crazy but after a Powerade break, we run. You may be like, ‘why are we
running?’ But at the end of the day we are just finishing. Finishing the fourth
quarter, and that’s what that running is for.”
On rebuilding the program:
“It’s just like in high school. I went to a school where they didn’t have too many
playoff (appearances). My junior year we went to the semifinals, and come here and
change it around. That’s something I had in my vision and Coach T had in his vision,
and when I first got here he told me ‘if you want to be that guy, show me you’re that
guy,’ and now I get my chance, so I’m going to keep showing him and show everyone
else.”
Senior center Brynjar Gudmunssson
When did you say to yourself that’s it, it’s done.
“When it was zeros across the board. I’m telling you, I thought it was a dream. I’m just
so happy for all these guys, so proud of my teammates, proud of Marlon. What an
amazing talent and kid.”
Why did you think was a dream?
“Just because we haven’t experienced this, the fact that this is different, we are playing
for something at this time of the year. We are not used to that, the last time we did it was
my true freshman year. I really didn’t know what was going on, I didn’t appreciate it.”
On the fans rushing the field after the game.
“It was literally like a movie, it’s just such an awesome feeling. That’s what your dream
of playing college football, moments like that.”
“They rushed the field and we were all celebrating with our students. We just appreciate
them so much, that student section was packed, it was live, it was bumping and that really
helped us have an edge in this game as well.”
Junior wide receiver Rodney Adams
On his injury toward end of game
“It was just a cramp. It was just a minor cramp.”
On the post-game scene
“It’s something you dream about. You watch those big schools do it every week, and for
us to have a chance to come out and have big victory like that with our fans, it was a big
moment for us.”
On starting at 1-3 and where they are now.
“Some people lost faith, but we stayed together as a team, followed the course. The
people that stood with us, we brought them along with us and look what the outcome is.
We are 6-4, going bowling, that’s what we wanted.”
What was it like in the locker room after the game?
“A lot of dancing. Everybody’s just happy, cheering for each other. It was a great scene.”
On his individual performance:
“I did good. But I left a play on the field. I’m just trying to do my part to help the team
out and I did my part and we got a victory.”
Sophomore corner back Deatrick Nichols
On the fans storming the field.
“It’s a great feeling, but we can’t let that get to our heads, because we have two more
games.”
On his interception
“Aw man, I’m supposed to score. I had to do push-ups on the sideline after that for not
scoring. That’s what I like about my teammates and coaches, just because you make a
good play, you could have made it a great play.”