Nov. 23, 2013
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GEORGIA TECH HEAD COACH Paul Johnson
Opening Statement
“It was a different kind of game. We clearly had control of the game fairly quickly in the first half and we wanted to finish the first half. In the second half we tried to play everybody who had any eligibility. For the most part, they played the whole second half. There were some positions that we didn’t have enough guys to get all the way down in the depth. We barely had two offensive lines. At corner we only had one extra because Lynn Griffin was sick. But everywhere else we went about as deep as we could go. I don’t know how much you can tell about a game like that. Early on we came out of the gate fairly well and we tried to execute what we were doing. Then as the game wore on in the second half we were just trying to make sure that we didn’t lose anybody for next week.”
Were you able to rest some players in preparation for next week?
“Some of the guys that were beat up a little bit. They could have played probably. But it was good to get Jemea, Jeremiah, and the other guys on defense. And the same way offensively, we got those offensive linemen out early. Justin Thomas got a little bit of work. I would have liked for him to get some more live reps, but the way the game was going there was no use for that especially with the other guys that we were going to put in. It’s a good win, but now we get ready for next week.”
What did you think of Quayshawn Nealy’s and Tyler Marcordes’ play?
“I think Tyler’s played really well all year. He’s been our best player on special teams all year and made a lot of plays. When he’s had a chance to get in the game, he’s done well. He made some plays early, but he’s another guy who didn’t play after the first half. Quayshawn’s made some good plays all year. When the first team defense was out there, I don’t think they gave up a first down.”
What did you think of the teams’ total performance this afternoon?
“I think that all you can do on defense is not give up any first downs and on offense score every time you get it. It’d be hard to do any better than that. I suppose there are always some things to improve on. We missed on read in the first quarter and we missed a call on a pass route that should have been a rub situation, but we didn’t get it. Other than that, I’m sure there are a couple of guys who didn’t do as well as we liked on every play. But until you watch the tape, it’s hard to gauge that.”
On Broderick Snoddy’s play
“I thought he did okay. He was tentative at first. He’s got to learn that every play is not a touchdown and you’ve just got to run up in there. He’s been working hard in practice and it was good to get him some time out there.”
How much were you thinking about Georgia this week?
“We worked this week on ourselves. We worked a lot on the primary stuff and Alabama A&M. We really didn’t get into Georgia this week. I’m a firm believer that you don’t do that. You send the wrong message to your team if you do that. We’ve got ample time and it’s not like we haven’t played each other. We’ve got ample time to get ready.”
Do you have any preliminary thoughts on the Georgia game?
“It’s a big game and one that we haven’t played particularly well the last couple of years. We need to play better.”
ALABAMA A&M HEAD COACH ANTHONY JONES
Opening Remarks
“It was kind of what we thought. They have a good football team. We came out and played as hard as we could, but they jumped on us really fast at the beginning. We knew their offensive attack would be hard to defend. You have to be disciplined, and we made a few mistakes on it. We didn’t get our offense going at the early outset. Again, they’re a very good football team, very good.”
On starting Terrance Pride at QB on the opening series
“Everybody calls it that (wildcat package). Terrance was not the starting quarterback. He was a guy who gave us some more options as far as running the football was concerned. He’s not a quarterback, so Jaymeson was the starting quarterback. We decided to go with what everybody calls the wildcat set, but we call it z little different, being the Bulldogs.”
Your team competed hard throughout, getting the late touchdown
“We’ve done that all year. We’ve been a little limited due to injuries. We started off that way. The injury bug kind of hurt us all season, all positions, even on special teams. But our guys fought hard. We played 12 football games, and we played 60 minutes of football in every one. We knew our guys would come in here and play hard. We just didn’t know how we could compete at this level, but we played hard for 60 minutes.”
Thoughts on the season being over
“It wasn’t the year that we wanted, being 4-8, but we showed some promising signs toward the end of the season. We won two ball games toward the end of the year against two good football teams. We knew we would have some growing pains due to the number of seniors we lost. A lot of these guys that played this year grew up. We’ll have opportunities next year to be a much, much better football team. We’ll have more experience, particularly on the offensive line and at quarterback. So we’ll be a much better football team next year.”
GEORGIA TECH PLAYERS
Justin Thomas R-FR QB #5
On his play
“I was just out there trying to get into a groove, make sure I got my reads down, and get comfortable with the guys out there on the field. I felt like it went well today, everybody played well and everyone did what they were supposed to do to win. It was nothing new, just going out there and making sure we execute our plays. Going forward we have to do that for the two games we have left.”
Robert Godhigh R-SR AB #25
On Tech’s roster participation
“It’s definitely fun. Everybody works hard during the week in practice and the whole season. To see everybody get a chance to go out and play in front of all the fans out there was fun to watch and see people make plays.”
Broderick Snoddy R-SO BB #22
On building off his performance today
“Hopefully I should be able to build on it. Staying healthy makes a difference so staying healthy along with team chemistry with the o-line and quarterback should make a big difference.”
Tyler Marcordes R-SO LB #35
On his growth this season
“I’ve had a big role on special teams this year and I feel like that’s helped me for playing in the game on defense.”
David Sims R-SR BB #20
On leading Tech in preparing for next week
“Just trying to make sure we get some of the younger guys focused on doing heir job. I understand it’s a rivalry and you’re going to have emotions, distractions, them talking, certain things in the media, but we just need to focus on ourselves. If we can focus on ourselves and make sure that we come out ready to play, I think we have a good chance of winning this game.”
Will Jackson R-SR OL #52
On playing Georgia
“We don’t listen to the noise. That’s cliché but for the most part we don’t listen to what people say. Two years ago against Clemson there probably weren’t many people that thought we were going to win that game and when we beat them (Georgia) in 2008 I’m sure nobody was picking us. It’s all about what the guys in the locker room and the coaches think.”
Ben Keith R-SR OL #67
On staying as a walk-on at Tech
“Well you know quitting would have been the easy way out. I’ve never quit anything in my life that I can think of. I care about this team more than anything. I wanted to see this all the way through and I wanted to do this as along as they let me. It was an easy decision to come back.”
