Preston Stone & RJ Maryland Recap SMU Mustangs Opening Week Win vs. Nevada, Week 2 vs. HCU

[Music] haven't been in here yet it's cool this whole place is incredible uh what were your first impressions when you guys got to go in the new locker room and walk around here oh it was awesome we're we're so we're so freaking lucky um you know I definitely far away the coolest locker room I've ever seen been a part of and um just huge thank you to everyone who helped made that possible and um you know I think I think we're all just trying to be as grateful as we possibly can because it's really really cool what was it like you know the last time you had been on a football field in competitive setting was coming off that Navy game what was it like finally being out there in a game situation again for you it was a lot of fun you know because uh you get to compete and play quarterback dur you know at practice during camp and throughout the summer but you know once the bullets are alive that competitive fire is just a little bit different and um you know to be honest it felt good to get hit a little bit felt good to get banged around a little bit um and uh being back out there with the guys like there's I was telling coach Woods you know we in our stretch lines and I was just like there's there's nothing like it and there's nothing that even comes close to it so um got to thank God for letting me to be able to come back and and um play the game that I love again and I just feel really blessed after having some time to reflect on the game maybe watch some of it back is anything new kind of jumping out to you maybe that we didn't talk about post game um not not a ton I mean I feel like uh you know like I said after the game I think our o line did a great job you know they kept my jersey clean pretty much the whole night and um you know I think there's there's definitely a couple things that um you know myself receivers kind of the whole offense as a unit that we got to get the same page on get on the same page with but um overall I just I couldn't be more proud of how we how we fought in the second half and I think it's a testament to the Brotherhood that we have the culture that we have that um you know we're not going to give up when adversity hits and I was really proud of the way we handled that a lot of coaches talk about that jump a team takes from game one to game two just how important is it for you guys to clean up some of those things you know going into this one and really feel like you you do take that that step yeah I think um yeah I think you're exactly right you know there's always tends to be a pretty big jump in game one and game two um you know I think I think the biggest thing that's going to take us throughout the whole year is that we've got a lot of guys in the team who really love football so um regardless of if we're beating a team 60 to zero or we have to score with a minute left to win the game you know most almost all these guys are going to show up on Monday and and um be excited to just play football again so um that's that's what I've seen in our past two practices this week that there's a lot of excitement um you know a lot of that might be sparked by about to play our first home game new facility but um more than anything we got a lot of a lot of guys on our team who really love football what was it like for you to use the inh helmet communication in a game setting coach Lashley said he was forgetting to press a button a couple times what was that experience there there was once or twice um where I had to over side coach I can't hear you um but uh no it was really cool it was really cool um you know I think it definitely helps with just Expediting my process you know how I how I look at defenses how I get guys set um helps me make that a little bit faster and um I was I was really thankful for Coach Lashley just his demeanor and the way he communicated to me throughout the game um helped me stay calm and uh helped us finish in the fourth quarter with going into the game knowing you were getting the first two series Kevin was going to come in the next two how did you kind of approach did you approach those first two series any differently and then kind of how did you approach the two Series where he was in where you kind of get to step back on the sideline and and kind of watch before you go back in yeah um you that was a experience that I hadn't really had before um but when I was on the sideline you know my main focus was just trying to pick up anything I might be I might not have been seeing the first two series um but as far as my first two series I was I was going out there I think you guys could tell in the second play I just wanted to cut it loose and rip the ball so um no my my Approach pretty much stayed the same going to the game and um once I came off I was just trying to pick up anything I could uh I know you talk post game about him but RJ Maryland just a guy who can create mismatches like you mentioned you see him one-on-one you know that that's uh going to an opportunity how big is is he as an asset in in that regard huge he's huge um RJ's obviously incredibly talented and I I think you guys got to see that um on top of that talent that He has you know when when we need him and when it's the fourth quarter he's going to step up which there's a lot of really talented Guys across the country but I think there's a small percentage of guys who can really take over a game when you really need a team too and R.J is definitely one of those guys is there a biggest thing that you want to see yourself or or this team uh do on Saturday uh whether differently or build on on last week um you know I think uh we were all really excited to play um that's something that we pride ourselves on regardless of which game we're playing you know we we want to be the most excited team on the field um I think probably the biggest point of emphasis is just being consistent throughout the whole game um you can tell we kind of stalled in the first half from an offensive standpoint um and the second half we got to really you know stack drives and like they're still working on the building a little bit but uh I think the name of the game is consistency for us it's awesome all right see you guys thank you and going lock room what was that like it was great uh just you know finally get to be here after seeing it being built for the past like year and a half this was just awesome just all the people that put in their time and money to get this place built which just great I know you had big games in high school but have you had a game like that where you know kind of fourth quarter game on the line you you made that many big plays uh in high school yeah uh but you know this really my first time in college having a big game like that cuz in high school we a lot of times we' be out by the second quarter playing out South Lake Carol so yeah just being able to play a full full game and just make plays it's awesome what was the experience like for you splitting snaps with Matthew hibner and how do you think that rotation work yeah it's great Matt's a he's a great addition to our team and our tight end room uh it's great to have another tight end that can go in there and the level play says exactly the same and uh yeah it's great to have Matt here coach talked about you know if he's not here you're maybe playing twice as many snaps and who knows if you're able to make some of those plays in the fourth quarter just with that kind of wear and tear how big is that too to feel like you're fresh in the fourth quarter needing that kind of game-winning Drive oh yeah it's it's great um because I know sometimes in the past there's games where I was playing 60 maybe 70 snaps and uh yeah it gets tiring eventually and uh doing that throughout a whole season it can really take a to on your body so yeah just being to play only about 40 snaps it's good for us Preston talked about just the energy going into you know coming off a win and then going into your home opener what are you hoping to accomplish this weekend as a team is there anything in particular that you feel like you want to improve on from last week oh yeah we're just worried about us uh we prepare for every opponent the same and you know um no matter who our opponent is we're going to PR the same way for everybody how big is you know obviously with what's coming last week to kind of fight through some stuff be able to win this week before you kind of go into that 10 game Gauntlet that's that's kind of awaiting you guys oh yeah it's it's good to have that fight early uh so cuz obviously that's not the last time to in this season when it's going to happen uh it's probably going to hit us again quick so yeah just being able to get that out the way and uh it's good and just for you you've kind of I mean you played a ton as a freshman you played a ton last year but you've grown uh both physically and into a really Dependable player just how much pride do you take in the growth that you've made over the last you know two plus years here in this program oh yeah it's great to see myself grow as a player and a person for the past two years uh yeah it's crazy just coming here getting on campus when I was 17 and then to where I am now it's just seeing that growth is awesome else I guess just I know the win was the biggest thing but to to get those ACC accolades you know the the first guy for SMU to get those uh with that conference move oh yeah those those accolades are awesome uh yeah just the the whole team as as a whole you know we've just been able to just you know play great and we got the win so it hardly matters thank you than sergeant [Music]