zo as you look back at the film this past week what were your impressions of what you guys did obviously we we came out with with the win which is always great uh stats stats are never important in my opinion as long as you have a win uh something in that win column but a lot of things to clean up especially early uh we want to get off to a faster start help our defense out a little more they bought throughout the whole game so uh like I said just faster start early have to convert in the red zone and minimize turnovers talk about what Dylan has meant to you um obviously you guys were competing but you have a smile on your face I know he he's helped you a lot um when I talked a couple weeks ago you talked about tody a couple years ago and Dylan's kind of the same way but how have you leaned on Dylan how has he helped you I mean even even in the Charlotte game he was there on the sideline communicating with me when I came off the field I'm asking him what I saw like I said you know Duren fall camp and I'm I'm always reiterate this and tell this story but I'll never say a bad word about the guy we play 18 holes of golf and after you know chest on the ground fixing a flat tire for me so that that's just a testament to you know what a great guy that he is and I'm super appreciative to have somebody like him in my life you know talk about just your confidence and how it has grown now do do you feel more confident now going through a game and and having kind of a slow start figuring it out and finally getting a win obviously I I that definitely eased the nerves a little bit but like I said it didn't feel like I was one for six we were like I said right there knocking out the door uh they had a couple great plays couple batted balls on the shallow I have to hit that pass to OD going away from the scoreboard and then again D lineman pops up uh knocks the ball down so uh just like I said we have to get off to a faster start and I feel like we'll do that this week you kind of took social media by storm in the third quarter uh can you just kind of take yeah that that that flop has been all over the place it got played in class yesterday too so that's that's the first for me but uh I I didn't anticipate it to get that much traction I was just out there having a little bit of fun is it safe to say the CPR worked oh yeah oh yeah Big Joe that's a lifesaver right there he needs somebody like him um kind of piggybacking off Dave's point just what is how does you lean on Dylan during game week a situation like this like how is he helping get you ready to go um for the upcoming opponent like I said that's that's a guy that's a vet that's been through the high that's been through the lows he you know just naturally uh he's seen more football than me older guy has been more experienced with things uh he can see different looks different coverage that I might not see especially you know I think he stands on the other side of the ball from the defensive perspective so just having that eye in the sky then Coach chesne on the sideline and demo somebody like that who who can immediately step in in the line of fire as tremendously helpful and it makes my job easier I'm curious what are your biggest takeaways after breaking down the film specifically what do you think you can clean up I have to clean up my my accuracy short make the easy things easy I had to hit hit that slant OD give Tyler b py a better ball out the back field with the swing he had a tremendous catch with that and you know like I said just get my Playmakers the ball in space we see cam Ross on the reverse you know what they can do with the ball in their hands the dive and catch uh all of that so just make the easy things easy and you made Charlotte jump off sides a couple times one of those times it may have not been called how much do you work on that in terms of getting your Cadence right d Kennedy and how important is that obviously with us not being completely verbal it's a little harder uh you see that in the NFL all the time with the hard counts and stuff like that so really just you know emphasizing the clap and making everything look the same uh you just have to go through the mechanics and practice checking left checking right and you know there I probably got a little greedy just have to be smarter with situational football how important is it for you as a quarterback to like have those moments obviously you know it went viral but to just have fun on the field how much does that help you I mean it feels like Pop Warner football or high school football again you know like my high school coach said you know that that's the probably the most pure time of football and you know just being out there you know having fun with the guys especially going up you know kind of big but in that point you know we're having fun we we we see a victory coming uh we just wanted to seal that off and I think that just that was just pure joy in that moment you know you've talked a lot about how much how long you've waited for this how hard youve worked for it especially after how last year started for you just how do it feel to kind of finally have seized that moment on Saturday and just you know just kind of moving forward just talking again like kind of what Dave was saying the confidence that you now have well you know it's it's never about me I think uh for for that that's just to show anybody else that's been in that position that's been in that situation that hey you know you you can come back from things you know I have a little sister who's going to be a high level athlete major D1 Olympic track athlete so just showing her hey you're going to have those low moments in life you know just to keep pushing keep fighting you know put your faith in God and you crazy things will happen for you what do you think you need to do to make sure you do get that faster start on Saturday like I said just make the easy things easy uh coach Kennedy has tremendous play calls you know coach Chesney and all those guys coach Smith they they scheme it up the whole week we have walkthroughs out the wo 30 page test before the game so just being in tune with all my checks protections and uh just getting those guys the ball I'm curious how did it feel finally playing end game in coach Kennedy's scheme and how excited are you to keep playing in that going forward well first off I was tired I kind of underestimated you know the the toll that it takes on you mentally and uh physically throughout the whole game but it it felt good for sure and it's it's a feeling that I'll take 10 times out of 10 a lot of different guys called a pass during that game on Saturday is that something you like to emphasize do you want do you like to make sure a lot of different receivers and just pass catchers in general are getting the ball like you said uh it's the scheme as well obviously we have uh guys that can go all over the place and like I talked about everybody is a Swiss army knife so when you have Logan Kyle line up at the outside the inside you know George pedway flexing out catching a gold ball you know I think that just happens naturally obviously I want I want everybody you know to feel appreciated and get that love but just within the scheme and the way that this offense works that's going to happen within itself if I do my job coach was talking a little earlier when he was up there just about the message um this week with Gardner Webb coming to town in an FCS opponent how was that message received and what's kind of you all's approach oh yeah uh everybody's you know locked in laser focused uh just you know me personally for my goals that that game it was all right you know 10 for 18 that's 55% I I would love to sit in the 60 plus you know percent range but just as a team we we don't want to come here and get embarrassed uh Garner web is a formidable team they're going to come in here all guns blazing we anticipate that you know but you know we we're a part of the show business so we want to put on the show for our fans what do you see from them defensively on tape very disciplined team linebackers you know they run very downhill aggressive you know you you rarely cut off the tape and don't see at least five plus hats to the ball uh so in that case you know we want to make sure that we're in check with uh you know all my kills alerts protection checks uh they they've shown to the ability to bring the house so just you know being in tune with everything exced to play home oh yeah oh yeah definitely looking for forward to that that's that's the next thing I I have to check off this list Kyrie as you look back at the film what stood out for you uh honestly we're just looking how to write our wrongs from the game we're not really focusing on the good we're just focusing on how to improve and get better from week one and week two were you happy for the most part with with how everything went with the communication and game one can kind of be a whirlwind as you guys are out there for the first time was did everything go pretty smooth for the most part on that side of the football 100% you know uh week one you never know what to expect but at being being in uh college football for a little while you know it can be a lot of commotion left right left right but for the most part I think that we got our communication across to everybody and we played sound Football let's talk about your game leading the team and tackles and being able to do so much we talked a little bit yesterday but were you were you happy with how you played I know you're not satisfied but were you happy with how you played 100% you know you always want to start the season off with a bang and to lead the team in tackles is just a blessing and it's just showing that my work is finally I'm I'm finally starting to get the fruits of my labor so that's really really it it's been a long time coming for you to put on the purple and gold and you're committed in high school then you finally get to what does it mean to finally you know play for JMU and then looking ahead to this week what does it mean to play here well playing for JMU is a it's a beautiful thing it's a blessing coming uh coming into such like a uh a great foundation and it's a great culture great environment um I was just happy to get the week one win and make sure that we do what we got to do for the fans and for the community and just to uphold our our part of the bargain coach hfield died up some pretty good blitzes but what do you think y'all can do a little bit of better job uh generating pressure with just the fourman rush um we're we're good fourman thre man if we want to bring six however coach him draws it up we'll get home so we just got to keep working and keep executing ex x's and those and we'll be good from there what was it like seeing your guy Chris Fitzgerald coming down with that pick I was super excited you would have thought I caught the pick like the first thing right after he caught the pick was like let's block let's let's block let's block to make sure my my guy gets to uh gets to the crib because we were just talking about it like two weeks ago like Chris if you get the ball just know like don't pitch it back keep it pushing and we're going to make this line for you like we're going to get you to the crib he didn't get to the crib but I'm happy that my boy got that pick I'm super ecstatic for him what adjustments were you guys able to make um because you gave up the one touchdown and then just to shut him out the rest of the way um what did what kind of changed for you all uh it was no change it was more so just buckle down and just hold down the offense you know we told them like just keep keep on keep it on and we got you guys back cuz like this football the game could flip and they got to have our back at a time so we just had to make sure that we back them up and it was it felt good to like stop him holding to one touchdown uh we just got to keep building from that honestly like as a defense we're all excited and we're happy for week one but now we just got to focus on week two I know you were just talking about like the culture and the foundation late here at JMU how would you compare and contrast the culture like here compared to uh your previous stop at Colorado um it's just different you know it's it's very different Colorado we brought in probably like 75 almost 80 transfers here is not as many transfers and the whole building hasn't changed I mean it's just a big difference on honestly but I would have to say like yeah just two it's two two different things Colorado's brand new and this is a little bit more established you know I asked coach earlier because of his experience um being an FCS coach what he kind of thought about being on the inverse of an FCS and FPS matchup and seeing that you started your career at uh Maine if I remember correctly um talk just talk a little bit about kind of what are your thoughts you know and just making sure you know you're are you gonna remember not to underestimate guarding your web because FCS well you treat every opponent the same um and I know what it's like coming from a FCS like they got a lot they got a chip on their shoulders so they wouldn't show the world or show everybody that they're able to play FBS and it's not a big fall off so just got to prepare the same for everybody and keep that FCS mindset because if you keep that mindset with these resources you you'll be golden you have some experience playing here but with Maine on the other sideline so how excited are you to kind of just get out here on Saturday and play in in the purple and gold for the JMU fans at home I'm very excited honestly I heard it sold out and I just can't wait to see what it's like to be on the opposite side of that to be on the winning side of that so I just can't wait to wait I can't wait to get to Saturday honestly what is coach hfo really trying to lay in in the works for this weekend what do you see from Garder Web on tape uh from Gardner web uh they're a well coached team for sure they run a little bit of two back which is a little bit of old school compared to the offensive offensives now but um that they go empty it's a few things that we broke down I wouldn't say we're 100% there yet but we're still building and game planning coming from the Northeast and you know the staff was up there at Holy Cross were you pretty familiar with them did they recruit you coming out of high school when they were at Holy Cross or how how did you kind of end up getting to know them so my my running back from high school Jordan Forest he committed to Holy Cross played for coach chesne for four to five years um and I know coach Chesney like I did my homework he's he's done nothing but one so that that really intrigued me to come here and just through um our mutual friend or his his uh player my teammate Jordan Forest he told me nothing but good things and that really he spoke about Coach chzn as a person and him being personable before even talking about him being a coach and that uh that spoke volumes to me I'm I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say was kind of it's been a big adjustment between your stops kind of going from Maine to Boulder and now you're in Harrisonburg of all places you know just talk a little bit about just kind of like you know having to adapt to so many different places around the country um I guess that's what college is really about like not all the traveling and moving place to place but really just knowing how to adapt being in different environments and seeing how you react and seeing like all right this works for me this doesn't and I like living here I'm not the most fond of to live in here and honestly it was just all a beautiful blessing like my whole journey I wouldn't traded for anything so it's different living here in the South and I didn't know it gets this cold this early but uh but it is it's been a it's been a blast