JMU Football | Postgame Press Conference at Charlotte with Players

well I remember asked you what would it mean to be the starter just a couple weeks ago and you're like you don't get second chance as often in life what did it mean to get this second chance I mean all glory goes to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ like I said you don't get Second Chances twice and you know what I was going to do out here was maximize it you know have fun you know adap with my teammates embrace it all and like coach said you know the most together team is going to win and I believe we showed that you know defense had our backs and the uh first half told him going in hey we got y'all in the second half and and we did that just a little bit but you know we have to capitalize earlier and that starts with me I'm sure there's some people seeing the start of this offense going oh no here we go again opening night what did you do to stay composed in that moment I I had confidence in my guys you know like I said I came off the sil each time hey we're behind you no matter what defensive guys offensive guys you know that continued to build my confidence I was seeing it uh they had a couple great plays uh tip the ball another dine and pot you know going into the Red Zone going away from the scoreboard but I threw one over od's head and I was just like okay I'm seeing it just time to you know relax calm down and keep playing what's it like with his coaching staff was talking about how they just said you just need to calm down and everything will work out what's it like to have that support behind you from now I mean that's that's tremendous uh like I said you don't get Second Chances twice you know for me I guess to start the game one for six you know I Tred not to you know count how many incompletions I had earlier completions but they just kept putting the ball in my hands I saw them just keep putting the ball in my hands I'm I'm going to get it right and they believed in me 110% and uh we came out with the victory talk about cam Ross he was kind of like a guy you were really hitting l in the first half did he kind of help you get into Groove yeah and when you have reliable guys like that that can make plays in space my job is easy you know obviously we saw outside leverage uh cam Ross you know I was going to keep coming back to him I have to give him better footballs for him to stay up and keep running CU we see him OD all those guys are dangerous in the yak game after that interception um with vur is that a play where you're like all right we're going to go for a shot play right here is pedway the number one target there is that is that is that how you Dre up the plays I yeah we we we saw some things going into film and they showed it a couple times uh early in the game that was another alert that we had uh so it was just managing an alert uh just gave my guy a chance George made a tremendous play seemed like second half offense really just caught its Groove and I mean for you with with kind of the challenge you've had to be able to get back to this spot how enjoyable was it for you to kind of enjoy the fruits of your labor to be able to celebrate and run up of a b it it was cool like I said the defense they had our back the whole game uh shout shout out for them uh we had to do better coming out next week against a gardner web team and then going into a b week so I think that will be crucial you know for the for the flight of this season I'm curious how the helmet helmet communication went with with Coach Kennedy what was he kind of saying to you throughout the game and how you think that went overall yeah I I love that you know obviously when I get the play it cuts off at 16 seconds or just snap of the ball but you know we can just detail little things little checks and alerts and kills that you know can make a difference within the game is there anything you also saw on the the sideline with the tablet yeah oh yeah that tablet was a tremendous help after coming off on the sideline we went through each play detail what I did what could have happened and anticipate what the next call was going to be I just kind of wanted to ask like how big of a jump is it for your confidence to have so many exclusive plays you had pass yeah I mean that's tremendous like I said when you get the uh ball in those Playmakers hands it makes my job easy cuz they're dangerous so uh you know I just had to get the ball in their hands like I keep saying and it made my job super easy what have been mean to do this in your home state oh man that that was that was pretty cool you know obviously like I said a lot of familiar faces had a pretty good amount of family and friends that came out and you know National TV Blas Blas but you know just trying to stay levelheaded and keep going keep going how excited are you to have the opportunity to do this at home next week in front of the home fans oh man that's that's going to be amazing I know it's going to be sold out packed rocking I'm I'm getting Goosebumps right now just thinking about it being back there but obviously I I have some stuff to you know fix up uh watch film get better and get ready for next week is there just a different kind of trust between those coaching staff and the players this year like just to kind of play through some things and play more guys even give more guys opportunities I mean obviously uh I got I'm not trying to put you on SP but yeah but this coaching staff is amazing you know uh like I said they have full trust and complete confidence in us you know after that pick you know I detailed it out talked about it with Coach Kennedy coach ches and uh yeah yeah there I love the staff we talked the other week at media day you said that you you can't ask for the hurdles to be removed you just need the strength to get over them so how does it feel to kind of get over that hurdle you have your first touchdown pass and you complete your first start and really kind of lead this team to a win tired but you know well worth it all glory to God I I'm I'm truly blessed extremely grateful and humble to you know even get this opportunity like I said no matter the high no matter the lows just keep steady keep going you know guys had confidence in me it boosted the confidence in myself and I I knew I had to you know pay the reward for the defense for you know playing hard that first half that's for one specifically where do you think you can improve on the most from this game uh just consistency accuracy trying to you know find those different arm angles or whatever so the balls don't get tipped or batted you know maneuvering like I said to get those Playmakers the ball in space just start with the big play there and the two plays into the second half but the connection with zel um it felt great uh we you know we practi that play all week so I feel like once we called it we just had to call it at a great time of the game soon as we called it we already knew the result of and I scored even though he was hanging on to me I still scored it do you feel like the offense started to find a rhythm there like with the pedway touchdown there at the end of the first half and did that kind of give confidence going into the second half yeah no it really did give confidence to us but you know like going into the second half coming out of halftime we taught oursel it still Zer Z even though we was up on them we told him it was 0 so we just said let the game be z z we just fight like it's the first quarter like the beginning of the game and that's what we did after what Alonzo went through last year what was it like seeing him today kind of settle into that and lead you guys this win you know I'm glad he like came through this year and this whole season right well this whole offseason I'm just glad he built his confidence and the chemistry with the receivers tight ends running backs o line I'm glad he just built that and as the day as the days goes like he just keep on going he talks to us about everything everything he sees and all that extra stuff yeah you already double your catches from last year like how big does this game feel for your confidence to have you know a bigger kickoff um you know last year I didn't have all that all that confidence but this year I just feel like I'm more determined this year you know it's my last year so I have to do what I got to do and my confidence has grew a lot you know it's only the first game so you know we still got a lot of games to go this year so I'm just looking to just build off of this game and just keep going do you feel you can kind of Step Up and not just be the guy who catches the the 40 or 50 yard pass once a game but actually be a guy that the QB could rely on for four or five catches a game yeah you know as the week goes on you know every day we practice so I mean we're going to see film we going to watch film and as we watch film you know I'm just I'm just looking to talk to zo and see what he want to see on the field and whatever he want to see I do and then that's what the result go through I also got to ask the touchdown celebration a a little bit about what go what goes into that I'm just curious like what kind of started that for you see to be honest like I was looking at touchdown celebration this this this whole in the Hotel this week cuz I already knew I was going to score this week so you know I just I was just looking for a touch on celebration to do so I just had to bring something out you think it's going to going to gain some traction with some others hopefully hopefully I'll bring out some more celebrations that's one thing you know what's your typical like go-to defin celebrations do you go on YouTube Do Is it is it like a Wiki how or is there a certain player you're just looking up highlights on for this really yeah I just look up highlights and then I see them score and whatever they do I try to mix it in with my touchdown celebration and you know that's what that's that's where they go how does it feel to just start the season off with a win that you guys kind of had to grind through the first half and then come out and then extend that lead um it feels great you know every break every breakdown that we do we always say one and0 so now that we one and0 we going every break now it's going to be two and 0 so that's we just keep going and keep going asked y'all this in the beginning of camp but now that you've got a game under your belt like how do you feel that coach Kennedy sort of caters to y'all's skill set and how do you think his play calling wouldn't kind of fit with what y'all's game plan is today his play calling went good you know in the first half I just feel like you know in the red zone we just had we just stuck up in the red zone to be honest we should have put more points up on the board than what we did but you know it's the first game so we still got stuff to build on next week we're going to come out even stronger and the week after that we're going to come out even stronger well take us through that big the big play of the night man it was amazing I saw the ball in the air and I was like man it's coming to me you know caught it and I was too tired to go run felt somebody hop on my back so I just had to get down with it and make sure I ain't fbl but it was amazing first one that was your I was going to ask first one man first one so it was amazing did you if was it instance take it over were you like oh my gosh what is the ball doing coming I was like yo was coming towards me like it was just amazing and I just you know what I mean I just I'm happy that I got down with it and I we we came up with the ball was it cherry on top when zo hits pedway there on the uing play man that was see them make a touchdown I was like you know a breath of fresh air so it was amazing seeing them connect and get the touchdowns did you go up to Georgia after and like you know that be like hey I was a little too tired I was out there trying to catch my breath but I you know what I mean I'm happy that those boy got I'm going when we get back on the bus I'm going be like man good job so you know what I mean so it was amazing seeing that what did Coach Daniels what was his message to the defensive line after the game how up how think did like he always say we got that junk yard mentality so we just go out there we G no matter where we at no matter the conditions we going to go out there we going to play our hard hard out coach JY said during prep week that he was actually testing you guys a little bit by giving us some Charlotte schemes without saying what they were how how important was that how prepared did you feel kind of having those reps earlier not knowing that it was actually Charlotte yeah I mean it felt amazing you know they do um pushes hard in practice so to come out here and it's it's easy to play you know what I mean and it's just amazing they um they had the old lineman talk stuff to us do stuff after the plays but it get us ready for game game situations like this and it was just amazing to have that all right so uh National TV people found out what your nickname was uh what do you want to say to your Aunt Angela who gave you that nickname I messed up and I told him what my nickname was now they gonna be saying it forever so shout out to the fam shout out to my Angie and I love y'all back at home well what do what defensively adjustments you guys make after that touchdown they had where you able to shut them out yeah um you know really just trying to keep us keep them in front of us um you know we didn't play much of that pressure anymore uh we didn't run that we didn't like it um but yeah I mean people are going to score you just have to find a way to bounce back and I thought we did a very good job that coach chest said uh earlier during prep week that he was actually testing the defense giving some steams that not saying that it was Charlotte so in that game was there kind of a few moments it's like hey like we've actually really gone over this quite a bit like and you feeling a little comfortable on the defensive side oh yeah no doubt I mean we had a great game plan going in and you know sometimes during the week he gave us something from you know Maryland of 2022 just one random play and we had to go through it um but yeah he did a great job at you know giving us the hard stuff so when we came out here today it was very easy for us you guys kept them scoreless in the second half and a lot of that had to do with the tackle that you made writing him down talk about that effort and just being able to catch up and get him down I mean yeah um coach AO you know he stresses effort and you know how he attack to the ball you know obviously you don't want that gaping hole to happen and for him to even have a chance to score but um it's just an in Testament to him and how our coaches coach and how we you know we all bought in and I was surprised they even got him on the ground so time for one left how much did conditioning play tonight it's coach was saying feels like you guys could play another quarter if you had to just and conditions like this how big was that tonight oh coach n coach Noak he's awesome um you know his workouts are hard but they get us in shape you know I feel honestly I don't feel tired at all you know my body hurts a little bit but you know the way that we rotate and the way that we conditioned this summer it's just it's it was hard so it's good for us and you know we practice like no other team you know we keep going and keep going so I mean I feel like I could play another half out there so yeah