Francisco “Kiko” Mauigoa showed why he is one of the top linebackers in the country last Saturday with physicality in the running game and a sack of quarterback Graham Mertz. He met with reporters to discuss FAMU:
On the helmet communication: I mean it was good. There was no problems.There were a couple plays there with static, but we fought through it. We worked it through practice, so everything was fine. The communication on the line and the backend was good, so I think overall it was a good addition.
On losing Rueben Bain: That's why this defense is so special, because we’ve got a lot of depth. You We’ve got TB (Tyler Baron) that stepped up to the plate, And you got Elijah Alston. Everybody did their job.
On the UF performance overall: I think the back-end proved a lot to a lot of people. Overall, we did great. Communication was on point. And we worked it throughout practice. What we saw on the field is what we practiced. Everybody anticipated what kind of play they were running.
On the team staying focused: We treat every single game like it's the championship. We attack FAMU like you're playing Florida. Every game, every practice, we're going to just keep it going another notch. This whole team has the mindset to reset and get ready to go for another week.
The job is not done and there's still a lot of work to do and a lot of people to prove wrong. Everybody’s getting ready, and everybody's in the right mindset to attack this week just like it's any other big game.
On the difference in the defense versus last year: There's a lot of depth on the defensive line side. That's the biggest part of us winning games. The game is won in the trenches. These guys have been putting in a lot of work. These guys are doing their job to the best of their abilities.
That's the biggest difference from this year to last year. A lot of guys are big and strong. People are on the back end are a lot faster and very aggressive on breaking on routes. There’s a lot in the package of this defense.
On having Lance Guidry for Year 2: Lance Guidry is a mastermind. He knows how to adjust. When something goes wrong, we’ve got iPads now. So we get back on it and you’ve got to answer for it. He's been a really big part of the success of the defense. He knows where to play guys. We know we have a familiarity.
On the FAMU offense: They’ve got some players, too. The quarterback is pretty good. He'll make some plays on his own running the ball. He loves to get out of pocket and makes plays, so we're all preparing for that. The run game is pretty good. They look solid. We're never treating anybody lightly and we're going to stack it like it's a big game.
On the energy this week: The same story last week. We're expecting to get out with the dub and move on to the next opponent. Our main focus for this week is them and just getting a win.
On whether Graham Mertz knows his name now: I introduced myself in the most polite way. I hope he knew my name after the game, but I think he does now. Best of luck to him.
On the helmet communication: I mean it was good. There was no problems.There were a couple plays there with static, but we fought through it. We worked it through practice, so everything was fine. The communication on the line and the backend was good, so I think overall it was a good addition.
On losing Rueben Bain: That's why this defense is so special, because we’ve got a lot of depth. You We’ve got TB (Tyler Baron) that stepped up to the plate, And you got Elijah Alston. Everybody did their job.
On the UF performance overall: I think the back-end proved a lot to a lot of people. Overall, we did great. Communication was on point. And we worked it throughout practice. What we saw on the field is what we practiced. Everybody anticipated what kind of play they were running.
On the team staying focused: We treat every single game like it's the championship. We attack FAMU like you're playing Florida. Every game, every practice, we're going to just keep it going another notch. This whole team has the mindset to reset and get ready to go for another week.
The job is not done and there's still a lot of work to do and a lot of people to prove wrong. Everybody’s getting ready, and everybody's in the right mindset to attack this week just like it's any other big game.
On the difference in the defense versus last year: There's a lot of depth on the defensive line side. That's the biggest part of us winning games. The game is won in the trenches. These guys have been putting in a lot of work. These guys are doing their job to the best of their abilities.
That's the biggest difference from this year to last year. A lot of guys are big and strong. People are on the back end are a lot faster and very aggressive on breaking on routes. There’s a lot in the package of this defense.
On having Lance Guidry for Year 2: Lance Guidry is a mastermind. He knows how to adjust. When something goes wrong, we’ve got iPads now. So we get back on it and you’ve got to answer for it. He's been a really big part of the success of the defense. He knows where to play guys. We know we have a familiarity.
On the FAMU offense: They’ve got some players, too. The quarterback is pretty good. He'll make some plays on his own running the ball. He loves to get out of pocket and makes plays, so we're all preparing for that. The run game is pretty good. They look solid. We're never treating anybody lightly and we're going to stack it like it's a big game.
On the energy this week: The same story last week. We're expecting to get out with the dub and move on to the next opponent. Our main focus for this week is them and just getting a win.
On whether Graham Mertz knows his name now: I introduced myself in the most polite way. I hope he knew my name after the game, but I think he does now. Best of luck to him.
