Graham Mertz is known for protecting the ball, but he couldn’t avoid Miami safety Meesh Powell all game. The senior leader met with reporters after the game to discuss the big win:
On his INT: Just watching a lot of tape. Graham Mertz is a really good quarterback, he's really good at looking off receivers. Just staying patient in the post route and letting the play come to me.
On doing the Gator Chomp: I should have done the Canes one. It's all about the team.
On playing the Gators in his team debut: It meant a lot. This is a rivalry game. I've been in some rivalry games myself, and so I know what it means to South Florida and the whole state of Florida winning this rivalry game. I made sure I prepared the best way I could, not only for myself, but for guys that are from here, Coach Cristobal and just the whole staff.
On the defensive performance: That's a really great offense. They’ve got a strong line. Coach Guidry put in a really good game plan for us. Just trusting that, that's the biggest thing when a defensive coordinator puts in the work. That was the main thing for us, trusting the game plan and dialing in, being able to go all four quarters and finish like we did.
On the secondary’s performance: I thought we played well. There were a few plays we didn't play perfect. That's what we strive for, perfection every single day. Markeith, Damari Brown, OJ [Frederique]’s first start, Jay Rich. I’ll just continue to lift those guys up. We'll keep motivating them. It's just one game. We plan to go 16 more. So let's keep it up.
On staying focused when the quarterback is dinking and dunking: Just going through my process. I have a process in my head every single down. You get the call, see the splits, what down distance it is. You’ve got to completely go over that every single time.
It can get a little bit boring back there for just sitting back there watching everything happen. I just kept trusting God that he's gonna put me in a spot to make a play. I had my one shot today so I just made sure I capitalized on it. I'll go to God for that.
On whether this feels like a playoff team: Oh, for sure. This is why I came here. Coach Cristobal, he's played in big games. I got to see, going against him a couple of times, the type of team he wants to build and the places he wants to go to. That's something I want to be a part of and that's something that we all believe in.
On how the team came together with so many new pieces: That's all a credit to Coach Cristobal and the recruiting staff bringing the right kind of guys. You can't bring any type of guy. You’ve got to bring a certain type of guy that fits the program, as [we are] a player-led program. There’s already leaders in here like Anez Cooper and Jalen Rivers that showed me and Cam the standard. When transfers like Dame Martinez and Tyler Baron and some of the incoming freshmen came in, we were able to keep relaying that standard and just keep it up.
On Cam Ward: He's the best quarterback in the country and he plays like it with that confidence. He's a gunslinger and he's confident. He threw an interception that didn't shake his confidence. It's automatic at all times. That’s someone I want to go to battle with all year.
On his INT: Just watching a lot of tape. Graham Mertz is a really good quarterback, he's really good at looking off receivers. Just staying patient in the post route and letting the play come to me.
On doing the Gator Chomp: I should have done the Canes one. It's all about the team.
On playing the Gators in his team debut: It meant a lot. This is a rivalry game. I've been in some rivalry games myself, and so I know what it means to South Florida and the whole state of Florida winning this rivalry game. I made sure I prepared the best way I could, not only for myself, but for guys that are from here, Coach Cristobal and just the whole staff.
On the defensive performance: That's a really great offense. They’ve got a strong line. Coach Guidry put in a really good game plan for us. Just trusting that, that's the biggest thing when a defensive coordinator puts in the work. That was the main thing for us, trusting the game plan and dialing in, being able to go all four quarters and finish like we did.
On the secondary’s performance: I thought we played well. There were a few plays we didn't play perfect. That's what we strive for, perfection every single day. Markeith, Damari Brown, OJ [Frederique]’s first start, Jay Rich. I’ll just continue to lift those guys up. We'll keep motivating them. It's just one game. We plan to go 16 more. So let's keep it up.
On staying focused when the quarterback is dinking and dunking: Just going through my process. I have a process in my head every single down. You get the call, see the splits, what down distance it is. You’ve got to completely go over that every single time.
It can get a little bit boring back there for just sitting back there watching everything happen. I just kept trusting God that he's gonna put me in a spot to make a play. I had my one shot today so I just made sure I capitalized on it. I'll go to God for that.
On whether this feels like a playoff team: Oh, for sure. This is why I came here. Coach Cristobal, he's played in big games. I got to see, going against him a couple of times, the type of team he wants to build and the places he wants to go to. That's something I want to be a part of and that's something that we all believe in.
On how the team came together with so many new pieces: That's all a credit to Coach Cristobal and the recruiting staff bringing the right kind of guys. You can't bring any type of guy. You’ve got to bring a certain type of guy that fits the program, as [we are] a player-led program. There’s already leaders in here like Anez Cooper and Jalen Rivers that showed me and Cam the standard. When transfers like Dame Martinez and Tyler Baron and some of the incoming freshmen came in, we were able to keep relaying that standard and just keep it up.
On Cam Ward: He's the best quarterback in the country and he plays like it with that confidence. He's a gunslinger and he's confident. He threw an interception that didn't shake his confidence. It's automatic at all times. That’s someone I want to go to battle with all year.
