11/27/2023 football Edit

Quote book: FSU coordinators talk win at Florida, preview ACCCG

Curt Weiler • TheOsceola

Senior Writer

As always, we got to talk to all three Florida State football coordinators Monday afternoon.

Offensive coordinator Alex Atkins, defensive coordinator Adam Fuller and special teams coordinator John Papuchis talked to kick off the week about all aspects of the Seminoles' win at Florida last week to complete a perfect regular season and previewed FSU's ACC Championship Game clash vs. Louisville this weekend in Charlotte.

Transcripts of each interview will be added later in the day.

Alex Atkins

Run game was bottled up early but then kept pounding and wore down UF

“When we call the name we call to leverage the numbers. We want to make sure we have the leverage numbers. Now of course if you play good defenses, they should always have one more than you have if they’ve schemed it correctly. Good defenses know how to do block destruction and find a way to avoid being in bad leverage. I thought earlier we knew the run game was going to go. There were a couple we wanted back, whether we’re not maintaining the block long enough or not seeing it quick enough. All of those things, whether we’re checking to the right run, to the right leverage. All of that comes to account. But I thought as the game got on, we got the G-T (guard-tackle) counter, that kind of got us going there in the second quarter. And also they did a good job of keeping us off the field early. I think we ran four plays in the first quarter. When that happens every play gets a little bit more evaluated because you might not get another opportunity because of the limitations that you have of plays. But I thought once we got the G-T counter going and Trey (Benson) got going pretty good, it kind of helped us keep some drives going later on.”

How do you evaluate Tate Rodemaker’s performance on Saturday?

“The No. 1 thing I loved about him is he didn’t turn the ball over. When you get to those rivalry games in those kind of environments, which it was a good environment. I thought Florida State fans showed up really heavily too and gave a lot of support. But just own the football. That’s one thing we came into the game. ‘Tate, be yourself. It might be a good play just to hold on to the ball. Just make sure you don’t give it to them.’ I thought he did a good job of keeping the ball out of jeopardy. He got hit, we missed the corner on one check. He got hit, he owned the football. Now of course, we don’t want to take safeties and things like that. Those are a type of learning experiences. For the most part I thought he did what we asked him to do. And we got to make sure we’re still building to things that he feels comfortable and things he can do.”

Challenges with the UF defensive line and FSU’s offensive line with injuries. But they endured

“Their confidence is always high. I thought they did a good job of protecting in obvious pass situations and obvious run (situations). Of course, what I love about our group we try to be the grown men of our offense. We want everything to be on us. I heard coach allude to a back not making the right cut. We don’t subscribe to any of that. If it’s protection and the back misses protection, that’s a sack on the O-line. If it’s a run and the back misses the hole, we got to make the hole bigger. Anything that happens, we’d rather it be on us because our guys, we do good job of blocking out the noise and we don’t want to affect our guys that carry the football. I like their mentality, playing as a unit to be able to withstand whatever we want to take accountability and responsibility for it. That’s what I love about that group. It’s week 12, so you’re going to have your setbacks. Mo (Maurice Smith), I think about the second quarter, he got his ankle rolled up. He was struggling. But he stayed in there, stayed the course, kept fighting, kept clawing, kept scratching. I rotated one guy in, that was Casey (Roddick) late in the game. Keondre (Jones) came in and did a good job for us. I liked him because of his size and the matchup inside. They had some larger guys, was able to pay dividends for us at the end of the game. What I love about that group, no matter what the circumstance is, we used to come in here and talk about the small victories in losses. ‘Hey, man, you all rushed for a lot of yards, you all got better and protected well. But we’d lose.’ I like the resiliency to take whatever negativity comes from the offense, I want it to come to the O-line and also find a way to win games. If it’s close in the fourth, I believe in our guys that are going to finish the game.”

Ja’Khi Douglas had a key fourth-down catch as well as catches from Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson

“I gave Ja’Khi a lot of praise because Ja’Khi has been here as long as we have been here. We talk about seize the opportunity. We got a room full of good players and they all want the football. And I told the guys, ‘We see the eyes when everybody wants more opportunities.’ But the thing that I praised about Ja’Khi was whenever his opportunity came, he’s always made the play. Whether it was in the Pitt game, when you go back to Miami two years ago. When you go back to Notre Dame, when we were down, he caught the up route. You go to fourth-and-3, guy draped over him, strong hands, makes the play, gets up and celebrates. He had some good plays in blocking. Ja’Khi is a weapon in our offense because sometimes he’s unaccounted for and he can make you pay if he is. Johnny, the catch in the red zone when he ran the comeback with Tate, threw a great ball, caught it out of bounds. They reviewed it, he caught the ball. That was a big play in the game. That was a conversion. We got guys that step up when need to step up. … Our guys, when it’s time they’ve made plays and they’ve won games. I’m really proud of that resolve, the discipline they showed just to find a way to win. All of the things we’re instilling in them to find ways to win games, especially in rivalry games. Johnny, Ja’Khi, Trey (Benson), LT (Lawrance Toafili) had a good run on the G-T counter. I was proud of just our ways of not being rattled, keeping the same eyes throughout the game and finding a way to make sure we come out with a win.”

Delay of game penalties, who is responsible for those

“We take responsibility as a coaching staff. We don’t put that on them. That’s on us to make sure whatever information we’re giving they can operate at a high speed. We put that on us. Not much on them. We got to do a better job of making sure they are giving adequate information and they understand what the play clock is at the start, whether it be 25 or 40, where the play clocks are. All of these different things. We have to do a better of making sure they understand the urgency that it takes when you first take the field on a p-and-10.”

Corner blitz on Tate, for him to hold on to it, but also how well disguised was it by UF

“It was an RPO. It was a run with an RPO tag, where you read one side of the field. They didn’t show it. He did a good job of disguising it. Good call by them. We have an answer for it. But to be honest I don’t think we gave him the tools to expect it because out of that formation we didn’t expect it. Of course, anytime the quarterback is hit, the o-line is going to take responsibility for it. But it was a run play. We were blocking the run and not necessarily looking for the corner. But in the end, we have to give him the true negatives that could happen throughout as Tate gains experience. But we took responsibility for that because we had him reading a side for an RPO and they brought the guy from the other side. So we got to design that better. We got to protect him because you’re playing with a guy, there’s some new stuff for him. Now, I’ve seen him operate that and I’m not worried about the correction once he saw it. I’m not worried about it hitting again. But that was a good learning experience for not only Tate but us. ‘What situations are we putting him in to make sure there’s not a catastrophic play?’ But him owning the football in that moment was probably one of the biggest plays of the game. And the negative I hear, but him making sure he held on to that football probably guaranteed us a victory.”

How FSU didn’t retaliate after UF players lost composure

“That’s the first thing we addressed was in 2021, we went down there and we were undisciplined. We were that team making those types of mistakes. If you want to come out with a victory, you have to understand what it takes and the resolve that it takes. But it sounds good. I drive around Tallahassee, I don’t see a lot of resolve out there in road rage. I think most human beings could not tolerate somebody spitting in their direction, let alone touching them. That just shows you that our team focus and their togetherness, because they take what their self-reaction is over what is going to happen to the entire team in a game where we can not have anything negative. Where it could be a penalty that’s 15 yards, whether it be a turnover, things like that. For them to do that, beyond coaching, is there relationship with each other. Of course coaches play a role in it, we got to emphasize it. But that shows you the unselfishness of our team to say, ‘I’m going to stay focused.’ … It’s just them focused in the moment on how to win football games. Not only how to win football games but how to win football games that are not going your way. Because more games are lost than won. We’ve learned that. We’re not paying attention to the selfish stats or things like that. If it comes down to it, can we have the resolve to go win a football game?”

Keon's knack for making at least one play a game (punt return vs. UF)

"Keon is a ballplayer, man. I love with Keon, if you talked to Keon after the game, he was just happy we beat our in-state rivals. He's a part of the team and a part of Florida State more than he is saying, 'I'm Keon.' He wants to do whatever he can for the team. He had some disappointing moments, saying, 'Man, I could have blocked that.' He looks at the whole picture of it so I'm proud of him for that. Even in the offensive meetings, he says, 'I'm going to do better in those situations.' Keon is still going to garner enough attention where he's still going to be him. I've been proud of his approach, his team effort, but that punt return, he's talented. I haven't been around many of them like him. And I'm not even talking about as a ballplayer. I'm talking the type of mentality he brings to practice, to workouts, to whatever you ask him to do. It bleeds through our team because if he's like that, how can anybody else not be like that? If he's going to be unselfish then what's your excuse? I'm proud of him for that."

Louisville defense/how good a pass-rusher is Ashton Gillotte?

"What I told our guys is that we're meeting a mirrored opponent. They pride themselves on the same things we pride ourselves on. Toughness, effort, discipline, winning close games. That's why we're meeting them in the championship game. Credit to their defensive staff because they do one of the best jobs I've seen of maintaining leverage, tackling, eliminating big plays. It's going to be a challenge of who can outlast and who can outtough and who can outfinish. (Gillotte) is a real player. He's a guy that developed himself into a player, too. He's one that I give a lot of credit to because he gets blocked but I like to say he unblocks himself. He understands how to take advantage of leaning o-linemen and in effort, he's relentless. We've got to make sure our effort is up to par. We've got to make sure we understand where he is because they do play him quite a bit of places. We've got to make sure we bring our game and focus because he is a really dynamic player in this league. Credit to that defense, we're going to be here for awhile because they do a good job."

Lessened OL rotation vs. Florida

"Rob (Scott) was ready to go and Bless (Harris) was ready to go. But I felt good with how the size of Byers and the athleticism of Darius (Washington) with us running outside zone and being able to cut off things on the backside. Darius, I thought he played one of his better games. Darius has really developed himself to be one of the top tier in that room. I just rolled with them, but those guys were on call and ready to go. But I felt like those guys I was good with. I put Casey (Roddick) in a little bit later. I had a plan to get him in a little bit earlier, but I wanted to get him in there to give KJ a spell. But then I put KJ back in late because of his size, he's just a massive dude that has the presence of pocket to not get pushed back. Then you've got other guys that are athletic, that can move and get to those second-level backers. It's just like anything, it's a matchup conversation that we have of how we match up with four-Is, three-techniques, combos and speed and different things like that. It's just like any other position. We're trying to create matchups up front just like you would on the outside and it's been paying dividends for us."

Are you expecting Robert Scott to be himself again (second-team All-ACC last year) when he's back in the starting lineup?

"I care about Rob. I want to make sure, because Rob always wants to go. He doesn't care what's hurting, what's going on. I care about him and his career moving forward to make sure I'm not putting him in an unnecessary position to get even further injured. He was ready to go. He practiced last week and he could have went if we needed him to go. We have that luxury to do that and he understands that he could go but I don't want to put him on a setback either if he's getting better unless it's absolutely necessary. What I like about him is he's really embraced that process. As we're further along, we're going to need Rob. He'll be feeling better than he's ever felt and he's still getting the work in practice against really good players. I don't think he's going to be underdeveloped. He's going to be ready to go when it's time to go, but he's also going to be able to be very effective when he goes and we don't have these setbacks that pushed him behind as we push later in the season."

What does playcalling around Brock Glenn after he entered vs. UF say about coaches' confidence in him?

"I'm going to give Brock some credit because that was something that he saw, that he got to because he wanted to take advantage of something he saw. We have a lot of confidence in Brock. We have a lot of trust in our quarterbacks. We don't send him out there just because of the perception of third and first. If our quarterback operates and gets us into what he believes is the right thing to do, we give him that leeway, too. I wouldn't disagree with the call. We didn't get it to the guy on the edge, they got a batdown, but also, he got in there, ran the zone and he saw it open and pulled the ball and got good yardage on it. They were offsides so we were able to get a free play off of it. Brock is going to be an exceptional football player. I stand next to him in practice because I'm right behind the whole action to see the whole deal. He stands next to me and I see him, he doesn't miss a rep even when he's not in there. I see him mimicking the checks, I see him taking the reps, taking the visual, I see him applying it to himself, I see him upstairs. I was just upstairs, he was already up there coming from class with his backpack on wanting to know about the gameplan. He is preparing himself like a starter ever since I've met him and he challenges Tony (Tokarz) to make sure he's on the questions. Brock's future, if he continues as he's continued, we've got a lot of trust in him."

Growth in leadership he's seen from seniors who came back to be a part of this season

"The biggest thing is ownership and player accountability. Meaning we're going to do our job to make sure we're on point and understanding what the standard is, what's the structure to find success. But when the players start defending what you're saying outside the building, that's when it's a real -- everybody uses the word culture -- but that's when it's real and they really are understanding what you're saying. I might sit up in a meeting room and talk about, 'Hey, we've got to be disciplined. We've got to be on point.' But if we're in practice and something happens that I don't see and I see a player correcting it, that's when it's real. Every coach talks about discipline, can't make mistakes, we've got to do this and then somebody spits in their face and the kid gets a penalty. Our players are leading the charge in accountability for what they want to do as a team. Now, does that guarantee success? Absolutely not. But it gives you an opportunity to have success. It puts you in the best position to get what you came back to do. But it still has to be done, the action still has to be there so I'm going to commend them on taking the real actions to get what they want. Now, you still have to go get it because that other team is doing the same thing. We've got to make sure we're doing it as best as we've ever done this week compared to last week."

If Maurice goes down, Darius moves to center and who would take over at that tackle spot?

"We've got Bless and Scott. It depends on the situation and the matchup because we've still got Bless, who was ready to go. He practiced all week also. So the benefit we have with Darius is he can play all five (spots) and he's ready to go at all five at any time. It's not like he has to go and warm up or anything. He's ready to go, he's done it, he's started games at center. Every o-line coach in the country says if a guy goes down, 'Go down so we can warm up the other guy and we're not wasting time,' things like that. Our guys have their own personal standard of operating until you can't operate any more. If you go down, you're down for real. Meech (D'Mitri Emmanuel) had a play where they had to pick him up. I don't ever question those guys' mentality. Of course they're going to make mistakes, they're not going to bat 1.000, but those guys I'm sending out there with their mindset, they're going to find a way. No matter how it needs to be done, they're going to scrap and claw and make sure they're together, find a way to come out with a win."

Adam Fuller

On discipline on the D-Line

"We played well. I really thought, after that third drive, the first drive to three, I thought we started to settle in. I thought the team as a whole played pretty disciplined throughout the game. We knew it'd be that type of football game, we knew it would be an emotional team. We've proven through most of the year that we can handle that atmosphere in that type of environment. We've been through a lot, we put them through a lot. I thought our guys responded to all situations. Even after that safety when, I looked those guys in the eyes as they were about take the field and they were ready for the moment. There was no head down there was it was just all about this along football game. We gotta go out there and get stops."

On Jared Verse strong night

"I mean, big time players make big time plays in those type of games, and Jared proved it. That one sack that he made with the offensive tackle is a pretty impressive play. We've seen him do that a number of times, he's just so powerful. When you mix his get off and his explosiveness it's hard. It's pretty simple to understand if you're worried about somebody run around you, you got to speed up, in order to speed up, you get on your heels. When somebody that powerful puts his foot in the ground, and goes to power, That's a tough thing to deal with. I think what helped us, especially some of those sacks late we got them in a two possession game, and our guys were able to pin their ears back. We're able to do some things coverage wise to make them hold the ball a little bit longer. I think that's when that showed up. We actually had that cause fumble, unfortunately ricocheted off of the quarterback’s knee rolled out of bounds, but I thought we did a better job of tackling the ball to two balls on the ground. We had a chance that maybe another pick two. All those things are starting to mount up as the season goes.:

On Akeem Dent and penalty called on him

"I thought Akeem played outstanding. We've seen it throughout his career. When balls have broken his ability to make some one on one plays, I think he wanted to put a game like that together. I thought his practices, the last five or six weeks had been really good. I know, he knows the clocks running out on his time here as a Seminole and just to see him on that environment on that stage against some really talented running backs. But what happens when you play really talented backs is you need really talented players too and it seems one of those. When his when his number was called that's one of those things when you're playing defense, everybody talks about one on ones and ability to make some plays. When you're on a good defense and balls are in space, and the whole crowd thinks there's a good play, and then you got a free defensive player and it goes and gets the guy down and we go to the next play. It takes a lot of momentum away from that offense. I thought it Akeem showed that on three or four independent occasions. I thought he played really well regarding the sack that he had to knock them deep in a field goal. That was the only touchdown they had was when they gave him another life. I thought that was a well time pressure. It was really hit by him. What I love though, is when it didn't work out in the game, the first down and goal, you didn't see a lot of body language from him. You saw some body language from other people, but you didn't see any from Akeem and I thought that showed a lot of maturity. For him to go back and try to get a stop there. Unfortunately, they get in the endzone, but, you know, he's become a really good blitzer. You pair him with Shy, what we've done at that position over the last couple years of entering those guys into the box and in the rush. I think a team's really taking those steps."

Opening up game when edges are playing well

"When you look at the totality of the season, because when you get to the end a year, there's a lot of plays, that offense is needed to dig through just like we have to dig through as you're planning for the next game. When you have guys like Kalen DeLoach that have had good sack numbers, you've got to deal with Braden Fisk, we got Malcolm Ray has done a good job, Josh Farmer has gotten the backfield, some number of sacks, and then you have the Verse and Patrick, but then you have the ability to have Akeem Dent coming off the edge or Shyheem. I think it just offers a lot of variety and I think that's important when you're playing defense. Obviously, Jared has gotten a lot of attention. Patrick has the ability to win all of his one on ones and we have a number of defensive lineman linebackers and DBS that can do that. I think ideally, that's how you try to put your defense together, that you can come from different places, but then you have the ability to win multiple one on ones. I think you saw that Saturday night, especially where it became that two possession game at the end of the game and it was an obvious throw down. You want to make that we're we're really the ones on offense."

Level of play of the secondary

"I thought our pass defense was really good. It was a totality. I thought we played good football in that game. We were going to need that is that game get going, we knew we would need the defense just like you do all the time. It’s no secret to play really good. At the end of the season, you better be playing really good defense.I think when you take receivers away, a lot of attention goes to the guy lined up over. thought Jarian did a great job. I thought great, he gave us really good snaps, but it's a group effort. It’s a group effort with the front with the back end. I thought we did a really good job of really limiting any explosive plays that they would had. The things that you don't see is the play designs that they have for him. You see a safety on top, you see a corner Fentrell, Renardo or AZ in a bracket form and there's really no place to go with the football. Especially when you play a young quarterback, I'm sure all week, they're taught about as much as you're trying to be aggressive, probably on offense, you're still coaching coaching the bad stuff. Hey, don't throw the ball when you get this look, don't throw the ball when you get that look. You get scared of trying to put that ball in there. I thought we gave him a lot of those pictures credit to our players for understanding, They got the back involved in the pass game early. Our players adjusted that pretty well and it allowed for some of the pressures to show up within the backstop to stay in a little bit more, were allowed to go back to it a little bit of coverage. I thought it was just a good game overall. We needed that group to play well and I thought they did."

Louisville offense

"They're playing a championship game for a reason. I think it starts with they got a real veteran quarterback that coach Brohm had a history with. They have two running backs that, yo obviously, you got to give a credit to that offensive line, because they've created some space, but they've been dominant running the football. You look at all the games that they weren't able to run the football, they're able to throw the football, so they have balance. I think if you ask them, that balance has been created through the run game. I think their action throws off of the run a really good I think you can compare them a little bit to Florida from a standpoint of I think they do a really good job. It’s the second head coach that's calling the offense that we played last two weeks, and you see the play designs, there's a reason they're in those positions. You see a lot of the the motions, you see a lot of the run actions designed to be coherent with the past game, and I think that's what good offensive play design does. Then they have the screen game that they throw off of it. There's some under center actions that have screens off of it and I think when you have two good running backs and you're able to block well and play as one up front, you got a veteran quarterback, and then you add a couple of playmakers on the perimeter. That’s what a championship offense starts to look like and that's why they're in the game."

Rattling a veteran quarterback

"We've rattled some veteran guys before. I think it's important to do that this week. I think getting pressure on him, I think when you can run the ball, six year or redshirt freshman or true freshman, it's going to help that player significantly. There are things that we've planned to be in this game. I think when you're playing championship level football, and you're playing this late in the season, you're gonna be good at the things you do. You're always building for the next step. I think it's important. We've been working on some things that we've had for a while. You're not waiting anymore to use those things. I think that's important as you get towards the end of the season, you don't redesign. Now we're going to change everything, you don't do that. When you're on a good team, you can work ahead, wild game planning for other things. You may not always know the opponent that you'd be playing late in the season. You can play some offense on defense. I think it's important that you do that throughout the year. That's why we have those Sunday practices. If you play well, the week before you have less corrections to really address that time. And you can move ahead, and you can start saying okay, this, these are plays that we have off of these calls, or pressures we have off of these looks, and you keep working those things. Hopefully, on paper, and when you've played so many games as he's played, yes, you've seen a lot of different football, but hopefully our execution, the speed that we do those pictures, and maybe some things he hasn't seen from us. Hopefully those things make it difficult for him to play faster. Hopefully, that's what shows up Saturday."

Akeem Dent’s growth

"Akeem’s always been a very mature person, you know, he handles himself well, in the classroom off the field. He's always been really loved by his teammates. That's been the consistent. Obviously, he went through a little bit of a position change early in his career here, but he went through a bunch of injuries, too. There was last year in that Florida game, he couldn't play, and he's been battling injuries throughout, even at the end of this year. I think he's playing his best football. Now. That's the cliche thing to say, but I think it's just a product of who he's been throughout the years. You don't think it's just "Oh, wow, he's really good now". I think his everything's caught up to him. I think all the things he's done for last four or five years here, has come to a pinnacle for him that play his best football. Here at the end, and it wasn't anybody, obviously, I was excited for everybody involved in the program, the way that game ended, and the way the season has gone. I had a special place in my heart for a team, you know, just to see the smile on his face, because he was proud of himself, because he knows how far he's had to come back to become healthy. To have those opportunities show up and in a game of that magnitude. A game like that will live forever for him. Going into this championship week this is a big week for all of us, but I'm excited about the moment that he's created for himself."

Adjusting to Florida’s offense after bad start

"I think early in those first couple of drives, they've gotten a few of the unbalanced sets. It's one of those things, you walk through them even on Saturday morning. you go through on Tuesday, and, I talked the Corey a little bit about, there may be something that you're doing, that's a little bit of a tweak, but the speed of the game, the energy of the game. Also, they don't see it super clearly, so in that early drive we're trying to get it right during the drive, and it wasn't really clean. One of the third downs they hit was just a one on one on the backside and something that we should have played better, but it happens. They did a good job, that was a team that was scoring a good amount of points, they were able to run the ball really well on a lot of good teams. I thought our guys just really settled in and it's important we have a mature group. What does that mean emotionally, when you get on the sidelines, you're not trying to get them calmed down or get them in the right mindset to be able to go play you can really focus on this is what's happening. This is what we've worked on. Remember, this is how we're playing it out. or, Hey, we weren't prepared for this, but this is what they're doing. This is how we got to respond to it. This is what how we're going to play it everybody on the same page, and then they communicate to each other and then we go and play. I think you just see that and you hopefully you can make those adjustments play by play. Sometimes it goes series by series, and I think our guys are mature enough. That goes back to just the summer. We've been trying to challenge these guys year round, and they've answered the bell each time we've done it."

John Papuchis

Papuchis on the fake punt/delay of game

“I mean, it was frustrating. It was one that, you know, some weeks we carry it, some weeks we don't. We thought that the look presented itself. For us, going into the week, it was something that we had worked on the issues with it, as it is a check. And, you know, it's based on the look that we get, you know, being a little bit louder, their communication took a little bit longer than then obviously desired. And we were probably half a second away from being able to get it off. But, you know, that starts with me in terms of, of creating that sense of urgency in the practice to make sure that we are able to get it off. But you know, I, it could have been an obviously huge playing the game. And it definitely is a missed opportunity since we weren't able to, to get that run because it was obviously there and it was executed pretty well.”

Papuchis on the punt return

“Probably a combination of both. I mean, obviously their punter had big night. You know, he has a very strong leg. And you know, we did feel like if Keon was able to go get one, you know, there would be an opportunity at least get it started. And I thought our guys did a fantastic job blocking. You know, Keon did a great job of setting some blocks up and getting up into the return. And, you know, it was a big play in the game. You know, I think we needed that at that moment. And, you know, that's one of the things that when we point at, you know, you never know which player is going to be kind of the one. And we've been able to do that on special teams, spark some momentum shifts throughout the course of the season and I thought that was a big play in that game as well.”

Papuchis on Jared Verse, Patrick Payton stamina

“Well, you know, in the first half, we did probably rotate more than we did in the second half. You know, there's a lot of things that kind of factor into that. One of them certainly is how long the series are, you know, in the first half, you know, they were able to establish some some longer drives, which keeps guys on the field a little bit more than you would maybe like. In the second half, you know, we were able to get a lot of three and outs. There's a lot of TV timeout, a lot of media stuff going on in those nationally televised games. So there was a lot of time for them to rest in between series. So I just thought just the sheer number of plays that we play, the second half was going to allow those guys to play more than maybe they would typically play in terms of splitting reps in game.”

Papuchis on Florida’s punter

“We did, I mean, we knew going in that he was a really good player. You know, we had a high level of respect for who he was. You know, I think I think there's a couple of things that lead to that. I think the training is probably so much better than it's ever been. I think you know, now that that's the one position that we recruit, really internationally, across the board. So, you know, that was another Australian kicker. You know, they tend to be older so like, these guys are like men now playing as well, but you know. I think there's a lot that factors into it. But we definitely have seen some really good putters, but I kind of like it from the standpoint that it does allow us to get some return started. I'd much rather play that and have Keon have 15 yards of space before anyone's there. And the guys who sit at 30 and 35 yards and there's people right on top of them every every play.”

Papuchis on the Coleman decision to not field a return before a safety

“I think there was three of them that were very similar. There was aa one that checked up and they were able to down it. There was the one that he caught, ran back, and then there was the one that was in the end-zone and really what he was thinking on the one that that checked up was that he thought it was going to hit hard enough to go into the endzone when he's trying to draw the touch back out of it. Because you know, and those are always the toughest calls to make. Like I said before, and I reiterate with him all the time, I trust him. Sometimes he's gonna make a decision that doesn't work out. But that doesn't mean that I want him to second guess some of the decisions he's making. Because I think every week, he's getting better and better, more confident. And, you know, I just, you know, he's had three or four really explosive returns. So, you know, the one I wish we would have fielded, right, that checked up at the six, but I'm also glad he didn’t field the one that went into the endzone. So there can be a little bit of a catch 22 in terms of that. I just want him to make the best decisions he possibly can, because I do trust who he is, and his decision making ability.

Papuchis on the fake punt, timing and choreography

“When you watch, there's a lot of times we have to check our protections, you know, and so I don't think that part would have stood out. I do think, probably made a really big point of emphasis with the potential of crowd noise with being on the road in that environment and making sure that we over communicated. Because the worst thing that you can have happen is that not everybody's on the same page in terms of that. And, you know, with all that being said, there still has to be great shot clock awareness, we still have to be able to snap it. And, you know, we probably missed it by about a half a second. But you know, I gotta get him out faster, we got to operate with greater sense of urgency, we probably needed to practice it with a greater sense of urgency, although the environment wasn't going to be the same. But there's a lot of things that factored into it. But it was disappointing, because it was a missed opportunity in a game where we needed to get that spark that may have been able to been that.”

Papuchis on the fake punt, and if maybe it stopped Florida from trying it

“I've heard people say that, that, that you want to get your fake or your trick play run before they run theirs. But being on the other side of it, if somebody else did that, like that doesn't mean that we would have no intention of doing it later on. But you know, fourth and one, we weren't gonna allow that to happen. We were in our punt safe when when they were in that, so we left our defense on the field. You know, and then in terms of just getting that opportunity, really, you know, we try to be very aggressive and what we do on from a special team standpoint. The reason why we fake the punt in that situation was because the look was there. And it was something that we saw on tape that and it was there. The reason why we tried some of the onside kicks and some of the other things have showed up is because they've presented themselves as being there and taking advantage of the opportunities. You know, so we always want to look for ways to spark a big play for us. And, you know, when we see those opportunities, we certainly take advantage.”

Papuchis on Verse’s performance vs. UF

“Oh, yeah. No, it was, it was his, his opportunity to make a statement. You know, and kind of have his, his place and, you know, Seminoles history in terms of big-game rivalries. Kind of reminded me a little bit, I thought about it afterwards of, of how a couple of years ago with Jermaine had a really big game against Miami. And, you know, he was able to get, I think, three sacks in that game and really forced a fumble that kind of really impacted that game. And I felt the same way about that as I did about Jared’s game the other day in terms of here it is in a critical rivalry matchup with obviously a lot higher stakes, you know, because of where things are, but for him to go out and play his best in that game and, in that environment when when we really needed it. You know, I was proud for him, happy for it for what he was able to get down and, you know, hopefully that just continues to roll into this week.”