Post Game Texas A&M

On the leadership on defense today...
"Ventrell [Miller] obviously is the alpha. I see Gervon Dexter, I see Antwaun Powell, I see Rashad Torrence. There’s a lot of young players that I see taking ownership... I think that we’re making
progress, is what I would say.”

On Antwaun Powell-Ryland Jr.’s performance...
"Antwaun has been in the rotation. He’s played. He’s deserving. Antwaun’s a good football player. He’s been productive when given opportunities in the past. Sometimes, you don’t know until that opportunity’s presented to you.
One thing I know about AP is that it means something to him to do his
job for the other players. Great to see him step up and do big things that impacted the game today.”

On the call on Richardson’s 60-yard touchdown run...
“It’s actually a zone read, where the right end is bypassing the blocker. They were over-adjusting to the quick motions in the back-end. Zone read away from that, you gotta pull and off to the races.”

On the ground game, specifically Montrell Johnson Jr. and Trevor Etienne...
“I think it’s a strength of our team. I think you’re starting to see a little bit of that identity that we want to have. Our team’s played that way in the past. We want to be a physical team. We want to win the line of scrimmage, play well on the edges.

A cumulative effect to how we play. I think Anthony’s legs, the design today, I think gave us a little bit of an extra advantage. And certainly, we threw it around enough to keep them off-balance. You know, Anthony made some critical plays. [Ja’Quavion] Fraziars steps up to the plate today. Huge plays of the game. Ricky [Pearsall] continues to be a very productive player.

I thought that a lot of guys stepped up today.”

 

2022 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Florida Student-Athletes
Florida 41, Texas A&M 24
November 5, 2022

#15 Anthony Richardson, Sophomore, Quarterback
On the win...
“Definitely felt good for us. Just winning in general, that’s always a blessing for us. SEC win for us, that’s also a blessing. Getting us back in a grove. A road win against a tough opponent, it just allows us to come out here and play football and see where we are at. We are feeling good, and we are
excited.”

On talks with Coach Napier...
“We definitely talk in between drives, especially at the end of the game there. It’s a conversation and he told me this is going to help me in the future. All week, I’ve just been working on my leadership, just trying to hold guys together, just keep the team pushing. Allowing us to come out
there and play fast and strong. [Napier] told me that this is going to be a turning point of my career and my life. I kind of see that because I think I am getting better with my leadership. That’s how I’m keeping cool.”

On being a leader...
“It’s a challenge trying to be a leader. Sometimes you got to fight through those challenges and try to grow. As a leader, I haven’t always been the type of guy to communicate a lot. I just try to lead by example and just show guys how to do things. But I see that that’s not the only way you can be a leader. You can lead by example and then communicate with guys and connect with them. It makes a lot easier for you to lead people.”

On making plays on the ground and in the air...
“It feels good. I’ve alw ays been able to run the ball and pass the ball. Just coming out today and being successful with those things feels pretty good for us.”

On not turning the ball over...
“It feels great. What I’ve been doing is just doing my job. Just trusting everybody else and trusting them to do their job. It feels great for me because coach [Napier], he hates turnovers. I’m pretty sure we all do. He harps on it all the time. Just to see him smiling about it, it makes us feel good.”


#51 Ventrell Miller, Redshirt Senior, Linebacker
On the turnaround in the second half...
“I think it had to do with the halftime speech from some of the coaches and players. We started off flat-footed and just taking ownership of that. It got the boys motivated in the second half, and everyone came out and did their job, and we showed them how the Florida Gators defense could
play.”

On the halftime speech ...
“It was a little bit of tough love, like let’s go, it’s still a game and we aren’t playing like how we are supposed to play. We told them to shut it out, and the boys stood on that, so I’m definitely proud of those boys.”

On the halftime adjustments...
“Not really too many adjustments went in. It was more of an effort thing. Guys making plays when it’s time to make a play, and having that mindset of let’s go, like it’s the game lets go.”

On the group tackling...
“In the second half, we told everyone to fly around to the ball. Missed tackles don’t show up when everyone is flying to the ball, so that was definitely something that was going on in the second half.”

On guys stepping up ...
“We definitely had guys step up. Antwaun [Powell-Ryland Jr.], Lloyd [Summerall III], both of them got sacks and caused a fumble. They knew what was on the line, and I’m proud of how they stepped up.”

 

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POST-GAME PRESS CONFERENCE
Florida vs. Texas A&M
November 5, 2022
College Station, Texas

QUESTIONS FOR COACH JIMBO FISHER
COACH FISHER: Disappointing there. First half was a back and forth. We were scoring moving the ball consistently. I think we were up 24-20 at half. Had one stop we had. We had a big gain and got a penalty. Got behind the chains and got a third down we could almost hit.
Our guys were really moving the ball. They were getting the running game going, had good balance.

They got us in some single high stuff and put some pressure on the ends. And the safeties pulling on the quarterback. They did a good job getting him out. He got some nice runs in the game.

We were able to keep good balance in the first half, in our play-action game. We were having efficient plays, no negative plays, not getting behind the sticks. Did a good job. Thought Haynes [King] managed
the game really well. Made good throws, made good decisions. Had a third-down touchdown down there and moved the ball extremely well.

Big drive before the half, being able to come back in two minutes and get down and get points before the half, was excellent. Played really well in that situation.

Coming out the second half, disappointing. We had a boot play that they covered and doubled. Got the guy booted. Maybe we could have scrambled for a couple yards. Then we got a negative run, a third and 9. They got some pressure.

We had a chance down the middle. Underthrew it just a hair. They may have dove and made a great one. But if we had a chance on it, just didn't execute. But when they punted and got a little punt return,
they come down and scored. Got momentum and got out of there.
Then on offense, we come back and had two runs. We're trying to keep the run and balance because we had been running really good in the first half and just didn't get it. They got control of the line of scrimmage. Their inside guys are very big and strong. We knew that going in.

We did a good job in the first half keeping them off balance with it, but they got us in a third-and-long situation. We didn't pick up a blitz on third down.

They brought it and we had a guy for it, but just didn't
get it picked up. Caused us to get off. Then they went back down and we got stopped. Then we had a really nice drive. Had a couple of
passes and got to midfield. I thought had a great one-on-one down the sideline.

Thought they tugged the heck out of them but, that's not for me to call. That's the same one we got called last week by [Tyreek] Chappell. That's part of it. They don't call it, they don't call it.

They come down in the box and we had him. Threw a good back shoulder. He was finally coming back and got tugged. Just didn't get the call.

Second down, we didn't get the run. Couldn't get it going there on second down

 

Third down, we had the ball right on our fingertips. That was a big drive, I thought. We could have got some points right there just off of Max's [Johnson] finger. We threw it right there off his fingertips, which
is a very tough catch for him. Got to execute and, again, find the inches.
Then they went down. We punted it, pinned them back, and they went down and got a drive. Then we come back and had a really nice drive and came back and had points right there. Just got beat on
protection on the right side. It wasn't nothing they did. That would have put it back to a one-score game if we had a field goal. We had a nice drive, moved it back, had tempo in the game, got some things going in the game, got back in the rhythm. And then they took it and drove it, ate the clock up, missed a field goal. Then we drove there for a while and just couldn't get it going. Couldn't get the running game going. We
got in the drop-back game, which was tough. They were able to run the football. That was the other thing. They were able to continue to run the football and move the clock. It's a shame. We had a chance
to be right there and just didn't get it done.

Q. Coach, Devon [Achane] had such a big first half with over 100 yards carrying and then that third quarter only had the ball, I believe, three times on the carries. So what was Florida showing
you that caused you --

COACH FISHER: We just couldn't get it. They weren't showing. They just got the blocks. They stymied us two or three times. Even on the RPOs that we threw, they put the extra guy in the box and we just
didn't get them blocked. I mean, it was early. And we had a one-yard gain. I think the first three carries were a one, a two, and a one. And we were
getting behind the chains on third down and drives. And they were scoring. They were scoring and got the momentum. We tried to keep driving it. We had RPOs to keep giving it to them, and we just couldn't get them moved in what we were trying to do. And inside they were winning some battles.

Q. Was [Devon] Achane at 100% today?
COACH FISHER: He didn't feel as good during the week and had some things go with him, but he'sgoing to go play and play his tail off.

Q. Was there ever any consideration of calling time-out there after the turnover on downs when they had the ball deep?

COACH FISHER: There was. But we said we had to come back twice. When they got down there the first time, we could have but we just didn't. We didn't right there. Could have done it.

Q. Hey, Jimbo. How do you guys stop the bleeding because there's so much football left to play. It's tough.

 

COACH FISHER: There is. And they are, And our kids see it. We'll play hard and we'll practice hard. We've been doing that. And like I say, play these last three games. Got to get on the road against a very good Auburn -- tough Auburn play. Auburn is a tough place to play. Come back to UMass and LSU, get two home games and play for these seniors and play our tails off. And the character of these guys, they'll play. I know that. And we've
just got to play. We've got to help them do a better job with them.

Q. Jimbo, do you all discourage your quarterbacks from running?

COACH FISHER: No.

Q. Because there was a couple of opportunities, it would seem like.
COACH FISHER: I will have to look at it and see. I'll look at it and see. I can't tell from the field sometimes what he had. That's something he usually does, and we don't ever -- we don't want him to
get big hits, but we don't discourage him from running, no.

Q. Jimbo, this is another game that the defense has allowed over 200 yards rushing. Do you think of just losing a guy like Mike Elko and what he was able to bring to that front seven that
maybe benefit has --

COACH FISHER: Well, we've still got some of the same schemes there and we've got some young guys playing the situation, and we've got to fit some things better, like I said. Schematically, it's good stuff, and we'll look at it and see. But DJ [Durkin] does a good job. He knows what we're doing. We
know how we're doing it. And so, we'll keep working on it.

Q. At this point in the season, is it more so about you guys closing out on the right note for these seniors?

COACH FISHER: No doubt. You've got another game to play and you've got three games to play. Just keep playing hard and doing your things. Like I say, you can show your character right now. Like I say, these tough times build character and I think these guys will keep showing it. They've got character
and playing hard.

Q. Coach, I know the last couple of ball games, it's been one play away. Today it wasn't. How much more disappointing is that?

COACH FISHER: Well, it was a couple of plays away, and right there, we got the points, we got the sack. And then the other sack, we had a guy wide open at midfield on in the other one. We got hit on that.

 

You get back in the drop-back game and it gets to be a tough situation. We were right there in the one-play game, almost all the way through the third. We didn't move it in the third quarter and we didn't play bad. We were still there. Had points in that one and could have got back to 34 at least, 34-27 or 34-31 if we had gotten that third
and seven. Unfortunately, we got the blitz -- not the blitz. They got us around the corner and caused the fumble. We had to try to throw it away.
But it's there. It's not that far away, like I say. But they're always there. You just got to keep finding ways to make it.

Q. At what point, did you know Conner [Weigman] and guys like Kam [Dewberry] as well, but particularly Conner, wouldn't be able to go --

COACH FISHER: We didn't know till late -- we knew they got it early in the week. I mean, we had -- we didn't know who was going to play all the way through as far as back and forth. Some guys came back
today, in the last day or so, depending on how it came. Some guys, it hit harder. Some guys, it hit easier. You know what I'm saying? We didn't know. We were trying to do piecemeal and do what we had all week.

Q. Kind of based on that and based on Conner's [Weigman] performance last week, how disappointing was it that he wasn't able?

COACH FISHER: Oh, it was very disappointing, because you want to keep the momentum and you want to keep him playing. He wants to stay hot and keep things going. There's no doubt. I love how he played. There was nobody more disappointed than he was. He would say, Coach, I want to play and then throw up. We had to keep him away, and it is what it is.
Like I say, I thought Haynes [King] came in and did a nice job. He's been banged up, too, but I think he did a nice job in the game. Made some really good plays. Gave us a chance in the game.

Q. Jimbo, we were trying to do the math before the game, just how many guys were out -- injury, illness. Where does this kind of stack up on just the roster depletion you've had this year?

COACH FISHER: It's a bunch. You're talking about -- it's one of the worst I've had as far as that goes. [Fadil] Diggs will be out for the year. He's had an injury. And then there's a couple of other guys that. Deuce Harmon will be out for the year, just had surgery. A couple of other guys are banged and bruised. We're trying to see. We'll have to wait and see where
they're at and what they're doing. Besides the sickness and the guys coming up out, that's neither here nor there. You got to play with the guys you got and we have plenty good

 

You just have to take stuff like this under the chin. Even though it's like a repetitive thing that's happening, we just have to bear down and figure out what's wrong. That's the main thing. To a solution, you got to find -- for a problem, you've got to find a solution.

Q. Layden, Devon [Achane] only had five rushing touches in the entire second half. Did you notice anything different that they were doing up front? Were they running different stunts? Were they utilizing more so of an interior block? What was the main difference of the defensive
line?

LAYDEN ROBINSON: I could say the stunts in the second half, they came more. You know, they started figuring out what stunts will work against us and how to get us off levels, especially on the
offensive line. They just brought more stunts the second half.

Q. And then not for anything because we've got a team bonding, but for the seniors that are going to go out on this year, how important is it for you guys to close out on the right note, regardless of bowl eligibility or whatnot?

LAYDEN ROBINSON: Because you don't want to finish bad. You always want to finish strong, no matter what spots you're in. You want to have a strong finish and hopefully that leads into greater things for this team and this university.

Q. Layden, kind of piggyback off of what he said, does it surprise you that there's not more just straight-up design runs for Devon [Achane] in the second half with what he was able to do in the first half?

LAYDEN ROBINSON: It doesn't surprise me. We just do what our coaches say. We're not too worried about the play calls. Our job is to do what our coaches want to do and what they feel like will be bestly executed against the team we're playing.

Q. And then, was Devon [Achane] one of those guys that was a little bit sick through the week? How gutty of an effort was it for him to go out and do what he did?

LAYDEN ROBINSON: I believe so, he was one of the guys that was sick this week, but he's a battler, he's a guy that takes on the responsibility and he just balled. That's what he does. It's in his DNA, and he's a great asset for this team.

Q. Layden, you guys had a chance coming out of the locker room to extend your lead and kind of really put your foot on the gas kind of like they did later in that frame. So how disappointing was it that you weren't able to do that, and then also you weren't able to kind of stem their momentum when they kind of got it going?

 

LAYDEN ROBINSON: You know, it's always hard stopping momentum, but you have to make sure that you do your job, not anything special, just do your job and do your part, your individual assignment to make sure that you can stop the momentum. And coming out the halftime, you know, that was hard because we had a heck of a first half moving the ball, getting down the field, and just making big plays. In the second half, we just didn't execute how we executed in the first half. We were focused on having a fast start. Now we have to focus on maintaining that fast start going into the second half.

Q. Layden, I know you guys have dealt with a lot of injuries this year, but then this week to have the illnesses that you had, did you just kind of go, man, we cannot catch a break?

LAYDEN ROBINSON: You know, stuff like that gets rough because you're just facing a lot of adversity. But you have to pull through that adversity and you have to come through that adversity at the end of the day.

Q. Layden, it feels like on a five-game losing streak, it's easy to just lay down your head and call it quits, but you continue to be positive with your message and you continue to have this optimism for this team. Do you think that as a leader and someone who's been a starter for multiple years, it's your duty to make sure that you're keeping this positive momentum for the locker room?

LAYDEN ROBINSON: Oh, of course, but that's everybody's duty to make sure we keep this locker room positive and keep this team positive. If one is down, we have to pick that person up and we have to let them know, hey, we just got to keep grinding and keep our foot on the pedal and just keep going. That's the thing about this team that a lot of people probably don't see under wraps. We make sure that we go after each other every day in practice. We make sure we're making each other better. Our job is to make our teammates better, backups and all that. Just like today, you seen we had to use our backups most of the time because a lot of our key players was done. But that's still no excuse at the end of the day. We have to make sure that they're ready to take on their job.

Q. Edgerrin, in a week when a lot of guys were forced to miss -- injuries, sickness -- you actually got to come back. So how nice was it just for you to be back on the field this week?

EDGERRIN COOPER: Oh, it was very nice to finally get back in the groove. Just walking from the sideline and seeing your brothers fight for every play. It just kills you knowing that you want to be out there to help him. It just feels good to be back.

Q. Edgerrin, how much did it feel like that first quarter kind of when they were going back and forth, maybe took a toll as the game went along, just especially once they got it going in the second half as well?

 

EDGERRIN COOPER: Oh, it took a big toll. We try to get adjustments right during the game, try to geta stop. We didn't like that situation, us going back and forth. I feel like if we could have gotten a fewstops or just one or two more stops, we could have had success during this game. But just the
circumstances we had to go through and we had to adjust to.

Q. Edgerrin, the defense has been pretty young this season just overall and just with the number of injuries y'all have had, what have been some of the growing pains y'all have had to go through been like and having to replace so many guys?
EDGERRIN COOPER: I mean, it's tough but that's what they're here for. We look at it as the next person up, try to put that person the best perspective they could be. You know, try to help them get out with us and be able to roll with us.

Q. Edgerrin, what did you notice about Anthony Richardson and his ability to maneuver outside of the pocket?

EDGERRIN COOPER: He's a great player. We tried to keep him contained as much as possible. He's a very impactful player when he got out of the pocket. But stuff like that just happens.

Q. And injuries and illness aside, having a guy like Antonio Johnson miss this game who does a great job of spying the quarterbacks, especially mobile quarterbacks, do you think that hurt a younger player that maybe isn't used to playing that type of role?

EDGERRIN COOPER: Oh, yeah, a situation like that, having a veteran there, could have certain plays where certain plays doesn't happen, you know? But we just have to be out there whoever we out there with and just do our jobs.

Q. Tackling hasn't necessarily been a problem for y'all this season, but especially the last two games and this game, what changed that the tackles just weren't there and they were able to break some?
EDGERRIN COOPER: It came down to -- we try to harp on that every day, every practice. That was our main thing was tackling and make sure we wrap up, and just certain situations like that happened today. And we just wasn't successful at it.

Q. Edgerrin, just out of curiosity, back-to-back games given up over 200 rushing yards. Do you feel like it's just the youthfulness of the defense not being able to make the plays? What's been the difference between this year and last year?

EDGERRIN COOPER: Yeah, certain situations where the younger guys are not able to be able to focus on what defense we're running and just not out there used to the game. Once we get out there, they notice how fast everything goes and just have to make the adjustments.