Mizzou and Virginia coaches speak in Gator Bowl press conference
Here is a full transcript of Mizzou coach Eliah Drinkwitz and Virginia coach Tony Elliot on a zoom press conference Tuesday as both prepare for the Gator Bowl.
Elliot’s opening statement
Elliot: “We’re so grateful to have this, this opportunity. This program has been working hard over the last several years to get to the postseason. And we’re so excited to be in Jacksonville, and it holds a special place in my heart. My first bowl game as a, as a college player was the Gator Bowl. So I’m excited to be be back in in Jacksonville. And my wife is super excited, because that’s where her sister got her first job down in Jacksonville, so she’s excited to go back and get to see the home that her nieces were raised in.
“And so the guys around here are super excited about the opportunity, grateful for, for just the invitation. And man, really looking forward to playing Missouri. Big fan of Eliah. We battled many years in the ACC, when he was at NC State. I’m excited to really have an opportunity to compete. He’s done a fantastic job at Missouri, and really has kind of taken that program to a whole nother level.
“So it’ll be a great test and barometer for our football team, just to kind of taking this step forward, to see how we compare versus a team that’s, that’s at the top of the SEC. So just super excited about the opportunity. I can’t wait to get to Jacksonville. Look forward to the different bowl events that we’re going to be part of. Really excited about about that, and just really, really humbled and grateful to have this opportunity.”
Drinkwitz’s opening statement
Drinkwitz: “Thank you. Chairman, Sarah and Greg, appreciate the invitation, opportunity to be a participant the Taxslayer Gator Bowl. You know, I think the things that make a bowl game so unique are, one, the location, what an awesome venue and location to be able to play in an NFL stadium for our players, whose dreams are to play in the NFL, and two, to be in Florida, obviously great weather, staying at world-class facilities. The second thing is the opponent and opportunity for TV exposure. Obviously, we’re playing a tremendous Virginia team who was a playoff-caliber team who won the ACC regular-season champs.
“They got tremendous coaches, Coach Elliot, ACC Coach of the Year. They’re really good in all three phases. And so for us to have an opportunity to play on ABC, 7:30 on a Saturday night versus a playoff-worthy team, I think is going to be tremendous competition. I know our team is really excited to be invited. I know there’s going to be incredible experiences and hospitality at the Taxslayer Gator Bowl and so for us, just very excited and privileged, and want to encourage fans, our fans, to be participants, to come down. What a way to spend the back half of your Christmas holidays, and nowhere better than Jacksonville, Florida. So with that, I’ll turn it back over to y’all.”
Question: Coach Elliot, what’s the challenge of getting your kids back on track with the disappointment of last week and, or is it a matter of they’re so eager to get back on the field that you won’t need much motivation?
Elliot: “Yeah, so obviously, it was a locker room that was, was shocked, shocked and stunned and believed that they were going to find a way to win. But you know, it’s a great learning opportunity for us. And I think adversity is a companion of a champion and an enemy to the week, and we have to learn how to grow and get back. But we have a tremendous opportunity. We’re playing an outstanding football team, we’re in a great venue, and we have an opportunity still to do something that hasn’t been done within this program ever.
“So while we came up a little bit short in the last game. We still have a ton, ton to play for, and that’s really what we’re going to focus on, getting our guys back ready to go.”
Question: And coach Drinkwitz, you finished the season pretty strong, won two of the last three. Beat Arkansas. Does that motivate your kids to want to get on the field one more time?
Drinkwitz: “Yeah, I think competitors want to compete. You know, we talk about all the time. ‘Warriors always run to the fight.’ And, you know, these guys are made to compete. They love football. If you don’t love football, you wouldn’t do it the way we’re committed to doing it. And so I know our guys are going to want to play for the Brotherhood. You know, Coach Elliot spoke about having the opportunity to do something that’s never been done before in their program, we have an opportunity to do something that’s never been done before in the history of our program. Three straight seasons of nine-plus wins to finish the season ranked three, three consecutive seasons hasn’t occurred here at the University of Missouri before.
“Winning three straight bowl games hasn’t occurred at Missouri in a long time. And so you know, you always got to find micro goals in everybody’s goals. We all have high goals and achievable goals, and when those things don’t occur, you have to find the ability to reset and refocus, and that’s what we’ve done. We had a spirited practice yesterday, going to have one again today. We’re not quite in preparation mode for Virginia, but just getting the rust off and getting back into playing football. And I thought the energy and excitement that these guys had to play football one more time as a group was, was good.”
Question: For both coaches, we’ve seen some opt outs and stuff like that from whole schools on bowls. I know you don’t want to talk about what’s going on in other people’s programs. But just generally speaking, is there something that can be done by college football to get this situation where teams maybe wouldn’t be opting out of bowls and wanting to go compete like you guys want to?
Drinkwitz: “Yeah, you know, again, I can’t speak to other people’s programs, and every situation is uniquely different. And schools got to make decisions that are in the best interest of their programs. I think for us, the main thing is the opportunity to continue to compete and grow. And as a program that’s trying to emerge to the highest levels, like you never shy away from an opportunity to compete. And again, we’re going against a team that I think is one of the has one of the biggest turnarounds in college football. Coach Elliott’s staff is tremendous. So it’s going to be a tremendous competition that you get to measure yourself with.
“I think, from a general point of view, or 10,000-point view, we got to change the calendar. I think the calendar is driving this whole decision making and issues. You know, we’re not able to finish the competitive playing season before players, coaches, administrations, have to make hard decisions. And, you know, I think you’re seeing mid-season coaches being let go because they’re afraid of the high school signing day and being behind in recruiting. And now you’re seeing coaches, players making decisions because, you know, they want to be ahead of the transfer portal dates. And you’re seeing coaches make decisions because of all those things.
“So to me, the easiest fix, which is the calendar. And you know, when that’s addressed, I think some of these decisions can be adjusted. I don’t think there’s competitors that don’t want to play, I don’t think there’s competitors that don’t want to participate. I think there’s decisions that have to be made because of all the different circumstances that are involved, because of the calendar.”
Elliot: “Yeah, I would, I would echo a lot of the comments that Eliah just made. I think we’re at a different place in our program. You know, as you mentioned, the turnaround from the previous season and having not been to a bowl since 2019, I think we’re in a different place. But big picture, I do agree with, if the calendar does have to be adjusted because you are having to have conversations now that you don’t want to have, per se. And you really just want to focus on preparation for, for what everybody’s been working for. And for me, the bowl is bigger than just the players on the field.
“It’s a reward for the entire program. And I think, I think that if the calendar is a little bit different, you can make the emphasis back on what it needs, needs to be. But for us, we just have been focusing on trying to get better as a program each year. And the goal for us was to improve from last year. We were one game away from, from being bowl eligible. And so the focus this year was to seek and we can find a way to get to Charlotte and experience that. And now we’re very grateful to have a bowl, and not to say that in the next coming weeks, I might not have guys have to make that decision, and it’s unfortunate, but, but our focus is, man, we’re going to try and send our senior class out, because this senior classes has been through a lot.
“The guys that have been around here for four years, they’ve been through a lot. And all I’m focused on and trying to get this team to focus on is going and chasing that 11th win, which has never been done in school history. But more importantly, let’s, let’s honor the seniors the right way.”
Question: For both of you guys, and understanding what coach was just saying about obviously wanting to win and get the 11th win. How do you balance also wanting to give maybe some young players who didn’t get a ton of run this year a little bit of reward by getting them some experience? Some playing time? And using this time to develop them?
Drinkwitz: “Yeah, I’ll go. I mean, we want to develop them in practice. Practice execution equals game day reality. The only way you get better is to practice. To practice. But this isn’t a practice game. This is a game that we’re both trying to win and we’re trying to win. And so if you don’t earn the opportunity to help us win in practice, then this ain’t tryouts. You know, this isn’t a preseason game. This is a game against the ACC regular-season champion. So you know, if somebody can help us win, they’ll get to play. But this ain’t, this ain’t a participation trophy. So if the young guy earns at practice, he’ll get to play. If he doesn’t, he
won’t.”
Elliot: “I think in our situation, we’ve, we’ve been forced to have to play guys, young guys, down the stretch with, with depth challenges that we’ve had on our roster. And just like Eliah said, we’ll use all the practices that we have available to continue to develop those guys. And if, and if they’re able to earn the right to play in this game, but at the end of the day, just like Eliah said, man, we’re focusing on trying to win a game versus, you know, a very, very good football team from a very, very good football conference that’s going to pose some challenges to us. Both schematically and from a personnel standpoint.”
Question: UVA is playing an SEC opponent for the first time since the 2023 opener, Missouri, facing the ACC regular-season champion. For both coaches, what does this game mean for the marketability of your program? Especially as these big-time matchups become less frequent in the regular season?
Drinkwitz: “Yeah, I’ll say this. I think for us, we couldn’t have picked, I mean, couldn’t have had a better opportunity, you know, to end the season, versus, like you said, the ACC regular-season champ. And then the exposure that it’ll be on national television, I can’t imagine there’s a better game going on at that time, including in the NFL, because I think all those playoff spots are already locked up by then. Anyway.
“So, you’ll have a lot of people trying to get better draft picks. Go back to Mike’s question, playing younger guys, we’re going to be playing our guys to try to win. And, you know, got a lot of respect. I mean, you know, they’re Tony, coach Elliott’s team’s got a 1,000-yard rusher. They got Chandler Morris, who does an excellent job as a quarterback, who’s got great experience. You got a top 10 scoring defense, top 10 rushing defense. So I think the matchup is really good. You know, we like to run the football. We’ve got a pretty solid defense too, so it’s going to be strength on strength.”
Elliot: “Yeah, I think for our program, you know, this year in particular, with, with the success that, that the guys were able to to generate, we’ve had more opportunities to play and have a little bit more exposure. But, but for us, and this is a great opportunity, you’re getting a chance to play against a team that’s chasing their third straight nine-win season. They were 11 wins two years ago, 10, 10 wins last year. So it’s a great opportunity for us to not only just gain the exposure, but to really kind of test where our program is, right?
“And so you’re talking about two football teams that are potentially playoff teams, right? A couple plays away from either one of us being in the college football playoff. And they got the best running back in the country. Man, their offense is going to challenge you. Man, I’ve been chasing Eliah for years with that wide zone and all of the shifts and the formations and the unbalanced and and then you jump over to the defensive side. I mean, they’re stopping the run, stopping, their fast, they’re sacking a quarterback, man.
“They got some, they got, they’re built a little bit different than maybe what we see in our league from a size standpoint. So it’s going to be a really, really good challenge for us. So I think the marketability is, is one thing, but more so for us, it’s, OK, now we really get to test kind of the growth of our program versus an opponent like Missouri.”
Question: Tony, for you, you have not had a bowl game here at Virginia yet. How much do you value that time that you get with this team?
Elliot: “Yeah, so it, you throw in the extra week of practice with the championship game. Now you’re talking about, you know, potentially 15, you know, plus practices. Which is the equivalent to a spring ball. And as Eliah said, the only way that you, that you get better and develop is really on the, on the practice field, right? A lot of times the players think that you develop in the game, or you develop on the, on the practice field. And so, so it’s going to be huge for us to have those additional practices to further develop the, the young guys that we have in our program.
“And then also an opportunity for those older guys that have aspirations of playing on Sunday. It’s just more opportunity for them to play football. And I think the only way you get better at football is to practice and play football. The off season is great, but when you don’t have pads on, it’s hard to develop as a as a football player. So it’s a great opportunity for us to have some more time with our guys.”
Question: Tony, you kind of touched on it there with Eliah and Missouri running a wide zone. (Offensive coordinator) Des (Kitchings) was with him at NC State. Do you see similarities in the offenses? And I guess Eliah, same thing?
Elliot: “Yes, I’ve had a chance to watch a good bit of film. And, you know, in my background, I was a tight zone and a counter guy. And Eliah and I would talk about it, you know, all the time because he, I think he wanted to run a little bit more counter and I wanted to run a little bit more, run a little bit more wide zone. And now with Des, his background, you can see that’s, that’s our primary, primary run scheme. Just like you see for Missouri, it’s their primary run scheme. And they do, they do an outstanding job with it. And their backs are phenomenal. And you have a great understanding of how to run that, that concept.
“So definitely see some, some similarities. And again, and I had over, kind of, the reigns to Des and was able to kind of sprinkle in a few things in my background. But a lot of it is the things that Des has acquired over his years with, with Eliah at, at NC State. And then also with the Falcons and you see a lot of the unbalanced and the formation into the boundary and the shifts and the motions. Things are a little bit different than how we were built at Clemson. All things that I was intrigued with, but we had a system at Clemson that we were going to be committed to. But I like, I like the versatility that we have offensively.
“And then the same thing, what you’re seeing is, kind of the ability of the coaches, and he’s got a tremendous staff, to be able to fit their scheme to the guys that they have on their roster. And they’ve done a phenomenal job of being able to, with the different personnel that they have this year to adapt and make it go. So it’s going to be a tremendous challenge to be able to figure out a way to, to line up and defend what, what they do on offense.”
Drinkwitz: “Yeah. So, you know, for us again, I have an offensive coordinator, and you know, when he came in, he kind of retooled and revamped the pass game, but kept the foundational run game aspects of it. And the foundational run game for us goes back to really, not even me. It’s really Dwayne Ledford. You know, when Dwayne came from Appalachian State in 2016 and Des was our running backs coach, you know, Dwayne and Des presented to me this plan of why the wide zone would give us an opportunity in the ACC with, you know, playing teams like Clemson and in Miami and some of these other opponents that we weren’t matching up with, would give us an opportunity to be able to run the ball effectively.
“And so, you know, those guys spent time together at the Falcons, and we still, you know, I still stay in touch with Dwayne and get ideas from him on how they’re running the wide zone. And so that’s been just a foundational component for us again, in the SEC where we see big, athletic offensive or defensive lines. How do we create space? And we’ve been able to do that in the last five years, effectively running the ball. So, you know, when I turn on the tape and watch, you know, there’s, there’s so many different components.
“You know, Coach Kitchen’s always had great ideas and input into what we were trying to do. And sometimes I would take it, sometimes I wouldn’t. But when you watch the tape, you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s one of those ideas that he brought to me.’ Or foundational core path component. He does a lot of really new stuff that I think he’s adapted from the NFL and some of the things. But you do see some similarities that we all had ideas.
“I think, and Tony would tell you too, you know, as a coordinator, it’s a collaborative effort, and you see that collaborative effort being brought in. I think some of the stuff that you see that UVA does is some of the things that their quarterbacks coach brought from his, you know, time at App State to with Coach (Scott) Satterfield. So it’s been cool to watch. You know, I think they do an excellent job of staying on time in phase.
“They have a ton of third-and-mediums. They stay ahead of the chains as good as anybody I’ve seen this season. And so, you know, the challenge for us is not to get frustrated as they, you know, grind out 3 and 4 and 5 yards at a time. I think their quarterback’s an excellent decision maker. Rarely makes decisions or bad situations or bad plays. And so, yeah, very proud of what, which coach Kitchens has developed over there.”
Question: Tony, what have been your interactions with the team since Saturday? Did you all meet Sunday? What is your practice schedule going to look like between now and Jacksonville?
Elliot: “Yeah, so I’m excited to get to Florida because it’s been snowing up here the last the last couple days. We got a bunch of snow on the ground. Schools have been canceled. Classes were canceled yesterday. So, so really, they’ve been lifting and, on their own over the last couple of days, just because we’ve had modified schedules from a university standpoint. And then we also, this is a big time in our, big time of year in our program from a career development standpoint. So they have career networking tonight.
“They have a big function for about five hours tomorrow where they do a bunch of career networking and interviewing for life after football, and then we’ll get back on the practice field on, on Thursday. So we’ll get back Thursday and Friday, and then we have our banquet and then we’ll really get into our Missouri bowl prep starting, starting next week. And then we’ll take a little bit of a break, I think, the 19th through the 21st. Just give the guys an opportunity to go home for Christmas, and then we got to report to Jacksonville on the 23rd so it’s been limited interaction since the, since the game, just because our schedule, we didn’t get back till 6 a.m. on Sunday. And we’ve had the modified school schedule in the snow and, and don’t want to bring the guys out and, you know, put them at jeopardy. So we’ll get back together fully as a team on Thursday, but I’ll see all the guys this afternoon and tomorrow for career, career prep.”
Question: Do you have a sense for whether any injured players will have to have procedures or anything and therefore miss the bowl?
Elliot: “As of as of right now, we don’t. We’re still waiting on imaging on Trell (Harris), he’d be the, he’d be the biggest one from the game. And again, we couldn’t get imaging done yesterday because everything was shut down because of the, because of the snow. So he’ll get imaging today, so we’ll know better kind of the extent of his injury. But as of right now, all the guys are indicating that any of the postseason cleanup surgeries will, will be done after the after the bowl.”
Question: The importance of bowl games has been questioned publicly. That doesn’t seem to be the case for UVA. What excites you most about the opportunity in this game?
Elliot: “Oh, man. I mean, I’m not used to sitting home for Christmas. In the past three years, I’ve been home at Christmas. And so, man, we’re, we’re excited to be in this building preparing for a, for a bowl game, I mean, and these, these, like I said, this, this senior group, with the exception of Antonio Clary, has never been to a bowl game. So, so we’re just, man, grateful for the opportunity. And that was, was part of the focus at the beginning of the year is, ‘Man, we’re going to the postseason this year.’
“Excited for the staff and the families to have an opportunity to experience the bowl game. Excited to be in Jacksonville, where there’s going to be a ton of stuff for the, for the families to do over the couple of days that we’re, that we’re there. Man, excited to be playing against Missouri. Man, a team, like I said, that’s a couple plays away from, from being a playoff team, you know, a lot like us. So there’s so much to be, to be excited about.
“And I’m a, and those who know me, man, I’m a, I’m a college football guy. Man, I love, I love college football and the pageantry, and it’s bowl games. And as I said this, my first bowl game was the Gator Bowl against against Virginia Tech and Michael Vick and the boys. Now I want, hopefully we have a different outcome, because they got after us pretty good in that game. But it’s just it’s been a long time coming for this program, and then to be in, to be playing against Missouri, and the players that they have, and then the coaches that they have and, and the relationships that we have with the, with the coaching staffs, there’s a lot of crossover and carryover.
“So there’s so much to be to be excited about, and that’s what bowl season is all about. Hopefully we’ll be able to, and I don’t know the answer to this, but hopefully in the future, we’ll be able to kind of reverse the narrative and get it back to where, man, it’s all about the bowl experience and getting to the postseason.”
Question: And for coach Drinkwitz, what is your impression now that you’ve gotten a little bit later in the week of this UVA team?
Drinkwitz: “Yeah, I mean, a tremendous football team in all three phases. They do an excellent job being fundamentally and technically sound in their schemes. You know, I think they’re one of the best kickoff cover teams in the country. To find tough teams as a team that’s able to stop the run, run the ball and cover kicks. So when you look at UVA, they’re able to do those three in a really efficient manner.
“They have a 1,000-yard rusher, they’re top 10 in rush defense, and they’re one of the best coverage units out there. Obviously, I have a tremendous amount of respect for coach, who he is as a person, which I know translates into the culture that his program is going to have. So it’s a difficult challenge in a worthy opponent, and again, when you get into bowl season, that’s what you’re looking for. Now, I would prefer if coach Elliot would have said that he’s just going to play as freshman in the second half. But since he didn’t do that, I guess we’ll just have to compete it out.”
Question: UVA athletics has obviously been very heavily invested in in recent seasons. From the football side, how has that helped you all get to where you are today? And where do you think that’s going to help you guys in the future?
Elliot: “I think just from a competitive standpoint, doesn’t matter where you’re at. You got to invest right in this day and age. If you don’t, if you don’t invest, you don’t have an opportunity to compete. And just grateful for Dr. Williams and her leadership, all the folks in administration, the folks here on grounds and supporters that have, that have stepped up. And I think our staff has done a good job of being good stewards of the, of the resources that have been given to us. We will continue to be that going forward.
“And we understand the responsibility that we have with the, with the investment. We want to do it the right way, first and, first and foremost. And I think that just in college football in general, if you don’t, you don’t invest, you don’t really have an opportunity to compete. Because that’s what the landscape requires and demands. It doesn’t matter, like it or not, it’s it is what it is.
“And I’m just grateful that folks believe enough in this staff, these players, to invest and hopefully that this is kind of an indication of what’s possible. It’s not guaranteed. We’re not entitled to what we experienced this season. We got to earn it, but if we don’t have the the resources available, it’s going to be hard to be able to to have the caliber talent, to be able to go out and compete in games like this or in our league.”
Question: I’m getting a sense from both coaches that you don’t expect a whole lot of opt outs. Is that the case?
Drinkwitz: “I’ll go first. I’ve had a couple of players transfer. I think we’re still in the middle of the negotiation phase, which I’m sure coach Elliot’s fixing to enter into in the next few weeks. But no, I feel for the most part, that we’re going to be as close to full strength as we can. I haven’t had any NFL declarations yet. You know those, those grades for underclassmen, will come back this week. So I think there’s still, you know, things that could change.
“But as of now, I feel very confident in our senior class, wanting to play and play at a high level. So as soon as I get that information, I’ll make it public. You know, I’m not going to try to hide anything. So as soon as I get all that stuff, I’ll let everybody know, so the fans know what, what the product’s going to be on the field, and probably more importantly, Vegas, to know.”
Elliot: “Likewise, I feel confident that our guys will want to finish this season, because it’s been a, it’s been a special year with a special group of, of young men. But again, there’s, there’s so many things right now, as a head coach that we can’t control and and we’re going to focus on what we can control. I do know that whoever we do show up with, men will be excited and ready to play and want to, and want to compete. There’s going to be conversations over the next couple of weeks, both in our building, and then, I’m sure, with players and folks external to our building. But hopefully as, as Eliah talked about, a competitor will want to play, especially in a game like this. And so I anticipate that the bulk of our guys will want to compete.”
Question: Both of you picked up transfer running backs from smaller schools who had tremendous seasons. Did you guys get what you expected? And in what ways did those two guys, Ahmad Hardy and J’Mari Taylor, exceed your expectations?
Elliot: “I’ll go first. I mean, for Jamari to come in and be First Team All-ACC, I think he exceeded everybody’s expectation. We were confident that we were bringing in a good player that fit our, that fit our culture. And man, he’s been, he’s been awesome all year, all year long, and I’m just super, super happy for him because of his story and his journey to get here. And then also just just confirmation and proof that, man, football players are, at all levels, and all levels of football is well coached, well prepared, and I’m just grateful that he chose us and He’s made us He’s made us better.”
Drinkwitz: “Yeah, you know Ahmad Hardy’s a wonderful story. I had zero expectation that he would come in and be the First Team All-SEC running back and be a finalist for the Doak Walker award. I knew he was a talented player, but I didn’t know how good he was, and so it’s been a remarkable season. He’s a young man who’s earned it. He’s a great, he’s a great teammate. He’s got great work ethic, got an unbelievable personality. People love being around him, so it’s been really fun to watch him and watch his journey and, and I think the other thing that’s been really remarkable about him is he came in and competed with Jamal Roberts, and Jamal’s had an excellent season too. And Ahmad has, has always deferred the spotlight and shared the credit with him. And I think that’s been really cool for me to watch, because when you come in as a transfer, you just never know how that mesh is going to occur. Especially in those rooms where they’re competing with each other. And it’s been awesome to see those two guys work together.”
Question: And then if you guys could address the other guy. For Eliah, UVA’s run game and J’Mari Taylor. And for Tony, what you see from Ahmad Hardy and the group at Missouri?
Drinkwitz: “Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, J’Mari Taylor rushed for 1,000 yards, he’s got 14 touchdowns. I mean, he’s had a remarkable season. You know, All-ACC running back. That’s a really tough league. And got really good defenses all the way across the board. So for him to reach that achievement in that level is not just a tribute to him and his talent, but obviously an offensive line that’s dealt with injuries, the scheme that those coaches have put together, the ability for Chandler to, to create openings by utilizing the throw game. So it’s a hat off and tribute to the entire staff.”
Elliot: “Yes, and, and, I mean, Ahmad, he’s, he’s, you watch him, and he’s a pro back. You watch his feet and his patience and has a good understanding of the scheme. And then they got a great one to change up, right? And they complement, they complement each other. And when you have two backs that complement each other, and both of them can run all the different schemes that you put out there, and then you got a quarterback that on top of that, that can pull it down and make your right and more, it creates a tremendous, tremendous challenge. And then just, you know, Eliah’s background and being creative and finding ways to get the numbers and the angles.
“So, when you have the scheme, the coaches and then the players to be able to do it, that you see why they’re in this game, OK, and why they have somebody that’s up for the Doak Walker, and why they were one of the best rushing teams in the country. Because they got the personnel, the scheme, and then the guys are bought in, and then they got a tremendous offensive line. Like, that’s the biggest thing that jumps out to me.
“Like, OK, what are we going to do with the size that they got up, they got up front? Now, our league is a very tough league, but I think it’s a little bit different. And I think Eliah mentioned that earlier on. Man, the defensive lines are a little bit heavier, bigger in the, in the SEC than maybe what we see. where the flip side is the ACC, maybe a little bit quicker, a little bit more side to side from, from that perspective. And so when you have a massive offensive line, and then they have some good, good continuity, and some and some experience, like all those guys are juniors and above. And so when you add the size of the line, the talented backs, the quarterback that can run the scheme, it’s a, you see why they are, where they are ranked, and why they’re in this game.”