“Congratulations to us. Good luck to Coach Sumerall and Florida. I wish them good luck with the rest. Not much to say from an opening statement standpoint. I think our play and our response this week speaks for itself. I’m really, really happy (for the points at LaNorris Sellers And Vicar Swain who are sitting next to him), and every actor in our program, every person associated with our program. This is a victory for the program.
“Despite all the negativity this week, it was a program win. For us to come here, give up a big play on defense on the first drive and respond the way we did to hold them to six points basically the rest of the way before the last drive – the way our offense plays, our special teams, taught us lessons. Third quarter, I know you were probably writing your articles, ‘Here we go again.’ Third quarter, what are we going to do, the whole country was watching. We own it; We were the ones who played that way in the third quarter.
“But if you saw our locker room at halftime, you would have known we were going to play well in the third quarter. There was great energy, great determination. Just really, really happy for our team and everyone associated with the program. Just the mental toughness, we talked about it on Tuesday, to win on the road, it’s a tough place to play. I remember sitting here in 2022, and it wasn’t pretty. It’s one of the best environments in all of the college football. They have a great football team.
“For us to be missing four starters, make sure you write that down, we have four starters today that weren’t on this trip, so we lose. Judge Collier in the first half. We are there. But the way they played defense, the way (Sellers) played offense, it’s really great. They deserve it, our players deserve it. So happy for them.
“Appreciate our fans that were here today; they were unbelievable. I also want to thank – Jeremiah (Donati) is in the back, Jeff Crane is right there, Wes (Mallette) is right there and that’s the type of guy you want in the hole with you. I talk to other head coaches who (complain) about their athletic director – not in the SEC, I’m not trying to get head coaches in trouble – who talk about their AD. These guys are real, man.
“Regardless of the noise outside over the last three weeks, what you’ve written, what the ‘sources’ say, these guys are real guys, man, and have done nothing but support me and been incredibly supportive. Last year, this year, they got it. They know how close we were and we’re a team that continues to get better. I appreciate them. So, Wes, Jeff, Jeremiah – I really appreciate your I know it hasn’t been easy for you guys. I can’t imagine the emails and calls you’ve gotten about me over the last three weeks, but they’re real guys, man. That’s the kind of guy you want in the foxhole. I said I wasn’t going to make a big opening statement.
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