Head Coach: Jimbo
Fisher
Fisher Introduction: “I thought South Florida played their
tails off, and they did. They played very physical. Our kids played hard and
competed well - made enough mistakes to not put that thing away. We had some
critical issues in the game, but it was a hard-fought game. We made the plays
we had to. Defense did a really nice job, had a major blender on special teams.
Had a blocked kick, which was crucial. Our kids did fight hard; it was a win
going on the road, a tough environment as far as knowing they were 2-2. You
know they were going to try to make that season right here and try to get back
into it and play hard, and they did that and our kids fought through it. We
have a lot of mistakes to clean up, but we came out with the ‘W’ and a ‘W’ is
always good.”
Reporter: “After the blocked punt, your defense held them to
13 yards in the first 10 plays in the second half.”
Fisher: “Yeah they did. The defense came out and really
started dominating the line of scrimmage. They were playing too loose in the
beginning, but I think they settled down and got their feet on the ground and started
playing much better. Then we were able to get a couple of drives.”
Reporter: “What’s the thing with this program? You didn’t
even play that well and still won by 13 on the road.”
Fisher: “That’s what I’m happy about. It’s crazy, that’s
what I told them. Wins are big, you go into somebody else’s house that have
good players and are coached well, and you come out with a ‘W’. That’s still a
huge step coming off the big win we had last week.”
Florida State
Quarterback EJ Manuel
On USF
“They beat us a few years ago and we definitely wanted to
come out and have a good game. We didn’t
want to lose or slip up.”
On the touchdown
pass after the blocked punt
“It was huge for our momentum because you know our
defense came back with a fumble, then a touchdown. That was huge for us, not
just for defense but for offense, too.”
Florida State
Offensive Fullback Lonnie Pryor
On getting the
first road win
“It feels good. It wasn’t pretty, there were some ups and
downs, but a win’s a win. That’s how we look at it. They came out here and
played a tough game. It’s our first road
game and it wasn’t going to be easy.”
On his
contributions to the team in regards to running the ball
“It feels good. Just to let them know, if coach needs
something that he can hand me the ball, or have me block and do certain things
like that. It just makes me feel comfortable, knowing I can be a help and he
has faith in me.”
On the game being a
struggle
“We knew that South Florida was going to come in and give
us a tough game. We didn’t think about losing the game, but we were just doing
things like missing reads, and different things like that offensively - just
little things that we did to hurt ourselves. They played a great game, but it
was just little things that we did to hurt ourselves. But we kept our head in
it and kept going.”
Florida State
Defensive player Lamarcus Joyner
On defensive
adjustments made after the first touchdown
“We just had to calm down, first game sold out away, it’s
pretty tough and we all learned a lesson as an organization. It’s pretty tough going
into someone else’s home. They are going to fight you hard, they are going to
claw, and we just had to get our minds right.”
