On Mason Graham

I think he really missed it, being out there. Club, no club, he's a great football player and he had a really great game tonight. Really dominant. Just about anybody you bring up, I would say the same thing. So many people played, young guys played, and they're starting to come into their own, it's really great to see. You can tell how much the Jug means to our team, they played like it tonight.

On Will Johnson's interception and getting in on the picture

I just came over to congratulate Will and they kind of threw me into the picture. It was great to be in the picture, a great way to start the game. We love the pick-sixes. Two pick-sixes. It was an RPO, Will really had good eyes and made the catch and finished it off. So did Keon Sabb, great play. They were trying to throw it over Keon's head on the boundary, went up and climbed the ladder, as they say, and got the ball. Just so great. Two pick-sixes, have to go back to 2017, Tyree Kinnell and Lavert Hill against Cincinnati, remember that one well. It was cool, very cool. J.J., great game by him, too. 70% completion, just in total control out there. Whether it's the protections, the plays, he's just got a great command of the offense. Had a couple of drops, too, and some of the throws he made were right on target again. The way he ran it, I thought it was one of his best. Best performances. Really playing—great quarterbacking by him. AP kind of stuff.

On the physicality of McCarthy's run and playing on a bad ankle

Yeah, a little bit. It's like the young people say, he's a dog. DAWG, Disciplined Athlete With Grit. Put an acronym to it. He really jumped out in my mind tonight watching him play. He's in total control when he's making those kinds of plays. They kind of look wild, like he just doesn't care, like he's got no conscience. He's really in total control. The athleticism that it takes to do that is off the charts, it really is. It's great. There's a lot of great quarterbacks around the country and I hear them talk about how this is maybe one of the best quarterbacks drafts ever. Sometimes they say that in September, early October. I know there are, there's a lot of really good ones. There's nobody we'd rather have than J.J. McCarthy. Haven't watched all the guys, starting to watch some of the others, play-for-play, J.J. McCarthy—maybe I am a little biased, I'm trying not to be, I think he's the best one. I really do. Certainly nobody that we'd rather have. Just so good. So proud of him. And everybody else, too. Great game. Really played well. We had the one penalty, the holding penalty that looked like a pretty good block. I don't know, just good. Grateful, grateful for how the way the guys go about their business and it's really happening during the week of practice, too. I know I've talked to you before about it. The way they practice is incredible. These games, you just feel them getting won—it's half the battle to have a great Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday practice. You still have to play the game. Just the sharpness that you feel. It's early in the week and it gets polished, it's at a really high level to start with and then by the end of the week, man, these guys are dialed, they're sharp, they're ready to go and ready to play.

On Jesse Minter's and his adjustments

It speaks for itself that we have not had any points scored against us in the third quarter. He's really good. Made it a point today at halftime to go spend some time over there and watch him do that and it was really good. They were hurting us on the wide zone and adjusted, moved our end down to a six-technique, that really helped. We were really setting the edge good, not getting up field and giving up that c-gap. Great adjustment. Pretty obvious, it speaks for itself that he can make those adjustments. Played so well in the third quarter and the fourth quarter.

On the running game

Just watching a lot of games, there's a—everybody has made the run game more of an emphasis. You could even see it in the pro game. The attention to the run game, pretending to run, teams are defending the run better, teams are running the ball better. Not just college football, either. Probably not going to be—getting 50-plus yard runs, as many as we had last year, that's an anomaly in football. You start to think that's the expectation but that's not in real football. I think Blake has adjusted to that. Donovan too. It'll happen when it happens. They're great running backs and now Kalel, I'll put him in that category. It'll be there, just take the ground, it's yours. You'll see it when it presents itself. I think that mindset is really helping with our backs. Just keep going. It's good. They're great backs. Take the ground that they give you. They came out of the crib—they've been good. They were great in high school. They've been in great in college, they'll be great pros, too. The great backs, I really believe that, come out of the crib, they crawl out of the crib a different way earlier than others, than other babies. Just know that they have the vision, the balance, the strength. And the vision to know when the big one is there. But, hey, it was great to get one. Really great to get one.

On what makes him call a run for J.J. in the red zone as opposed to handing off to a RB

Just because it's such a weapon. Even last week, J.J. didn't run as many but just him carrying out the fake created a touchdown for Kalel Mullings. They just work hand-in-hand. We're not like even expecting J.J., a couple of those he pulled today, I thought when it happened, give it (to the running back). The defenders had the angle on him but he's fast. I don't know if you know this, I think when he gets put on the clock he runs somewhere in the 4.4s. Easy, no-brainer, I think he could, without stretching, go out and run a 4.5. He's fast. He outran some angles today. It's good. Playmaker. Probably his best attribute, and there's other really good ones, he's really smart. Talked about how he's in control of the entire offense. The protections, the mental side of the game. Really accurate thrower, can make every throw to every part of the field. Super athletic. He's a great runner. Of all those great qualities, his best quality is that he's a playmaker. It's good.

On how the defense is better with Mason Graham on the field

He's one of the really great players, right? Kris Jenkins is a great player. The block destruction, the way he plays. Kenneth Grant is a great player and so is Mason Graham. Now you've got three great players. Now you've got Cam Goode, who is really coming on, too. Rayshaun Benny. It's great. The way they play and rotate in and play together, it makes the whole unit, the interior defensive line, play better. They're all really good. Cam Brandt had a really good game and Trey Pierce did a lot of really good things. Nice to see those two young guys get in and play so well. Mike Elston does a great job. A tremendous job coaching the technique, the things that he's brought, we just keep getting better and better on the defensive front with his coaching.

On whether CFP losses are in the back of minds of players as motivation

I think the thing that is most driving them is just their parents. What the parents have already poured into them. Their mom, dad and God. You know Jim and Megan McCarthy, I do, I know what they've poured into him. Mason Graham's poured into him. James Corum poured into Blake and on, every single guy. I think first and foremost, it's just the hard work and gratitude, the humility. There's positivity, and encouragement that they've been esteemed. All in a good way. Some fabulous group of parents. I think it was the year before last, gave the Ford Award to the parents. It's a special group. Just telling them how much they poured into our players makes it a walk in the park for a coach. If I had to point to the number one, the drive, they have drive, it wasn't because of—maybe it's some little things along the way but first and foremost I would say it's those families and what they've poured into those kids.

On the Minnesota touchdown pass

We weren't in the right defense, really. Their field goal kicker could've made it from that distance and we let them take a shot through the end zone and it really should've been a double cloud, three-deep. Three-deep and a five-under would've been preferred. It really wasn't on the players there.

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