UCF Head Coach Scott Frost
Opening Statement:
"I'm happy for our players. I told them you don't get much in this life that you don't earn and they've earned the success they have. With all the work that they put in and with believing in what we were asking them to do and taking care of one another. Big time accomplishment for them and I look forward to coaching them, maybe three more times now."
On the turnaround from winless to bowl eligible:
"I think the key to the turnaround was the players, the players attitude. They were hungry to have somebody lead them and show them a new way. Not that the old way was bad because you know they won a lot of games around here before. But I think after a tough season they were just hungry for a new direction and because of that they bought into everything we're asking him to do and it's their work ethic and their character that's gotten us here."
On quarterback McKenzie Milton:
"McKenzie gets better every week. I thought he played more like a veteran today. He knew when to, Throw it away. He knew when to pull it, he made the right decisions today. You know realistically, asking him to do what he's done as an 18 year old he's amazing there's not many guys that can do that. If we keep him from sailing one or two balls high every game, you know we can't ask him to do much more."
On what he saw as advantages vs. Cincinnati:
"You know we thought we had an advantage when our defense was on the field. I think they've got talent on offense, I just thought our defense played together as a unit better. I think that played out today. They'd get some drives going and eventually one of our guys would make a play. Particularly, I thought when they were in passing situations our pass rush was more than what they could handle and would enable us to get off the field on third down and sack them and make some big plays. We were leaning on our defense right now but those guys were up to about any challenge."
On the blocked punt:
" Yeah I was just as an offensive coach, I was excited to get the ball back around midfield and hope we could score one more time. I felt good about that game as long as we were up two scores with the way our defenses is playing. I didn't expect to get that punt block, but Tre Neal came in and got it. A lot of credit to Coach DeWitt, he's done a really good job with the special teams this year and special teams came up big for us today."
On the Knights' defense:
"Our defense has gone from being really good to being so disruptive that they're winning games for us. When you see a defense elevate to that level it makes it really easy for an offense and for the rest of the team to succeed. You know early in the year they were stopping people who weren't getting these turnovers. Now those guys are pinning their ears back, they've got their mind made up that they're going to get the ball back for us. The last three games has been pretty special from that standpoint."
On playing well consistently:
"We've played well in stretches all year. You know we're a few plays away from having a really special year but we don't look back and we don't look too far forward. Our next focus is to be on Tulsa. I think the two teams were playing the next two weeks are as good as there is in this league. Tulsa's offense is going to be the best test that our defense has had all year. They'll run about 100 plays and they got a lot of fast guys and a good O-line to do it. So we're going to look forward, but I couldn't be more thrilled for the success that these guys had. They've earned it and they deserve it."
On when he saw this coming:
"I honestly had no idea what we could accomplish. I hadn't seen the other teams in this league. I didn't know how well our teams would perform, I didn't know how well our freshmen would come in and help our team and add to our depth. There's a lot of guys that are playing at a higher level than I ever thought they could have on this team. Demeitre Brim is an example, we didn't know we had a linebacker like that. He's the rock in the middle of our defense every week and there's a bunch of guys like that. But the level that those guys have elevated their game to has made a lot of this possible."
On honoring the military with uniforms, etc.:
"I've been fortunate enough in my life to travel all over the world. I've been to a lot of different countries and every time I go overseas it makes me realize how great a nation this is. There are a lot of people who have sacrificed a lot to allow us to do what we love to do. It's a it's a small tip of the cap, I wish we could do more. But any time we can do anything to honor the people that are giving us the right to do this, it makes me proud to do it."
Cincinnati Head Coach Tommy Tuberville
Opening Statement:
"Another disappointing day. We thought we really had a chance; they've got a lot of young guys on the offensive side of the ball - quarterback and a couple running backs. Defensively we played well, but it all goes back to scoring points. We just didn't get any points on the scoreboard. Red zone failures, not running the ball very well, we got to do a better job overall of making plays on offense. We made a few right there at the end. In the first half though, we were 0-for-6 on third down conversions. When you go against a team in the heat like this - we were out on the field almost 50 plays on defense. That's almost an entire game. We knew we'd struggle defensively in the second half. We made a few mistakes, gave up a long run on third down, which is very disappointing, and a blocked punt. I just told the team we weren't the most physical team on offensive when we went out there and that's a problem for us and it's a problem for me. Cincinnati has always been known as a physical team on offense. We didn't look physical at all, but that's a choice, that's a choice we make. Normally we take tomorrow off, but we'll go practice tomorrow and play on Friday. We got Memphis at home, our last home game and hopefully have a good crowd, I know they are as disappointed as we are. We'll put a better football team on the field, Friday at 8:00 and play better."
On impact of UCF's five sacks:
"It was huge. What happens is when you can't run the ball the other team just tees off on you. Their pass rush is good - we knew going in - and our offensive tackles got speed rushed. It wasn't anything we missed, and then when we blocked down, our offensive backs didn't do a very good job of blocking. They got us in a couple protections, that was tough, but it's almost like we put our offensive line in a bind or they put themselves in a bind when they can't run the ball. You got to slow the rush down, and they weren't guessing they were coming. They knew we were struggling and so I don't know how many sacks they had, four or five, but it was a tough day for our offensive line."
On offense struggles:
"Well we're trying to do everything. We've run every formation, and we've tried all quarterbacks. We knew we were going to struggle a little bit today, we lost one of our running backs last week. He was our leading all-purpose ground game, receiver and kick returner, but someone has to step up. It is what it is; it's going to start with being physical. We've got to be more physical with the running game and feed off that."
LB Errol Clarke
On going up against Cincinnati:
"I'm happy for our players. I told them you don't get much in this life that you don't earn and they've earned the success they have. With all the work that they put in and with believing in what we were asking them to do and taking care of one another. Big time accomplishment for them and I look forward to coaching them, maybe three more times now."
On the turnaround from winless to bowl eligible:
"After we went through our training with the Marines. As a whole group, the team became closer. And you just saw guys taking heed to what Coach Frost was saying and what all the position coaches were saying. We took it step by step, but we always knew we had a great team and guys that can go out there and make plays."
On Cincinnati's offense:
"What we say on the offensive side is that they can move the ball down the field, but they were just having trouble scoring when they get into the red zone. Cincinnati's got some great playmakers; they got some playmakers on their team. We actually thought they would be able to at least move the ball a little bit. But you know when you smell blood in the water, a shark's going to go get it."
On turnovers becoming contagious:
"We say meet me there or beat me there. That's the whole thing to it. It's just a race to the quarterback who will get back there first. Coach (Chinander) always harps on it, day in and day out, that the ball is everything. You know the guy carrying the ball, he's just carrying a ball. But the prize is the ball. That's what we want so that's what we go after."
LB Shaquem Griffin
On the locker room after the game:
"It was ecstatic. It was crazy. I came in the locker room last just to see everybody just turning up. It was crazy. I mean like you said before, coming from 0-12 to a bowl game. That's proven doubters wrong. They say we couldn't do it and we just did. "
On the defense:
"As a whole, we just grow every week. Any mistake we make, we keep on it. Work on it in practice and get better, and that's only making us a better defense as we go on. And that's the whole thing Coach Frost was on about; he said get better every week. There's always something, we're never perfect. Every week if we can make one thing better, that means we're a better defense and it shows on the field."
On Frost's ice bath:
"Oh I actually saw it on the big screen. Just to see that was an amazing experience because when was the last time we had Coach get dumped with water? It's been a long time just to see that. Actually it kind of hyped me up; I just took off running. Those couple of seconds left on the field still, I just took off running and I was just so excited to see the outcome. And to see Brandon Scott, one of my young boys that is watching you, get a pick in a game. Just made me so much happier that I see everything come together. And that's a great experience for me."
On turnovers becoming contagious:
"Our whole thing is it comes from practice. We praise each and every day, it's scoop and score. No city ball country ball. When we see the ball, we get it. And that's all from practice. Practice makes perfect. And you can see each week we get closer to the ball. Ball in the air, DBs attack it. Ball on the floor, LBs and D-Line, we'll attack it. Even D-Line is catching balls now, and you can tell what we practice is working."
On the blocked punt:
"That hyped us up a lot. We don't change. You know when it's a tight score, it can make you nervous not knowing where it's gonna go. But for our team and for our special teams and defense to make plays or score on the defensive side, that creates momentum and then leaves the other team clueless and don't know what to do. Kind of on edge, kind of nervous and that's when we attack. When we smell blood, we gonna get it."
QB McKenzie Milton
On bowl eligibility
"Yeah, I mean it's definitely a big accomplishment for our program. Considering where he came from last year. With the seniors, all the upperclassmen, and what they went through last year to get to this point is it's a big accomplishment."
On his passing success early:
"Yeah, I mean we really got into a good rhythm early on there … first couple of drives. And then we got a little stagnant throughout the game. Our offense was moving and Ham (Hamilton) was doing a good job running the ball and our skill guys were doing a good job making plays in space. It was pretty good."
On Military Appreciation Day
"It was awesome. This kind of reminds you of, that there's so much bigger than football. What those folks do for us to just be able to be in this position and not pay for school and just play the game that we love and basically have no worries. It kind of makes you reflect and not to take the game for granted."
RB Jawon Hamilton
On his touchdown run
"It was it was pretty good feeling. I told McKenzie before that play, 'You know I've got you.' He gave it to me and I just did it. Offensive line did a great job blocking. I read and I saw it. I just made a great play."
On the feeling in the locker room after the game
"It was a great feeling. Everybody was so hyped and pumped because we were bowl eligible. So you know we just play with a chip on our shoulders. We got the job done."
