Head Coach Josh Heupel
On the Spring Game
"I thought tonight the One groups on both sides of the ball play played pretty clean and in particular defensively I thought they did a really good job of creating havoc in the backfield we're contesting things out on the perimeter did a good job of getting the offense in third and long situations. Offensively our one group stubbed their toe a couple the first four drives but executed some things really well at the same time. I thought our playmakers in space when they got the balls in their hands did a good job of creating some space to make some plays."
On Greg McCrae
"What you saw tonight is what our coaches have seen for 14 days. He does a really good job of pressing the line of scrimmage and finding in the open hole. He does a good job of delivering our combinations to the second level which creates that space that you saw tonight. He's got the ability to make people miss him when he is out there in open space. He's had a tremendous spring and has really thrust himself inside the running back room."
On improvement
"I think that it would be hard to just point out one group. I really think all of our positions have really climbed. I said this maybe a week ago, I really think that the defense during the second half of spring ball have really grasped onto our concepts and terminology. They're going against some tempo every single day and so getting yourself aligned after the previous play, getting your eyes in the right place that you can play with some discipline, and then being able to put yourself in a position to make tackles in space; I thought the second half of spring ball they really did a good job of pushing forward. I think you know for us as a program, both sides of the line of scrimmage, the defensive and offensive lines, have really made some improvements since January both on the field and in the weight room. That's going to be critical for us as we get into June and July to put ourselves in the position we need to be when we start training camp."
On McKenzie Milton
"He is smart and he's really competitive inside of the meeting room. When you meet him talk to him and all of you guys have when I got here in January you knew him better than I did. He's a very calm guy and confident within himself but I didn't know if he'd be highly competitive. I see it on the field that he'd be that guy inside of our walls when we're meetings and that type of thing he is. He's attentive he's very purposeful in the way that he works. Because of that I thought he really grasped on what we were doing before we even got on the field day one at a pretty high level. Day one to day five there were a lot of things fundamentally with his eyes within the temple that we were doing that we didn't like. He got a lot better every single day. He has had a really good second half of spring ball I think our wide receivers and some things that we're asking them do have made those same types of progressions."
On the speed of the offense
"I think that changes week to week. Some of it is your opponents some of it is game circumstances. We're not in a race to try to outscore last year's team. We're in a race to try to go 1-0 in every single week that we step on the field. Offensively we want to score points our job is to be plus 1 at the end of every single ballgame. That's our job but we've got to do it within all three phases of the game as well."
On Dredrick Snelson
"He's a guy that has played on both sides of the field has done an absolutely tremendous job on special teams can play all four phases of the game competed at a really high level out on the outside. He's grown fundamentally in technique and some of the things that coach Wyatt is asking him to do out there. I think today maybe was his best day of spring ball which is important to me because when the lights come on we want to see who's going operate at a high level."
McKenzie Milton
On going undefeated again this season
"It's going to be hard to do but nothing is impossible, so I think we have a good chance to."
On the speed of this year's offense
"I felt they were going pretty fast today. I don't know if we were going as fast as we have all spring, but I do think that we're going a little faster than last year. I like the vertical passing part of the game. It's something we can utilize with the skill guys we have by just getting our guys the ball in space kind of similar to last year just getting our playmakers the ball in space. That's really the moral of the story."
On what he has improved on this spring
"Being balanced with my footwork and being ready to rip the ball at all times are huge and being fundamentally sound in the pocket. I still think I have a ways to go with that. Just being comfortable sitting back there and ripping the ball and not always relying on my feet to bail me out of plays and just being able to get the ball out to our playmakers."
On running back Greg McCrae
"He's been making plays all spring, but we've seen it last year. Him doing his thing we've seen it the past two years and he's a shifty guy and when he gets downhill he's going to run behind his pad and he's going to make a lot of plays this year. He's a special player we're blessed have him."
On the offense
"With the read option game we talk about feeling bodies and reading eyes so you want to read a defensive end you got to feel his body and read his eyes if he's kind of pitter pattering you want to just hand it off and burst off to try and hold him create creases for your backs. So it's all about just getting those reps in and just being comfortable with being on the same page as the back where the mesh is going to be and just being consistent with it and you know I feel like we've done a good job the past three years now from Coach Frost to now Coach Heupel. They both kind of have different teachings about it but they're both good and they're both effective so we'll be able to make a lot of plays with that this year."
On goals of the spring game
"You know I didn't have too much goals I just want to go out there and perform you know I want us to be consistent have sustained some long drives and put some points on the board. I felt like we did that, we had about two or three series I felt we put together pretty solid drives of about eight or ten play drives which I love. I mean they get a defense gassed over the course of a game and you know I thought all around the team did a great job."
On Snelson and other wide receivers
"Snelson is a baller out there he's been doing that since his freshman year and just you know getting those reps in spring and the summer and in the fall. I mean it just correlates to being successful on the field. He has a good chance to be our number one guy, but I mean there's going to be a lot of number one guys if you ask me. You got Otis Anderson, Gabe Davis, Snelson. I mean we're gonna have a lot of guys we have a lot of weapons really. Pick your poison for your defense."
Pat Jasinski
On replacing the leadership of Shaquem Griffin and other departing seniors
"Shaquem was a great leader and a crazy player; he was awesome. We've got some guys with some experience coming back and If we all carry along our positions, bring guys along, and lead together as a group; I think we could be really solid."
On the Spring Game
"Feels good. The spring game is the spring game it is what it is and like McKenzie touched on a little bit you know if everyone if you can get out of that healthy and you know have you guys execute the kind of the basics that we were running today. I mean that's all I can ask for."
On unveiling of championship signage
"That was cool. I mean obviously that's something you can be proud of but like McKenzie said it's in the past now and we're really looking forward to just trying to put some more letters on that Roth Tower."
On Coach Shannon and Defensive Scheme
"The scheme is a little bit different than what we ran in the past. I mean to be honest I think it's helping with the guys that we have right now. Before kind of early on in the winter I was kind of unsure about it but after going through spring I think that this defensive scheme really highlights a lot of different guys on our defense that I think we can take advantage of and if we get the details right. Which you know takes some time I think it could be a really solid defense."
Nate Evans
On the new defense
"With this new defense, I'm in coverage a lot more than last year. The defense is made for us to make plays. I don't want to sugarcoat or anything, but I love this defense and I love Coach Shannon."
On the speed of this year's schemes
"Practice is way faster. As soon as you turn around from making a play, there on their sideline giving a new call and lining up so you have to catch a breath and buckle down. It's definitely fast and way faster than last year. It's good for us as a defense because we get to work on our stamina."
On the chemistry of the team
"The scheme is a little bit different than what we ran in the past. I mean to be honest I think it's helping with the guys that we have right now. Before kind of early on in the winter I was kind of unsure about it but after going through spring I think that this defensive scheme really highlights a lot of different guys on our defense that I think we can take advantage of and if we get the details right. Which you know takes some time I think it could be a really solid defense."
Greg McCrae
On his goals for the game
"My goal was just to play as hard as I can. I can only control what I control so I just went out there and played as hard as I can. The offensive line supports me and keep me up, and even the defense; they go hard every day and let me know when I'm slacking and when I'm doing good. That was really my goal, to keep pushing through the spring and keep giving maximum effort every day."
On how he felt coming into the game
"I was pretty happy. I came in today feeling pretty good, I got a Fortnite win earlier before the game so that confidence carried over."
On how he got to UCF
"Coming out of high school I was a universal naval academy commit and from there I don't really see myself being there, so I transferred over to UCF last year as a true freshman. I got a little play time last year, but you know coming into the spring you know it seems like they're starting to use me more. So that's all I'm looking forward to."
On what he said to Richie Grant after running him over
"I told him get out of the way. That was it. Just get out of the way and next time that won't happen."
On the new offense
"I'm very excited about what he's bringing in. It is more of a vertical run game vertical office in general. He believes in all of his players the whole team believes in all the players. Anybody could get in game at any point we just have a lot of athletes that can go out and play. His scheme is great it's a good scheme and I look forward to playing in it next year."
