Q. Quinn, start with the enormity of this game.
QUINN EWERS: It means a lot to just still be playing football at the end of the day. You know, obviously we are blessed with the opportunity to still be playing, and you know, couldn't be more excited for all these guys and the rest of the season.
Q. What do you see from them?
QUINN EWERS: I don't think they do a whole lot which means they are good at what they do. They know their assignments really well, especially in the open field, first and second down. Obviously third down is a little different. It's going to be a fun matchup for sure.
Q. Hoping to be back here in Atlanta -- almost like a second residence.
QUINN EWERS: That's right, for sure. Like you said, we were here for SEC and it feels like we always we're going to keep trying to get back here. So yeah, for sure.
Q. How neat has it been for the new format, playing your first College Football Playoff experience, now on the road again, quarterfinals, what's that week of preparation been like?
QUINN EWERS: It's been good. Excited to be in Atlanta for sure. Again excited for the opportunity to play a good team like Arizona State. See what happens.
Q. We've heard a lot of things about how different things were with the Playoff, the time frame and all that sort of stuff. You come off a mini bye a little bit. Did it help in terms of rest, preparation?
QUINN EWERS: It's definitely nice to get some time off, not only for your mental side but for your body as well. It's cool, like you said, a mini bye for sure. It's nice.
Q. How long did you get with your family?
QUINN EWERS: We got two days, Christmas Eve and then Christmas Day. We were back the 26th. But it was nice. It's nice to go home.
Q. Did it seem like a week?
QUINN EWERS: Yeah, it was really nice.
Q. Your first year in the SEC, you all have the success that you've had in your first year, what are some of the things that you learned transitioning from the Big 12 and some of the different things that you learned?
QUINN EWERS: Well, I think away games are a little harder for sure. But I think we did a really good job of just focusing on us and not all of the stuff that's going around us and really just focusing on the opinions inside of our four walls and staying enamored with us. Overall that's what helped us win all these games.
Q. Two touchdown favorites in these games, focused on the passing game --
QUINN EWERS: Yeah, we've been favored in a lot of games. So I mean, we're not trying to look at it any different. You know, I didn't even know that until you just said that. You know, as long as we go out and play our game, we're a hard team to stop for sure.
Q. What are some things people don't know --
QUINN EWERS: I think he's just a fun guy to be around, you know. Our lookers are pretty close to each other. So I get to hear all the stuff about it, and he's just a fun guy to be around and an awesome dude.
Q. To have that connection, how important is that to the offense?
QUINN EWERS: Yeah, it's definitely been very important. Our connection off the field definitely helps us on the field, and whenever he's rolling, it feels like everybody else is rolling, too. So he's fun to be around.
Q. What are some of the things about Arizona State's defense that you have to try to navigate?
QUINN EWERS: I think they do a good job of holding shelves and kicking back into certain coverages and I think on third down, they do a good job of trying to bait some blitzes and then drop out of it. It's similar looks, so it's a little tough to see through.
Q. The guys on this team, having this experience, what do you do to make sure everyone is on the same page?
QUINN EWERS: At the end of the day, sure, there's a little bit more on the line but this is where we wanted to be the entire season. Just go play our game do, what we do and enjoy the moment.
They have been a fun offense this year and just excited for the opportunity to play them.
Q. Talk about the A&M game.
QUINN EWERS: I think that A&M game was cool. For us to get the win and go into their stadium and clinch an SEC Championship, or go to the SEC Championship, I guess that, was a special moment and for a play, stand by our goal line defense that, was cool?
Q. Growing up in Texas, I'm sure you're aware of the Texas A&M. Did you have any personal connection to that?
QUINN EWERS: Not really, no. But I understood how much it meant to a lot of people.
Q. What's your biggest concern about the game?
QUINN EWERS: I don't know if there's a biggest concern that I have but I think they just play really hard and they are well-coached, and they show a lot of discipline and you know, teams like that are hard to play against because you know they are always doing stuff right.
Q. How would you compare Texas's chemistry and culture?
QUINN EWERS: I don't really know what to compare it off of just because I'm not in their locker room. I'll tell you what, ours is strong and it's continuing to build, which is really cool to see.
I think I had a lot of help from my quarterback coach, Jeff Christianson who helped me through the process in high school. We hit it pretty hard my first couple years here. He's helped me out a lot, for sure, quickening up that release.
Q. How did that come about?
QUINN EWERS: He was saying it all starts in the feet. So the quicker your feet are, the quicker your arm has to be.
Q. C.J. has a similar --
QUINN EWERS: Is it? I don't think I picked anything up from him but it's cool that you said that.
Q. Does feel pretty good going into this, as good as you felt in a while?
QUINN EWERS: We had a mini-bye, a couple extra days off, which is nice for the body for sure.
Q. How long did it take you to establish a real solid rapport with Isaiah Bond and the whole receiving core?
QUINN EWERS: It's cool. Because I feel like it clicked a little faster than I expected I think, which is kind of -- it was kind of a shock to me just because, I mean, we put a lot of work in, don't get me wrong but like you said, you don't really know until you get in the game. But it almost was like working right away.
Q. AD, X and J, you've had that relationship, what's different about this group?
QUINN EWERS: I think it starts with me. I was just a young player at the time when I got into college or university with them. Being older and kind of understanding more like what it takes to be able to get that rapport, I think that was big for us.
Q. You obviously had some more deep balls with Matt, A&M. Do you feel like that stuff is starting to click the way maybe you thought it would earlier in the season?
QUINN EWERS: Yeah, for sure. You never throw a deep ball wanting it to be incomplete. But it's definitely refreshing to get some the last couple weeks for sure.
Q. Did the oblique linger?
QUINN EWERS: Yeah, for sure. It's almost like just built up scar tissue in there that I just have to deal with it. There's nothing I can really do.
Q. And then you have the ankle, it didn't seem like it really affected you.
QUINN EWERS: Yeah.
Q. A&M, you were running, could have taken that one to the house.
QUINN EWERS: For sure. With all the stuff we were doing treatment-wise, definitely helped a whole lot.
Q. What does this Arizona State defense present? What are some of the biggest challenges?
QUINN EWERS: I think No. 1 they don't do a whole lot on first and second down, which means they are good at what they do and they are not going to be out of place and have a whole lot of missed assignments because that's what they do.
On third down, they do a little bit more. They bait some pressures and then they will come and then they bait some pressures and then they will drop out of it. That's the most challenging thing is seeing when they are going to pressure and when they are not.
Q. Is there any advantage at all to knowing the guys at Texas?
QUINN EWERS: No, I don't think that's really anything. But just congrats to them on a great year in the Big 12 and excited for them. But you know, it's just a new opponent.
Q. How excited are you for Troy, everything he went through, to get the opportunity?
QUINN EWERS: It's definitely cool just to see him in all that. He came here, tore his ACL his freshman year, I'm pretty sure. I'm always happy to see a guy like that return from injury.
Q. Will you have nerves Wednesday morning?
QUINN EWERS: I just try to stay as calm as I can and just treat it like I'm back in pee-wee football, just enjoying the football. But obviously you can't really do that anymore. I just try to look at it like that.
Q. Usually the two most important people are the head coach and the quarterback and your relationship with Sarkisian is one of the closest in the country. What would it mean?
QUINN EWERS: It would be special for the entire team but for me and Coach Sark, the amount of work we've put together with Coach Millwee as well. I think that we have all grown together and we have continued to build the relationship together. That would be a wonderful moment for sure.
Q. How much are you appreciating the process and this journey with your team?
QUINN EWERS: Just super thankful for everything that's happened this year. Everything is a learning experience and everything is a learning moment, and just proud of how this team always continues to bounce back from adversity. It just goes to show the maturity that this team has, and oh, man, these guys are why we all do it. Just everything that we've done together in the off-season and the summer and in fall camp and in spring ball, it's like this is the reason that we all get up every morning and continue to kill our bodies every single day.
Q. A couple of key plays, what jumps to your head first this season?
QUINN EWERS: Well, I think the goal line stands the past three weeks against A&M, and then again against Clemson have been just amazing plays and I think show the attitude of our defense. Just the never-give-up attitude. It's first and goal within the five-yard line against A&M, and I think within the five, at least within the ten, whatever it was, but them not giving up is really cool?
Q. What about yourself in the season so far?
QUINN EWERS: I guess going into the Big House was a really cool moment. It feels like two years ago now but that was definitely a cool moment.
You know, I think just the small moments with my teammates in the locker room and in the weight room and on the practice field. Those are the moments that I feel like I'm going to remember for a lifetime. Not what happened against Arkansas with ten minutes left in the second quarter. I'm going to remember what happened on the bus or on the plane after that.
Q. What do you think about the chance to pull off an upset?
QUINN EWERS: First off, congrats to them, they had a cool season, being picked last in the Big 12, and then for them to come and put a season like they had together and win a Big 12, and it was a pretty good blowout in the BIg 12, as well. You know, happy for all those guys over there.
But at the end of the day, we are just going to stay enamored with us and not really worry about what's going on outside of our four walls inside of this, I guess, or in the hotel now, facility, whatever it is. As long as we stay enamored with us and focused on us and the opinions that we have about ourselves, I think we will be in a pretty good spot.
Q. In your preparation for this game, what have you seen in the defense?
QUINN EWERS: I think No. 1, they don't do a whole lot on first and second down in the open field, which means that they are going to be good at what they do because they are going to know their assignment really well because that's what they do. Then on first down, I think they do a really good job of showing pressure and then dropping out and then showing pressure and coming and then not showing pressure and coming. I think they have a really good mixture of blitz packages and third down packages. But I think they have a really good consistency throughout their entire defense.
Q. What does it mean to have that level of success --
QUINN EWERS: It's special but it's the entire team and the amount of work that we have all put in together through wintertime, spring ball, summer workouts, fall camp. It's all the work that we put in; that's what got us to where we are right now and super proud of the maturity of this entire team.
Q. Coming back to Atlanta, was there anything that you learned from the first trip from the SEC Championship that maybe you didn't know beforehand?
QUINN EWERS: You can't really teach or coach experience, and the more we play, the more experience that we get. I guess I'm bringing a little bit more experience like the whole team is.
Q. I've got to ask you about Isaiah Bond, when he's in the lineup, how does that change?
QUINN EWERS: I think just his amount of big playability. The amount of big plays that can be made whenever he's on the field definitely, definitely goes up for sure, and you know, his speed, he's just such a hard guy to cover. You know, whenever you bring him on the field, it's not like you can double cover him, either. We've got other guys on the outside and on the interior that are just as hard to cover.
Q. Talk about the other guys. Is there anybody under the radar?
QUINN EWERS: I think No. 1, all those guys are more than capable in that room to make plays, but I think they would do a really good job of pushing each other and competing against each other because they all have the ultimate goal of scoring touchdowns in every single game that we play. It's just not a reality. I just think they do a really wonderful job of pushing each other. I think there's a really good culture building in that room?
Q. What have you seen from Trey in year one as he's learned the ropes in college ball?
QUINN EWERS: It's difficult in year one especially with this offense, and just the amount of plays and schemes that we have. I think he's a really smart kid, and I think he understands why certain plays are getting called and for what moments. I think that he has a good chance of being pretty successful here.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports