Florida 49, McNeese 7
Q. It had been a while since you guys had a winning locker room. What was it like just to get back in the locker room and be with your teammates after a win?
JAYDON HILL: You know, any win is a blessing, to go out and just dominate and just let all the work that we put in show. Anytime it's a win, it's great vibes in the locker room, and it's good to have that feeling.
Q. What was it like getting back into the Swamp today with a pretty good crowd?
JAYDON HILL: You know, the Swamp, the vibes are immaculate. It's just a great opportunity to go out and dominate, and I feel like we took advantage of it. This week has been a big emphasis on just executing and dominating, and we did a pretty good job. But we can't be satisfied with that. We've got to bounce back next week and come even harder.
Q. How important was it for you guys to put such a clean performance on tape tonight against this team?
JAYDON HILL: That's just been our challenge this whole week. With last week with the loss, just this week, just attacking it and being consistent. As a defense, we feel like we have a chance to be pretty good for the defensive side. As a team, as well, but defensively speaking, I feel like just executing and just practicing hard every day and just putting it on tape really.
Q. You're two games into your transition there at star, and you had the pass breakup tonight out of the slot. How do you feel like that's going for you personally?
JAYDON HILL: Pretty good. I like star a lot. I embrace the role, and I'm just ready to make any play that comes my way.
Q. You had a lot of freshman defensive backs come in throughout the game, especially at your position. What have you seen from those guys two games in, especially what they were able to put on the field tonight?
JAYDON HILL: Yeah, I applaud them boys, more for the work they put in throughout the week. Them boys prepare like veterans, and I feel like it pays off -- it's going to pay off in the long run. They're going to be great players for us.
Q. Given last year and some of the struggles on defense, what's that feel like just being able to kind of keep teams in check?
JAYDON HILL: Yeah, so me and Princely was actually talking about that today on the sideline, and it's just like seeing improvement is like the best when it comes to football. We practice together every day, and just seeing the improvement, that's what it's all about. I feel like we've just got to keep improving, keep getting better.
Q. How much were you pulling for the shut-out at the end of the game? You guys were pretty close. Would have been the first shut-out since Vanderbilt, and what does it say to put together a pretty strong four quarters, including your backups, limiting them to as few yards as you did?
JAYDON HILL: Yeah, on the sideline when the younger guys were going in, I'm just motivating them, making sure they're on top of their game and handling business. But for the shut-out, as a defense we were like -- that's what we was harping on the whole week, just shutting these guys out. Obviously we didn't get it done, but we played pretty well defensively I feel like.
Q. How cool was it to get a safety there at the end?
JAYDON HILL: Oh, yeah, that was lit, yeah. I haven't seen a safety -- when was the last time we had a safety? I don't know, but it was really cool to see a younger guy Jamari getting that and just celebrating. It was real cool to see.
Q. How jacked up does that make the defense when you get -- that's probably the hardest way to score.
JAYDON HILL: Oh, yeah, that's like -- it's not really too many plays that compare to a safety because it's not as frequent. It doesn't happen as often. But it was really cool to see, though. I was happy for him. We was happy for him as a defense. Hope to get more.
Q. The pass rush that the defense was able to generate tonight, how much does that help you guys in the secondary, and how important was that to get going, especially before Tennessee next week?
JAYDON HILL: Yeah, the pass rush is like top when it comes to defensive backs. You disrupt the pass of the quarterback, it helps us out on the back end. I feel like this game, we took advantage of it, and we've just got to keep getting better and just disrupting timing. That's what it's all about. I feel like on defense, disrupting timing and all that. We've just got to keep getting better at it.
As a DB, yeah, we love to pass rush. It's great.
Q. How big was Scooby's hit early in the game? What did that do for the defense?
JAYDON HILL: That lit us up. I remember seeing it. I was kind of like on the other side, and I was just yelling. But it was really cool to see Scoob do that, all the work he puts in, and just to see it pay off and see him celebrate with the guys.
Q. You guys were close to getting a few takeaways in that back end of that defense. Is that the next step for you guys?
JAYDON HILL: Yeah, yeah, that's always been like the main goal, but we've just got to keep getting better and hopefully come up with those balls that we had our hands on as a defense.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports