Florida 48, Kentucky 20
Q. I got to ask, is that the most touchdowns you've ever had in a game or did you have more in high school?
JADAN BAUGH: Yeah, I had more in high school.
Q. What was the most you ever had in a game?
JADAN BAUGH: Really eight but they called one back, so seven. (Laughter.)
Q. Just how exciting of an opportunity is this for you to make an impact as a freshman? Is this what you anticipated coming into a room that had a senior as well? Did you expect you would get that early opportunity?
JADAN BAUGH: Well, I did, but hats off to Montrell, because he brought me in and put his arms around me and told me like I'm a good player but I got to keep working.
So him being the leader in that room just makes me better, and the rest of the guys around me better, too.
Q. How much confidence does a game like today give you being in a limited role to start the season and then having a breakout performance tonight with five touchdowns? What does that do for the mindset moving forward?
JADAN BAUGH: Gives me confidence, but also gives my team, too, as in we know we could have been did this as an offense and a defense. Like the defense played great today. That gave us the opportunity on offense to do what we did today.
Q. First off, five touchdowns, a lot of running backs would have called that a dream day. But 27 yarder that didn't go in the end zone, talk about that. I believe that was early in the game when that happened.
JADAN BAUGH: Yeah.
Q. How did that open up for you?
JADAN BAUGH: Well, when it happened I was just like, okay, keep running, keep running, keep running, I wasn't trying to go down. It just gave me more confidence to do what I did today. It gave my more confidence in my O-line. They played great today. I can't even -- I ain't got words for it but they played great.
Q. When did you find out you were starting?
JADAN BAUGH: Today. (Smiling.) Today really.
Q. Was there another nerves or butterflies? What was that like and who did you lean on for maybe advice going into the game?
JADAN BAUGH: Wasn't really butterflies because Coach Juluke, he always tells us if somebody goes down, next man has to be up and we have to be ready. He coaches us hard, so it makes us better. From the littlest guy in the room to the strongest he makes us better.
Q. To what do you attribute your nose for the end zone today, do you think?
JADAN BAUGH: I ain't really got too much, but we did well as a team, so...
Q. What was your recruiting process like? You had Alabama and Florida coming after you late. What was ultimately the deciding factor for Florida?
JADAN BAUGH: Really being somewhere that I knew could take care of me and my family. That played a big part into being close to my brothers. So that really sealed the deal for me. Florida had a plan when I came up here on my official visit. They had a plan for me and my family, too.
Q. Billy said that one of the things was that he envisioned a backfield with and you DJ, and that was something that he tried to sell you on. Do you remember that conversation?
JADAN BAUGH: Man, do I. I knew that DJ was here, too. It kind of gave me more confidence that I wanted to be here, too. I knew the player he was and he showed it tonight and he been showing it really the whole season, so...
Q. Your running ability and the strength of it, what do you attribute that to? Your jump cuts and vision seem pretty special.
JADAN BAUGH: Just been stuff I've been working on since I was little. My pops instilled it in me early. It's just secondhand nature really.
Q. Your dad trained you growing up?
JADAN BAUGH: All the time, me and my brothers.
Q. What was his name?
JADAN BAUGH: Corey Bryant.
Q. How would you evaluate DJ's performance? You guys were the first two true freshman to start at quarterback, running back in program history, and obviously he really turned it up a notch.
JADAN BAUGH: To me he played very good, but it's always improvement, and we as a team can improve. DJ been showing it the whole time he been here. Every since we got here he been telling me this is going to be something we can do and we can change Florida back to what it was.
Q. And you DJ stepped in for some guys with a lot of starts. I think if you put those guys probably combined 80 starts in college. You guys are so new to it. Was that daunting at any level, knowing you were going to have to replace guys with such experience and success and production?
JADAN BAUGH: No, not at all. It gave us the confidence. Again, like I said, the older guys always been leaders and they been great leaders to me and DJ. They always told us it's going to be our time when they're gone and when they're here, too. They just gave us the confidence to do what we did tonight.
Q. I mean, you just turned 19 years old. What do you credit your maturity to handle a moment like that?
JADAN BAUGH: My family. They gave me all the tools and skills that I needed to be mature, so...
Q. Just I wanted to take a little bit of a step further back. Talk about the spring game, being able to kind of get -- have such a good game in that game. Yes, it was a glorified scrimmage, but still to do well in that game, how much did that help you now leading into the season?
JADAN BAUGH: It helped me a lot. As like the time came, I still knew I had a lot to work on. I rewatched the film every day. To this day I still watch the film just to see what could I improve on. Just gave me confidence.
Q. Coach was saying obviously the 1984 team was honored during the game today. Coach was saying that hearing about the Gator's standard motivated you guys. Maybe you feel like you haven't lived up to that this year, and as a freshman heard about the Gators and what they were decades ago. Is that something that motivated you, wanting to get back to that level?
JADAN BAUGH: Yeah, not just me, motivates all the guys in the room. That bye week, it gave us a lot of confidence into we can play with anybody on our schedule. We just been trying to let people know, like last week it played a big part into what we did today. We didn't like the loss. We knew we wasn't supposed to lose.
We just came out fast and played fast and physical.
Q. The competition is obviously going to increase in Georgia. What's going to be the key in establishing the run when you play them in Jacksonville?
JADAN BAUGH: Well, one, it's going to be us competing. It starts with us. Our O-line and D-line, we get into it all the time. To see us compete, I know that we can take like another step into playing better.
Q. You mentioned some of the older guys who have served as leader to you. How much has Cam Carroll done that for you since you've been here, and just how exciting was it to see him? I know he's been wanting to get back on the field. To see him on the field at the end of the game, how exciting was that?
JADAN BAUGH: Seeing Cam on the field today just gave my chills and I was happy to see him back out there. Every since I got in and came into Florida, Cam took me under his wing and showed me the ropes. You know, been there always for me.
Q. How much do you think you've improved from a pass pro standpoint since you got to Florida?
JADAN BAUGH: I improved a lot as in reading, knowing who to block, where to be, and that's helping me more. It comes from my coaches. Like my coaches, they teach me a lot, and I have just kept them skills they taught me to prove it today.
Q. When Montrell talked to you and told you that you were talented but still had things you needed to work on, what were those things and how do you feel like you improved in those areas?
JADAN BAUGH: Maturing, too. Maturing. That was one of the things. Because in our room, we laugh every day. It's a bunch of come comedians in there.
But he told me like I got to improve on maturing, practicing better. That's what all my coaches tell me that, too. I got to practice better and that will lead me to the steps I'm taking now.
Q. Going back to your recruitment, how close did it come to Alabama and Florida? Did you decide day of or...
JADAN BAUGH: It was the day of really. I know I got the call in Coach Juluke and we just had a long conversation. He actually like cleared up a lot of the things for me, and that's why I was here.
Q. What did he clear up for you?
JADAN BAUGH: As in like they was going to take care of me and my family. I wasn't too keen on like being that far away, this far away. From Atlanta it's four hours. Being away from my brothers, that played a big part of my recruitment.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports