Florida 55, LIU 0
Q. Yeah, what did it mean to get a defensive touchdown, the first touchdown of the season?
MYLES GRAHAM: Man, it means a lot. We've been preaching takeaways, take the ball over, get as many turnovers as we can to get the offense the ball back but to go home and score, that's even better. So creating turnovers and touchdowns on defense, man, that's the brand of football we want to play.
Q. Overall, to pitch a shutout, hold them under a hundred yards, how would you assess the performance start to finish tonight?
MYLES GRAHAM: Yeah, we just wanted to English a standard today and I think we did that coming out in the first half. We came out strong, three-and-out, so establishing that standard was really important to us and no matter who we played, if it's Long Island or whoever it is, we're going to keep playing like that no matter what.
Q. How'd it feel picking up with a strong start in year two for you? I know you gained some momentum in the defense last year, but to come out and have five tackles tonight and be flying around personally?
MYLES GRAHAM: It's a blessing. It's a blessing, man. I got my feet wet last year, so I'm getting more reps this year and I'm just building off of what I started off of last year, so having them reps and I'm just getting better every game, stacking each and every game, so.
Q. What about you guys not having a single penalty tonight?
MYLES GRAHAM: That's disciplined football. In practice if you get a penalty, you have to run a lap and that's a long, hot lap, you know what I'm saying? (Laughter) That helps us play more disciplined, play more disciplined football, get our eyes where they need to be and play how we want to play.
Q. And shutting out a team, what's that feeling like for a defense when you put a goose egg up there?
MYLES GRAHAM: It's a great feeling. That's the what we want to do every single game. That's the standard we want to have every game. So Coach Roberts repeats that to us and we want to keep having that same execution, that same mentality, that same focus, that same intent every single game. That's what we want to do.
Q. Myles you got the start tonight. How do you feel like you did just making calls, directing the defense and did you play with a dot at all tonight?
MYLES GRAHAM: I did. I did have a green dot tonight. I feel like I could've -- it was loud in there. It was loud. That was our first time in The Swamp this year. It was my first time with the green dot so I'm still getting used to it. I feel like I did all right, but there's always room for improvement, you know what I'm saying, so.
Q. I don't know if you got to see it during the game, but did you catch Vernell Brown III's catch and what was your reaction?
MYLES GRAHAM: Man. Man, that was incredible. I can't say I'm surprised. He's a great, hard-working, confident kid and I can't saw I'm surprised at all. I feel like he's going to keep building off that, keep getting catches like that, keep making great plays. I feel like he's a great player.
Q. Myles, two first downs by them tonight and they didn't get to 50 yards of offense until there was ten minutes left in the game. I don't know if the defense set any kind of individual or team goals for that matter, but what kind of goals did you guys set? Can you believe you guys held a team to under a hundred yards tonight? I think it was 86 when it was all said and done.
MYLES GRAHAM: Yeah, we can believe it. All that hard work we put in the offseason, it's paying off. It paid off today. It'll keep paying off and that's exactly how we want to play. No matter who it is, that's how we want to hold them to.
Q. Myles, have you ever been on a team that held another team to just two first downs, one in each half?
MYLES GRAHAM: No, I haven't. That was my first time. It was a great feeling. That's a great brand of football, great brand of defense. It was smash mouth, that's how we want to play.
Q. What'd you think when you saw the stat sheet and saw they only had two?
MYLES GRAHAM: I didn't even know until after the game. Our coaches were talking about it and everything and they were proud of us, so I'm proud of our defense too.
Q. You get to watch Tramell Jones in practice every single day. What kind of growth have you seen out of him and what did you think of his performance tonight?
MYLES GRAHAM: I've seen a lot of growth. He's electrifying. You can see it with his legs. He can do it with his arm. He's goat a great, deep ball. He's accurate. He'll be a great player for us one day. Him learning from DJ, that's a deadly combo right there and I think after DJ's gone, he'll be a great player for us.
Q. We've heard a lot about Myles Johnson's speed, especially. He got a good opportunity tonight. What did you think of what that can do for him moving forward, just getting his feet wet and get, some experience in front of the crowd.
MYLES GRAHAM: Yeah, he was having fun out there. He was relaxed for a young kid. I know I wasn't that poised in that moment having my first play in The Swamp. There's nothing like it. I'm really proud of him and he had a good tackle, a good hit and it's fun being in there with him and he just keeps growing every single day.
Q. What's the key to build on this? USF had a big upset the other night. You may have watched it. They're going to be coming in here, obviously, pretty confident.
MYLES GRAHAM: Yeah, same approach as we had versus LIU. Same approach just play Gator football. Play our best brand of football. No matter who it is, whoever steps into The Swamp, we're going to spot the ball and we're going to play.
Q. Jadan Baugh, we were talking about your running back skills versus him. What did you think of his 11 yards of carry night? Had some moves out there.
MYLES GRAHAM: Yeah, I don't know. I think I would have had 12. (Laughter) Jadan, that was my former roommate. He's a great player. He's a dog. He's a grown man out there. Men amongst boys. Going against him in practice every single day, it makes all of us better, man. Iron sharpens iron. I can't wait to see the year that he has.
Q. Obviously with Caleb out tonight, I guess Brendan Bett and Boireau had to step up a little bit. What were your thoughts about how they did in the front seven in defense play?
MYLES GRAHAM: Man, Brendan Bett and Michai, they're great players. Having them in front of you, you don't get no plays coming to you because they make all the plays. They're just swallowing up the O-line, getting them off of him, making plays.
So it's a great thing to have in front of him but maybe not so much for me because I don't get to see as much action, but, man, they're a great duo. They're dogs, man, for sure.
Q. Thanks for time.
MYLES GRAHAM: Thank y'all.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports