South Florida - 18, Florida - 16
Q. DJ, can you just go into the vibe in the locker room after the game? Who spoke up to reiterate the message that this can't be something that breaks you guys with so much of the season left?
DJ LAGWAY: Yeah, sure. The vibe in the locker room is we were definitely heartbroken, sad, mad. We could have played a lot better. We left a lot of points on the board. We did a lot of things that we should have cleaned up, yeah.
Q. How out of character were the mistakes, the penalties, the spitting penalty as well? How much is that not reflective of how good, in your opinion, this team can be?
DJ LAGWAY: Yeah, it's so out of character for us. Coach Napier, he's built the foundation from day one here. He knows and we know what's the expectations here, and we didn't live up to that today.
Q. This season last year started off -- or last year's season started off in a real hole too. Can you draw on any of that? It doesn't get any easier, obviously.
DJ LAGWAY: Oh, no, it's football. Good days, bad days, but there's always another day. We're going to continue to improve, continue to work on the things we need to work on as a group and just focus on ourselves.
Q. Where do you feel like you're at right now in terms of your play? You barely played any football in the last nine months.
DJ LAGWAY: Correct. I feel like I still didn't play very well. We didn't get the W, so I didn't play well. I put the offensive responsibilities on myself. Got to make the plays when I need to make the plays and when my guys are counting on me. So I put all that on me.
At the end of the day, I know what I'm capable of, my guys know what I'm capable of, and we're just going to continue to work hard. At the end of the day, that's all I can really say about it.
Q. You're missing throws high. Is that something kind of mechanical or something you can put a finger on? It seemed like you had a few open receivers that you kind of overthrew.
DJ LAGWAY: It's football, I'm going to miss some throws. It's all about how you bounce back. Next week I'm going to continue to work on our connection, continue to work on our timing and stuff like that.
Q. You were described as having an edge throughout this week. Just how surprising is it given your approach from last game, wanting to come into this and have a better performance than to be facing this disappointment?
DJ LAGWAY: Yeah, I'm definitely surprised for sure, but it's football. Good or bad, at the end of the day, I'm here to have fun and play football, and at the end of the day, we didn't play our best. Like I said, there's always another week, and we always can grow and improve on it.
Q. Can you guys lean on what happened last year, the 1-2 start, avoiding fracturing and splintering, or is this new circumstances, new team?
DJ LAGWAY: Definitely. We definitely have history of being in this situation, but these are new guys, group of new guys, and we're going to rally together and figure it all out together. It's a new group of guys.
I'm excited, man. We're going to get out there and work hard this week and continue to take steps in the right direction.
Q. What do you think of Tre kind of getting involved more than he has? He's kind of been on the shelf. Then Vernell, just his explosiveness and the kind of plays he can flip games with?
DJ LAGWAY: Sure, it's great having those guys around and making plays for you. It's always great when you can have a receiver and you can throw a five-yard hitch and they take it 90 yards. It's great having those guys. I'm just thankful. I'm going to continue to build our relationship, continue to build our chemistry, and it's going to be fun.
Q. How do you assess your health right now? It just looks like from the untrained eye that your shoulder doesn't look right on some of those throws down the field. I know you've missed nine months of work, but how do you feel about where you're at?
DJ LAGWAY: I feel great. I feel great where my body's at right now. I'm still working on some things mechanically. Like I said, I'm just excited for the grind. I'd rather -- good teams don't peak in September, they peak in December. I'm ready to continue to work hard and continue to take strides for greatness.
Q. But you feel like you can make those deep throws like you did last year?
DJ LAGWAY: Yeah, for sure, yes, sir. Like I said, coaches, they watch film too. They know what my strengths are. So they're preparing for it, and they're going to take that away. I've got to learn how to get the ball down and make other plays. Yeah, that's all I can say about that one.
Q. Teams are basically like playing two deep and just like not letting you throw behind them?
DJ LAGWAY: Yeah, teams they come out with different things, but that's kind of the gist right now. We're going to figure it out, and we'll continue to work with Coach O'Hara, work with Coach Napier and watch film and find ways to dissect it, so yeah.
Q. On the last one, that drive that gave them the ball back, you guys were only able to take 27 seconds off the clock. That's got to be frustrating. Isn't that a time of the game where it's like you've got the game in your hands really, it's up to you guys to kind of close it out?
DJ LAGWAY: Yeah, for sure, it's definitely frustrating. I feel like I put that on me. I feel I threw a pass when I shouldn't have. Yeah, I've got to be a better situational expert on that in four-minute mode, and I've got to keep the ball rolling, keep the clock moving, and stuff like that.
Q. There's going to be a lot of outside noise after a game like this. Fans kind of upset. How do you as a leader kind of keep your locker room locked in and kind of avoid that noise?
DJ LAGWAY: Yeah, for sure, we really don't focus on the noise good or bad. We come in every day and work hard and put our best foot forward every single day.
Q. You guys have talked about the penalties, but some of the inexcusable ones, the spitting penalty and everything, how do you as a leader kind of address that going forward?
DJ LAGWAY: For sure. Brendan, he's a heck of a player. He made a mistake there. That doesn't identify his character at all. He's such a nice guy, nice kid, nice person to have in the locker room. He was in there crying and stuff like that, feeling bad, talking to the coaches, talking to the players, and apologizing for it.
We don't ever hold that against anybody. He's going to come prepared this week and stuff like that, so yeah.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports