Florida State 39, Virginia Tech 17
Q. Trey, first and foremost, busting that first big run, how nice was that for you after a tough start to the year, and just in general putting 200 up on the day and you guys getting a ground attack going as a team?
TREY BENSON: Meant a lot. Just thanking the offensive line, the receivers who were blocking downfield, because this whole bye week that's what we emphasized, the run. It showed out on the field today.
Q. Jared, you've been playing hard all year. Finally got the first two sacks. Was that like a monkey off your back? How did it feel to get those sacks?
JARED VERSE: Definitely felt good. I tried to hide my excitement. I didn't do too well. I been kind of falling into my role of being a civil servant, taking the tension for the rest of my D-line. They're doing a lot of max protect this year, getting a lot of double teams as a D-line, as a unit, but it felt good to finally get my plays, make some.
I'm okay with my role, whatever it takes, whatever it is.
Q. For Jared, Coach Norvell talked about some adversity, response to that in the second quarter specifically. What kind of frustration was there in the second quarter? How do you feel like the defense responded in that moment? And then I guess coming out in the second half, the response to that response?
JARED VERSE: I think the biggest frustration was with ourselves. We knew it was nothing they did that messed us up, because it was game planning, that's all it takes. It was our internal self I think with the offense scoring as quickly as they did, putting the big lead. We got comfortable. We kept saying, let's not get comfortable, but you could tell people were just by the demeanor of everybody.
So that definitely got to us, but I think once we kind of got it under control it was okay. Then coming out the third quarter, that first kickoff, that is something that gets under your skin. We were like, no, that's all they get. No more points the rest of the day. Everyone was harping on it. No matter what it takes, they're not getting anything else.
Q. Trey was there something special in the water for you today to come out and have this breakout game? Did you wake up feeling special? Anything special that contributed to this day?
TREY BENSON: Yeah, my mom birthday was yesterday. I told her I was going to give it my all today. That's what it was.
JARED VERSE: Roommate, too.
TREY BENSON: My roommate, too.
JARED VERSE: I'm the roommate.
Q. Trey, I thought the guy had the angle on you or he thought he had the angle on you; did you see him? Did you ever think he had an angle on you?
TREY BENSON: All right, so I'm going to walk you through it, okay? I had the ball and I just seen (indiscernible) I said, hold on, somebody coming. So I look out the corner of my eye and I seen him coming and I was like, oh, no, let me kick into an extra gear real quick.
I was going up field but I felt him coming, so I just swirl in a little bit and -- I wonder how many miles per hour they was though.
Q. Jared, what was it like? I know you guys are so close and I know you haven't had the production you want. He also hasn't had a ton of production yet. How much fun was watching Trey run today?
JARED VERSE: Oh, my God. I'm running down the field. I had to stop myself from running on the field and not get another penalty. That means so much. I know how hard Trey works. We spent the whole summer together working, all fall, spring. Every time we get a chance we're working out together.
To finally see all the hard work pay off, and not like barely did he smile after a big play. He's like, all right, onto the next one. Let me get the next one. You see that look in his eyes. Like it gets you hyped up. That meant so much to me. It's almost like his success is my success. That's what made me smile. I love it.
Q. For Trey, you had a dominant night on the ground, but LT had a string night. Rodney had a strong night. What was it like to see them play a part in the rushing effort exploding for you guys?
TREY BENSON: You know, first couple games been tough. We just been hearing that the run game ain't been working good. This game we really emphasized the run. Like in the running back room we're like, we got to get it going today. We're not taking no for an answer.
So that's really what it was today. We just stayed positive throughout the whole thing. It worked out well today.
Q. Derrick (phonetic) mentioned first 200 yard rushing game since Dalvin Cook. What does that mean to be in the same breath as him, at Florida State obviously?
TREY BENSON: I actually saw Dalvin Cook two weeks ago. I actually just checked my phone and he texted me today to tell me he's proud of me. Told me it was going to come. Our conversation was about basically like he's seen us in the run game, but he told me to keep going, that it's going to hit. He knows it's frustrating, but next couple games we're going to get it together.
It means a lot because he's elite.
Q. Trey, when you played at Boston College and got that lead, Coach Norvell felt you guys got comfortable and maybe lost your edge. This team made a little bit of a comeback. He felt like he didn't see the same thing. Did you feel like you guys a lot any edge?
TREY BENSON: Oh, yeah, we actually said that on the sideline. Okay, we can't get comfortable. We know what happened last time we got comfortable. We made sure that that wasn't a choice today.
Q. For either one of you, Florida State is 5-0 for the first time since 2015. I know that doesn't mean anything per se if you don't build on it. What does it mean for the program was helping build it back to closer to where it has been historically?
JARED VERSE: I think I can speak for everybody as a Florida State fan, player, community, when I say it means the world. Florida State belongs on top. We're not some team that belongs in the middle of the country. We belong at the top echelon. We belong in the National Championship. We belong in the playoffs. We belong at the top.
5-0 is no surprise to us. Might be a surprise to other people. If you're a part of this community it's not a surprise for you. It means a lot, especially for the guys like Fabo and D-lo, these guys that went through the tough time of not being in the position they're in now.
You see the smile on their face after every win and I'm like, this means the world to them. Knowing Trey, the problems he had in his past, injury and everything like that, me being a lower-level school, it means the world for us that brought in this collection of people and we are doing everything we can. Every week we're getting better and better and just challenging each other and ourselves every week to get better.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports