Florida’s defense dominated for all four quarters against Florida State on Saturday, leading the Gators to a 31-11 victory over the Seminoles.
The defense finished the game with eight sacks, 14 tackles for loss and five recovered fumbles (eight forced). Linebacker [autotag]Shemar James[/autotag] led the team with seven total tackles (four solo) and forced one of the fumbles, while defensive lineman [autotag]Tyreak Sapp[/autotag] had five total tackles (three solo), a sack, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble.
Both James and Sapp are veteran leaders on the defense and spoke to the media after the win. Here’s everything they said.
On Seminole head prop after the win
Sapp: “I got it from a fan probably about like 30 seconds left in the game. Probably not even 30 seconds. Probably like 50 seconds left in the game I got it from a fan and I was like, oh yeah. I anticipated somebody having something like that. I didn’t know whether it was going to be like the spear. I was going to hold the spear or somebody go something rare like the head. I loved it.
How did the win feel for you?
“Oh, man, this is like a relief off my back. Going two years losing to these guys — which is a great group of guys they put together, they find ways to put a team together — and you know it’s always going to be a challenge. It’s a rivalry game. We don’t like them and they don’t like us. So for the last two years, this has been sitting on us sitting on me and Shemar, especially because we were here to see it. It was just great.
“It was great to go out there and just see the work that we’ve been putting in and everything that we’ve been through all season. This is like one of the best ways to end it on this.
James: “That’s how I feel, happy, so happy. Like he said, two losses in a row to these guys. It was great to get that bad taste out of our mouths, coming into their house and get the dub.”
On dominance in the backfield
Sapp: “It felt great. That’s what we preach every week. We’ve got to kind of like be the big brothers of the team because we the defense. So we got to lead the boys to battle and we got to go out there and set the tone no matter what.
“How ever many ways we can get DJ the ball, that’s what we do.”
James on strip fumble
James: “It felt great, for myself, for the team. It was just a big turning point in the game. Any big play on defense, getting the ball back to the offense. I almost ran the ball back to the end zone. The ref gave me a couple choice words, but it was good… I had to make sure we got it back. ”
On Florida State fumbling eight times
James: “We practice that in our takeover circuit throughout the week. I mean, we expect that. That’s kind of our standard to get the ball, get it back to our offense. We wanted to score on defense, but we unfortunately couldn’t do that. But it’s coming.
On post-game scuffle
Sapp: “Coach (Napier) addressed that in the locker room after the game, so it wasn’t too much. He said what he had to say about it, but it is what it is. That happened.”
James: “It’s not us.”
On developing a more complicated pass rush scheme
James: “Just guys being comfortable in the defense. Coach (Ron) Roberts and Coach (Austin) Armstrong, they kind of draw things up. They kind of get the quarterback looking this way and a person is coming from the other way or kind of disguising different coverages just to get to the quarterback.
“I think it’s just guys that got that confidence back and that can disguise very well. We hit a lot tonight.”
On three-game win streak to end the season
Sapp: “It’s gratifying, but like it’s always great to know that we earned it. We earned the right to win those games. I always tell my guys we don’t deserve anything. We earned everything that we have and everything that we get. Nobody gives us anything.
“Because when people play the Florida Gators, they’re going to put their best foot forward and they’re going to try to destroy us just because of who we are, and we accept that challenge. Week in and week out, day in and day out, and we take that personally. We go ahead and we go to work, and no matter what happens out down that field, we always come back together as brothers.
Are you a man on a mission (8 tackles in three games)?
Sapp: “I feel like I’ve always been a man on a mission, but it’s just progression and getting better throughout the year. Understand the things I need to work on, watching more film and just getting together with the guys because this game is all about chemistry.
“Throughout these past few weeks, we spent so much time together. Not just on the field, after practice and in the locker room, but off the field. We come to each other’s houses, we go out to dinner with each other. It’s just that camaraderie and us just gelling together more.
At what point did the defense start believing in itself?
Sapp: “I wouldn’t be able to tell you the exact point in time, but I just tell you we all had to look each other in the eye and tell each other that we were going to make things change. And that was it because our word is probably one of the most important things and it means a lot to each other.
“So when we tell each other we trust you and we going to do everything that that we can in our power to turn things around, we took that personally and we went to work and you see what you get.”
When did you find out about victory cigars?
Sapp: “Right after the game, right?”
James: “Yeah. Right after. Surprise.”
Sapp: “Some of our media staff and the EQ staff, they were passing them out. It was a surprise, but, you know, we were lit.
Have you ever done that?
Sapp: “Nah. I’ve never had that. Shoot, Shemar, we started playing together. I was a redshirt freshman when he got here, so we were both in. That was our first year playing and we haven’t had it. From then, we haven’t had this much success to the point we had a victory cigar.”
What was is like in the locker room?
James: “Smoky. Choking and coughing. But it was great.”
On Jack Pyburn recording his first sack of year
Sapp: “We use him in a plethora of ways, and he’s one of those guys that we love to have out there when we’re trying to stop the run. But Jack has improved over the year with his pass rushing. He’s come a long way from when he was a young kid, and to now to see how he’s grown, especially like me, I’ve actually seen him grow and I’ve seen him get better.
“It’s exciting to me to see him go get a sack, to see him get all these tackles. It’s just a blessing. The kid works hard and he actually loves the game. He loves his team.”
On recruiting and retaining players
Sapp: “I think it’s always going to be like involvement, as much as involvement as they allow us to have. But I think that just keeping this team together and just like the future, the future is going to be bright for the school.”
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