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CAPITAL ONE ORANGE BOWL: FLORIDA STATE VS MICHIGANDecember 30, 2016Kenny AllenJim HarbaughKhalid HillMike McCrayWilton SpeightChris WormleyMiami Gardens, Florida Florida State - 33, Michigan - 32 JIM HARBAUGH: It was a good game. Guys on both sides, both teams were a credit to football. Q. Wilton, the comeback after things had gone poorly overall into the second half, what changed there, and did you feel like you were in a groove that you guys were going to pull it out at the end? WILTON SPEIGHT: Yeah, we turned things around. The defense made a lot of key stops in the second half, which gave the momentum to the offense. We just had to get a couple first downs, a couple completions, and then eventually pound it in the end zone. Coach Harbaugh kept saying that it's going to happen, it's going to happen, just stay patient, and I think before that drive that we scored, he basically just said, now is the time. We were able to capitalize and almost pull it out. Q. Chris, talk about what went into the block and watching Josh go down the sidelines, and the euphoria that you guys were feeling at that time and just the excitement at the end of this game. CHRIS WORMLEY: Yeah, it's a good feeling getting a block and then having Josh return that for those two points to put us at a one-point deficit. But we knew we had to make another stop. Our offense had to get the ball back, so at the end of the day, we knew we had to score again to win the game, so our focus was getting the ball back to the offense in a good position to win. Q. Mike, obviously the pick six, a lot of big defensive plays for you this year. Could you maybe call this game one of the most exciting or emotional in terms of just the swings in it, the swings in the momentum? MIKE McCRAY: You could say it's probably the most emotional game for me because a lot of my classmates are graduating and leaving, and just wanted to get the win for those guys. I guess you could say it was the most emotional game? Q. Are there different stages to a game like this, can you kind of quantify it for us? MIKE McCRAY: I don't think so. You've just got to stay the course. There's going to be ups and downs in the game. Like the first drive we gave up a touchdown, we came back out and we got back to what we usually do. I guess we just stayed level headed. Q. Coach, what happened with Jabrill, and how did that affect you guys on defense? JIM HARBAUGH: Yeah, Jabrill had his hamstring grab on him yesterday, and he was jumping for a ball, it was very unfortunate. He wasn't able to run, could see it on the film yesterday, and couldn't get to where he could run and be effective out there, so we didn't play him. Q. But he obviously came out and tried? JIM HARBAUGH: Yeah, he tried to warm it up in pregame to see if he could go, gave it a good effort and wasn't able to. Q. And how about Jake? JIM HARBAUGH: Jake, not sure yet, MCL or ACL. Yeah. Q. Mike, talk about the interception and the turning point that seemed to be in the game at that point. MIKE McCRAY: I've got to give credit to Ben Gedeon. He called it out and I was going on the blitz and he asked him to help him out, and I did. I guess I just caught the ball and scored. Q. Wilton, it seemed like in the first half not much was going right in the passing game; what changed it down the stretch there for you guys to go on that comeback run? WILTON SPEIGHT: We just stayed true to the plan. I probably had my internal clock in the pocket a little too quick in the first half, and then the second half, the guys up front really blocked their tails off and I was able to find some guys and we were able to make a comeback. Q. With all this -- I know you guys have had a lot of swings all season, but the way things were going, was there any doubt on the sideline that maybe this one you wouldn't be able to come up with it? WILTON SPEIGHT: Did we think that we couldn't come up with it? No. JIM HARBAUGH: I'll just add to that. Really the offense in the first half, it was tough sledding. Wilton was able to make some plays out of the pocket, really coming up with some first-down throws, extending the play. Was very creative. That kept us moving, kept us getting some first downs, didn't turn the ball over, was really good with the ball all day. Our entire offense was. And our team did everything we asked of them today, starting coming out of the half. Second half, put together a drive, chipped away at the lead by three, and asked them to get a turnover, and thought that would change the momentum, and they did. When we needed the touchdown drives, we got them. So I was just really proud of the effort of our team and also give credit to Florida State. They played a heck of a ballgame, as well. Q. Jim, yesterday you were mentioning that with the seniors that they would be remembered and kind of be in the history books. What does this game say about them? What is this game going to remind you most of your senior class? JIM HARBAUGH: I love them, love these guys. Great group of competitors, great group of workers, and a great group of guys that find a way. They've got a will to win. Not just they want to win; I mean, they must win. I love them for it. Q. Khalid, could you talk about how your touchdown pass developed, and also the emotions of this game? KHALID HILL: Basically I had an under route, and I saw that it was zone, and I saw Wilton escaping to the right, and I just stopped, and he saw me and he hit me, and I just tried to get the ball in the end zone, just reached and tried to get it in, and with the emotions of the game, when you play football, you've got to expect this to happen. In the first half we never thought this game was over. It was always the mindset we were going to come back and win this game. Coach Harbaugh had a great scheme, great plan for us to do that, and we had it in our grasp, but we had to finish. Q. Kenny, your punt that carried over 60 yards and that Dymonte downed at the 1-yard line, take us through that play and comment on -- I know you don't want to brag about how you played, but just comment on how you feel after this one. KENNY HILL: I feel like the rest of the guys, disappointed obviously. There's some things we could have done better on special teams, some things I could have done better. But sometimes you get plays like that on special teams where it swings the momentum of a game, and I think it's a lot easier to do with the guys that we have on our team. Q. Wilton, can you describe what it was like to stand in against that Florida State pass rush, and how much of a gut punch was it for the offense when Jake Butt went out? WILTON SPEIGHT: Yeah, to touch on the Jake Butt thing first, obviously that's a huge blow. As an offensive schematic standpoint, obviously it hurts. But it hurts to see him in his last game -- I don't know what happened, but I know it was serious enough to put him out for the rest of the game, so that's a punch to the feelings, I guess, when you see your boy that you've been with for three years now that put so much into this program go down like that. But I know he's going to be fine. He'll recover just like any other injury he's had. Yeah, as far as their defensive linemen and their linebackers, yeah, they were fast, just as expected. They were athletic and high-motor guys that we kind of hit us in the mouth early but we bounced back. Q. Chris, you saw Florida State's playmakers on offense make the big plays, the 92-yard touchdown and a couple other ones. Was there anything that surprised you coming out and seeing them make those plays versus watching them on film? CHRIS WORMLEY: No, that's what we saw these last three, four weeks in film, Dalvin Cook making big plays when needed. He's the heartbeat of that team, especially on the offensive side of the ball, and he made the big plays today. If we would have stopped maybe those three, four, five big plays, it would have been maybe a little bit different. We knew they could make big plays, and that's what they did today. Q. Coach Harbaugh, what do you think about Cook as a player, you having seen him in person now? JIM HARBAUGH: Yeah, I think he's a great player. I thought that coming into the game, like Chris said, and as advertised, he's a great back. Same thing as Chris, they got some big plays on us, and we got a lot of stops, too, four three-and-outs in the second half. Our defense really -- the entire second half, four three-and-outs and one big play, as well, by Dalvin Cook. It was a heck of an effort on his part and our part, I thought, from where I was standing. Q. Chris, you said the other day you're not a sentimental guy and you don't think about this, but now that your career is over at Michigan, can you sum it up? CHRIS WORMLEY: Sum it up as in the last four or five years? Q. Yeah, just your emotions now at this stage. CHRIS WORMLEY: Yeah, emotions were running high all through the game, and in the locker room, those four or five minutes before we came in here, saying goodbye to the guys, hugging them, the guys that are staying, telling them good luck and things like that. But yeah, it's emotional. Not going to be playing with these guys, not going to be coached by Coach Harbaugh or Coach Mattie again. Yeah, sentimental now, it's hitting me a little bit. Q. Jim, the run game wasn't as productive tonight. Was there something that you saw in this team tonight? JIM HARBAUGH: Well, like a run game sometimes does, it can get stopped and you keep pounding away at it and keep chipping away at it and then you start making the four-yard gains and then the six-yard gains and then the 10-yard gains, and then finally we popped one there with Chris Evans. The way I feel about it is it was a heck of a game. Both teams played to where there was a real credit to the game of football, and proud of the way our guys played. Congratulations to Florida State, and that's the way I feel about it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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