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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: LSU v GEORGIANovember 28, 2011Brandon TaylorATLANTA, GEORGIA THE MODERATOR: We have safety Brandon Taylor. Brandon, good afternoon. How are you? BRANDON TAYLOR: How are you doing? THE MODERATOR: Good. While we wait on questions from the media, would you mind addressing LSU's season as you begin preparations to play for the SEC Championship on Saturday. BRANDON TAYLOR: It's been a great season, like a dream come true, especially for a senior coming back off of injury. Couldn't ask for anything better. We've just got to keep pressing and driving because we know the season isn't over yet. Q. Brandon, I just want to know, from what you've seen of Aaron Murray, what kind of problems does he pose? He's been really hot the last few games, his 19 touchdowns to 6 interceptions since the midpoint of the season. What can he do that kind of concerns you guys? BRANDON TAYLOR: He actually can run a lot better than people actually think, and he's probably one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the SEC. He knows how to manage a game well, and he limits his mistakes, and he doesn't make very many of them. Q. From what you've seen, do you think that he might be the most talented quarterback you guys have faced this year? BRANDON TAYLOR: Yes, sir, he really is because he was probably one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC last year, and he's just continued to keep doing that this year. Q. Hey, Brandon, with all you guys‑‑ with so many play makers back in the secondary, all you guys have made big plays this year, how do you guys kind of keep the egos in check? Who's the leader back there, and how does that dynamic work seeing as all you guys are regarded nationally as big time players? BRANDON TAYLOR: I'm kind of like the leader back there, but we really don't have‑‑ we never really had a problem with egos because we know we're all back there pressing for one goal. It's really kind of like a little competition back there between us like who can make plays and stuff. We all add up our tackles after the game and stuff like that. We just know that we have to stay humble, and it can be taken away from us as fast as we got it. Q. A lot of people are saying nationally it doesn't matter if LSU wins this week or not. LSU is playing for the National Championship. When you hear stuff like that, does that make it‑‑ how do you guys approach this week? Does it make it any different? Does it seem weird to say you guys are playing for it all whether you win or lose this week? BRANDON TAYLOR: It is kind of weird. We don't look at it like that. That's kind of like a distraction to us because, if you win the SEC Championship, you get two rings, and that's what we've been playing for. It wouldn't feel as great going to the National Championship if you don't win the SEC Championship because we feel it's not right. We've just got to keep playing hard and win the SEC Championship because that's been one of our goals this year. Q. Brandon, I noticed that you were chosen to wear the No.18 out there. What does that honor mean to you, and how would you explain it to maybe people who aren't as familiar with LSU's history as you all are? BRANDON TAYLOR: It means a lot to me. It means more than any big play I ever made in the game because it was given to me by a former player that wore 18, Coach Miles, and the training staff. It symbolizes what it means to be a person‑‑ what it means to be a Tiger on and off the field, basically the leader of the team. You have a big voice on the team and stuff like that. You've overcome adversity. With me overcoming my foot injury last year and working back to be back in the starting lineup of a great defense. Q. What went on in your mind when you got the word you were going to wear No.18? BRANDON TAYLOR: There was a lot going on in my mind. It took a lot because I got to talk to Matt, and he actually had the same foot injury I had his junior year, and the next year they came back and won the National Championship in New Orleans. It means a lot to me because I know those players want me to represent the number very well. Q. A.J. Green was a great receiver at Georgia the last three years. They've really got the balance this year. Some young guys have stepped up, five or six guys that can catch the ball. Is that the way you see the Georgia receivers? How would you comment about that? BRANDON TAYLOR: They're very talented and a very fast group. A lot of people say Arkansas receivers are the fastest group in the SEC, but Georgia, they are very fast. I know No.12, I played against him my sophomore year, and he actually kind of got away from me that year too. They actually have the most talented tight end in the SEC. Q. Hey, Brandon, how are you today? BRANDON TAYLOR: I'm doing good. Q. Brandon, the whole idea you guys have had this bull's eye on you all year, it's pretty amazing you guys seem to handle your water quite as well as you did. Did you feel that way about this team? BRANDON TAYLOR: Yes, sir, because the coaches, they let us know, with us winning that big game in Dallas against Oregon, we knew we were going to have the bull's eye on us because with us being LSU, we're going to get everybody's best game. So the coaches by way of practice, we probably had the hardest practices since I've been here. So we just prepared that way and played that way. Q. I know there's still work to do with this game coming up and the possibility of a National Championship game. When it's all done, I'm sure you're aware of who you guys have beaten. Do you want to maybe declare it, if it does go all the way, you guys did it as well as anybody who's ever won one of these titles when you look at who it is you had to beat to get there? BRANDON TAYLOR: Yes, sir, because we've been on a tough road playing dominant teams week in and week out. Our bodies are kind of worn down and stuff like that. So we know that we've been through the struggles. It would be very nice to just go out there and win and look back on and see who we beat to get there. Q. I just wonder‑‑ obviously, this defense is one of the best in the country. Do you allow yourselves as defensive players to kind of compare yourself to Alabama. Is Georgia in that conversation at all in terms of being nationally dominant defenses? BRANDON TAYLOR: Yes. They're playing in a dominant conference just like us, and we see the best teams week in and week out in the SEC, and Georgia has the second best run stop defense in the country. It just shows how dominant they are on defense. The first two games, it really was like a letdown for them. They just bounced back from that and showed how dominant they are on defense. Q. Being a senior on that team and having seen the way that you guys have recruited over the years, when you recall the depth on your team now, do even you as a player sort of get taken back? You've got Kenny Hilliard, your fourth tailback to play this season. Eric Reid doesn't play this week. Other guys step in. Tyrann doesn't play. Just the depth of this football team, even for a player, how staggering is it? BRANDON TAYLOR: It's a good team to be a part of because week in and week out it won't be any letdown if anybody gets hurt or anybody isn't playing that week because we have so much depth and talent. Backups have just as much talent as the starters. We put somebody right in. They know the playbook very well and the scheme. All you've got to do is have attitude, and that's enough for this team. Q. When you look at everything you guys have had to sort of battle through this year, what has Coach Miles' role been and sort of the way he's gone about it and sort of walking that fine line of being really tough on some guys but also being a guy that you guys feel like you can go to when you need to? BRANDON TAYLOR: That's just all part of his job. He's like our father away from home because he disciplines us, and we keeps us with a straight level head. He tells us what we can't do and what we can do and what's right and what's wrong. We just thank him for that. THE MODERATOR: Brandon, thank you very much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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