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VIZIO BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: AUBURN v FLORIDA STATEJanuary 2, 2014Lamarcus JoynerPASADENA, CALIFORNIA LAMARCUS JOYNER: They have guys that can make it to that second level at any time. We don't need any supermans, everybody got to do their job. If you watch film you have a lot of guys that are undisciplined, missing directions and they do what they do well so we have to continue to do what we do well and that's everyone doing their jobs. There is no "I" in team, but there is an "I" in win, and every player has to be accountable for the job he do. The secondary, knowing that they don't throw as much we have to be disciplined because they can do anything, so you have to do your job. Q. When you saw Auburn play Alabama, what did you think? LAMARCUS JOYNER: I was like, wow. I was in awe. I couldn't believe that happened, but things like that are possible when two great football teams play. It's never over until the last second is off the clock, as you see. So it was amazing. Q. What was your reaction when you saw the play by Louis? I don't know if you know it, but Ricardo is a south Florida guy? LAMARCUS JOYNER: Yeah, we recruited him, man! Q. Is that right? LAMARCUS JOYNER: Yeah. I don't believe in luck, but that was luck! (Chuckles.) It was a lot of hard work and they had to do miraculous things to be here and that goes to tell what you kind of things they can do. It's amazing. It was a fun story to watch so I'm proud that those guys were able to do those last‑second things. Q. Lamarcus, how tired are you of hearing about Auburn's offense? LAMARCUS JOYNER: We love it. It's another reason to go to work every day. We love that. You love that kind of stuff because while you're in practice you have that on your mind and it makes you grind. You grind, you get ready for 'em because they hear the same about Jameis Winston, you know, it's a good thing to hear. Q. How much do they challenge you mentally in terms of sticking to key and reading what they do? If you have one mental block or slip‑up, Mason is taking it 40, 50 yards. LAMARCUS JOYNER: You have to almost be perfect because if you watch the film, that's the thing. They're a physical team and they do what they do well for 60 minutes. Like you say, you have one guy in the back end trying to be superman, reading the wrong key, Tre Mason out the gate, 400 yards, so we have to do our job, nothing more, nothing less. Q. Were you disappointed you're not playing Alabama? I know Auburn is great but a lot of people felt you and Alabama were the Marchkey match‑up for this game. LAMARCUS JOYNER: I look at it like this: If it was meant to be it would be. Beginning of the season, people talked about it, that great team they have, but when Auburn worn they deserve to be in the National Championship, too. Obviously we have another team in this country that is as good as Florida State, Alabama, so I believe letting the chips fall where they may. The Dear Lord set this game up, it's Florida State versus Auburn, and those are the things we have to focus on. Q. You have seen almost nothing but SEC teams throughout your experience here. How badly did you want to be the guys who break that streak? LAMARCUS JOYNER: Doesn't matter to me. A bunch of teams get there. If it was a bunch of teams from the ACC or the SEC, those teams deserve to be there. I never looked at why does the SEC always win and this team has to be the reason SEC wasn't‑‑ we gotta play football. 60 minutes on the clock, it's Florida State versus Auburn. Q. You guys have not given up a rushing touchdown all year. How can this game change the perception that Auburn's option attack can do whatever it wants? LAMARCUS JOYNER: We never played a team as consistent as Auburn in the run game. No doubt about it, those guys do what they do well. They're a great, physical football team. They are going to challenge us both in intelligence and in talent because they have both. We have to match their intensity on those two levels. So we have to just do our jobs. Everyone have to do what we been doing all season, paying attention to details and letin' the chips fall where they may, and don't look at the scoreboard because those guys can score a lot of points so we definitely can't look at the scoreboard this game. Q. Lamarcus, Coach was saying you can play all six defensive back positions that they use. What is it like for you to learn all those different things and to be used in all those fashions? LAMARCUS JOYNER: Feels important enough to you, you do it, and the passion I have for the game it allows me to do that. I love football, so whatever I have to give up or learn, I will do it. Q. Is it fun being in that role? Most people think of the star cornerback as a guy who is on an island but that's not really your role. Do you have more fun in the role that you have where you can do different things? LAMARCUS JOYNER: Very much so. The Dear Lord blessed me to be 50 more pounds heavier, 3 inches taller, I may go to "D" linebacker or whatever. You have some lock‑down corner, and they don't get any action and I get to roam around and stick my nose in everyone's business and always be around the football, and I thank God for the ability that I have to be able to do that. Q. You mentioned that there was a little luck involved. Does that worry you that maybe they have been a little lucky? LAMARCUS JOYNER: No, I wouldn't say that, because if you puttin' up 45 points or 38 points against Alabama or Mizzou, it's no luck. Q. Is it more of a concern that they're good? LAMARCUS JOYNER: I think they're a pretty good football team. I think they got in some tough battles with some good teams and was able to overcome adversity. Q. Will it mean something to you when you are 80 years old to be able to say, "I was on the team that stopped the SEC's streak"? LAMARCUS JOYNER: After this game is over it may mean a lot, if we're fortunate enough to pull out the win, but I don't look at it as we must stop the SEC. I look at it as we must win. Our opponent has no face. After that I probably feel that way, but right now I want to play football against the guys that we are in the National Championship against. Q. Did people ask you when you signed with Florida State what are you doing? That's not an SEC? LAMARCUS JOYNER: A the lot of people tried to pull me away from Florida State, going through it's hard changes. But I'm a guy that wants to make an impact and the Dear Lord winded me up to do so. I was confident in my choice and Coach Fisher and the things he sold to me. Q. Do you ever get sick of hearing how great the SEC is? LAMARCUS JOYNER: No, because I still have a family, and after that I still get to say, "I love you mom" and read my Bible and football is football. Outside forces, the other stuff, I don't pay attention to. Q. Do you think it's true it's by far the best conference? LAMARCUS JOYNER: I think it's a well respected conference. They have a lot of great NFL prospects. They have been one of the most dominating conferences and one of the oldest conferences in college football, so I have a lot of respect for them. Q. Do you think people may care about this more because it's the SEC? LAMARCUS JOYNER: We may. There is no point in not being truthful. To be honest, I will believe so, because that's the talk that goes around in this country, everyone tired of the SEC, so I'm pretty sure that we are. Q. (No microphone.) LAMARCUS JOYNER: Because I knew that after so much what Coach Bowden did for this university and this organization they would not place the program in the hands of just anyone. I knew anyone who was willing to get that head coaching spot he would be a well‑seasoned person and Coach Fisher is. If you ever meet him, he's a great person. Me looking at those factors kinda helped me, you know, make that commitment. Q. (No microphone.) LAMARCUS JOYNER: Right. Q. (No microphone.) You and Jeff committed that same week. There was nothing but bad news about Florida State. How important was it to get your mind around that? LAMARCUS JOYNER: Nowadays everyone wants to live in the "now" what's hot, what's success, the best thing smoking, we look at Terrell Buckley, Deon Sanders, all the guys that you looked up to, they changed this program. So we looked at it as recruits coming out of high school, why can't we do the same. No arrogance but you're Lamarcus Joyner, you're Christian Jones, you can make a mark in this place together, and we believed that. Q. Did you and Jeff talk about, hey, we're going to get to Florida State? LAMARCUS JOYNER: I was actually surprised that Jeff committed at the time he did, but he was like, Joyner, we both going to Florida State, we got to make a change together. So coming out and seeing that Jeff committed, I gave him my word that if he committed, I would also. I had to be a man of my word. Q. Do people realize how big of an affect he had on that class even though he's not playing there anymore? LAMARCUS JOYNER: I don't think they do. I don't think he ever will but he had a tremendous affect on my decision and a lot of other guys. Q. I remember the highlight tape the first thing you see it him going hard. How much do you respect him? LAMARCUS JOYNER: I respect Jeff a lot. That guy that huge in high school, that's the kinda guys you see in college, just watching his highlights you feel like he has that "it" factor to change a locker room or have a game‑changing play on the football field. So those are the things that you base your decisions off of. Q. Everyone is talking about their running game but how do you think they fair in the passing game? How do you match up with them? LAMARCUS JOYNER: They don't throw as much. We recruited Ricardo Louis, and they have another wide receiver that is leading the country yards after catch, so we know that they can throw the ball if they have to. That's why we don't need super heros in the secondary; we need everyone standing disciplined because they have threats in the throwing game. But we know that they can throw the ball. Their quarterback is pretty talented. He don't lack arm talent as you see on the film when he does throw the ball the few times that he do. We have to be disciplined on all three levels, D line, linebackers and secondary. Q. How important is it for your guys up front to force them into third and long situations and make 'em throw it. LAMARCUS JOYNER: That's the key to the game. That front seven has been tremendous for us all season and we need 'em to do one more for this last game. Those guys have a lot of talent up front. Their "O" line is pretty good. I see a lot of those guys playin' on Sunday and we have a lot of guys that can play on Sunday in our front seven, so it's a class of the beasts, those guys. We need 'em to do well so the pretty boys in the back, the secondaries, can come in and get a little shine! Q. (No microphone.) LAMARCUS JOYNER: Some things you just never know. It's a good thing to be able to say that knowing that we won't have to, and there are some things that you just want to leave that way. But we have a lot of talent on both ends and let's just say that will probably be a national championship game if it was our defense versus our offense. Q. Auburn just played Alabama and they run a similar defense to you guys. How beneficial was it to watch that game? LAMARCUS JOYNER: It's almost like if you're growing up and you have a big brother and he makes the mistakes in life for you. You don't want to learn the hard way. You want to learn from others' experience and to see a great against like Alabama. We have a coach in Coach Pruitt who comes from that pedigree, so to not make the same mistake is great for us. We couldn't have a better head start. Q. Did you see things on that tape, ways they played a certain play that you were like, we're not going to make that same mistake, that type of thing? LAMARCUS JOYNER: Yeah, you do that when you watch owl football games, we're not going to make that same mistake, we're not that defense. If there is one thing that impresses me about Auburn, they are going to do what they do and they do it well, and they are going to be consistent for 60 minutes. They are going to force you to be consistent. It was a great football game with them and Alabama. The only thing that I seen which was the calls of the game was a lack of consistency at times. You would lose to Auburn the minute you become inconsistent in what you do. Q. Define "consistent" what do you mean? LAMARCUS JOYNER: Being able to do what you do well for 60 minutes. Don't look at the scoreboard. Auburn gets stopped, they don't lose confidence; they go back on the sideline, regather, keep doing what they do. They have success, we're not going to stop doin' what we do. Q. They're focused? LAMARCUS JOYNER: They're focused and they have that concentration. Q. (No microphone.) LAMARCUS JOYNER: Master your position. If you're a corner back or safety or defender and you have no business looking that way with your eyes, don't do it. Have good eye discipline and tell yourself that game I'm going to do what I can do to the best of my ability and my job to help my football team win this game. Q. Everyone talks about Jimbo building what's like an SEC football program. Do you see‑‑ when you watch elite SEC teams do you say, "That looks like us now"? LAMARCUS JOYNER: I never look at it that way, but Coach Fisher has done a pretty good job with Florida State and the recruiting, but I never look at it that way. Q. Defensively are you more like an SEC defense now with who is here and who has made the changes? LAMARCUS JOYNER: Do you feel we are? I just think we're a pretty good football team. Fortunately we're in the ACC so I never look at it from an SEC standpoint. If everyone believe that we have the talents or the skill sets or the mentality or whatever you want to say of a SEC team, it's a compliment to us because we know that conference have a lot of respect. If you feel that way, thank you for the compliment. Q. How would you like this team's chances to get through the league unbeaten? LAMARCUS JOYNER: It would be great for the program that we haven't had a national championship like this in a while and the turn‑around that Coach Fisher has done, it would be a compliment to him and it says a lot about him and the kids he recruits and it would be big‑time and start a dynasty back around Florida State. Q. Nobody in the SEC went unbeaten, and if your team played in the SEC how do you like your chances of getting through it unbeaten? LAMARCUS JOYNER: I like it a lot. That's how we believe. We believe we are the number one team in the country. We believe that at heart. We couldn't say that because that's disrespectful to other teams, but with the things that we have accomplished this year, everything speaks for itself. Hopefully we would have been able to do the same thing, but me being a part of this Florida State organization if we're in the SEC, I say we do what we do. Q. How much time have y'all spent in the last month looking at the Auburn/Alabama game tape? LAMARCUS JOYNER: Tons of it. You ever just look at something so long your brain hurts? Those guys, there is no secret in what they are doing, you know what they're doing but you continuously have to watch film and try to stop these guys. Q. Is the Alabama/Auburn tape the main film? LAMARCUS JOYNER: If you watch film that's one of the good things they're doing but they play a lot of other great defenses like LSU and Mizzou so you watch what you think will be beneficial. Q. A lot of tape? LAMARCUS JOYNER: A lot of tape. Q. Talk about the conversation on the phone with Coach Pruitt. He sold you on Florida State? LAMARCUS JOYNER: I respect if a person has a genuine heart, forget good recruiting skills. A lot of people have the talk where they sound good but you understand, and Coach Pruitt was a guy that knew me, and to be able to open my eyes up to everything, and understand the real situation that was going on at the point that I was in my life, he earned my respect. I got off the phone and my smile was like, that's a great guy. I'm from a tough background, I read scripture, so I'm able to discern the motives of people. After that conversation I went away with, he is a very respectable guy and an honest guy, and he knows what we discussed and I know what he discussed, but it was a great conversation that he earned my respect. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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