Coach Speak: Tony Elliott and Brent Venables

Tony Elliott - Offensive Coordinator:

On the sacks:

"I know, there were a couple of situations, in particular, the first sack when we were backed up, once we saw it on the replay-- we needed to step up in the pocket. That's tough on the left tackle when you slide outside of the pocket. So they're going to be a couple of those situations, and then some are going to be on myself from a situational standpoint-- trying to be aggressive, or some on third-and-long trying to go see if we can get a conversion. It's gonna be a combination of the quarterback doing a better job of stepping up in the pocket, guys winning their one-on-one matchups upfront, and then then myself, put them in a better situation."

On how D.J. played:
"I thought that he responded in the last quarter and a half, you know, play and put us in position to have a chance to score points. There are a couple things that wasn't just on D.J., there were a couple situations-- critical third downs where we weren't on the same page from a quarterback-receiver standpoint, and that can cause a guy to start start pressing. Obviously, with this preparation, I know he's locked in-- I know he wanted to be successful-- might not have had the early start, but proud of the way that he responded down the stretch."

On the passing game issues:
"There were a couple of situations where we had some option routes and some things that they can do a little bit different and weren't on the same page there. You've got to work through those things as you go through the season, from a timing and being on the same page. There were a couple of times from a progression standpoint, we didn't, start progression, exactly where we needed to start it. Then a couple of times, I know there was a situation right after that turnover, that I put them in a tough spot, looked down the call sheet and was reading off the sheet and saw it, but then I called it the wrong way. So I put him in a tough situation that resulted in one of the sacks. I think it's just a combination of a lot of things, but the biggest thing is that in the critical moments we didn't make the plays that we needed to make. And they ended up making their play in a critical moment."

Brent Venables - Defensive Coordinator

Venables on how he thought the defense performed:

"Well, just proud of our guys, how they responded from the end of last year. They responded tonight to adverse conditions and some tough situations. And I just love the leadership, the grit, the toughness that they showed, discipline and we'll get better from it."

Venables on using the loss to get better especially when there's so much football to be played:

We were on the wrong end of it, but our guys put a lot of work into this season, not just tonight, and we talked about that a lot this week going into this game. There’s a lot of football to be played, and again, tonight’s about getting better and competing, giving ourselves a chance to win. I’m super proud of our football team. Georgia’s a really good football team, they played great defense as well, and we knew it was going to be one of those kind of games where it was going to be tough sledding."

Junior defensive tackle Tyler Davis, an All-ACC candidate, was missing from the game due to a positive COVID-19 test, so Ruke Orhorhoro, Tre Williams, and others had to step in for him. 

Venables on the play of the backup tackles: 

"Short notice. But those guys have been playing well. Really proud of, again the toughness that they showed. And we're going to need them to continue to be everyday players for us. So, helping us, that's gonna pay dividends for us down the road."

Venables on how a loss to No. 5 Georgia can help the team moving forward: 

"We talked a lot, again, going into tonight's game that the real way you're defined as a champion is how you play throughout the year. They're not anointing anybody anything right now -- us as a defense or certainly us as a football team or in the other locker room. It's a long year. The best teams grow from the adversity. That's where we'll grow our habits, not going and beating somebody's brains in 50-0. You know some directional school. As much as it stinks, we'll grow from improvement. Feel like we have a really good football team in this locker room."