"Go back to Michelin!" Elliott knows fans are upset after opening game performance

Tony Elliott - Offensive Coordinator

On having to watch the tape:

"It was tough. I think first and foremost, we got a group of young men that really care. So as coaches, you're definitely hurting for them and always want to evaluate yourself first, see what you could do better to help them in a game like that. But there were some good things on tape. They did, they did some good things, man, they played hard-- they played physical that was the challenge from from from the top in this game is we want to come out and match them physically."

On D.J. Uiagalelei and how fans have reacted:

"We all know his character. He had a bad he had a bad night. It's tough because we get embarrassed on National TV. I know I've already got the Twitter fingers sending me hate mail telling me that I suck and, you know, I need to be fired. I need to go back to Michelin and things of that nature. It hurts. And it hurts for a couple of reasons, right? It hurts because I know how much work this offensive staff and these players have put in. I know how committed they are to this program. Right? And nobody wants to go out on national TV and not play their best, right. So that's where it hurts. I know the fans are passionate, right. I understand how passionate our fans are and what the expectation is here. I hurt for them because they're upset that we didn't perform well, because I know what it means to them. So yes, there's a feeling of hurt, but we can't wallow in our pity, right? We got to change our perspective and we got to draw on what only thing we can is how do we respond and these guys are gonna respond and I'm excited to see the growth that's gonna take place. You've got a football team that cares."

On getting the message about Michelin:

"I get a notification. I go to the notification and it’s like, ‘Go back to Michelin.’ Or somebody sends me a message on Instagram. I don’t know if it’s a recruit or family member or something, and I open it up. But I understand their frustration and the only thing I can say to them and anybody out there about this group of young men is they work their tails off. They take pride in what they do."

On what they could have done better:

"Probably should have stuck with the run game a little bit more. It felt like it wasn't there as much as-- when you actually go back and watch the tape, we were actually creating some holes and had some RPO stuff."

On errors they made:

"Definitely down in the red zone, got a little anxious and wanted to get the ball in the end zone and went three straight passes. Probably should have ran it on first down. Also right after the defense generated the turnover-- I said it after the game, I looked down on the call sheet and was reading the call off and we have two similar calls and I called it wrong and put D.J. [Uiagalelei] in a tough situation that resulted in a sack, which got us out of field goal range. So those are a couple of things that I can do better."

On why they got away from the ground game:

"We wanted to be aggressive, we wanted to attack. We knew that the weakness of their defense if they had one, was their secondary. We knew it was gonna be tough to run, but probably would have committed a little bit more to the run, still want to stay aggressive. Then in those two situations down there on the five-yard line and then right after the turnover that we got that I could have managed those situations a little bit better."

On needing the running game:

"We're at our best and I mean, that's philosophic, that's what we want to be-- we want to be balanced. We knew it was gonna be tough and told you guys we're gonna have to generate some run game. Seven plays in the first quarter. We were backed up, in some tough situations. The first play of the game, we got everybody blocked up, but one, that play is probably going to go for a little bit, and then it turns into a two-yard gain. The biggest thing for us is we just got to get in a rhythm, get our timing down, it's the details at every position-- and getting on the same page."

On another game that went as poorly offensively:

"I'm trying to think. I don't know if I can think of one. There have been games where we've had those moments, but we've been able to overcome them. That's the point of emphasis to these guys today is that when you're playing against the teams like Georgia, and as we get into that championship phase, that room for error, so there have been some situations where we've been out of sync, but we've been able to overcome it, just because we may have been in a situation where we've got more talent, and then the game allowed us to recover from it."

Brent Venables - Defensive Coordinator

On his thoughts after watching the tape:

"Thought there was a lot of good in the game or guys came out, we were really physical, played with good positioning, handled a lot of adjustments, tempo, management of the game, checks, thought we played with good discipline-- not perfect. Matched the mindset and the physicality and didn't let the emotion of the game be more than again any other week just in regards to playing with poise and discipline and focusing on execution and playing with great effort."

"We'd like to be a little better on third down and create more disruption, but gave up some of the disruption that you get some times for being overly aggressive or more aggressive in your play calling, and just being the first game of the year, not knowing exactly what we're going to get, and that our guys managed the game plan really well from that standpoint. Needed to get to stop at the end of the game, and weren't able to do that so that was disappointing, but our guys played with tremendous, tremendous effort and toughness, and gave ourselves a chance to win."

On preparing for tempo:

"Well, we always work on it. We've played plenty of teams that huddle. Notre Dame huddled in the ACC Championship. That's what they do- they huddle. They sugar huddle and line up quick and (we) handled that pretty good in that game. Pitt was no-huddle, go back and watch the TV copy, they go fast the whole time and we played pretty good there. Didn't do it well against Ohio State and we did a pretty good with Georgia, they did a lot of movement and a lot of shifting before the ball is snapped-- a lot of 'tempo attempts' and our guys handled it well.”

“So it's not easy. If it was easy to defend then why to offenses do it? What is the advantage of tempo? I asked the question-- Who's got the answer? Why do offenses tempo? Larry? Why do offenses go tempo? Bad eyes. Bad technique. Not lined up. That's why offenses tempo, right? I think we're on the plus side of handling tempo well, by and large, we've had weak moments, but people go no-huddle and they tempo across the country-- really even in the NFL now. The teams that can manage it well on offense typically do well but if you get lined up do the little things right pre-snap, post-snap takes care of itself."

On Nolan Turner mentoring Andrew Mukuba:

"Our culture, I think that's one of the keys our older guys have always embraced the younger guys. We don't have a culture of entitlement or a culture where there's a hazing kind of mentality, whatsoever. It's a culture that serves one another. I don't think another year in college is going to separate guys from that standpoint-- for helping and mentoring and leading pouring into guys. Hopefully, you have a culture that they all received that same type of mentoring at one point in time, and they value that and want to pay it forward. So that's what that locker room is all about. So it's no surprise that it was well-received by Nolan."