The Grove Report
  • last year
Transcript
00:00 Jackson, if you don't mind sharing, can you just walk us through just the moment that
00:04 you realized you were going to start today's game?
00:06 Yeah, I mean, to be honest, I felt like that was going to be the case for the season ending
00:16 last year.
00:17 So I think I just, I felt like I earned it.
00:20 It's kind of just what I expected.
00:23 Can you just talk about your connection with Trey Harris?
00:26 Did you see a game like this coming?
00:28 You did work with him all throughout the offseason.
00:30 Yeah, we spent a lot of extra time together.
00:33 He came out to California with me to work with my quarterback coaches and obviously
00:36 just extra work around the facilities here.
00:39 It's kind of funny, last night, because he's my hotel roommate, and we had some conversations
00:45 because he's never played for an SEC school, so I just kind of asked him what to expect.
00:53 It was just fun because we were able to, we kind of manifested it.
00:57 We felt like we were going to have a great game together.
00:59 We felt like we had a great connection leading up to the game.
01:02 And just kind of how the game plan played out, he was going to get a lot of touches
01:07 and he made the most of it.
01:09 Just in your eyes, kind of assess your day and just the whole first half of the offense.
01:13 Did it kind of go how you all felt it would, or is there still some things you see out
01:16 there you all left on the table?
01:18 Yeah, I just felt like we were really prepared for this game.
01:20 I thought our coaches did a great job of getting us, you know, they had a great game plan for us.
01:25 And we had two weeks to prepare for it, the mock game last week, and the mock game went great as well.
01:30 So I think just like our confidence of being able to execute what was being called.
01:35 And then, you know, obviously just being out there and staying disciplined with one another,
01:39 getting the right calls, getting the right splits, right routes, all that stuff.
01:42 And just thought we did a really good job of executing and played with a lot of confidence.
01:47 There's been a lot of talk about your growth through camp, through that offseason,
01:51 and everything like that.
01:53 Did you feel different today than maybe you did at the end of the year last year,
01:56 more comfortable, you know, back in the game setting?
01:59 Yeah, I think you could say that.
02:01 Like I said before, I just felt like I was really prepared coming into this week.
02:04 And I'm in a good place mentally, you know, with myself.
02:08 And I feel like as a team we're in a really good spot as well.
02:11 And I think that we're honestly in a better spot than we were last year.
02:13 So, you know, just really looking forward to the future.
02:17 Obviously the parts that we saw, you took the lion's share of the starting reps,
02:21 and you started today, but does it frustrate you at all?
02:24 Or Lane doesn't publicly say you're the starter,
02:27 or he didn't even say that after tonight going into the next week.
02:30 Does that bother you at all?
02:33 I think it kind of just comes back to just controlling what I can control.
02:37 You know, there may be times where I disagree with something here and there,
02:40 but at the end of the day he's the head coach, and he makes the calls around here,
02:43 and he's going to put us in the best chance to succeed.
02:46 And, you know, I think that's all you can really ask for as a player.
02:49 So I know that, you know, going forward I'm confident in my role
02:53 and what is expected of me, and I'm going to do my job each and every week.
03:01 Jackson, you know, last year with Luke and this year with Spencer,
03:04 I guess just talk about how that battle between you and Spencer got on this year.
03:09 The competition aspect of it.
03:10 Yeah, he's a really great talent.
03:13 Obviously he's had a ton of experience and played a lot of games
03:16 and also won a lot of games.
03:18 He has had a lot of individual accolades, which kind of just credit to his ability.
03:23 You know, I feel like we've made a good relationship,
03:25 and I've even learned stuff from him, even though he hadn't been in this offense,
03:29 but just from his experience and stuff like that.
03:32 So it's good to have somebody pushing you.
03:34 Obviously Trey Harris' big day speaks for itself,
03:37 but that overshadowing with Jordan Watkins also due to having another 100-yard
03:40 receiving game plus, what was he able to do with the punt return today?
03:43 Just kind of describe.
03:44 You know, the Jordan Watkins that you saw last year versus this year,
03:47 what do you feel like people are going to be expecting as far as taking that next step
03:50 as an athlete, as a receiver?
03:52 Yeah, I would just say for J-Wat, he's just such a reliable player
03:56 that you kind of just always have to have on the field.
03:58 He's another leader out there with me, so him being able to line guys up quick
04:04 and when guys aren't even confident what their job is, he knows it like that.
04:08 So he's just having another coach out there and makes great plays.
04:13 I think it shows to him just how much more comfortable he is in this offense.
04:17 It's just fun to see guys succeed.
04:21 Do you think you play better when there's a chip on your shoulder,
04:24 when the door's open on who could be the starting quarterback,
04:27 or when you're comfortable and you know you have the job in a way?
04:31 If that makes sense.
04:32 Yeah, I kind of alluded to this during this week.
04:38 My kind of focus in this year is to be one of the best quarterbacks in the country.
04:42 That's all due respect to everybody in the room, but that's just my mindset
04:46 and what I want to accomplish this year.
04:48 I just want to take those steps in my growth and put myself and this team
04:52 in the best situation to succeed.
04:54 Hopefully, we'll be holding up a championship by the end of it.
05:01 Katie Lee, kind of a touchdown later in the game.
05:04 When did you start to see it come on this hole?
05:07 Yeah, I would say probably the back half of camp.
05:11 I kind of referred to his--he had a really big play in our first scrimmage
05:16 on a slot fade and caught it back shoulder and was able to get a foot in.
05:19 I just remember seeing that and being like, "Dang, this kid can really play
05:22 and he can play right now."
05:24 It's fun to see young guys like that compete throughout camp
05:27 and then just work themselves up through the depth chart.
05:30 Then when it comes to it in the game and you know the lights didn't get too bright
05:34 for him and he played really well.
05:40 Aaron, you got his first start, first SEC action.
05:43 Can you just talk about his play tonight?
05:45 Yeah, I'm super proud of him, just like his growth from year one to year two.
05:50 He just took huge steps and his physical abilities,
05:54 grinding throughout the weight room and then getting extra work with just routes
05:58 and stuff like that.
06:01 He's going to be a really good player.
06:03 He's just going to continue to develop, so I'm super excited for his future.
06:06 Questions up top?
06:10 When Trey was here, he kind of said once he starts rolling a couple of touchdowns,
06:14 he starts feeling like he has the hot hand.
06:16 Do you as a quarterback recognize that and try to feed him as much as you can
06:19 or is it more just game plan based?
06:22 Yeah, I kind of just feel like that kind of just goes with the momentum of the game.
06:25 You see a guy make plays and then he's just hungry for more.
06:29 It's fun when you get to have guys like that that just bring a whole bunch of
06:34 excitement around the team.
06:37 Obviously, this was his first game, but to just see his play and how elite talent
06:43 that he is, I'm just super pumped.
06:47 I know maybe a lesser opponent than some of the other teams you're going to play
06:51 later in the year, but do you feel like this is kind of a glimpse of what this
06:54 offense could be against any opponent?
06:57 Yeah, absolutely.
06:58 These are definitely conversations that we have in our own room.
07:01 We kind of just compare things from last year to this year, and I just feel like
07:06 we're just so much more balanced as a team.
07:08 We're able to attack defenses in so many different ways.
07:11 We're just super versatile.
07:13 Able to move guys around and just have a lot of confidence in them.
07:18 I just feel like our depth is in a really good spot right now.
07:21 Paris mentioned how he looked up at the scoreboard and didn't even realize how
07:25 quick everything was going for y'all with that fast start.
07:28 How did that feel for you?
07:31 I'm probably in the same boat as him.
07:34 Before I knew him, I looked up at the screen and spent like five minutes in the
07:38 game and we had scored 21 points or something like that.
07:40 It just makes you have that rush of wanting to get back out on the field and keep
07:46 doing it over and over again.
07:48 Those are those addictive feelings of playing college sports.
07:51 We're going to take this wood board out here.
07:56 A lot of clean pockets today.
07:59 Offensive line did a nice job for you, didn't they?
08:01 Yeah, they did a hell of a job.