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00:00 >> You could just kind of talk about the game plan for
00:01 the defense coming in against a quarterback like Casellanos that has a lot of
00:06 weapons, he can hurt you with his arm, hurt you with his legs.
00:09 You guys started out really hot against him.
00:11 What was the game plan going in?
00:14 >> I think just play smart.
00:15 You have a guy like this, you can't play timid, you can't play scared.
00:18 You have to continue to get in the backfield and pressure him and
00:22 put him on his heels.
00:23 And I feel like that's what we did.
00:25 You have to contain somebody like that.
00:26 He's gonna make plays as he did today.
00:28 But you gotta shake those plays off.
00:29 You gotta come back and essentially just stay in his head and
00:31 let him know that you're gonna be around all game.
00:33 And kind of just get him to be timid.
00:35 Flip the screen on him and just let him know that this defense is not shying away
00:40 from your athleticism.
00:42 He's a heck of an athletic player and
00:44 you just have to keep him corralled in the back.
00:46 >> Yeah, you guys, it was 28 to nothing and then it was fairly even after that.
00:54 Was there a letdown at all because you guys were scoring so
00:57 quickly and or did they just make some good plays on offense?
01:01 >> I think they made some good plays.
01:02 But with that being said, I think, kinda like Jack alluded to,
01:07 I think that we're always trying to play a perfect game of football.
01:10 That's difficult, especially when they have guys like that,
01:12 that athletic on that side of the ball.
01:14 I just think that as a defense, as a team, we have to make sure we don't let that
01:19 little guy on our shoulders, that little act of complacency creep in.
01:23 We have to continue to play balls to the wall all four quarters and
01:26 I feel like we're still chasing them.
01:28 >> Well, Steven, I guess to bounce off that a little bit,
01:30 I guess where is the confidence level with this defense?
01:32 You had the showing against IU, shut out a couple weeks ago.
01:36 Again, you had some good moments here.
01:38 I guess where is the confidence level kind of with this unit?
01:40 >> I think our confidence is high.
01:42 I think we know we can make plays.
01:44 We know who we are as a defense.
01:46 We know we're aggressive and we know that we seek that out.
01:49 We seek every opportunity to be ultra aggressive, take shots as a defense,
01:54 glitches, man on coverage, whatever we have to do.
01:56 We're putting guys in positions to win.
01:58 I think it's a matter of us, again, not letting that little guy on our shoulders
02:03 back into our head and just staying full throttle.
02:05 You can't let up on the gas.
02:06 That's how you let teams back into it.
02:08 Last week, we're starting out 21 to 0, and then you finish the game 21 to 14.
02:12 Can't do that.
02:13 Week one, you know what I mean?
02:14 You just have to continue to play to win.
02:17 I don't think that we switch mindsets at all or
02:20 get into a thing where we're more lax in that second half.
02:23 I just think it's a matter of, sometimes it's just a thing that happens.
02:28 You just have to keep that out, you have to fight that.
02:30 I think sometimes it happens naturally,
02:31 and you have to aggressively fight that in your own self and to a man.
02:35 >> Steven, what's it like being on the defense side of the ball when you know
02:40 you get a stop, your offense can score three plays, go 75 yards, or
02:44 be up 28-0 in a window of an eye?
02:46 >> It's great, honestly.
02:47 I feel like, previously, I feel like I'm a transfer,
02:52 grad transfer, I feel like I didn't always have that.
02:55 I feel like sometimes defense was the winner of the game.
02:58 And while I do feel like defense is still gonna win us ballgames,
03:01 plenty of ballgames, championships, I do feel so much more confident.
03:05 When I can get a third down stop, I'm not right back out there in three or
03:08 four plays.
03:09 I can give it to my offense, I can trust them, even if they don't score,
03:11 even if they don't get points.
03:13 They're gonna keep on moving, keep on trucking on, and
03:15 come out just as confident the next series to score again.
03:17 >> Going off that, you've obviously seen Jack progress.
03:22 Through practice, going up against him,
03:24 this is probably as sharp as he's looked since he's been at Louisville.
03:27 Did you notice anything in particular that he's kind of taken some steps forward
03:30 to have a game like this?
03:33 >> I feel like when you're this deep into the game like Jack is,
03:35 what is this, year six?
03:36 No, I mean, I played Jack last year.
03:38 He was at Purdue with a few buddies a month before that.
03:39 Jack is a extremely smart quarterback.
03:43 He knows what to do, he knows when to do it.
03:44 Anytime Jack messes up, I can promise you, it's not a,
03:47 he's not meaning to do it, you know what I mean?
03:51 It's just one of those things that happens.
03:52 Maybe he's overthinking, maybe he's doing that today.
03:54 We really saw him settle in and play his ball and
03:57 really be able to thrive in this offense.
03:58 Player like Jack is somebody that I think can make it to the next level, and
04:02 he can be a good player.
04:03 You've seen plenty of quarterbacks come out of that and
04:05 Brahms system and go into the league and find things to do.
04:09 I'm really excited for Jack this year to see him progress from last year to this
04:12 year.
04:13 I was really excited coming in when I heard that he was gonna be the guy that was
04:16 transferring in and hopefully getting that spot.
04:19 So to see him work, to see him grow,
04:21 I don't think it was anything special this week.
04:23 I just think that he's fighting his own self in his head and
04:26 he's just finally just buckling down and just being comfortable.
04:29 Sometimes it takes time.
04:30 >> Last one here.
04:31 >> There were four or five offensive touchdown drives that took five plays or
04:37 less.
04:37 Is it possible they score too fast and the defense doesn't get enough rest?
04:43 >> Not at all, not at all.
04:44 We're just as confident in our twos and again twos and
04:48 threes, the guys who are getting on the field maybe after the ones,
04:50 not the first guys who are on the field.
04:51 We're just as confident in them to make plays all around the board.
04:55 Sometimes, I don't know if you noticed today, we rotated a lot.
04:57 For the first, I think, six or seven drives on defense,
05:00 least defensive line, we were rotating from these guys to these guys to these guys to
05:04 these guys.
05:04 And if we get this situation, we're gonna bring these guys in.
05:07 Whatever it is, guys are always ready to play.
05:08 And I think that we kinda made that obvious coming into the year.
05:12 Everybody has to be ready to play.
05:13 Everybody in this exact team, our defense meets in here.
05:16 Everybody that sits in a spot in here has to be ready to play at some point
05:19 during this year.
05:20 You're gonna make an impact and
05:21 you are gonna change the outcome of the game if you're ready.
05:24 >> Thanks, Steve.
05:25 >> Thank you. >> Thank you.