Opening statement:
"Okay, first of all, I'm extremely proud of our players. We went through an extremely tough stretch. They hung in there. I'm real proud of our coordinators, Coach Tim Harris. Did an unbelievable job today leading our offense. Coach Addison Williams, I did an unbelievable job leading our defense. It was just a completely different feel on the sidelines. Our players really responded well to them.
"Hats off to our crowd. The crowd was great. They were loud. Played well again in the Space Game.
"Dylan Rizk, that's his first start. He looked like he had started a lot of games. He really handled the offense well. I think you can see when we can be balanced on offense, we're a really good offense. I think we had almost 300 yards passing and 300 yards rushing.
"RJ Harvey did his thing again. One of the best running backs in college football. Our line did a good job.
"Our defensive line, they played better. That's a real explosive offense. That quarterback and receiver, two of the best in the country.
"Overall, really a quality win. Proud of our team. A lot of smiling faces in the locker room. That is a great thing to see."
Coach, you said it looked like Dylan Rizk had played a lot of football. This was only his first start. What was the highlight to you from all the plays that he made out there?
"You can call any play, and he can execute them. He really had great command. He threw people open again. He threw a good deep ball. He made a play with his feet. We were down there, I think, on the 10, 15-yard line or whatever. It's third and 10, and he runs for 30. He just really did some natural things and really gave us some balance in our offense."
I know at one point, he must have been fourth string. Is this as big of a surprise to you as anybody? Was he doing this in practice?
"He knows our offense extremely well. He's been waiting on this opportunity. Real proud of him. He seized the moment with this opportunity. Like I said, out there today, he looked like he'd been playing a long time."
Five-game losing streak. It's a lot of stress. You had to fire Ted Roof this week. What are your emotions after this win, and what does it mean to see guys like Tim Harris and Addison get those opportunities to really go out there and take care of themselves?
"Tim and Addi, have a lot of confidence in them. They're big-time coaches. They're great people. They're very, very good relationship people. Our players respond to them. The energy was different on the sideline. I know we played well, and when you play well, your energy's different, but it was a different feel, really, all week in practice. They responded to those guys. I'm real proud of those guys.
"I'm real proud of our team. We're set up to finish. I think everybody can see that. We're set up to finish this thing the right way."
Coach, you mentioned that energy on the defensive side leading into this week. What plays out there did you see?
"Our defensive line. I think they dominated the running game. There's no doubt to hold a team to (5) yards rushing. I think we were 50% on third down. We still need to get a little better, but what I did like, even when they got it, they were contested plays. They weren't just running open.
"Offensively, we were good on third down. We hadn't been very good on third down. Dylan gave us that spark, and he made some with his feet, and he made some really good throws on third down too, so that was great to see."
Back on Dylan, he connected with several wide receivers. Just talk more about his game plan.
"Yeah, he spread the ball around. There's no doubt. We have receivers that can all make plays, and a lot of them did tonight. He spread the ball around. The RPO game was pretty good. He threw a couple good back shoulder. Anytime we can push the ball down the field with the deep shots, that really opens up our offense."
Dylan's 294 yards were the most thrown for in a game by UCF this season, and he did so at an 80% completion rate. How good was it to see that pass game production from him, and is it safe to say he's a starter?
"I think after this, I think it's almost common sense. He handled himself well. We had 600 yards offense, and that's a quality defense. They went to Utah and won at Utah earlier in the season, so I'm real proud of him and his effort."
Coach, this is the fourth Space Game that you've been a part of, and each one has been a very big victory. What has been about the Space Game that has brought the best out of these players?
"Yeah, we need to have a Space Game every week. That's what I'm on about. I'm going to ask Terry if we can work that out."
Coach, what was the quarterback evaluation like in the offseason? Dylan starts as the fourth-string quarterback, and then he goes out there and proves today that he looks like he's the best quarterback on the roster.
"Yeah, it says a lot about Dylan. He's battled. He has handled the whole situation this season with class like a winner. He's been there for other quarterbacks, and he had his moment. We put him in there the last two drives last week, and you just kind of feel like he just felt different and gave us some momentum. He threw people open. He handled himself like a champ. He was a great competitor.
"So this week in practice, I mean, he really even took it a step further. I mean, there wasn't hardly any balls on the ground in practice. I mean, it was really impressive, and so it's great to see him carry that over to the game. He's given our whole offense a lot of confidence."
Brandon Adams didn't play. What's his status?
"Yeah, he wasn't able to play. We're hoping to have him next week. It's kind of one of those things. We didn't feel like if we played him that it would be good for him the rest of the time. So we're hoping to get him back. Braeden Marshall went down again in the second half. He's a tough guy. He's really battled hard. So hopefully we'll get those guys back for next week."
It was a coming out party for Randy Pittman. Obviously with the Hail Mary.
"Randy, he's one of our best football players, offense, defense, special teams. We're trying to find ways to get him the ball. We ran a couple of wide middles, and of course the play he made right before half right there, that just kind of was a wild play. That was a great job of the offense getting him.
"Dylan really made a great play by buying himself a little time, going left, throwing it up. But Randy is a real football player. He's an old-school football player, and it was great to see him get the ball."
Gus, it's one thing after every loss, you kind of talked about this team still believing they can get the job done, but to see it come together, what does that do for the players? I mean, knowing that they can put it all together and just getting the win.
"Yeah, it's tough this day and time with social media and everything. You know, it's tough when you go through tough times. You know, the game of football, you learn so much about yourself that you can carry over in life. And I was real proud of our players to keep battling. It's been tough, and they kept battling. They kept practicing, you know, and it would have been real easy for some of them to throw in the towel, and they didn't.
"So hats off to those guys that kept fighting, and then to have a performance like we did after everything we went through. I mean, like I said, we're set up to finish this thing, and you can just tell that, you know, it's going to be a good way to finish."
Coach, during some of your drives, you guys switched out Dylan Rizk for Jacurri Brown. What was behind that?
"Just trying to score points, trying to do whatever it takes to play to our strengths. And, of course, you know, there was one time that, you know, Brown scored. Okay, you saw that. The next time he faked it, and about five went with him and our running back score. So, you know, he did some really good things that fourth and one or fourth and one-half down there.
"So that was just our plan going in in the red zone. It worked pretty well. We'll see what happens. Each week will be a little bit different. But he brought a different dimension down there in the red zone."
Coach, how do you think the coaching changes affected your team this week?
"Well, first of all, it's extremely hard to make any changes in the middle of the year. I think that's probably the first time that's ever happened. It was hard, but it was the right thing to do. And, you know, like I said, Addison is a guy that the players have a lot of trust in, and he did an unbelievable job with his staff today.
"Tim has just been waiting on his moment. I mean, he's a real guy, and our players have a lot of trust in him. I mean, the first time he calls plays, we have 600 yards and 300 yards passing and 300 yards rushing.
"So, you know, I'm real proud of both those guys."
How much of an emotional release is it for yourself and for the players to get that losing streak behind you?
"Yeah, yeah, it's been tough. It's been tough. I think from my standpoint as a leader of our program, just to see those smiling faces of your players and to get that joy back, you know, they've hung in there. But I'm just so happy and proud of those guys."
Coach, when it comes to RJ, he made history today, we all saw it. You've seen every one of his carries. What's it been like to coach him? He's such a classy guy to do it here.
"Yeah, he's a big-time player. I think you know that his lateral quickness, his vision, his toughness. I mean, he's just done a great job. He's one of our leaders. He spoke to our team before we left the hotel, and he doesn't say much. But when he does, people listen. And just real proud of him.
"And a second Space Game, he's knocked it out of the park. You know, and he had a great day today."
What do you feel was about the defense tonight that made them more successful?
"Obviously, you can't make a lot of changes. We tried to simplify some things to play a little faster. I think our guys did that. You know, I mean, there was the third downs, and there was a couple of them we'd like to have back. But they were contested, you know, and so we just got to keep building upon that. I think the big thing for me is holding them six yards rushing. I mean, that's hard to do in college football because they got some good players.
So, real proud of our overall defense."
You mentioned the smiles in the locker room. You guys scored the most points since the opening week of the season. What is this team's confidence level after a 56-12 win?
"Well, it will give us confidence to finish this thing out. I mean, you know, we want to make a bowl game, and we're just going to take it one week at a time, and that was our approach this week. I mean, we got to win this one. We got to be ready to play our best game. You could just feel it.
"I'm not saying it surprises me. It was just we had to go do it. And we did it, and so now we're in a good spot."
Coach, eighth consecutive Space Game, eighth consecutive Space Game win. A lot of energy. What does this Space Game mean to you?
"Yeah, it's special, guys. I mean, it really is. It's hard to explain. I think you got to be a part of it and be in it. I just know it means so much to our fan base. And I'll tell you this, it means stuff to our players now. Our players have been looking forward to this. And, I mean, the uniforms and the team that puts all the videos and Eric and his team, Jimmy, that put so much work into this thing before it's a year-round deal. And for us to be able to play well, it just feels good."
You obviously relinquished those play call duties to Tim, but how difficult was that for you to go out there this week and then tonight?
"Yeah, you know what, it really wasn't that difficult. Tim, we've been kind of setting him up probably the last couple of weeks in practice and doing things. You felt it about halfway through the year like, as the head coach, I don't – there's too much going on. And, you know, I spent half the time with the defense this week in practice. That was so refreshing for me just to be more of a head coach.
"I love calling plays. But, I mean, obviously it worked out great today. Tim is a superstar in the making, I think, and Addi is too.
"So, you know, it's one game, but it was really good to see them do their thing and really allowed me just to flip over and be a part of the defense. I watched more of their offense than I have, you know, all year and special teams and everything that goes with it."
Coach, we saw Jacoby Jones have a big game last week with Hudson out, but even when he was still on the lineup, how would you evaluate his performance with all the weapons?
"Yeah, he's coming on. I mean, he really is coming on. He's a wonderful human being, first of all, and he's been waiting his time. And you saw him and Kobe on the field at the same time, and we weren't able to do that earlier in the year, and now we are and it's really helping."
Ethan Barr really stepped up. The linebackers had a rough go position-wise for pursuit angles. What really changed between last week and this week, other than the coaching change, that really made a difference?
"Yeah, I mean, it would be a great question to ask him, but we try to simplify things so our guys can play fast. And he's a real football player. He's an old-school football player, and he's one of our leaders. He also spoke to our team before we left the hotel. He played really good."
