Chizik on ejections: ‘I am embarrassed by it’

Transcript of Auburn coach Gene Chizik’s postgame news conference:

Opening comments: “I couldn’t be happier for our fans . . . the Auburn family. I am  excited for everybody. That stadium out there tonight was electric, and our student body, our alumni, our fans . . . it was a great night for everybody. Our football team in that locker room over there has a lot of love for each other. I think tonight was another situation when we were down by 14 points I think at one point; they just play as a family. That’s all that I can tell you. They play as a family, and I couldn’t be more blessed personally in my life to be around great people, great coaches, great administrators and players who are a joy to be around. They care about Auburn. They care about this football team, and they never cease to amaze me. I am very proud of [Cam Newton] and his performance, and I am very proud of our whole football team starting with our seniors, who have done a great job getting us to this point this year.”

On Cam Newton’s ability to avoid the distractions: “Cam rushed for (151) yards tonight. I was just really proud of the way he played. Like I said, he’s a really, really talented, extremely gifted football player who means a lot to our football team. By his performance, I felt like he’s done just about what he’s done in every other game this year.”

On the decision to on-side kick to open the second half: “That’s a very potent offense, and the on-side kick we felt really good about it during the week, and we felt like we needed to take one possession away from them in the second half. We needed to get some momentum coming out. We told our guys in the locker room at halftime  it’s up and running and you have to get it. Wes [Byrum] made a great kick. I think it swung the momentum starting the second half, and it took one more possession away from their offense in the second half, which we needed to do.”

On how difficult it was to defend A.J. Green: “I don’t know that we did. I know that we certainly tried about everything we had, and they made some great throws to him. He made some great catches. He’s one of the best football players, wide receivers, certainly in college football. There’s no question about it. He is a force to be reckoned with. He’s a very talented young man.”

On the difference between Auburn’s defense in the first quarter and the rest of the game: “We settled down a little bit. We tried to do some different things coverage-wise just trying to get the passing game under control. We felt like we could stop the run, but we knew that they had very talented guys at wideout, including the tight end. They do a great job of seeing what you are in. The quarterback does a great job of reading what coverages that you are either disguising and trying to work to, and he hits the guy who is most available in that coverage. They are really good at that, and I thought they executed that well. I think pass rush and pressure, more so in the second half, got to them a little bit.”

On controlling the game running the ball in the second half: “We felt like offensively, starting with our offensive line, we could get some movement up front. We were trying to get a pace going where we could wear them down a little bit. I don’t know if that happened exactly the way we wanted to, but we had some explosive plays in there where they had to run down the field and get set and reset. We did some things that we thought with clock management and other things would help us towards the end of the game. Again, our offensive line … that was a good defense we played against. My hat’s off to them. They tried to do a few different things to take away the quarterback run game which we were able to do some other things with our tailback run game, but at the end of the day, that was a really good defense. I was proud of our offensive line.”

On winning the SEC Western Division: “We had goals at the beginning of the year, and this was the first goal. Really in the name of trying to take them one at a time, we didn’t know when, if we were going to win the West, when that would happen. We were blessed to be in a position tonight where if we won, then obviously we have a trip to Atlanta. So I think there was a lot of incentive out there. There was a lot on the line, and I couldn’t be more proud of our team because of the way they responded and the way they just kept playing.”

On the personal fouls and ejections in the game: “Just really disappointed in that. That’s a lot of reflection on us as coaches, and I am embarrassed by it. That’s not who we are. That’s not the way we carry ourselves, and we will address that tomorrow.”

On Michael Dyer breaking Bo Jackson’s freshman rushing yardage total: “I think Mike as the year has progressed has got a little more comfortable with the offense every week. We certainly have a lot of confidence in him running the football and protecting the football. What a great accomplishment. I think he feels a great comfort level, and I think it is a great honor for him. Again, we are not trying to break individual goals here but certainly that is one he is always going to be proud of until the next guy comes along and breaks it. I am proud of Michael.”

Did you believe you would win the SEC Western Division this soon after taking over as head coach? “I never put a timeline and a timeframe on anything. Our belief was that the only thing that we could focus on is where we’re going with the program and how we’re trying to get there, and we’re trying to do all the things the right way that make sense that the Auburn people would be proud of and the Auburn family. It would just be what Auburn is and who Auburn is, and that’s where we tried to start. So we didn’t put a timeframe on anything, but make no mistake our goal since the day we stepped here was to win a championship, and we haven’t done that yet. So, I don’t want to act like we have. We haven’t, but we are one step closer to being able to do that.”

How welcome is this bye week now? “I think it comes at a great time. We are definitely a tired football team. If you count two-a-days when we started in August, this is probably week 14 straight. I think we tried to manage it about the best way we could with trying to back off when we needed to back off, and try to be aggressive when we needed to be aggressive. They’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do, and that’s the great thing about this team. It’s a well-needed break. We will sit back and try to get a little bit of a breather here in the next probably 48 hours, but we have a huge, huge football game coming up in two weeks, and we have to get ready to play that game.”

On coming back from a 21-7 first-quarter deficit: “Like I said, the guys in that locker room just never cease to amaze me and the coaches … offensive coaches, defensive coaches, special team coaches. Nobody gets rattled. Players keep playing and the coaches keep coaching and we have to adjust and sometimes it doesn’t look exactly the way we want it to look. Sometimes it is really ugly. Sometimes it’s not. For 11 weeks in a row now, we have found a way to win so that’s the most important thing.”

How will you deal with the ejections? “I am going to deal with that tomorrow, and I am not happy about it at all.”

Was your team a little bit hyped up to start the game? “They were. I think they were very excited to play. I knew that when we were getting off the bus. We were trying to temper it down a little bit. They were extremely excited to play this game. The seniors knew that they were never going to play out here again. That’s where it started, and they love Auburn, and they love playing in front of these fans, and they were off the chart in terms of excitement and I don’t blame them. But I think that was a little bit part of some of the play at the beginning … we weren’t very smart. We were just too out there with that. Finally we settled down, and I think we played a little bit better.”

On what it was like when it was 21-7 Georgia: “You are always concerned when it is 21-7, but I don’t think a 21-7 score affects you unless you have never been there before. We have probably been there two to three maybe more times this year. I just think our football team has confidence, and we get things adjusted to the best of our ability, and we try to come back and just keep playing for 60 minutes. We just don’t look up at the clock. We just keep playing and when it is 0:00, we will look up and the best man will win.”

(Transcript provided by Auburn.)