UCF Head Coach Gus Malzahn Press Conference After Win vs New Hampshire in 2024 Season Opener

questions okay uh first of all uh proud of our team uh taking care of business with a convincing win against a lesser opponent you know looking at the game you know I just told the players you know the thing that stood out to me is only three penalties we had a face mask um I think we had a late hit late in the game with one of our backups and we had a delay of game on a field goal we end up making it but the three penalties we've been really focused on not beating oursel now defensively I mean we played a big time game I think Pace's interception that was the one that really turned the game into being able to breathe a little bit and play uh with that Tennyson had the uh uh the block punt right there I mean he he was one of the better special teams players in college football last year and it showed um Xavier Townson was big time in in the return game I thought had really good field position you know offensively the first quarter really struggled um you know we we had a little trouble we had some sacks we I called a couple bad plays put our quarterback in a bind a few times and then we were able to kind of get in a rhythm be able to run the football play Fast second half we kind of kind of got going and uh so really excited you know I think we rush for 454 yards and I think everybody sees we got real running backs you know when you put in your the backups and there guys that would start for most teams in in America the running backs right there so there's a lot to build on I told our guys there were some mistakes but the great thing is they're all correctable you know and I think anytime that you got 50 new players I mean that's to be expected to certain points but I'm excited for our guys we're 1 and0 uh we got a little extra time before game two questions coach how would you evaluate KJ Jefferson debut particularly from a passing standpoint yeah I thought after that first quarter I think he settled in started playing I mean obviously he'd like to have the interception back right there but he responded came back I think he threw two touchdowns after that and really you know started getting more in control of the offense G you spent a lot of the offseason kind of talking about toughness and you know putting this this team to the ringer a little bit to strain them how do you think saw that maybe kind of pay off to this yeah I mean I think our guys they they they played hard now they played their guts out they were flying around our defense was flying around and I think you can see I mean we've got some Playmakers on defense and we got quite a few more experienced guys that played a lot of football and you saw that and then offensively it's just you know learning to play with each other new quarterback a couple new new running back new receivers couple things like that some new new starters up front so it's just a matter of U you know correcting the things and you know I've said this every year game one but the good teams from game one to game two improve more than the other time and we need to do that and and I really think we can coach um you mentioned the first quarter struggles and then some of the mental stuff the idea was to keep this team mentally tough um do you think an element of it was just perhaps you know butterflies o season opener here I don't know I think we just didn't really do a real good job at executing you know the unique thing about offense is 11 guys got to do what they're supposed to do and if one guy does and it makes everything look bad like I said I made a couple bad calls I put a quarterback in to buy twice early on that didn't help uh so I got to do a better job of that what did you think of the impact of the transfer players during I mean I think you know like I said defensively I mean you know Pace he almost pick six that thing I mean he's a he's a dynamic player and the other guys you know the veteran guys played really good on defense and so I thought it was really good coach when you look at the halftime interview there was a hint of dissatisfaction I would say what what was your message to the team in the locker room and given that they came out and went got 20 well I mean I wasn't happy I mean we we we slopped around on offense y'all saw it the first quarter uh second quarter we got in a rhythm we scored right there got in a rhythm we scored right before halftime that was that was good but you know hey we got to respond and uh I just told our guys z00 go out like a championship team in the second half and let's get better and let's play and feel like they did that you mentioned that KJ hasn't gone live in the scrimmage did you think there was any element of rust or lack of you know I mean obviously it's been a year since he went live but uh you could saw in the second half I mean he started getting his pads down and doing some things and Mak plays with his feet in a game like this where you're expected to handle your business against the Lesser opponent what do you look for in game one what are you trying to take away from this yeah my whole deal was you got 50 new players how are guys going to respond how are they going to respond to adversity how are they going to respond to success how they going to respond we got depth I mean guys ain't getting to play are they over there Pou or are they a team I mean that's really what I'm looking for in a game like this I feel like for the most part from what I saw I was happy we got to keep building upon that uh but but we got the makings of a good football team I'll tell you right now I mean I know what what what do we win by 50 something to three or something like that and there's a lot of improvement things to improve on that's the good thing but but I really feel good about this team I think we got a chance to be really good you talked about how you have one of the better running back uh running back groups in the entire country oh yeah uh they I believe you guys broke the program uh record for rushing yards what did you see out of them today yeah I mean they're they're real running backs I mean they're all a little bit different and you put penny in there and he's a full grown man he's going down he's running over lineman offensive lineman defensive lineman he's got a little speed to him too and Johnny's got his deal miles Montgomery he's been like the MVP of fall camp and he he carried that over and then RJ RJ's Elite and I think everybody knows that and so we got a lot of uh and and I think you'll see more two two of those guys on the field at the same time you know so first game's first game we're pretty vanilla okay and sometimes when you're vanilla you know it is what it is but uh we got a lot of good things to build upon you had the chance to put your curry in during the fourth quar how did you evaluate his it's good he got I mean there's nothing like getting in there to play and it was good I mean he he'd like to have a couple things back but you know he he's got a live arm he can really run it was good for him to get in there and play and I know he had the fumble at the end that was tough right there but he did some good things ways in hey coach you talked a lot about the shell and Pace that interception and how it just kind of changed the trajectory of the game in the first first quarter how do you think that that maybe gave some confidence to to KJ maybe a little bit of confidence to the offense not just the defense yeah it all works together you know good teams find a way to pick each other up I mean obviously offense was struggling he made that play right there and got a short field right there and scored right after that and you know that was that was one of the bigger plays of the game coach let's take it over to special teams for a minute how' you feel about Xavier towns and returning kicks tonight yeah I mean Xavier Townson man he it's hard to grab his flag sometimes I thought he did a really good job broke tackles showed a lot of Courage you know going north south and uh he protected the football working with helmet communication for the first time and the tablets how did that go in a real life game yeah it's it's really good the first game I mean there we had some Growing Pains there's no doubt about it it was good to see the information halftime is completely different now and so it was really good for us to go through that we got to be better organized the next time and halftime and then the helmet communication you know my thought was early on you know to uh not say as much you know and then we're getting used to working together and what do you like cuz there sometimes it's too much information and so we kind of got in a better flow in that second half that I think we got some things to build upon moving forward anything else couple more G first game of the season block out fans filled the stadium how was it being friendly your fans home game oh man hats off the fans man on Thursday night I mean it was awesome they were loud um re real excited I mean that's that's what building into a program and getting to be a big time program I me that's what it's about and hats off to our fans man the first game on a Thursday night that was really big time guess you talked about the Xavier but the versatility of how you used Xavier how you used Randy Pitman how you use Johnny Richardson how you you kind of wanted to use them in their offense talk a little bit about how that kind of yeah I know Randy didn't do a whole lot with the ball but Randy's been one of more consistent offensive players all through fall camp and he will be in the mix moving forward Johnny's Johnny I mean he's going to do stuff that you know other guys can't uh you know they were doing some things give them guys credit too I mean they were playing a four down front they were Taking Chances mixing matches we had a couple ugly plays you know with with uh try to draw a play it was minus three or something like that but no Johnny's a dynamic guy you said you want to see progress from game one to game two what do you want to see more from KJ Jefferson during this week yeah I just think just get more comfortable with our offense be more efficient um you know that's probably the big thing and playing a new offense with new players um you know there's going to be growing pains that to be expected that was the first time we played an opponent and all that so a lot of good things to build upon and uh you know I'm excited to watch him next week Marshall had a couple early tackles the last pass break up how is he taking ownership of that nickel yeah Bron's turned into one of our better allaround players I mean he's a confident guy I mean he's confident one of our best special teams players and you know he's no longer a freshman he's a real guy than all right thank you all