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CFP National Championship
Saturday, January 11, 2020 Joe Burrow LSU Tigers Q. Talk about the matchup. JOE BURROW: Yeah, I think that's how it's supposed to be in the national championship game, the two best. That's what we've wanted all year, is to play the best. We've played a lot of really good teams. Clemson is obviously the best. They've made it this far. I think we're going to be ready for them. I think they're a really good team, have a lot of speed, have a good plan. But I think it's going to be a big challenge for us. I think we'll be ready. Q. (Question regarding the NFL Draft.) JOE BURROW: I think quarterback position is the most important position in all of sport. I think myself and Trevor are the two best in the game right now. I think that's a big reason why both teams are here. He is a really good player, really smooth. Still young, which is crazy. He's light-years ahead of where I was when I was his age. I'm excited to compete against him. Q. Do you see some similarities in both your games? JOE BURROW: I think that's the difference maker for both of us, when teams have everything covered, we can still make plays with our legs. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: Honestly, just having an off-season with my guys. I got here last June, and most grad transfers come in December and have a spring ball and fall camp. I just had a fall camp in a couple months. So having January through August with my guys and everyone coming back from last year, I think the scheme that we have is great, but I think with the guys that we have and the connection that we have, we would have made it work anyway. Q. (Question about expectations.) JOE BURROW: We're 14-0. That's exactly where we expected to be. I just try to do anything I can to win games, whether it's throw for 500 yards or throw for 150 yards. Doesn't matter to me, as long as we win. Q. (Question regarding the Heisman.) JOE BURROW: Not really. I wanted to be here, talking to you guys, when everyone else is at home getting ready to watch us. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: So last year our tight end was attached to the core all the time. We had two tight ends sometimes, a fullback, and that just brings more guys into the box, makes it difficult to decipher where the blitzes are coming from. Now we can be at empty, three by one, detached. It makes the defense really declare themselves for me. I think that's been a big difference maker for us as far as getting blitzes picked up. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: Yeah, I think there's a similarity as far as, no, it hasn't been done for a while. The last time here was going to the national championship 2011, last win was 2007, back at Athens it had never been done before. That's kind of a similarity. I kind of said before the season, when you're around championship football teams, something just kind of feels different. Going back to high school, that's the last time I kind of felt that. We felt it this off-season. Q. Was there one big game that was the turning point? JOE BURROW: I think everyone wants to point to one moment as a turning point. I don't think there was. We felt all off-season that we had worked hard to be a championship football team. I knew that we could be, as long as we practiced with intensity and focused on getting better every day. So I don't think there is one turning point. I think there's been a lot of cumulative actions that have gone into this going from last year to January to February. It all kind of piled up. Q. Do you need to have a huge game, like you did against Oklahoma, to win Monday? JOE BURROW: I think I always just try to play whatever the game calls for. You kind of figure that out the first quarter. I mean, I have to go out, throw the ball, throw for a lot of yards, get us down there. Maybe our run game is going. Maybe our defense is stopping them, and it's going to be a grind-it-out kind of game. You just have to feel it out, do whatever the game calls for to win. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: Yeah, I throw a lot of, for lack of a better word, 50/50 balls up and just let them go make a play, try to put them in a position that only they can go and get it. I have five guys that make those plays for me. That's a huge luxury for a quarterback, knowing if nothing else is open, I can just throw it up to those guys and they're going to make the play for me. Q. (Question about the next-man-up mentality.) JOE BURROW: I was so happy for Chris because for most of the season he's been fourth on the depth chart. He's just gone to work every single day. He's been the scout team running back. Ran his ass off all year for us. I was so happy for him because he's worked so hard for that. Didn't complain a single second. Went to scout team, ran hard. Came to the sideline, didn't say a word. Then when Clyde went down a couple weeks ago, he really started to click in practice. I think he deserves that start. He went out and showed it. I was so happy for Chris. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: He's the best I've seen at that age. When he first got here, I was throwing his way a lot, see if he was going to live up to the hype. I could tell early he wasn't a normal true freshman. He's been great for us. He's going to be a really good player for a long time. Q. (Question about Trevor and hair.) JOE BURROW: Before I cut my hair, I would have to go with me. His is flowing right now. I like his. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: Oh, yeah, all the time. When he gets fired up, if he's trying to tell me something, I got to calm him down for a second so I can understand him. He gets fired up sometimes. He's tough to understand. Q. Your dad gave a shout out to his former coach at Ole Miss, 1974. If you have the opportunity, are you going to give a shout out to your coach? JOE BURROW: No, I don't think so. I don't think so. Q. They're approaching it like it's a road game, Clemson. Are you treating it like a home game, or does it make a difference? JOE BURROW: I hope it's a home game for us. I hope our fans come out, fill that stadium up, make it just like Death Valley. I don't really know what to expect, though. They try to split the tickets, try to, 50/50. I'm excited to see how much purple and gold we have in the stadium. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: That's the pedigree of a championship program. They find a way to win. They didn't play their best game, but they came out on top in the end. That's what elite programs do. That's what elite people do. That's what elite players do. We're going to have to play our best game to beat them. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: Their coach does a really good job mixing up the looks. They'll bring the same blitz, play different coverage behind it. I'm going to have to be on my game, reading the safeties, reading the coverages, seeing blitzes knowing what covers they usually like to play behind it postsnap to make sure that it is what I thought it was. That's going to be key for us. Q. How would you describe what's at stake in this game? JOE BURROW: I mean, it's all on the line. This is the national championship. This is what we thought we would do at the beginning of the year. This is what we expected. We just got to finish it off. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: I mean, yeah. I think we would win the national championship, we'd be on top. Someone would have to knock us off. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: No, I don't think so. I'm just trying to treat it -- just trying to prepare like every other game. We got mature guys that prepare very well. We've done very well so far just doing what we do, preparing, going through every week like it's just another game. That's what I'm trying to do, stay in my routine, stay with what I normally do. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: We have five guys that are going to play in the NFL in routes every single play. They got to account for everybody. You can't take Jamar and Justin away. We have Clyde, Thad, and Terrace. You really got to pick your poison, try to mix up the looks on us, because otherwise we're going to take you apart. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: Even more if he didn't get hurt. He missed three games. He's a really good player for us. He's come a long way from last year. That usually happens your freshman and sophomore year, you just work really hard to be there. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: Yeah, it's going to be a fun chess match for me. I know they're going to have something different, some looks that I haven't seen before. He's just really good at what he does. That's why he's picked so much, and that's why they've won a lot of games. It's why they're the No. 1 defense in the country. He's so good at what he does, showing you one way, blitzing the other. We know they're going to have something new for us. I'm going to have to read my keys, trust my eyes and understand what they're trying to do after the first quarter. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: No, you call some people around the country that have spent time with them, played them in the past, see what they tried to do in those games. It's the national championship, and he has two weeks to prepare. We know something new is going to be there, whether it's a blitz, a coverage, a front. Something new is going to be there. We just got to figure it out. Q. Did you kind of fit into your coach's style, personality, early? Did he kind of adapt to you? JOE BURROW: I think we just kind of are one and the same from two different places. We have the same mentality: go run through someone's face. He's coached that way and played that way for a long time. That's how I've always tried to play the game. This has kind of been a great match for us. That's the mentality this football team tries to bring to the field every day. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: I spent a little time with him. It was fun hanging out with him for a couple days. Q. What are your impressions of him? Did you talk at all about football? JOE BURROW: No, you don't really talk about that. You talk a little bit about football, but you try to just get to know the guy. He's a great guy, great player. It was fun hanging out with him for a couple days. He's a quiet guy, humble guy. That was nice to see. I respect guys that keep their nose down and just work hard. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: Yeah, they've been at practice for a couple days. They're pretty advanced. T.J. has a really strong arm, quick release. You can tell Max is really, really smart for his age. His dad was Brad Johnson, the great quarterback in the NFL. You can tell he's been here for a week, getting on the board, drawing up plays. I think that will be a fun battle to watch in a couple years. Q. What do you most admire about Trevor as a football player? Does he possess any skill set that you wish you had? JOE BURROW: I wish I was three inches taller and 20 pounds heavier (laughter). I mean, the best thing he does is just win, 25-0, something like that, as a starter. That's just something that not a lot of people can do, no matter what conference you play in, who you're playing. He hasn't lost yet. That's the number one thing. Q. (Question regarding the passing game.) JOE BURROW: Yeah, we went into the season wanting to go more five-man protection. Something that I do best is get blitzes picked up. We wanted to go five-man protection, let me get the blitzes picked up, get the back out so you have five guys out. So when they blitz, they have one less guy in coverage. Loss of one-onones if I can get the blitzes picked up. That's been key for us this year, getting those five guys out. Q. (Question regarding Heisman speech.) JOE BURROW: Yeah, I just had two or three bullet points walking up there, knowing who I wanted to talk about. Tried to mention everyone that I could that had helped me get there. There were so many other people that I couldn't mention because you can't be up there for an hour and a half. There are so many people that helped me get there that I didn't even mention. They know how much they mean to me. I just tried to mention as many people as I could and make it feel like it wasn't just me that won the Heisman Trophy, it was everyone that helped me. Q. (Question about mentioning Athens County by name at Heisman speech.) JOE BURROW: I just wanted to mention where I came from. That was part of my journey that helped me get to standing on that stage. A big issue in southeast Ohio is poverty and hunger. I didn't mention it to have this big fundraiser to help a lot of people. I just mentioned it because it was what was in my heart at the time. That's what I was thinking. Q. (Question about the impact on Athens.) JOE BURROW: That makes me so happy because I know going through school, you see a lot of people that couldn't get a lunch because they didn't have enough money. I think that made me so happy because it's going to help a lot of people for a long time, help those kids that I grew up with that didn't have enough food or didn't have enough clothing. So that makes me so happy knowing that. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: Monday. It's pretty easy. We knew what we wanted. No matter which game we won, we expected to be 14-0. We expected to be here. Monday was the one we wanted from back in January. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: No, I think their coaching is some of the best in the country. They do a lot of different things. You can tell they have really smart football players because not a lot of teams could show all the looks that they show. So I'm going to have to really read my keys and trust my eyes and be disciplined with my eyes to understand what they're trying to do. They'll bring blitzes and play four, five different coverages on the back end. Coach Venables does a great job. I think it's going to be a fun chess match on Monday. Q. (Question about Coach Orgeron.) JOE BURROW: He's been just like he has been all year. That's how we're trying to treat this, just like every other game, prepare just like every other game, go through our routine just like every other game as much as we can. It's been working so far. He understands that he's got to keep focused, keep doing what you do that got you to this point. We all understand that. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: Have you talked to Coach O yet? Q. No. JOE BURROW: It's very convincing, isn't it? I had one conversation with Coach O on the phone, I was sold just about immediately. I just wanted to come down and confirm it. He's a great coach and a great leader. I was sold on the football part, but I was more sold on his vision of the program, his vision of me as a football player, where we could go. Q. You're not still a student. JOE BURROW: Finally (laughter). Q. A lot of your teammates are (indiscernible). JOE BURROW: Hopefully everyone comes down and gets as many tickets as we can, we can sell out that stadium in purple and gold. I think it's going to be really cool to have all the students here if they can get here. It's going to be a great atmosphere. Q. What does Isaiah Simmons do best? JOE BURROW: I think what he does best is when they just let him roam the field in the middle and read my eyes, just get all the different throws through the middle of the field. I think he's really, really good at that. He's really fast, super explosive, good tackler. He's super tough to defend when he's running that middle of the field. Q. Your countermove in this chess match is Isaiah watching your eyes? JOE BURROW: I'm going to have to look him off. I'm going to have to find him every play. Depending where they put him, they do a lot of different things. So you got to know where he is all the time to know what defense they're trying to do, where they're trying to move him to do different things. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: Yeah, we went into the season saying if the national title is in New Orleans, we weren't going to let anybody else be there. We had to be there. We weren't going to be at home on the couch watching two teams coming in our state and watching them on TV. That was the motivation for us. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: I think I had better hair. I had long hair. No, I didn't have long hair. I cut it already. When we had the mini camp, I had just cut my long hair. When mine was long, it was rivaling Trevor's. We would have had a real good battle. That was a good look for me. I almost went mullet for the year, but I decided against it (laughter). Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: That's just preparation. That's understanding what you're trying to do on offense, understanding what they're trying to do on defense. Film study, knowing what they like to do behind certain blitzes, knowing what they like to do on third-and-three to six, third-and-seven to ten, third-and-one to three, all those different situations. Every defensive coordinator has different tendencies on different down and distances. You got to understand what they're going to do on those situations. If you go into the game preparing like that, you can narrow down all these different things that they do to one, two or three things. You can get your eyes on those keys to understand what they're doing. Just that preparation and knowing and understanding the offense allows me to make those decisions. Q. You'll always be an honorary Cajun in this state. JOE BURROW: I hope so (laughter). Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: Absolutely. I think I'm an honorary Louisianan for life. I couldn't be happier about it. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: As a quarterback, whether you like it or not, you're going to be a leader of the team. If your team isn't tough, you're not going to win a lot of games. So as a quarterback, you got to exude that toughness not only throughout the game but throughout practice, throughout the off-season, weight training, throughout sprints. You got to win every sprint. Otherwise you're just not going to win a lot of games if your quarterback is not the toughest player on the team. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: I mean, he's what makes the offense go because teams really have to decide if they're going to cover Clyde with their Mike linebacker, if they're going to a safety. He can run through the tackle. He can run outside. He can catch the ball out of the backfield. I know where Clyde is going to be 100% of the time. If everything is covered downfield, I just have a feeling I know where Clyde is going to be, in the flat right over the ball, left flat, behind the line of scrimmage. If I get in trouble, I just dump it down to Clyde, he'll make two or three guys miss, get three or four, keep us on schedule. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: Yeah, I mean, I think you guys know I'm pretty focused, intense guy when it comes to practicing the game. They kind of keep me lighthearted sometimes and keep it fun on the field when things can get a little intense. Q. How much has been the scheme? How much has been your comfort in an extra year? JOE BURROW: Yeah, I think the biggest factor was we just had so many people coming back. I got here last June, and most grad transfers come in in January, are able to get spring ball and a fall camp. I came in with true freshmen. Didn't have a lot of time. Wasn't named starter until two weeks before the game. Wasn't able to work with the guys like I really wanted to. Then we had a full off-season together, and we really started clicking. I understood where they were going to be, when they were going to be there. They understood when the ball was going to be there, as well. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: Yeah, I think it didn't play a big part. At the same time, I think with the guys that we have, the connection we have, we would have worked with any scheme. I think it's been a big part of what we're doing. At the same time, like I said, we would have made it work. Q. (Question about Thad.) JOE BURROW: I think what Thad does is rare. He's super smart and understands the timing and spacing of zone coverage, understanding where he is on progressions. That's something that you don't see a lot in college football players. We have five guys that really understand what we're trying to do, understand coverages and zones and progressions. So they can tempo their routes to get where they need to be on time, whether they're slow off the run because they're the fourth progression, whether they're fast off the run because of first progression. They understand that. I think Thad not only understands that, routes and coverages, but understands what they're trying to do in run blocking schemes, put his face in another man's face and move him where he doesn't want to go. That's what makes Thad really special. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: Yeah, you've always had to be smart as a quarterback because you want to be really, really good. But I think you can't get away with not being smart anymore, if that makes any sense. You used to have some quarterbacks that could get away without being smart, with arm strength, their legs. But now with all these different coverages people are playing, you have to be able to understand coverages and protections and blitzes. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: Probably helped me a little bit. It's hard to say because you don't have anything to compare it to, because that's all I know. I would probably say it helped me a little. Q. Help you out with the X's and O's? JOE BURROW: I did not. He's helped me out a little bit. Q. Heard you're a good basketball player. If you compare your basketball skills to a player in the NBA, anybody, who are you comparing yourself to? JOE BURROW: Klay Thompson. Q. Could you expand on that? JOE BURROW: I think he scored 44 points on like four dribbles. I can spot up (laughter). Mentality, Delly; shooter, Klay Thompson. Mix them together. Q. What about Brian Scalabrine? JOE BURROW: No. Not Brian Scalabrine. The Red Rocket (laughter). Q. You've shown appreciation with the Heisman and things. When you look back at the season as a whole, do you feel like you're making college football history right now? JOE BURROW: Yeah, you know, I haven't really reflected on it a lot. I really want to win this game. But that might be a question for me after the game. Q. How much has the extra time allowed you to get a little extra film study? JOE BURROW: By extra time, you mean these two weeks? Q. Yes. JOE BURROW: After the first week, I treated the first week like a game week. This week was kind of like icing on the cake. Towards the end of this week I got a little tired watching film. I watched it all. You can only watch so much before you're just ready to play the game. So it did help. You got to be careful overloading information, too, in these two weeks. I'm a super focused guy that likes to look at every single look. I try to go into the game understanding the things they like to do most and just buzz the things that they've done one or two or three times throughout the year. I've had to kind of stop myself sometimes and not watch everything the same amount that I do, the stuff they do the most. It's going to help us, for sure. But they're going to have something new for us. We're going to understand that. Q. What is your relationship with Trevor Lawrence like? JOE BURROW: We've met one time at the Manning camp. Haven't really stayed in touch. Seems like someone I would like to get to know, seems like a good dude that works hard and is a winner. Q. Is there a matchup that something you feel like you can exploit against their defense? JOE BURROW: It's hard to say because they do so many different things, play so many different coverages and blitz so much. I think we're just going to have to go in understanding they like to do a lot of things, try to find zones that they vacate. When they disguise and bring it from another way, there's still zones out there, you just have to understand what they're doing, understand the coverage behind it. That's going to be the biggest thing, is exploiting when they do blitz and finding those zones. Q. Is there any part of you that thinks you're going to have to keep your emotions in check, playing at home, keeping yourself balanced, almost not getting too hyped leading up to the game? JOE BURROW: Yeah, you do. You do have to do that. Before every game I kind of close my eyes for the 15 minutes before we go out and just kind of take a nap a little bit just to calm myself down before I go out. I think about executing certain plays, visualizing defenses that we could see. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: I don't know. I don't know. I felt weird doing it. Didn't really want anybody touching me like that, I guess. I don't know. Q. You're the captain of the ship. How anxious are you to finish this? JOE BURROW: This has been the motivation since we started in January, from the moment we walked off the Fiesta Bowl field last year. This is what we wanted, which is why we haven't celebrated a lot of wins, because this is the one we wanted. This is what we've been working for. Q. Are you surprised how mature the group of 18- to 22-year-old guys have been this year? JOE BURROW: I wouldn't say "surprised" is the right word. We have a lot of people coming back from last year. We had a young team last year that won a lot of games but should have won more. We understood that. That was the focus going into the year. I knew we had mature guys, talented guys, that could get to this point. Q. How much do you admire Trevor Lawrence? JOE BURROW: 25-0, that's the biggest thing. He's a winner. He's a ballplayer. Seems to love playing football, finds ways to win. Q. Steve Ensminger says Brent Venables is the best defensive coordinator. What do they to that confuses people? JOE BURROW: They do everything. There's not a lot of team that can get smart enough guys to play every coverage in the book, have every blitz in the playbook. They do it. You can tell how well coached they are because while they do all these things, they're not unsound in what they do. It's going to be a challenge for us to see what they're doing, trying to exploit it. Q. When you're out there on the first play, how are you going to say I'm in the national championship? JOE BURROW: I don't think it will be that hard. I'm going to prepare like I have every other game, trust my preparation, just treat it like a football game. Still just ball, that's what I've said. That's what I said when I won the Heisman, is just ball. I'm ready to go out there and play it. Q. Next to you on campus, I think the next most popular person is the guy who puts together your hype reel. It's insane. Do you have to lobby for the FaceTime? JOE BURROW: I don't have to lobby for the FaceTime. I have plenty. I have to lobby for the O-line and their FaceTime. They need some more. Q. What do you think about the numbers they're putting up? These things are getting millions of views, hundreds of thousands of shares. JOE BURROW: They're the best at what they do in the country. You can see it every week when they make their hype film. It blows up every single week on Twitter. They're the best at what they do. Q. Do most guys take a nap before the game? JOE BURROW: I mean, it's kind of a nap. I wouldn't say I'm fully conscious. Yeah, I put the towel around my neck, close my eyes. Whatever happens happens. If I fall asleep, then I fall asleep. But, yeah, I do that before every game. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: Yeah, I understood it was a poor area. But I was young. You're driving through, you see these low-income homes that you haven't really seen before. I was moving around a lot growing up. Lived in uppermiddle-class neighborhoods. Then you come to Athens, see all these low-income houses. You understand at a young age, but you don't really understand the magnitude of it until you get older. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: Yeah, she wasn't a teacher when I was really young. She became a teacher when I was about fifth, sixth grade. She did kind of bring a different perspective for me, for sure. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: I mean, our high school was on a hill. You look down, the trailer parks, the low-income homes that just don't look that upscale. You can see it every day when you walk up to the high school. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: So he's with the Saints. One of my best friends, J.T. Barrett, was with the Saints at the time. And Coach Joe was kind of J.T.'s guy because he was the assistant quarterback coach, I think was his title. J.T. was practice squad. They were kind of going through the script together every day. J.T. called me when he got the job. He said, You guys are going to be best friends. From that moment on, I knew we were going to have a good connection and understand what each other was thinking on every play. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: I think he deserves a lot of credit, Coach E deserves a lot of credit. All my guys deserve a lot of credit. Nobody could do anything that we're doing without each other. This has kind of been a special season for us. This doesn't come around every year, where you have five guys with the connection that I have with them and the connection with the offensive staff. We hold each other accountable. We're also great friends, not only just players. I feel like I'm friends with Coach E, Coach Joe and Coach O, too. It's kind of an NFL approach to it. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: Hard work. That's where it starts, trusting your preparation, trusting your work ethic, understanding that you could quit or you could just keep working the way that you've been working, trust that it's going to work out eventually. Q. Pregame, what is the routine going to be like? Do you do anything specific? JOE BURROW: Listen to Kid Cudi, yeah. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: You don't want to speak too much on someone else's situation. He felt like it was the best decision for him. I think it's a good one that he made. He's a special player that I'll look forward to competing against at the next level, just like we did for two years in college. Q. (Question about the 28-0 streak.) JOE BURROW: It's never fun when you get shut out. You do think about it every once in a while. I don't think it was like a defining moment for the team. I think, especially this year, we just went into every single game saying we're going to dominate the opponent in front of us. Going into Tuscaloosa was exactly the same as playing Northwestern State at home. That's the way we thought about it. I think it really helped us. Q. (No microphone.) JOE BURROW: No, you don't really think about it like that. I feel like I'm going up against the defensive coordinator and the defense. You don't really think about the quarterback that's on the other side of the ball. You understand, when you're going against good offenses, you're going to have to score a little bit more. I think about it more as going against the defense. Q. Venables, probably the most veteran defensive coordinator with 16 days to figure it out. Do you expect to see things you haven't seen all year long? JOE BURROW: Yeah, I mean, they're going to have something new for us because he's so good at what he does. We're going to have to manage it the best way that we can. He's going to get us every once in a while because he's so good. We just have to get him more than he gets us. 1-11-20 Da Boot Sports! Comments are closed.
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