AUDIO CLIPS

Coach Al Golden

Quarterback Brad Kaaya

Tight end Clive Walford

Linebackers Denzel Perryman, Raphael Kirby

Running back Duke Johnson, receiver Phillip Dorsett

AL GOLDEN TRANSCRIPT POST-GAME

On the effort of his team...

“I’m real proud of the effort. I think there’s no question they prepared and entered the game believing and knowing that they were going to win. Obviously we were just a couple of plays short at the end of the day. They made a couple more plays than we did. That was the difference in the game.”

On an incompletion call in the fourth quarter...

“I was communicating and there were about three or four different views of it. The guy that I was talking to was pretty sure he never had possession of it.”

On the performance of Florida State in the second half...

“They made more plays than we did. It was a hard-fought game. That’s what this game should be like. This game should be like this every year. I’m proud of our guys for fighting. They fought their tails off. They just made a couple more plays than we did. It was as physical as anything we’ve been involved with. Hats off to [Florida State]. They made a couple of plays when they needed to."

On his team’s final offensive drive...

“We were in good shape. We had three timeouts and 1:30 [left on the clock]. After the made first, Brad [Kaaya] took a little too much time on the ball there. I think he got a little confused with the look and we had to use a timeout after an incompletion, I believe it was. That was disappointing. But it didn’t have any bearing on whether it was 3rd & 9 and 4th & 9. We didn’t make a play. We got hit on 3rd & 9, and intercepted on fourth [down].”

On the injuries to Anthony Chickillo and Deon Bush...

“It’s too early to tell. That was a big loss. Both of those guys were playing really well. Not having [running back] Gus [Edwards], as much as we wanted to run the ball, I think that hurt. Gus was kind of a game-time decision. He just didn’t look like he was where he needed to be.”

On if there is any solace after an impressive performance by his team...

“Not in that locker room right now. Nope. We have to make a couple more plays, it’s as simple as that. We turned it over a couple of times. They made a couple more plays than we did. And that’s it.”

On the performance of quarterback Brad Kaaya...

“He’s doing a good job. We’re asking him to do a lot. That’s a big stage and a big moment. I think we certainly can take from this that it’s not too big for him. He grew up a lot this season and obviously we just needed to finish it better. We stayed aggressive with our play-calling, we left too many X plays on the field on offense. We really did. A couple of overthrows, a couple that we did not connect on. It came back to hurt us.”

On miscues, missed field goals, turnovers...

“You can’t make those mistakes in a game like this. We held them to a pretty close field goal. Stan [Dobard] catches a slant and he looked like he got us about 20 or 25 yards and then he put it on the ground. I’m not sure if I’m exactly correct, but I think we would have been on the 35-yard line there – we’re knocking on the door again there. In a game like that, there are a number of plays that we needed to make. We just came up a little bit short.”

On field position after penalties...

“The one we had that backed us up, we ended up getting 40 yards on the field and were able to swing it. If you didn’t have the 15-yard penalty there, you’re in much better shape. Too tough ones there – facemask and a late hit out of bounds.”

On the second-half injury to Duke Johnson...

“I think it was a cramp. I don’t know specifically. It seemed like it was a cramp, at least I know it was early on. I don’t know if it became something else. He’s playing really hard, obviously a lot of energy spent in the emotional part of the game. It would have been nice to have Gus [Edwards] to spell him a little bit more."

On the performance of Ereck Flowers, who returned from injury and started...

“Amazing. That guy is a warrior, Ereck Flowers. That guy...that’s crazy what he did. He played a really good game, worked his tail off to get back after surgery. It wasn’t too big for him. He played his ass off and he was ready to go.”