University of Florida Football
Media Conference
Monday, October 14, 2024
Gainesville, Florida, USA
Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson
Press Conference
Q. How do you process this because it's tough; what is the frustration like?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: Like you said, it's tough. After a loss like that, it's devastating because we put a lot in, and I know the defense, give credit to them, they did a lot for us on Saturday. As an offense, we've got to finish. Like I said, it's hard to lose that way, but we'll be back to work today at practice and ready to go.
Q. How tough is it to lose Graham?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: Man, Graham was one of the first guys that I talked to when I committed here, so our relationship was super close when I first got here, so it hurts me personally losing a guy like Graham, especially a leader for not just the offense but everybody on the team. It hurts a lot.
Q. How will you guys rally around DJ now?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: The same way we've been doing it, letting him know, you've got this. Being a young guy, DJ has got a lot of potential, so I would say just being there for him. When he makes a mistake, be there, and when he does good, rally around him just like how we've been doing.
Q. You've seen a lot of players over the years and you're a veteran guy. What's special about him?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: About DJ? I would say his leadership. Him coming in, being a little vocal, that's something I've never seen before out of a freshman. That's new to me. But his leadership, just being able to come and rally around the offense, especially in the Stanford game, he was the one hyping us up on the offensive line, and that was good for us to see as an offensive line, that we can come out there and do our job for him.
Q. What about just his skill set?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: I would say being an elusive quarterback. That's something I had at San Diego State, so being an elusive quarterback definitely helps out the offense in any aspect, being able to run and throw the ball and well. It's big.
Q. Who was that?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: For me it was Moose Mayden, Jalen Mayden.
Q. How much does a mobile quarterback change the assignment for an offensive lineman and what you have to think about and do?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: I wouldn't say it changes it at as much. I would say you know as an O-lineman, especially in pass protection, you know you've got a timer in your head when the quarterback is able to throw the ball. So being able to roll outside the pocket is big for us. That timer can go fast, and then it also -- he can scramble outside.
Q. The offensive line was in a pretty good groove two straight weeks without giving us any sacks. A tough Tennessee defensive front, but to give up three, was that a little disappointing for you? What's the goal going forward in terms of pass protection?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: Absolutely. Yeah, it was a little disappointing for us. The goal for us going forward is to protect, protect, protect. One big goal for us every week, each week, week in and week out, is no sacks, no sacks, no sacks, so protecting the quarterback is our main goal for sure, but going forward, just keep doing what we've been doing.
Q. What kind of leader is Jake Slaughter on the offensive line? What's he like?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: He's a big leader, man. He's a vocal guy. I know you guys see him on film. He's out there pointing everything out for us. Half the time we don't even have to call much of the stuff anyway.
Q. What are you seeing from the Kentucky front on film? He always really has very physical front sevens, Mark Stoops.
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: After looking at a little bit of the games this year, they're a good front up front. I think going into the game, we've got to definitely prepare a little bit different for them. I believe that they're an odd defense and like to run a little bit of even, as well. We've just got to prepare for them same way we prepare for anyone else.
Q. For teams that run so many exotics up front and then you face a team like UCF that does the same thing, how much does that prepare you for a week like this and what did you learn from that that you can take into this one?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: Well, from the UCF game, some things that we had keyed into was stance. So seeing if a person's foot is back a little bit more. Not to give too much information on how we went, but seeing a little bit, a tilt in a stance, seeing that, you kind of know when a guy is stunting or seeing the keys in the defense, stacks, seeing if there's a safety or a star coming, stuff like that.
Q. You mentioned protect, protect, protect. The irony with Graham is he was protected when he got hurt. What was it like on the sideline when you found out -- seemed like a lot of guys were coming over to him. Was it obvious to you guys that he was pretty much done?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: That's the thing for me, I didn't know until the end of the game. I noticed Graham was on crutches, but I was just thinking it was just a regular injury, like anything else. But like I said, it was devastating to hear about it today when we found out. So yeah.
Q. What made Graham a good leader? What was he doing?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: On the field or off the field?
Q. All around.
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: All around, he's a vocal guy, being able to call out things like an O-line should know that a quarterback knows, number one. I would say just the relationship outside of football, as well. He took us all out, the offensive line, before the year and got us a meal. Things like that, man, that shows that you're able to look up to a guy like that. Me and him being like sixth-year seniors, fifth-year seniors, that's big because you don't really see that in most quarterbacks nowadays, being able to have that leader.
Q. Where did you eat?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: I think it was like a golf course. It was good food, steak and lobster.
Q. What was the excitement level like on Saturday when you guys lined up to go for two, and what were your thoughts when Coach changed his mind?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: Oh, man, I've been thinking about this a lot these last couple days. When we came out, we saw that they were in a front that I would say we didn't like, necessarily. I saw on our side at least when the O-line moved out to the hash, I think they had maybe one or two guys out there. They were a little confused. Once they called the time-out, I was like, dang, they got us. They got us right there. Learn from that, maybe next time we go for it, maybe next time we do the same thing. It comes with the game.
Q. Being a veteran guy, you've played a lot of football. Gators aren't having the best season that we all want. Mentally how do you go into that next game knowing people are talking about this and that but you're a professional, you're an athlete? Mentally moving forward how important is that next game to end on a positive note?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: Like I said, this last game was very frustrating. One big thing Coach Napier said in the locker room was if you guys are not upset or mad that we lost this game, that means you don't care. The energy and the emotions that we brought out in that game, I mean, we all wish we would have won that game.
The big thing going into next week is prepare, prepare, prepare way more than we did and key in on the little things. I think the little thing was something that we definitely could have looked at a little bit more as players.
Q. (Indiscernible).
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: A little bit more film watching. I feel like we were prepared for the defensive front up front. They did get us a couple times returning the front and bringing a backer in the box, which kind of got us a couple times. It got me -- I think it was like the third or fourth play.
Q. Is there something that makes Kentucky unique at all, something that you really have to focus in and hone in on?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: I don't think so. Like I said, they're a good defensive front up front, so being prepared for the front seven is like the biggest thing for us.
Q. It's homecoming this week. As a transfer, what's it been like learning the Gator fan base and Gator traditions and stuff like that?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: Well, like I've been telling everybody since I got here, I'm not used to how big everybody is for football down here. I love this type of energy. I wish I had this all four years.
But it's new to me, so I'm just going to take it in as much as I can. I love how everything has been going so far, and I heard there's a concert on Friday, and I wish I could go to that.
Q. How do you feel about the offensive line, how it's been playing?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: I think we've been playing pretty good this year. I think there's definitely some things that we've got to work on. Like I said, the sacks this last game is something we're not looking forward to, and we've got to prepare for that and come out next week, same mindset as we've been having. No sacks, no sacks, no sacks.
Q. How do you think you adjusted transferring over from San Diego State and just playing in the SEC and this level of competition?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: I think the biggest thing for me is my mentality or my mental -- going into games you've got to prepare a little bit different from how it was at San Diego State compared to what it is now. Biggest thing for me is the SEC to Mountain West. It's a different game when you come over here and you're playing good teams every week, week in and week out. You don't really get that much in the Mountain West.
Like I said at the beginning when I got here, I wanted to play SEC ball, and that's the biggest thing for me.
Q. This year it's been up-and-down establishing the run and obviously there have been some injuries. Maybe the importance of that even on Saturday, getting that going and getting some balance?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: I definitely think that running the ball is another key thing, and I think that would be hand to hand with no sacks. Running the ball is our biggest thing, too. We've got to get that going, as well.
Q. As an offensive line, how do you feel like you are as a run blocking offensive line right now?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: Right now I feel like we are decent but we can definitely be better. We can definitely be better. Like I said, prepare a little bit more for the returning fronts, stunts and everything. Definitely communication can play a big role in that, too.
Q. When DJ had to take over for Graham, he had a few drives that did not go well. How did he stay composed in that situation and come back and throw that touchdown pass?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: Like we all said, rally around DJ. I think the guys, the energy that we had on the sideline, we're not out of this, so we were able to come back in and get behind him and just let him know we're all here for you, you're here for us, let's ball.
Q. Were you impressed the way he handled that?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: Absolutely. Absolutely. It was loud out there. This is the first time for me being as loud of a crowd as that. I think that played a huge role. But I think he did really well.
Q. When you look around college football, you see all these upsets, all these tight games. Is it that the portal has leveled the playing field?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: I wouldn't say that necessarily. I would say college football is kind of up in the air right now. Anybody can beat anybody. That's the biggest thing that every team I'm sure pretty much takes into each week.
Q. Is that cool from a player standpoint that you can win any game?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: I think it's interesting because we talked about this the other day, there's no teams that are like super juggernaut anymore. Anybody can get beat.
Q. When you talk to your old friends at San Diego State and they ask what's it like there, what do you tell them?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: I say it's a different experience. Like I said, SEC ball and everything. Even the area, like I picked up on a couple new hobbies. Like I started fishing. I do it in my free time.
Q. You never fished before?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: I did when I was young with my grandpa, but I've really started to pick up on it. I've got my own fishing rod and everything.
Q. Where do you fish?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: There's a local lake around here somewhere.
Q. What are you catching?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: Bass.
Q. Do you see any gators out there?
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: Yeah, especially in my apartment complex, there's one in the little lake that's around there.
Q. You're not officially a southern guy yet.
BRANDON CRENSHAW-DICKSON: No, not at all.
