I did not make it to the dome for practice this morning, so no report, but I did interview Tyjae Spears, Ygenio Booker and Cam Carroll when they returned to the Wilson Center. They were together when I talked to them.
How much fun is it getting to show what you can do?
(Spears)
"It's too fun honestly. You work all week for that moment and then you finally get it, but there's a lot of stuff we still as a group have to get better at. But the whole game we were pushing each other the right way, keeping the energy up on the sideline. Me, YG and Cam had a lot of touches and a lot of action and kept each other going with the energy to get better every drive.
"It was real fun because I thought they were going to be crazy. I thought they were going to be stopping me in the backfield, but I pushed past them. Even when I was running the ball, they were like man, keep on going, keep on going. It was real, real fun honestly."
What did it feel like to get your first receiving touchdown?
(Booker)
"When coach sent in the play, I just thought playmakers make plays, go out and make a play. Cam was talking at Thursday's practice when coach told us we were going to play a lot, it was our time to shine, it's our time to show the coaches what we're really made of. When I scored a touchdown, it was 31-21 and it put us back in the game. I was excited for the team."
How comfortable are you as a receiver?
(Booker)
"Real comfortable. I've got a good quarterback I trust to put me in the right spot when he throws me the ball. He knows what he's doing. As long as I trust him and he trusts me, we're good."
They are still considering redshirting you. What are your thoughts about that?
(Spears)
"I really don't put too much thought into that. Whatever comes, I follow God, and whatever he has in store for me, that's going to happen, but whatever comes with it, you know I'm thinking the whole time I can get better. That's my mission every day, to get better."
What areas can you get better?
(Spears)
"Blocking and running the ball, really, to tell you the truth. It's a lot of little small things I still need to get better at."
How hard is it when you're not playing?
(Spears)
"It's hard because I'm a great team player, I really feel like that, but it's hard because I'm cheering and cheering (the top three backs) and I'm like, man, but I still go back to cheering though. And I tell them stuff that they miss and tell them stuff they did good and try to keep their energy going and pump them up."
(Booker)
"We are all cool with each other, too, so we all feed off each other. When we're doing good, we are all doing good together."
(Spears)
"Basically we all hang with each other except the older dudes. They don't like hanging out with us."
Coach Fritz says Corey and Darius are coming back this week.
(Spears)
"It's going to be crazy with those two back, "oh my God." I'm totally fine with it. I believe in waiting on my turn, and when my turn gets presented again, I'm going to go hard again."
Ygenio, do you basically play the Amare Jones role when you are in there?
"When he's out, I go in and feed off his energy. When he's in, I'm his biggest cheerleader. I'm cheering for him from the sideline all the time, good route, baby you can do this, do that, keep going."
Coach Fritz says you broke six tackles on one run in the second half. How much fun was that?
(Carroll)
'It reminded me of just where I was. We had some very valuable players go down, and the coaches needed us to step up and I just try to play my role. It definitely felt great. I really can't even put it into words. It just felt great."
In the spring game you were featured but had no room to run. Did you get to show your full ability for the first time Saturday?
(Carroll)
"I would say so. We work hard and work a lot and you really just have to be patient. I know in the spring it might have seemed frustrating them but we were all just kind of trying to fill in and mold together and make this the best team it could possibly be. I feel like we did that Saturday even though we might have come up short. We came together and we fought."
How much do you guys in the running back room push each other?
(Carroll)
"We push each other every day. We are all real close. If somebody's down, we lift him up. If somebody's up, we lift him up higher. We love each other and we'll always pick on each other because we're real close. We know little things that get on each others' nerves, but we're definitely a very close-knit group."
So was the second half against Navy a preview of next year?
(Carroll)
"I definitely think next year is going to be a very, very good year for us. I know we're losing two good guys, but like the coaches always say, when somebody goes down, you have to step up, which you have to make sure you're ready and you're prepared for it. I have full trust in these guys."
How would each of you describe your running style?
(Carroll)
"I think of myself like a Marshon Lynch, Leonard Fournette kind of guy. I'm not going to go down easy at all."
(Booker)
"I'm fast. I'm like a little squirrel, just getting outside trying to see what it is. If you catch me, you catch me. If you don't, I'm out of there."
(Spears)
"That's a good question because I've been looking to Levion Bell and I'm starting to pick up some habits from him. If I find a hole, I hit it, but I'm trying to be patient. I also think I'm very slippery. I'm going to say Reggie Bush. That's my favorite."
How frustrating was it to not come away with the win at Navy?
(Spears)
"Honestly I just took it as a learning experience. We have to go. I took everything as a learning experience from my performance and from the position we got put in at the beginning of the game to the end of the game. And I also see what as running backs we can do differently to not be put in that position. We have to make plays to push past the other team."
FRITZ
Is it too early to say whether Darius Bradwell and Corey Dauphine are going to play?
"Both of them are going to play."
Can Corey play with a cast?
'It's going to be off."
Is Stephon Huderson OK?
"He's back. He got hurt in practice two weeks ago and didn't practice much last week."
How impressive was it that your other backs played well against Navy?
"I thought Cam Carroll had been waiting for his opportunity and the last few weeks he's taken advantage of it. Tyjae is an outstanding back. YG Booker has done some great things."
How much fun is it getting to show what you can do?
(Spears)
"It's too fun honestly. You work all week for that moment and then you finally get it, but there's a lot of stuff we still as a group have to get better at. But the whole game we were pushing each other the right way, keeping the energy up on the sideline. Me, YG and Cam had a lot of touches and a lot of action and kept each other going with the energy to get better every drive.
"It was real fun because I thought they were going to be crazy. I thought they were going to be stopping me in the backfield, but I pushed past them. Even when I was running the ball, they were like man, keep on going, keep on going. It was real, real fun honestly."
What did it feel like to get your first receiving touchdown?
(Booker)
"When coach sent in the play, I just thought playmakers make plays, go out and make a play. Cam was talking at Thursday's practice when coach told us we were going to play a lot, it was our time to shine, it's our time to show the coaches what we're really made of. When I scored a touchdown, it was 31-21 and it put us back in the game. I was excited for the team."
How comfortable are you as a receiver?
(Booker)
"Real comfortable. I've got a good quarterback I trust to put me in the right spot when he throws me the ball. He knows what he's doing. As long as I trust him and he trusts me, we're good."
They are still considering redshirting you. What are your thoughts about that?
(Spears)
"I really don't put too much thought into that. Whatever comes, I follow God, and whatever he has in store for me, that's going to happen, but whatever comes with it, you know I'm thinking the whole time I can get better. That's my mission every day, to get better."
What areas can you get better?
(Spears)
"Blocking and running the ball, really, to tell you the truth. It's a lot of little small things I still need to get better at."
How hard is it when you're not playing?
(Spears)
"It's hard because I'm a great team player, I really feel like that, but it's hard because I'm cheering and cheering (the top three backs) and I'm like, man, but I still go back to cheering though. And I tell them stuff that they miss and tell them stuff they did good and try to keep their energy going and pump them up."
(Booker)
"We are all cool with each other, too, so we all feed off each other. When we're doing good, we are all doing good together."
(Spears)
"Basically we all hang with each other except the older dudes. They don't like hanging out with us."
Coach Fritz says Corey and Darius are coming back this week.
(Spears)
"It's going to be crazy with those two back, "oh my God." I'm totally fine with it. I believe in waiting on my turn, and when my turn gets presented again, I'm going to go hard again."
Ygenio, do you basically play the Amare Jones role when you are in there?
"When he's out, I go in and feed off his energy. When he's in, I'm his biggest cheerleader. I'm cheering for him from the sideline all the time, good route, baby you can do this, do that, keep going."
Coach Fritz says you broke six tackles on one run in the second half. How much fun was that?
(Carroll)
'It reminded me of just where I was. We had some very valuable players go down, and the coaches needed us to step up and I just try to play my role. It definitely felt great. I really can't even put it into words. It just felt great."
In the spring game you were featured but had no room to run. Did you get to show your full ability for the first time Saturday?
(Carroll)
"I would say so. We work hard and work a lot and you really just have to be patient. I know in the spring it might have seemed frustrating them but we were all just kind of trying to fill in and mold together and make this the best team it could possibly be. I feel like we did that Saturday even though we might have come up short. We came together and we fought."
How much do you guys in the running back room push each other?
(Carroll)
"We push each other every day. We are all real close. If somebody's down, we lift him up. If somebody's up, we lift him up higher. We love each other and we'll always pick on each other because we're real close. We know little things that get on each others' nerves, but we're definitely a very close-knit group."
So was the second half against Navy a preview of next year?
(Carroll)
"I definitely think next year is going to be a very, very good year for us. I know we're losing two good guys, but like the coaches always say, when somebody goes down, you have to step up, which you have to make sure you're ready and you're prepared for it. I have full trust in these guys."
How would each of you describe your running style?
(Carroll)
"I think of myself like a Marshon Lynch, Leonard Fournette kind of guy. I'm not going to go down easy at all."
(Booker)
"I'm fast. I'm like a little squirrel, just getting outside trying to see what it is. If you catch me, you catch me. If you don't, I'm out of there."
(Spears)
"That's a good question because I've been looking to Levion Bell and I'm starting to pick up some habits from him. If I find a hole, I hit it, but I'm trying to be patient. I also think I'm very slippery. I'm going to say Reggie Bush. That's my favorite."
How frustrating was it to not come away with the win at Navy?
(Spears)
"Honestly I just took it as a learning experience. We have to go. I took everything as a learning experience from my performance and from the position we got put in at the beginning of the game to the end of the game. And I also see what as running backs we can do differently to not be put in that position. We have to make plays to push past the other team."
FRITZ
Is it too early to say whether Darius Bradwell and Corey Dauphine are going to play?
"Both of them are going to play."
Can Corey play with a cast?
'It's going to be off."
Is Stephon Huderson OK?
"He's back. He got hurt in practice two weeks ago and didn't practice much last week."
How impressive was it that your other backs played well against Navy?
"I thought Cam Carroll had been waiting for his opportunity and the last few weeks he's taken advantage of it. Tyjae is an outstanding back. YG Booker has done some great things."