THE MODERATOR: We've been joined by Michael Brockers and Morris Claiborne. We'll open it up for questions for the players.
Q. I'm just interested from both of you: Talk about the similarities in this team and the excitement. Are you guys excited to face a team that, one, you've seen before and it was such a large finish, for lack of a better term? Talk about your similarities and excitement level going into this game.
MORRIS CLAIBORNE: Well, I mean, we pretty much know what they're going to do and they pretty much know what we're going to do.
But it's going to be a good game. I mean, I know they're going to try to get the ball to their playmaker, (Trent) Richardson, and going to try to run the ball, and we'll try to do the same. And we'll see the outcome.
Q. Mo, when the season began, you guys had a lot of young guys on defense as the year began. What did Coach Chavis do to get young guys ready for this season and how has that carried over from week to week?
MORRIS CLAIBORNE: Just trying to get them reps. Every chance you can get reps is good. Getting those young guys in, getting them familiar with the system that we were trying to run.
And every young guy who stepped up this year, and previous years, I mean, they've come and they played big.
Q. Morris, could you kind of assess the play of the guys in front of you, particularly your defensive line, what you see and how they impact the games?
MORRIS CLAIBORNE: They impact the games a lot for us. We kind of complement for each other on the back end, but all the credit goes to those guys for getting back there, making the quarterback do things that he doesn’t want to do with the ball. We try to hold our man down as long as we can.
Q. Morris, what have you seen from A.J. McCarron and what do you expect to see from him in this game?
MORRIS CLAIBORNE: He's a good quarterback. He can throw the ball, and he has Trent Richardson to complement that for him.
But from what I've seen he's a good quarterback from the first time we faced them. He's a great quarterback.
Q. For both of you, what do you guys see in your personal dealings with Coach Chavis that makes him a good coordinator? How does he motivate you and what does he tell you that makes you the players that you are?
MICHAEL BROCKERS: I mean, just go out there and make plays. I mean, he motivates us to do what we have to do and he tells us it's a good scheme, but it's the players that are in the scheme that makes the defense what it is.
So, I mean, he tells us we're great players and we're playmakers also. I mean, just giving us that free reign over the defense to make plays, I feel that's a big part of our defense.
MORRIS CLAIBORNE: He's a great coach. Like Brockers said, I don't know how he does it with his schemes or whatnot, but he puts this team in the position to be successful and we just go out and make the plays that he put us in to make.
Q. What do you take away from that first game with Alabama that you think you might exploit differently this time around?
MORRIS CLAIBORNE: I think it's pretty much going to be the same. I mean, whoever can get ?? can execute the technique and be in the right places.
Q. Michael, two?part question. Was there anything in the first game against Alabama, against their running game, that you learned that you couldn't tell on film? And, secondly, just talk about the role the tackles will have against that running game in the second matchup.
MICHAEL BROCKERS: For the first question, I think it's mostly like their zone schemes, and I really couldn't tell which way they were going. They just mix it up very well in their offenses, great offense.
The second part is we just have to get penetration in the backfield really. And I feel like that will mess up their zone schemes a lot. We get penetration, kind of keep them from running east and west and finding a hole and just making him make a quick decision and running into linebackers, anything like that.
Q. Michael, what kind of guy is Coach Chavis day to day? Is he always all business, or is he funny sometimes? What's your funniest Chief story?
MICHAEL BROCKERS: Chief is all around, you know, when it comes to football, getting us to perform well. I mean, he's Chief. He's out there telling us what we have to do and kind of correcting us on our mistakes.
But, I mean, what makes him a great coach is when we're off the field and we want to joke around, he jokes around with us.
And I feel like that's why his coaches respect him and we play so well for him, because he's so down to earth when it's not football time, when we're not doing football, and when it is football, you know, he's as strict as possible.
THE MODERATOR: We've been joined by Coach Chavis.
Q. Favorite story?
MICHAEL BROCKERS: My favorite story is speak quietly and carry a big stick. That's the biggest one, I feel that's what this LSU team does, and especially that's what this defense does.
Q. John, could you kind of talk about the impact it is on you to be back in this game? You were very emotional at the SEC championship game. You were here with Tennessee. What's the emotional impact for you to have a team back here?
JOHN CHAVIS: To start, with me, I'm an emotional person. I don't apologize for that. That's what I am. I love what I'm doing and love where I'm doing it. And being part of this program and with this group of young men we have this year is special.
There's a lot of things you want to be able to do. And there's a lot of people that start the beginning of the year, you know, with those same ideas. These guys have worked so hard, and to watch them and be out there with them every day, you know, it's an emotional deal when they have great success. And certainly I'm thankful to be part of it.
And to be back, you know, you coach in this profession a long time, and I did before I had the first opportunity, and certainly there are people that have had several opportunities, but to be back a second time is special.
And I couldn't think of a better group of young men to be with. And certainly when you look at the LSU program and what they've done over the course of the last 12 years, I mean, it's amazing to see the kind of success.
And then you look at the kind of success that Coach (Les) Miles has had in his tenure at LSU. He's the winningest coach in the SEC. And certainly, I mean, that speaks volumes for him and speaks volumes for the program at LSU.
So it's exciting. And anytime I'm excited, I'm emotional. When I get mad, I don't cry. When I get happy, I do. That's who I am.
Q. Mo, just talk about growing up and coming to this moment, national championship, going to Fair Park High School. What does this moment mean to you?
MORRIS CLAIBORNE: It means a lot. As a kid, you just dream about these type of things of going and playing for a big?time school and playing good opponents. And this point here where you play for a national championship. Some people never get this moment in a lifetime.
And I'm just fortunate to be here with this team and this group of guys I've been around for so long, just sweating, blood, tears with these guys. And it's amazing.
Q. Morris, could you talk a little bit about Coach Cooper and the job he's done with you guys in the secondary?
MORRIS CLAIBORNE: Coach (Ron) Cooper has done a great job with us, preparing us for every situation we may see in the game. If we may not see it, he still gets us ready for it.
Him and Coach Chavis, they get together and they get the schemes and stuff down, and they put us in the right position to be successful.
Q. Michael, and then, John, if you would weigh in. Going into your season opener, everybody knew that Oregon could really run the ball, and it's been proven over the course of the year they were one of the great running teams in college football. I just wonder if being able to put the brakes on their offense and their running game sort of set the tone for you guys this year, and, also, for you personally, getting into the lineup, if that gave you a lot of confidence.
MICHAEL BROCKERS: Totally. I think that's the biggest part of the defensive line. We try to stop the run and try to make them pass. Because I feel like we have one of the best secondaries in the nation. So, I mean, I feel like if we stop their run, they kind of have to pass.
So they gotta pass to Mo Claiborne and Tyrann Mathieu and stuff like that, playmakers that might come up with the ball, might throw interceptions. I feel like stopping the run is the biggest part of our defense.
Q. Comments from that game?
MICHAEL BROCKERS: Gave me a lot of confidence. That was my first start ever, LSU. And I feel like I just had to get the butterflies out. I feel like that game really did it for me.
JOHN CHAVIS: Well, we had a long time to prepare, and certainly our players were excited about the preparation, excited about playing a team that had just played for a national championship.
And you look at the schedule, and I don't think anybody had a tougher opener. And it was tough preparing. But our guys bought into the things that we asked them to do and certainly did it in a grand fashion.
It was really fun watching them play. We put a lot of speed on the field, and some of the plays I saw ?? and that Oregon game gave me a lot of confidence as well as the players. I know they came out of that game with a lot of confidence because Oregon is a fine football team. You get that kind of opener and that kind of momentum going, I think it certainly helped propel us through the rest of the season.
Q. Michael and then Coach, you talked about the running game, and I've talked to your offensive linemen about how they can tell they're wearing teams down late in the games. How important is the depth that you guys developed in the offensive line in practice and carrying over into the game that you guys can kind of shuffle in and out?
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