BullsVision Press Conferences: Matt Grothe | Jim Leavitt | George Selvie | Joe Tresey | Mike Canales | BJ Daniels
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TAMPA -- Senior quarterback Matt Grothe made an unscheduled appearance at USF's weekly media day.

Grothe, who tore the ACL in his left knee against Charleston Southern last weekend, had not done an interview since the injury but was gracious and willing to give up a large amount of time for the local media.

Grothe admitted that it will be awkward watching from the sidelines this weekend at Florida State. That's something he didn't do much in starting 41 straight games and playing 42 straight. He said it was weird just watching from the sidelines at practice yesterday.

"I'm excited to see him play," said Grothe of redshirt-freshman B.J. Daniels, who will get his first career start at FSU. "I told the guys they can't call me Matt anymore, it's Coach Grothe now."

Before leaving the podium, Grothe talked about the "new chapter in his life," and took time to thank the fans who have sent get well notes and thanks you to his house, email, cell phone and everywhere in between.

"I can't even put a number on how many I have received," said Grothe.

"I want to thank all the fans. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be here and our program wouldn't be where we are today."

Other Notes from Grothe
• Grothe said he knew the injury as soon as it happened, saying it's pretty obvious when, "your knee feels like it comes out of socket."

• Grothe thinks B.J. Daniels will do well because he knows, "It's not life or death. It's just a game."

• On his proudest achievements, "Being part of the team that has done as well as we have the last few years and being able to tell my kids and my grandkids one day that I was a part of how all this started. And beating Auburn on my 21st birthday are probably the two highest accomplishments on my list."

Here are a few snippets from what Grothe had to say at the press conference
 
On how he's doing -

"I think I'm doing a good job. My family and everybody are actually doing worse than I am. My mom wonders how I'm taking it so well. I've got to look at it positively. I can't get down on it, there's nothing I can do to change it. Just a new chapter in my life. I'm done playing here. Hopefully it's time to move on to bigger and better things when it's all said and done."

On being mentally prepared for the bad news -

"I think I got it all off on the field. I laid there for a few minutes. I could have got up after 30 seconds, but I didn't want to get up, because I kind of knew what was coming next."

On the importance of staying involved with the team -

"Yesterday I was messing with the guys, telling them they can't call me Matt or Grothe anymore. It's coach Grothe to them. Hopefully I'll be coaching one day, so it's good to get in this experience now a little bit. I definitely want to continue to try to play football when this is all said and done, wherever it is. I'm just going to enjoy my time right now and do anything in my power to help the team out and get us where we need to be."

On the advice he's given B.J. Daniels -

"Well, B.J. played the whole second half last week. After the game he came up to me and said, boy do I have a respect for you. It's a lot different from practice out there and everything.

I know he's really excited for this game, growing up in Tallahassee. You could tell yesterday in practice, he was trying to do everything perfect. I just told him to calm down and play your game. He knows how to play football, everyone knows that. He's going to do some incredible things while he's here and win us championships. I'm excited for him and ready to see him out there this Saturday."

On how Daniels will be able to handle his first start on the road -

"He knows it's not life or death. He knows what's at stake this week. It's Florida State, but at the same time, he knows that it's just a game. I think that's going to motivate him and help him a lot and just going out there and playing football. I'm sure at the start of the game, it's going to be going for - not just him  everybody, but at the same time I think he's going to do a very good job of calming himself down and being able to play football."

Offensive Coordinator Mike Canales

On B.J. having to start his career at Florida State -

"The one thing I can say is, I'm not in B.J.'s shoes, but I know the type of player that he is, in recruiting him over the last three years, watching him as a junior when he was in high school, then watching him develop and going into his senior year, and going through the recruiting process with him, and watching him going through basketball season in his high school senior year, the kid's built with confidence. He just eludes it. You can see it. It shines on his face. He doesn't lack any confidence in his ability as a player and as a young man.

"He was waiting for the opportunity to present itself. He worked extremely hard in the spring and in the fall camp, when he had the chance to get a lot more reps during the weeks during camp. He had been preparing for it. He had been preparing to play each and every game and that's what Coach Leavitt felt like, hey, we'd better get B.J. in the game, but in terms of his mindset, I don't think it'll faze him a bit.

"I think going back to Tallahassee, which is his home, he knows everybody on the team. He's been around these guys, he's worked out with them all summer long in his high school years. In terms of fear, no, I think he's excited about the opportunity to go play against some of the kids that he played with and grew up with in the neighborhoods of Tallahassee. I think he accepts it as a challenge to come home."

On the difficulty of the task of playing there -

"The thing we talk about, regardless of who you're playing, is you've got to show up and play, and I think he's got the right mind set. That's what we talked about. It could be anybody. The mind set you take into the game as you're preparing to play each game like it's the Super Bowl.

"Whether we're playing Charleston Southern, Florida State, Miami, West Virginia, Cincinnati, it doesn't matter. You have to show up every week and be on your best at that time. I think he understands that and what's expected of him.  As a coach preparing him, I've prepared him just like I've done the last three weeks to play. I've prepared him every week, give him game tests, give him video tests.

"I have prepared B.J. Daniels, Evan Landi, Ryan Eppes, Matt Grothe in the same manner that I've done with B.J. this week. Nothing's changed. All we're doing is saying we're playing somebody different. We've got to show up and play, and I know he's excited about the opportunity. I'm excited about the opportunity for him to go up against one of the legendary coaches in Bobby Bowden and the legendary coach in the defensive coordinator. What a challenge that is to go and face Mickey Andrews and Chuck Amato."

Head Coach Jim Leavitt

Opening Statement -

"Reviewing last week like I always do, I thought our guys came out and played very well. I thought they did what they should have done, which I'd already said before. We got some good action out of our defensive front. Our linebackers played better. Our secondary did some good things, especially not having Quenton (Washington) out there. I thought our offensive line handled a lot of different stunts and movements that they hadn't really seen much of. Our quarterbacks both did a really good job.

"I thought we had a good practice last night. They had good meetings. I thought their focus was there. They're excited about playing Florida State certainly. I thought their demeanor was really good. I was happy with that. I expected that to be the case. We need to get off a good practice today and just really focus on today. We've got a lot to do today.

"We're playing an awfully good football team, a team that is one of the better teams in the country and certainly traditionally has been one of the great stories of college football."

On Grothe's attitude following the injury -

"What choice does he have? You can sit there and be down - I'm sure that it's tough on him. You're not going to come out - it'd be tough on all of us. It is what it is. It happened. You've got to move forward. There's not a lot you can do about it right now. He can certainly help our football team in a lot of really important ways. He already is. You know how I feel about him. He's a tremendous young man. He's going to handle things the best he can."

On how Daniels looked out in practice -

"The same as he's looked since he's been here the last few years. He's always had the confidence, always acted as if he's the No. 1 guy, which I hope all your quarterbacks always do. Not really any differences in what we've had. During two-a-days Matt was down for a little over a week. B.J. ran everything. It was really no difference with him or Evan (Landi) in there. They both are very strong leaders. They both work extremely hard. They're both very confident."

Quarterback B.J. Daniels

On when it sunk in of the opportunity he had -

"Probably not until Sunday, when I heard the news that he'd be out for the season. Watching him lay there on the field, my heart definitely went out to him. I told him when he got to the sideline that I was going to pray for him and hope that everything was going to be okay."

On the feeling of playing at Doak Campbell Stadium -

"I'm excited. I've got a lot of friends and family there, so playing in front of them means a lot. I guess right now I'm pretty calm and everything like that, but I'm pretty sure closer to game time I'll be anxious."

On how Grothe has helped him prepare -

"Matt's been helping me ever since the spring. He's been helping me out with different plays and things like that. I've learned a lot from him as far as taking control of the huddle. Going into this environment, it will be exciting for me. Just yesterday, Matt came out to practice. He looked like a coach out there, and he's helped me out a lot so far. I feel like he's going to continue to do the same."

On how he's grown on the field playing in the first three games -

"I've grown a lot. Ever since the summer I've tried to prepare myself as if I were the starter, because I wanted to make sure whenever it was my time that I'd be ready. So getting these reps live in the game has helped out a lot. I feel like I've been practicing forever. But to finally get out there is exciting."