JAY PROSCH COREY GRANT NOSA EGUAE

December 2, 2013 An interview with: JAY PROSCH COREY GRANT NOSA EGUAE THE MODERATOR: We'll continue with our SEC football game student-athlete teleconference. The Auburn Tigers join us now as they prepare to face Missouri on Saturday. We'll first be joined by fullback Jay Prosch. Jay, give us your thoughts on your team as you prepare to face Missouri on Saturday. JAY PROSCH: I think that our team is just coming off a big win on Saturday. We're trying to put that behind us now and focus on Missouri and really get better at the things we need to get better on and just focus on getting after it on Saturday. Q. Can you talk about your running game and having to go up against a pretty solid Missouri defensive line? What are you guys going to have to do to continue the success you've had on the ground? JAY PROSCH: I think we're going to have to continue being physical up front. I think that's one of our main strengths is that we're just a physical bunch of guys and we know how to get after it on the field. I mean, that's what we're going to have to do. We'll have to be physical; we'll have to stick together. We had some communication issues Saturday. We'll have to fix things like that and just really work on our technique and stuff like that. So it's definitely going to be a challenge, but it's something that I think we can overcome. Q. What are some of the early impressions that you have from what you've seen of Missouri's defensive line? JAY PROSCH: They look like they're very technique based, and a very strong unit defensive line. Like I said, it's going to be a challenge for us. But I think that they have some good defensive ends, and they're definitely a good team all together. So it's going to be interesting. Q. Obviously, your role is big for someone who doesn't even carry the ball. You do a lot of other things. What was that like for you? I mean, you came in probably not thinking I'm going to be primarily a blocker, but how much have you embraced having that role? JAY PROSCH: Oh, it's been incredible for me. Fullback ever since I started playing college football and playing fullback, I knew that I wasn't a player that's going to get a lot of praise or get a lot of carries or be in the light a lot. I mean, just being part of this offense and part of this team and helping and contributing is just amazing for me. I don't ask for the ball. I'm not pushing to get the ball or anything like that. I'm just happy to be on the field and helping the team win. It's amazing. Q. Last week before the Alabama game, C.J. said that Auburn has the best offensive line in the nation. Do those guys believe that? JAY PROSCH: Oh, yeah, I think they do. I mean, they're definitely a humble group of guys and they know how to work. I think that's part of where we are now. In the off-season, we just came together as a group. We put the work in and effort. They got off the line. Probably the jump they made from last season to this season in the weight room is just incredible. I mean, it shows. Because they work together and they're a powerful group of guys. Q. C.J. Mosley after the game the other day said that Alabama just never got to set the edge defensively against your running game. Missouri has those really good defensive ends Auburn - 12 02 13.doc 1

that bring the pressure. With what y'all do, is that something that can neutralize or help negate defenses that have powerful defensive ends? JAY PROSCH: I think so. I mean, we're really good at what we do offensively. We really haven't -- obviously, some teams have stopped us in some areas of our running game and then others in different areas. But I think no matter what, whoever we play, we're going to find a way to move the ball no matter what, where their strengths are. Like I said earlier, Missouri has a very good defensive line and a very good defense. But overall I think that we're going to find a way to move the ball no matter how we have to do it. So it's just going to be a process. Like I said, it's going to be interesting. Q. Coach Malzahn said yesterday and he's been saying all along that this turn around season was more about looking within and working on you guys all year. But was there a moment this season or a particular game this season where you felt like it was starting to click, and that something special could be happening? JAY PROSCH: Yeah, definitely. I mean, when we lost to LSU, I think our team really found ourselves. Because even though we lost that game, we fought till the very end and had a chance to come back and win the game, and never gave up. I think we knew then that we're going to fight every game. After that game, that's what we did. Texas A&M, and came down to the end. Numerous games after that were just nail biters all wait down to the end of the game. I think really when we lost to LSU is really when we decided and we found out who we were, and ever since then we knew, you know, we're going to fight to the very end no matter what. So the whole season has just been an amazing season of our team just growing closer and closer. Q. On a more personal note, I was wondering if you could look back and reflect on your first season at Auburn and just the difficulties of transitioning to the new offense and dealing with the personal issues with your mom and then the difficulty of the tough season for you guys and what that was all like for you? JAY PROSCH: Yeah, it was probably the hardest time in my life that I've experienced. I mean, I came in and I wasn't -- it took me a while to warm up to the guys. Not because of them, but just physically the way I am, it took me a while to get used to having new teammates. When you come in somewhere with a freshman class and you're part of that class, it's easier to blend than just getting thrown in with a bunch of guys, which is what happened to me. So that was tough for me. I kind of felt out of place for a while. Then on top of that, obviously, my mom was sick. That made it even worse. But when the season started it was exciting. But, obviously, it wasn't very exciting for long because it turned out to be a terrible season. But I think that it was just hard on me and hard on the team in general. I think it was one of those things where you just have to look to God and just pray and know that he's looking out for you and everything's going to be all right. It was just a bad time for everyone, but obviously we pushed through it. We're doing it and everything's good. Q. This might be a bit of a reach, but I think you probably would have faced Mizzou as a freshman, correct me if I'm wrong. But is there anything at all you can draw on from that memory going into this one? JAY PROSCH: Yeah, that was my first college start. My first game ever for Illinois. We played Missouri. I really honestly don't remember much about it. I remember the game and where we played and stuff, but not much about actually playing in the game. I think I was so excited for it to be my first game and nervous and stuff. But I don't remember too much about it. But I know that they're a good team. It will be exciting. Q. Coach Malzahn was talking yesterday about kind of the process of learning to trust you guys and you guys learning to trust him and his staff when he first came in. What was that process like for you? Just kind of describe how that went. JAY PROSCH: Yeah, I didn't know Coach Malzahn at all whenever he came in. I know some other guys did. Yeah, after he got hired, I met with him in his office, all the seniors did, and he was just up front with us. He was like I'm going to do everything I can to turn this around. He's like I'm going to put a lot of decisions in your hands and we're going to work together. He said I'm going to Auburn - 12 02 13.doc 2

use the seniors to help me make decisions and influence the rest of the team. He was like just basically told us that he wanted us to work with him and it to be a back and forth type thing instead of him just being the Coach and making all the decisions. So that was really good for us because he was right. I mean, he called us in numerous times over the summer and during the season asking us questions about this or what needed to be done or what we thought. That felt good for us to know that he really cared about what we felt and our opinions. So that was really something good to help the trust thing between us. You know, it really showed later in the season that we've really created that bond. Q. It seems like through all of his jobs he's had kind of a knack for reshaping the offense around the quarterback strengths and personnel strengths. What is it about him or his offense that allows him to be so, I guess, to do that? JAY PROSCH: What is it about his offense that allows us to use our strengths? Q. Yeah, that allows him to reshape it to whatever the team's strengths are any given season? JAY PROSCH: I think his offense is so diverse that it can go -- there are so many ways that his offense allows you to move the ball down the field, whether it be passing, running, power, outside run. With the talent that we have on our offense, it really opens that up. I don't think we're really designated to one option. We're pretty good at a lot of it. I think that's what he's talking about. We're able to with Nick, he can run very well, and that opens it up a lot further. We're a great offensive line, great receivers. So with this offense, it's really hard to stop -- for defenses to stop us. COREY GRANT THE MODERATOR: Corey, give us your thoughts on your team as you prepare to face Missouri. COREY GRANT: It's going to be a great game, a big game that we're looking forward to. All the guys are locked in and ready. They have a great defense that I believe we'll be able to move the ball on, So it's going to be a great game to watch. Q. Can you talk about they have some really good defensive ends. Do you think that's something that you all might be able to negate, their vertical push by what you do by getting out on the speed runs to the outside? Is that something you think you can do to successfully negate those defensive ends? COREY GRANT: Yes, sir. They have some great defensive ends and they have a great D-line. I think that's a big strength of their defense. With us running the ball, we'll find a way to move the ball and get out on the edge and run our zone reads and things like that. So either way, our offense, we've gotten better each week throughout the season. I believe we'll find a way. Q. Is there one strength? It seems you had some huge runs up the middle against Alabama the other day. You were getting to the outside a bit. Do you guys do one thing better than the other, or do you think it's pretty balanced as far as the inside-outside runs? COREY GRANT: Overall, I think it's pretty balanced. Coach just tries to put us in situations where we can make plays, and he does a great job of that. We just try to take advantage of those opportunities. I think it's overall just balanced out. Q. Going back to Missouri's defensive line, what are some of the things that jump out at you when you look at them? COREY GRANT: Their guys are real physical. They're fast. They look like they play with great technique and they're a very sound defensive line. I think they're one of the best defensive lines that we'll go against this year. You know, that is one key we'll have to focus on this week, because that's going to be a big deal. Q. Just this team in general to be in this situation, Missouri is kind of in the same position. You guys didn't win a lot last year, is it kind of interest to go see you two in this title game considering what happened last season to both of you? COREY GRANT: Yes, sir. Like you said, coming off last year we had a terrible season, and they didn't have a great one also. Just to see us in this position and see them, it's kind of weird, but Auburn - 12 02 13.doc 3

that's just how the SEC goes. You never know from year to year who is going to be in the title game. Q. I wanted to ask you about Jay and the role he has in this offense? How significant is he in regards to what you guys do as an offense? COREY GRANT: Jay is a big part of our offense. He's a guy that doesn't get the ball much. He never gets a lot of the praise. But if he would sit down in the film room and watch what he does, you'd be amazed of the different plays that we've run that Jay was a big part of. Jay had key blocks on, so he's a big part of our offense. Without him, we'd be missing a lot. Q. To follow up on what was asked earlier about Missouri's defense. In terms of what you guys do, is this a good match-up for you or better match-up for them in regards to what you do offensively? COREY GRANT: Offensively, from what we do, I think it will work in our favor. We're going to find a way to move the ball and watch film. There is always a way that we're better to move the ball and let our offense do what we do. Q. How difficult do you think it's going to be to kind of come down from the emotional high that was in the Iron Bowl and know that you have to get ready for another game this week? COREY GRANT: I don't think it will be that difficult. That was a great win at the end, but we even have a bigger game coming up this week. We're playing for a championship. It will be hard to just forget about last week and put that behind us. But Coach always talks about just work day-by-day and week-by-week, so we're going to push ahead and look for it on this week now and get ready for this game. Q. You having started your career at Alabama, was there anything extra for you in that win? How did you view that? COREY GRANT: I don't think it was anything extra. It was just a great win, like you said, for me, starting my career there and transferring here to Auburn. It was a great feeling for me. I think maybe it could have meant a little bit more to some of my teammates. NOSA EGUAE THE MODERATOR: We're now joined by Auburn defensive tackle, Nosa Eguae. Nosa, if you could talk about your team as you prepare to face Missouri on Saturday? NOSA EGUAE: For us, it's business as usual. We won a big game this past weekend, but we're moving on and we're worrying about us, and worrying about how we can improve every day and how we can get better as a team to take on the challenge of the Missouri team this Saturday and come out victorious. Q. Just on James Franklin, just watching him this year as far as what you guys have seen on film, what stands out about the Missouri quarterback? NOSA EGUAE: He's poised. He's played a lot of football. He's a guy that is a mobile guy. He's a dual-threat quarterback. He makes plays out of nothing. But for us, it's going to be about stopping their run game and having a good run game. When we get chances to affect them in third-down situations, we have to get to him and get off the field. He's a great quarterback though. Q. One of the things you guys have done all year is rotate defensive linemen. How much fresher are guys now as opposed to a year ago because of that? NOSA EGUAE: I think it's huge. With Coach Garner, he told us in the spring, he said he's looking for 10 to 12 guys to come in and play a lot of snaps, and we know that. We know, one, we're in the best shape of our lives. And two, that Tuesday and Wednesday will be our days to work, but come Saturday, we'll be fresh and we'll be rotating, and guys will be able to feed off each other and make a lot of plays. We know that every play coming in. So we'll just go out there and give it our all. When we get out of the game, we get to blow. Q. Can you just talk about the turnaround that this team has had this season? Obviously, the play on the field is certainly different. But the attitude change and mentality of this team compared to last year? NOSA EGUAE: Yeah, for us in January we got together and Coach Malzahn got with us and he said it's going to be a new day. It started Auburn - 12 02 13.doc 4

with our workouts from Coach Russell, and we really prepare getting better every single day and not worrying about or not gloating on last year, but learning from it and just worrying about us, worrying about the moment. We've got a great group of seniors and guys that are leading. For us, we just want to make sure that the young guys are playing for us and we're playing for them. We've just got a bunch of guys that are playing for each other. We're hungry. Just from what happened last year, guys learned a lot from it and they're willing to go out there and fight for one another. That's really showing on Saturdays. Q. From where you guys were at that point to be here now, SEC Championship, possible BCS, depending on what happens. Could you have imagined this? Obviously you thought your team would be good, but did you think you could be this good? NOSA EGUAE: Well, the thing to me is when Coach Malzahn called us into his office before we started two-a-days, and he asked us the goals for the season. Across the board we all said that we just wanted to have the biggest turn around in college football history, and that was our biggest thing. We knew that everything else will take care of itself. But if we get better every day, we'll have the biggest turn around in college football. We didn't even put wins and losses on that. We just wanted to worry about having the biggest turn around. I think we've achieved that, and we still have amazing goals to achieve this Saturday and moving forward. Q. I know you might have had limited contact with Gus or Coach Malzahn when he was the offensive coordinator before he came back as head coach, but how is he different as head coach than he was as an assistant in 2010-2011? NOSA EGUAE: For me, we spoke quite a bit when he was offensive coordinator, but he's still the same Coach Malzahn. He's still very big on the little things. He's still preaching the fact that you've got to take care of the little things and everything else will take care of itself. And now he's telling the whole team. As far as changes, there's not many, because Coach Malzahn is really a guy that crosses Ts and dots the Is. It's a very minute focus on every little thing, and that's what we try to do. We go out there and try to focus and play hard for him. Q. Just you personally being a member of the 2010 team and having to go through last year, how tough were those tough times and how important was it for you to get back to where you started at Auburn, basically? NOSA EGUAE: It was tough. Last year was tough. It was a roller coaster ride. You know, when you go through losing teammates before a season starts and then you go through the losses of last year, it was tough. But we grouped and became so close as a unit, because when you're losing like that, there is nobody else that you can lean on. You've got to lean on each other, and we learned a lot from that. It's really paid off dividends I feel like this year. I feel like we're the closest we've been since I've been here. We've got a bunch of guys that we really do love playing with each other but for each other. That is the big thing. It's this awesome feeling getting the wins with your brothers. Q. Kind of as a follow-up, the fact that you were on the 2010 team, can you compare the rise of the 2010 and 2013? Which ride has been more fun for you to be on if can you take a step back and kind of debate that? NOSA EGUAE: It's hard to compare them. We're still in a fight right now, so I haven't had time to sit back and reflect. But 2010 was an awesome year. I was a freshman on that team. I was just making the most of the moment. I didn't really know what to expect. I was just kind of coming in bright-eyed. I was playing hard for those seniors, and that is the same thing we have going on this year. We had a big-time senior class my freshman year, and I feel like we have a senior class like that this year. Maybe not as many numbers, but definitely an impact. But we've got those guys there playing for us now. It's awesome how things change with us being freshmen playing for seniors and having young guys playing for us now. It's a really nice feeling. It's hard to compare the two, but they're both awesome experiences. Q. I know you talked about your goal being having the biggest turnaround? Was there a moment where, Jay on the call earlier said the way you guys came back against LSU, Auburn - 12 02 13.doc 5

even though it was a defeat, let you know you were in for something special. Was that the same moment for you, or was there another moment for you where you felt like Auburn could be on to something special? NOSA EGUAE: I think that LSU game, like Jay said, the first quarter was tough. You know the rain, the turnovers. We were down at the half, but we fought. We really did. And we had a chance to win it there, and can he came up short. But you saw the guys and how much they cared, how much that loss really hurt. That Mississippi State game was big. That last drive was huge to win that game. Then to go to College Station and beating a Top 10 team on the road was another validation that just showed what type of team we are. The fact that when it comes down to the game, we're going to find a way to win. Q. Do you think -- obviously, there is a lot of discussion about rankings and the BCS. Do you feel like the winner of the game on Saturday, whether it's you or Missouri, deserves a shot in the National Championship Game? NOSA EGUAE: Definitely, definitely. We're only worrying about Missouri. At the end of the day, all of that stuff is going to take care of itself. People are going to realize how tough the SEC is and what it takes to be a champion in this league. All the rest of that will take care of itself. Our main focus is Missouri and us going out there and getting better every day and focusing on doing that to get a victory on Saturday. Q. Missouri has a pretty balanced offense. You mentioned James Franklin, the big receivers, but does their run game concern you at all? It's been pretty effective between the tackles and the speed backs that can get outside and make big plays. How much of a challenge do you think that run game will be? NOSA EGUAE: I mean, they've got a great run game. They're really balanced, like you said. For us it's about first and second down, and controlling the lineup front. If we can handle it up front, then we'll get in opportune situations on third down, and that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to go out there and play our game on first and second down and have some fun on third down. FastScripts by ASAP Sports Auburn - 12 02 13.doc 6