Latest / 4th AND BULL / USF Bulls Wide Receiver Joshua Porter Joins 4th AND BULL

Transcript

USF Bulls Wide Receiver Joshua Porter Joins 4th AND BULL · 4th AND BULL

• 0:00
  Speaker 2: What's up, Joshua? How are you? What's up, man?
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Good.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: How are you? My name's Nick, by the way.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Just wanted to say thank you so much for being
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: part of the show today. And let's start it off with,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: before we get into the game, what's been the last
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: couple of days for you? I'm sure the plane ride
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: home was fun. Sunday practice, did you get to take
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: in any of the NFL?
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: And then what did Joshua Porter do on his day
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: off on Monday?
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it was really fun, man. All the guys were excited.
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: We definitely were celebrating. Sunday practice was good. We got
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: some corrections going and getting ready for this game on Saturday.
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: And my Sunday looks like just chilling with my wife
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: and son at home.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: So I don't play for the team, right? You do.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: My phone blew up on that fourth down play. I'm
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: sitting there watching it on TV. I think you guys
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: are going to kick a field goal. The TV camera
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: pans to Nico. He's ripping, sniffing salts. And I'm like,
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Oh my God, he's going to blast this. Like he's
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: going to, I don't think I've ever seen a kicker
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: rip the sniffing, sniffing salts, or at least they don't
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: show it on TV. And I thought, man, he's, he's
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: going to crush this. And then you guys come out
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: on fourth down. And the next thing I know you're
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: running down the bottom of my screen, catching that ball
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: for a touchdown.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: How many, and I want to go through that play,
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: but before that, how many.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: Text messages did you get when you finally got back
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: to your phone? after the game when you made that play?
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Because I got so many. And like I said, I
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: don't play for the team. I didn't make the catch.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: You did. What was your phone like when you got there?
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: It was a lot of my family was blowing me
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: up in our family group chat. My wife was blowing
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: me up. It was the football page was reposting all
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: kinds of stuff. So it was crazy.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, man, it was just it was a really awesome moment.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: And I think everyone just kind of wants to know,
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: All about that moment. So as you're going down the
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: field and you're marching down, it was a hell of
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: a drive by the offense.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: I know you were highly involved. You had three catches.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: Was there a moment in that drive where you felt like,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: we've got this, where you felt pretty confident you guys
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: were going to either kick a field goal or score
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: a touchdown and win that football game?
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we knew it on the drive before, too. We
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: knew the defense was going to give us the ball back,
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: and we knew we were going to go win the game.
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: We practiced it too many times in that situation.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: What was the difference in those two? I mean, you
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: guys moved it up and down at ease. Was it
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: something Army did different? It looked like they were kind
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: of playing a soft zone when I rewatched it. Was
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: it anything that they did different, or were you guys
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: just kind of in a rhythm and allowed you to
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: kind of do whatever you wanted specifically on those final
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: two drives?
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: I think we just did what we always our coach do,
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: always what we do, just be ourselves. We went out
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: there and just.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: Did it, man.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: Now, when you guys got the ball into Army territory,
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: did you think you guys were going for a field
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: goal in that moment the way I did, or did
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: you know all along you guys were going for it
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: on fourth down?
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: There was definitely some thinking, some on both sides if
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: we were going to go for it or kick it,
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: but Hartline trusted us. He knew we trained that moment
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: too many times. He said we earned it to be
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: able to go win the game there.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: Such a ballsy call.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: I mean, most college football coaches can go for it there,
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: but you guys have Nico.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: Who was four for four last week. I think he's
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: made like 11 in a row.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: He's a couple away from the school record for most
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: consecutive field goal kicks in a row.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: So it was definitely a decision.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: It was a ballsy one, which is a lot of
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: what my text messages said. I can't believe that he
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: just did that. Take us through the play. You get
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: up to the line of scrimmage. It's what, fourth and five?
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: Do you know right away? I mean, is the play call,
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: are you the first read on that play? Like, you
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: know you're going deep, or did you see zero coverage?
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: And did you guys change the play at the line
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: of scrimmage?
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: Well, that was a great play call by RLC and Heartline,
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: and Mike just trusted me on that play and just
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: rode out from there. The rest you saw.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: So you were always the intended target on that play?
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: Like even before you guys got to the line of scrimmage,
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: you knew it was coming to you?
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: It was just, I mean, incredible play. It reminded me
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: a lot. I know you're a Florida guy. I don't
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: know if you're a Buccaneers fan at all, but it
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: reminded me of 2021 when Cooper Cup and the Rams–
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: it reminded me so much of that play. Obviously I
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: was a little bit happier with this outcome. Unlike that one,
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: just take us through that moment. You're running, you're sprinting
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: down the field. You know, it's going to come to you,
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: the balls in the air. And, and I got to
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: give credit to Michael Van Buren jr. Cause that was,
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: that was a hell of a throw right on the money.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: I mean, it, it, it, well, it couldn't have been
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: any better when you, when you see that ball in
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: the air, because if it's me, right, I'm not, I'm
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: not a wide receiver at a, at a, big school
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: like USF I'd be like oh my god oh my
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: god don't drop it don't drop it don't drop it
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: what's going through your mind anything in that in that moment.
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: Um yeah man I saw the ball in the air
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: so I knew the rest of my brothers all did
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: their job so I just had to finish my job
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: and catch it so have.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: You gone back in uh I know you've gone back
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: and like watched the film of the game but have
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: you gone back and at least like enjoyed the the
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: tv version of it to hear the play call uh
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: and everything.
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: Yeah I did the day of the game yeah.
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: I would have did the same thing. As soon as
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: I would have got my phone, I'd have been on
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: social media checking that out. I mean, it was just a,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: it was incredible play, man. It was just, it was
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: such a good catch. So congratulations on that. What, what
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: was the entire experience like playing army? I know it
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: was the day after nine 11, so extra emotional, but what,
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: what was it like playing those guys up in there
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: in their plaque? I just feel like playing army at
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: their place is kind of a different experience that maybe
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: a little bit different than any other college game that
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: you'll play.
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: Yeah, obviously they're very good at winning at home and,
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: They run that offense where they keep the ball for
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: so long. It was amazing. The environment was great. It
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: was just great for our team to be able to
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: overcome all that stuff and still come out with the win.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: It was just those final two drives that stand out.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: In those two drives, what did the offense start to
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: figure out about itself? What did you guys realize after
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: the game? about your offense and what it could be
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: going forward.
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: That everybody is hungry and everybody wanted to win that game.
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: And we had no doubt we would.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: The first half, you guys had three possessions in that game.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: And I, and I kind of thought it was going
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: to be a, a low possession game when you're on
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: offense and you, you ended up getting the possession at
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: the end, but it.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: Was like 11 seconds.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: So I don't really count that one, but three possessions
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: army had a, it's like a six minute drive. I
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: know they had one that was close to 10 minutes and,
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: What's that like for you in the offense, sitting on
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: the sidelines, trying to keep, you know, that game flow
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: going through the body and excitement, but sitting there for
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: so long, what's it like for you guys on the sideline?
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: And are you guys communicating, talking about the next drive?
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: Just what is it like on the sidelines in those
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: moments where you feel kind of like you're almost helpless
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: because you're not on the field, right?
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: The defense is. Right, yeah.
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: Well, we definitely, we trust our defense a lot. So
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: we're definitely watching them, trusting them. cheering on our guys
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: and then definitely talking about the next drive and maybe
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: some plays that we're going to run here and there.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: What do you think the, the identity of the offense is?
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: I mean, you guys really like those last, obviously fans,
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: you know, they, they see those final two drives.
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: They're like, we need to throw it everywhere.
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: Is that, you know, I, I know you guys kind of,
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: you guys want to be able to run the ball,
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: of course, but is that something that you guys take
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: from those two drives specifically.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: Where, you were in the no huddle. You were a
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: little bit more up-tempo than you were the rest of
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: the game.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: Is that something that you think you guys will do
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: going forward, or is that more of just a situation
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: that you were in that called for you to go
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: faster and everything just kind of worked out?
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: No, we have a great O-line, man. Great quarterback who
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: makes decisions right. Great running backs who always run hard,
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: so we definitely have an identity of running the ball.
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: The pass game comes off of that, and We do
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: a great job of mixing in tempo, slow offense, half tempo,
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: so we do a lot of great things on offense.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: You played for USF for the last couple of years,
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: and you were on the team last year a little
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: bit faster of an offense. Is there a difference for
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: you as a wide receiver from last year to this
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: year when the offense moves a little bit slower this
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: year than it did from a year ago?
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it definitely helps a lot more being
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: able to get into the right play call. almost every time,
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: and identify the defensive keys and everything.
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: What do you think has been the biggest difference from
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: Alex Golish in that era that you played in to
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: Coach Hartline and his staff that's come in here in
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: year number one?
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: What's been the biggest difference between the two?
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: It's just a generic question I feel like every player
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: probably gets asked when a new coach comes in.
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: Yeah, the last staff did a great job with everything
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: they did and everything at Hartline.