Everything Robby Ashford said after the South Carolina-Akron game

Q: How good does it feel that finally people are talking about you and how well you got to play tonight?
Ashford: It feels great, you know, just been through a lot of ups and downs in my career, and it’s taught me a lot and I wouldn’t change for anything. That’s just a hats off to my guys and my teammates. None of this would have been possible without them. I wouldn’t have been able to go out there and perform if everybody wasn’t doing their 1-11 and those guys did. I’m just thankful for this group, and just how they came behind me and supported me and let me know – they let me know from the jump, like, Hey, we’ve got confidence in you, even when I wasn’t the starter, it was just, Hey bro, we’ve got confidence in you 1, we all do. As a quarterback you go out there and that gives you the utmost confidence. I’m just thankful for those guys. Thankful for Coach Beamer, Coach D-Lo, Coach Shula, they’ve done a lot for me. Like I said, the road’s been tricky, but at the end of the day, it shaped me into who I am today, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. 

Q: When did you know you were going to start tonight?
Ashford: I knew kind of going in, early in the week. It was a situation where, okay, you’ve done this before. You’ve started in the SEC. This is nothing new. You’ve just got to go out there, execute, get in that film room even more. And that’s what I did. I feel like my preparation allowed me to go out there and execute. So it was just really big to know that, and just to know that those guys had my back from the second we knew I was starting everybody rallied behind me. And that means the world. You can’t put any words to that, man. It ust shows how great our team is and just how much love and camaraderie we have. Like I keep saying, I’m thankful for those guys. They’ve done so much for me, and they’re the reason why I was able to go out there and perform.

Q: Did you feel more comfortable throwing the ball in the pocket after getting a full week of reps with the ones practice?
Ashford: I felt more comfortable, just being able to get all those reps in practice and see what they like to run and film study, knowing what they like to come out in. You’ve just got a combination of that, and then you got the combination with our receivers and how they can get open. It’s just a recipe for success. They definitely went and made some play for me too.  It just felt good to get back out there. You know, people can say whatever they want to, we’re playing against Akron or whatever, it’s like, I went out there and I was able to throw the ball around. That’s kind of what everybody wanted to see. And I was just happy to go out there and do that. And just at the end of the day, I was happy to go out there and get a win with my guys. That’s what it comes down to. At the end of the day we’re 3-1, and we’ve got a lot to build off of. But yeah, for me, just being in that pocket, I felt a lot more comfortable, and the game was just slowing down for me as we progressed. It’s just, how can I build off of it? Whatever my role is, I’m gonna work my hardest and just keep working.

Q: How do you know when it’s time to take off and scramble?
Ashford: We’ve got a thing with me and LaNorris is being able to run really good. We’ve got a thing where it’s two to three hitches and, depending on what the route concept is, you’ve got to listen to your feet. When your feet are just pat, pat, pat, pat, it’s time to go or throw it away. You see me and LaNorris, we’ve got the ability to break it so with us we use that to our advantage. Today, it was just sometimes I felt, hey, pat, pat, pat, go. It’s time to go. It’s not there. Stop trying to hope it’s there. Go, get positive yards, get down, play the next play. So that’s really just what it came down to.

Q: What’s the difference when you’re a backup and a starter, just on the preparation?
Ashford: It’s really just the reps aspect. Coming as a backup, you don’t get all the reps. And so when you’re watching film, you don’t get to see all the plays you’ve run and stuff. But now this week I got to see all of it, and it was just like, I feel good. I felt good coming into it. D-Lo and Coach Shula got me prepared. They put the time in with me, the extra work. I don’t really know how to explain it, because it’s still a real grind, even as a backup, because you’ve still got to know everything, and I do that, but it was just even coming in more. Me and Shula had a thing this week. We would come in after dinner time around like 7:30 or 8, and just get an hour in. That was just something we were able to do this week, just because we had the time. I was able to find it in my schedule, to be able to get over there. That helped me so much, tremendously, just be able to watch that with Coach Shula. That’s a great right there, that’s a coaching great, and just to be able to learn from him and Coach D-Lo, they’ve taught me so much in my eight months here that I haven’t learned in any of my years anywhere else. It’s really hats off to them, because they got me prepared. And like I said, I’m thankful for them.

[Win two tickets to the South Carolina-Ole Miss football game]

Q: Do you feel validated in yourself after this game?
Ashford: A little bit, but I’m never satisfied. It’s always room to improve. So it’s good to go out there and play good, but (if) I go out there and play bad, as long as we win, that’s all that matters at the end of the day, as long as we got a W in the stat column. But yeah, I’m never satisfied. So it’s just, how can I build off of this? Whatever my role is, if I have to start again, I know I’ll be ready, and I know this team is going to be behind me. So it’s just really that. This team is special, and I feel like you guys can see that in how together we are, and that plays a long way for us. I wish y’all just could have heard our guys, just how much they told me, man, we behind you, bro. We got all the confidence in the world in you and it’s just, you’d be like, it’s a great football team. But I’m able to tell you how great this football team is. This team is something special. It’s one of the best teams I’ve ever been a part of in my life. So I wouldn’t trade my decision to go to Columbia for anything.

Q: Are there any passes in particular that you look back on as your favorite?
Ashford: I don’t know yet, I’ve really gotta go back and watch the film. Any pass that was completed, for me it was just good to see me throw the ball. I mean, that’s that’s been a big thing. And like I said, folks say it’s Akron but you’ve still gotta go out there and throw and complete it. But if I had to pick one off the top of my dome, I’m stuck between not even the touchdown to Mazeo, the big conversion, or the deep ball to Gage. I think one of those. But like I said, so much more for me to work on. How can I get that stat line even better? So just go in and watch the tape. But man, it felt good to just get out there and sling the rock around.

Q: What were the conversations with your teammates like? Kyle said he talked to you.
Ashford: He told me, bro you’ve been waiting for this. This is nothing new to you. He’s like, bro, you know we’ve behind you. And we got class together too. We got two classes together. So we’re always with each other. We live right across the apartment complex, right across from each other, but man, he just told me all week, Hey bro, like this team is behind you. He was like, I’m behind you. He was like, all you got to do is go out there and play man, and the rest is gonna take care of itself. I just keep saying, when you know those guys are behind you, that gives you utmost confidence. And just to hear them just constantly say, show how much they meant. It wasn’t just a one time thing. It’s just something constant throughout the week, guys texting me, just Hey bro, like, go out there and be you. But Kyle, Kyle was definitely big in that, man, and that’s one of my guys. I’m appreciative of him. He helped me a lot, just with me staying confident and all that. But man, he’s a great guy, great player, and I’m really thankful to have him on my team and in my life. So man, just he helped me a lot this week that he probably didn’t even know, but that was really great.

Q: Is it more nerve-wracking coming in in the middle of the game or starting for the first time for a new team?
Ashford: I’d say coming into a game that’s definitely a harder thing to do. You’re cold, you haven’t been running around. It’s just a whole lot of factors that go into it. But it’s also too it’s like I’m coming into a new environment, this is my first night game in Willie-B, we’re wearing the throwbacks, so I know this game means a lot to people, we’re wearing the special jerseys. So I felt like it was, there was some pressure. I was just like, hey, this ain’t nothing new. I just gotta go out there and compete. But honestly, I’ll probably say just coming in is a harder role. But playing in this place like this, you always want to go out there and execute. So it’s hard being a starter too. Some of these fans are brutal, to say the least, but it’s definitely intimidating sometimes, but it’s never nothing that I can’t I can’t handle this face on. I had all the confidence in the world going into the weekend, my preparation allowed me go out there and execute. But I definitely say probably coming in. But hey, when you got to come in, you still got, you still got to perform at the end of the day. Definitely things I could have did better last week, but I was able to come in and correct them this week, and now just go into the bye week, get better, get corrected. Got a top 10 team coming in here on October 5. So it’s okay go in there, correct it, and how can we get better for Ole Miss. Because we got a ball club coming in here, a real football team, and we’re going to play our best game we’ve played so far to be able to come out with a W. It’s gonna be a dog fight, but that’s why we play in the SEC. And you live for games like that, and it doesn’t get any easier. We know what we’ve got to do and at the end of the day, we’re going to do it. We’re going to put our heads down and go to work and let the cards fall where they may be.

Q: What does this mean for you and your confidence going forward?
Ashford: It just gives me a lot of confidence to know I can do it. A lot of people talk down on me, say I can’t do this, can’t do that, but one they can’t do anything I can do in the first place. Let’s get started there. It’s a lot of folks telling me I can’t do something that sit on the couch and type on their phone. It just gives me a lot of confidence, because it’s just like, I know I can go out there and do it, just see it come to fruition. Everything I’ve been through, even just family-wise, personal-wise, it’s meant a lot to just be able to come out here and have a performance like that. But like I keep saying, this performance wouldn’t happen without my teammates, and I was able to play good because of them, so the credit shouldn’t even be going to me just be going to those 11 guys on offense, those 11 guys on defense, those 11 guys on special teams. But like I said, it does give you the utmost confidence to know you can go out there and do it, and now it’s just, how can I come in and make it better? So it’s just, gotta keep stacking days.

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