Georgia Tech Football: What did E.J. Jenkins, Ace Eley, and Keion White Say After The Loss to Clemson?

Georgia Tech's E.J. Jenkins, Ace Eley, and Keion White spoke to the media after the game on Monday night

Author:
Jackson Caudell
Publish date:
Sep 6, 2022 8:06 PM EDT

In this story:

Three of the bright spots for Georgia Tech on Monday night against Clemson were wide receiver E.J. Jenkins, linebacker Ace Eley, and defensive end Keion White. They spoke to the media after the game and here is what all three players had to say.

Ace Eley and Keion White

1.Keion, this was your first healthy game at Georgia Tech. Just how did it feel? You got a lot of pressure, some sacks. How did it feel to play up to your potential a little bit?

KEION WHITE: "Personally, I didn't feel I had my best game. I feel like I was moving slow, not making the right read assignments that I was doing. So that's unacceptable. I need to go watch film and work to come better next week."

2. Coming out of the locker room in the second half, how confident were you guys, especially after the way you played in the first half?

ACE ELEY: "We was confident. We was prepared for 30-minute battle. We was confident all the way through the game, really. We had faith in our plan and our confidence. We just got short end of the stick tonight, and go back tomorrow, watch the film, correct what needs to be corrected and come back next week."

3. How difficult is it when you have a punt blocked, short-field situation or turnovers? You were in that situation twice tonight. That was really the difference, I think, in the game in a lot of ways was two easy scores they got off the blocked punts. How difficult is that situation as a defensive player when you get thrown back in the field like that when you expect to have some decent field position to work with?

KEION WHITE: "For us, our defensive motto is put the ball down. So it doesn't matter what situation we're in, they're not supposed to score. And that's the standard. So the standard is the whole team is zero points and zero yards."

"And at the end of the day we just have to go play with the situation and don't cry about it, don't kind of moan about it, and just deal with it."

4. What do you think was working early that maybe kind of shut down that Clemson offense early in the game, and maybe what changed in the second half to allow them to kind of go on a run?

ACE ELEY: "Well, first half, we just played our technique, played our defense. We knew they liked to run D.J. He was pretty sound on that in everything. And on the run game, we were sound and everything."

"Second half they went in, made some adjustments. I don't even think second half they really opened up. They had some good, couple good explosives. And that's just how the ball rolls, really. That's about it, really."

5. You guys, of course, you talk about the confidence all game. When they went up 14-0, what were you guys telling each other just so you could stay on the same page and continue to do what you guys could do?

KEION WHITE: "So, as a defense, our motto is defense wins championships. So you let the offense do offense and we'll worry about our defense. So we had the mindset of continue stopping them, continue playing our game and let everything work out for itself."

"Obviously tonight it didn't work out in our favor, but we still have confidence we have a good defense and feel good moving forward into the later games."

6. With the short week before the Western Carolina game and a day off tomorrow, is it better to have a game like that earlier in the year before you're really banged up and that type of thing, maybe you can come back a little quicker earlier in the year?

ACE ELEY: "I'm not sure, what are you asking?"

7. Do you feel -- you have a short week, is it better to have that short week earlier in the year before you get banged up? You're still pretty healthy.

ACE ELEY: "Short week is a short week in football, really. Still have to prepare. I guess if you think about it like that, before the nicks and stuff come, but yeah, I'm pretty sure we'll have some nicks and bruises after this one, too."

8. Earlier in the game you forced the fumble, at least it looked like you forced the fumble. Seemed to be some indecision about that. Do you recall that play? Can you recall that play for us?

ACE ELEY: "They ran the quarterback. I think it was a quarterback counter. And Charlie, I think it was, came, tackled him from the side. He was falling and tried to stretch the ball out. And I just -- that's a trained behavior. You try to get the ball out and punch the ball out, techniques and stuff. I took a shot on the ball and it worked out for me."

9. Ace, how much did it make a difference when Charlie went out of the game, because he was a little bit of your eraser tonight, he was making a lot of good plays, particularly in the run game? How much did that impactyou guys? I know you have a lot of confidence in Demetrius, but Charlie is kind of that freak sideline-to-sideline guy. How much did it impact not having him? I think it was 14-10 something when he went out and they went on their run.

ACE ELEY: "That was a big blow. Charlie is, like you said, a great player, not only a great player but a leader on the defense, a vocal leader, emotional leader. That definitely hurt the defense when he went out, losing a great player."

"But next-man-up mentality. D-Knight came in and he held it down, did what he had to do and gave it his best. We just keep moving forward and we get Charlie back second half next week, and keep going from there."

10. Middle of the third quarter, I think the score was 14-10. Either or, you had them third-and-10 and you pressured D.J., basically almost had him sacked. He turned around, flipped it to Shipley and got the first down. Do you feel it changed the momentum in your all's eyes?

KEION WHITE: "That was a hell of a play by him. We had him sacked and he made a good play. Good players make good plays."

"As far as changing the game, I don't think it really did. Our defense still had a next-play mentality. So you aren't going to stop them on every third down. You just have to deal with it. And we just went next one up, and I still feel as a defense we still played solid after that."

11. Despite the final score, it seems like you guys have continued to point out you guys feel really good about your defense. What are some of the positives you can take from this? And I guess why do you feel so confident going forward that this defense is kind of what you think it is?

KEION WHITE: "I feel our defense is the nucleus of this team. Not saying anything to the offense, but I feel like our defense is where most of our seniors are. And we have a lot of that senior leadership. And I feel like as a whole we stayed cohesive as a unit tonight."

"And we didn't kind of split apart. And that's the biggest challenge in teams, when situations like this happen, just splitting apart. But as a defense I feel we stayed together because of our leadership. And I think going forward that will be a big part of who we are as a team, not even just the defense."

12. Ace, you mentioned a lot in the preseason, even in the spring about communication being better. Can you give me a sense of how that worked for you guys in terms of everybody being on the same page? It seemed, from watching it, you guys were in the right places most of the time?

ACE ELEY: "Yeah, great defense is a defense that communities and makes sure everybody is on the same page. I feel we did a pretty good job of that tonight. I won't say it was perfect. Definitely needs more things cleaned up."

"But being on the same page is the first step of being a good defense. And I think we did some good things tonight, and we've just got to keep building on that, keep communicating, and make sure that everybody is on the same page."

E.J. Jenkins

1. What was it like to get that first catch under your belt?

E.J. JENKINS: "It felt good. It felt good to be back, definitely. There was a lot of mixed emotions in there. But I'm glad, putting some points up for the team."

2. What was the design on the play where you scored your touchdown?

E.J. JENKINS: "You know, corner route. They were in cover 2. They were sitting down low. That's just ordinary football stuff. Got to the hole."

3. I believe it was after they went up 14-0 Jeff Sims and the offense seemed to be clicking, completing a lot of passes. For you, what do you feel was able to help get things going? Because it seemed like you guys were able to move the football all night. You just weren't able to finish.

E.J. JENKINS: "Just really communicating, just keeping each other up the whole game. You know, people see people when they put their head down. There's always somebody come around, make sure everybody's uplifted and just pushing down the field. So just sit there, keep communicating, make sure everybody's on the right page."

4. Talk about your quarterback tonight. Obviously had to deal with a lot of pressure, but kind of stayed in the pocket, made moves to deliver the ball to guys like you, Nate, others, as well. What did you think of his play tonight?

E.J. JENKINS: "Jeff is a soldier. I like Jeff a lot. He sits inside there. Everybody knows he can use his legs, too. But as a quarterback you've got to sit there, sit in the pocket and just deliver passes outside of it."

"Jeff is good. Jeff is growing too. I've seen Jeff grow a lot especially since I've been here. I'm just proud of him. I'm glad he's my quarterback."

5. Looked like there were a couple of balls you had your hands on, weren't able to bring in. Couple other guys did too. How much of a factor do you think that was, not being able to make some of the catches that you maybe could have made on a different day?

E.J. JENKINS: "Those catches we know what we left on the field. Gotta sit there, just go to practice and practice on the little things. We know we beat ourselves a lot today. Game one, we're going to make mistakes, whatever, but we'll come back stronger next week, for sure."

6. You've been saying that although you all lost but knowing you were able to drive the ball throughout the game against that type of defense, how gratifying was that?

E.J. JENKINS: "It is. Our game one, their game one. It was good. It was a good feeling, but we've just got to sustain drives, stay on the field, what not, just finish drives. We do that, I feel like we'll be a really good football team."

7. You've obviously been on both sides -- on two different sides of a rivalry with Clemson now. Just I guess kind of how do you feel like you measure where Georgia Tech is now after playing them? You obviously played them within the last year too. Where do you feel like you guys are right now as a program, a game into the season? Just do you feel like you like where the progress is, where the team's headed and that kind of thing?

E.J. JENKINS: "I like the progress a lot. It's in there, especially watching the film from last year and what not, I've seen a lot of people on this roster grow and it's real admiring. It just makes me want to be better every day. And the energy that they come with every day is just willing to work. Take the energy, make it contagious and hopefully pass it on to everybody else, too."

8. You talked about moving the ball and sustaining drives. What went into the struggles on third down?

E.J. JENKINS: "I'm not sure about that one."

9. You were 2-for-16 on third down. It seemed like you were able to move the ball and third down came along and for whatever reason you weren't able to convert.

E.J. JENKINS: "I had no idea we were 2-for-16. I'm not really sure about that one. I'm not sure."

10. It seemed like you guys had a lot of quick-hitting stuff, getting rid of the ball quickly for Jeff. I'm guessing that was a part that was stressed by Coach Long giving Clemson's defense and the pressure they were going to bring, just make sure you were getting the ball out quick; is that accurate?

E.J. JENKINS: "Clemson has a very good up-front line, and they're giving us space and cushion, why not take what they're giving us first? We knew Jeff would be pressured all night. Clemson is known for their front. But it was all part of the game plan. I feel we executed to a certain extent, but we just left stuff on the field that we should have executed."

11. Curious about the execution, (indiscernible). How frustrating is it just for penalties? And looked like Coach talked about how much you prepared for the environment and the crowd and just trying to make sure everything was in correct standing. To have those penalties, what can you attribute that to?

E.J. JENKINS: "The penalties definitely hurt us. Setbacks and stuff like that, where we didn't want to be, especially beginning the game, where to start off the ball with. But just really just responding to those penalties and what not. We've got to cut them down. We know we do. And we're definitely going to emphasize that at practice, for sure."

Facebook: All Yellow Jackets

Twitter: @AllYellowJacket

Follow Jackson on Twitter: @jacksoncaudell

See all of the latest Georgia Tech News at AllYellowJackets.com

Check out the Georgia Tech Homepage

Listen to the Goal Line Stand Podcast for the best Georgia Tech and national college football coverage!

Georgia Tech Football: Everything head coach Geoff Collins said after loss to Clemson

Georgia Tech Football: The good, the bad, and the ugly from game vs Clemson

Georgia Tech Football: Grades for each unit on defense

Georgia Tech Football: Yellow Jackets lose season opener to Clemson 41-10

Georgia Tech Football: Three biggest takeaways from loss to Clemson

Georgia Tech Football: Grades for each position on offense