Everything Mark Fletcher Jr. Said After Career Game Against Texas A&M

COLLEGE STATION, Tx — It was more than a simple win for the Miami Hurricanes against Texas A&M in the first round of the College Football Playoff; it was a legacy game for star running back Mark Fletcher Jr.

He, along with the defense, put the Canes on his back and toted them for a career high 172 yards on 17 rushes. He averaged 10.1 yards per carry. He was unstoppable and proved why he was one of the greatest players to play for the Hurricanes in recent history.

The history books won't highlight what Fletcher means to this program, but everyone knows that this win means more than anything for the Canes.

This was one of the most emotional moments of his life and he expressed that after the game.

Q. Take me through the locker room after this win. What was it like inside?

MARK FLETCHER JR: It was turned. I wish you could have seen it. It was turned. You're probably going to see some screen recorded Instagram Lives, but yeah, we was turned.

Q. For you to have the performance you did today on a stage like this, can you describe the emotion of that given everything that you've gone through?

MARK FLETCHER JR: Yeah, no, it's just a blessing. I'm grateful for this opportunity. Man, I definitely wasn't expecting this, but man, I'm just happy that we won.

Q. Mark, can you kind of walk us through that 56-yard run that set up that game-winning touchdown?

MARK FLETCHER JR: Man, I just told the O-line and the wide receivers and tight ends, just put a hat on somebody and I'm going to be gone. I'm going to be gone. I'm going to handle the rest. That's the reason it opened up like that.

Q. With Malachi, to see him get that touchdown, get the redemption, what do you think that meant to him?

MARK FLETCHER JR: Yeah, for a second I saw a head drop down, I immediately rushed to him, and I said, man, God has put you through some adversity right now; that's it. It's just a little adversity. You see all that time we got on that clock, man, let's go win this thing and look at God.

Q. Your year has been very well chronicled, but your mom is outside the stadium. She drives to every game. She makes a sign that says "Freight Train Fletcher." I don't know if you saw it or not.

MARK FLETCHER JR: I did. She showed me.

Q. What does that support mean to you, really the two of you together?

MARK FLETCHER JR: It means everything to me. That's my rock. That's my world. I love her so much. We've both been -- it's been hard on us, but hey, she's always there. The fact that she even drives, man, that really shows me that this lady really loves me.

I have that great support system, and I'm not by myself on that field.

Q. How do you handle the emotions and how have you been able to handle everything the way you have over the last 13, 14 months?

MARK FLETCHER JR: I just know that every day when I wake up breathing, it's just another opportunity to make somebody's life better. God has just blessed me to be in this position, and I just want to impact anybody, any kids, anybody -- grown people, too, who's going through something that guys, your story is not over yet. Your story is not over yet. Keep on waking up, keep on breathing. You just continue to keep fighting and keep moving.

Q. With you guys' defense, what's it like to go against them in practice, and what's it like watching them do what they do to opponents every week?

MARK FLETCHER JR: Going against them in practice is frustrating, very frustrating. This game is all around, second level, first level. They're playmakers. That's a great defense that we go against. They really get us ready for these teams that we go against.

Q. How many times today did you think about your dad, and was there a moment at the end afterwards that you felt his presence there?

MARK FLETCHER JR: Yeah, I think about him every single day, shoot, every second, honestly. That's what drives me. But like I told other people before, I had to switch my mindset how I would think about him. I would think about him and I would just get sad, even cry before some games. That's not how he would want me to play this beautiful game of football.

I had a talk with my brother, and I would tell him this. I just said, yeah, I miss my dad, but he would want me to go out there and have fun, play loose and just have fun, and that's what I did today.

Q. You've talked in the past about how much he just loved all the guys on this team. How proud does it make you how much he continues to inspire not just you but everybody in that locker room?

MARK FLETCHER JR: Extremely proud. There's a lot of them boys who probably never had that father figure, but he stepped in and he was there for them. That's what a lot of us can relate on. That's why they feel for me so much, that that was my actual dad, but a great person, great blessing, long live Big Mark.

Q. Three years ago you made the decision to come to Miami after not a good season. Sitting here today with a playoff win, how validating was that decision knowing how far the program has come since you decided to jump on board?

MARK FLETCHER JR: Yes, sir. Nobody believed that we could do this. We never really worried about those voices anyway, but we're just very grateful, very blessed that we're in this position, and we're 1-0 today, we're going to celebrate this and go 1-0 next week.

Q. When we talked about Coach Dawson earlier, he said going into that drive the mentality was we're rolling with you for that drive. What did it feel to have that trust, to go out there and make the plays when it matters most?

MARK FLETCHER JR: Yeah, that's everything that a running back wants to hear when they say we're going to give you the ball and you do your thing. I immediately went to my O-linemen, my receivers and my tight ends, and I said, hey, y'all know what to do, get them out of the way. Get them out of the way and I'm going to just do my thing, and that's what they did. That's why them holes opened up like that.

Q. What does it feel like to run that offensive line, the trust in them to go and open up those holes?

MARK FLETCHER JR: It's the best thing in the world. Best thing in the world.

Q. When your receivers are clearing guys out the way they were today, what does that feel like? When you see it out of the corner of your eye a receiver coming down and just crushing a guy?

MARK FLETCHER JR: Man, it just turns me up. It's a team game, and I told them, y'all go just kill them DBs and they'll open up the pass game for y'all. That's how it's going to work, and that's just what we strive for.