Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins' comments Saturday following the Yellow Jackets' 28-21 overtime win over Miami at Hard Rock Stadium:

On the replay review in overtime:

“Can I be honest? That whole thing was a blur. I mean, golly. Since I was probably 7 years old, the whole forward progress rule, it never jibed with me, especially being a defensive dude. He went backwards on his own accord, and then his elbow hit the ground, so I don’t know. But I’m glad the right spot was made, because our guys fought and fought and competed to get a really good ACC win, represent the 404, represent the city of Atlanta.”

On the defensive look that helped create the strip sack and touchdown on Miami’s first possession:

“We’ve been playing with that schematically, that lineup for awhile. We felt like we were ready to deploy it (Saturday). The same pressure that got the sack at the beginning of the game, to get the touchdown, was the same defensive scheme to win the football game for us (at the end). So we rolled it out there (Saturday) and it worked at a high level.”

On the fake punt:

“I tell our guys all the time that we are going to attack success. We are going to take chances, we are going to try to affect the game. We knew if they lined up in ‘punt safe’ that we had that fake wired, and a great snap. We actually changed the formation at the line of scrimmage. Tre (Swilling) went to the other side to affect the returner. Pressley (Harvin) made an unbelievable throw. Nate (Cottrell) made a great catch, so we’re going to take chances and try to affect the game, and we’ve got really good players that helped us to do that at a high level.”

On the play of defensive tackle Ja’Quon Griffin:

“He’s just worked really, really hard, has had a great demeanor. We’ve worked him in pass-rushing situations throughout the year and (he) has done a really good job with it. He’s just developing and developing as a player, so now he’s getting more snaps in the normal downs. So we talk all the time about development as a player. We are a development program and Ja’Quon Griffin is the epitome of what we ask for – just get better every single day, block out the noise, block the external factors, go to work, have a great attitude, be positive and get better, and you’re going to see results, and you saw those (Saturday).”

On telling the team to celebrate the first touchdown:

“Here’s what I told them: The first celebration penalty is on me. I didn’t know he was going to do what he did, but I told them the first penalty is on me. Then after that, be really smart, don’t hurt ourselves. We needed a little spark, we got it. Let the guys have a little fun, and they did, but that was the last one.”

On the late Brandon Adams:

“I know he’s up there looking down on us with pride and looking down on his teammates with pride. I just hope his family and the people that love him like we do can just get some enjoyment from (Saturday).”

On running back Jordan Mason’s rushing game:

“First of all, J.P. would be the first one to tell you the offensive line, and I’ve said it for so many weeks. This is one of the most dramatic changes in college football history, and for those guys week in and week out to just come out and get better at their technique and fundamentals, understanding I.D.’s, running a different scheme – there’s a lot of different things that we do in an NFL, spread-based attack – and just really proud of the offensive line. J.P. runs really hard, he breaks tackles, he’s hard to bring down, and he is a tremendous competitor.”

On the run game producing 207 rushing yards after a slow start:

“They were setting edges and there wasn’t a lot of chances to get the outside run game. Give them credit, they’ve got a really good defense. I think it’s one of the top run defenses in college football, so can’t discount that. They’ve got really good players, they’ve got really good scheme. But our guys just kept battling. We talked about all week and really the last two weeks, is either find a way or make one. And our guys just found a way, hunt and pecked and figured out how we can exploit some of the things they were doing. And then the effort that coach (Tashard) Choice and the entire running back room attack everything that they do, (including) their role on special teams. Nathan Cottrell on the fake punt, I mean, that’s awesome. He’s just down there covering kicks, covering punts, doing everything at a high level for us, and I was so glad that he was able to get that touchdown with Pressley Harvin.”

On rotating players:

“I bet when we look back on this game, there’s probably 29 defensive players that played, and in this kind of humid environment, our philosophy of playing a lot of guys pays off. There’s a lot of guys that have played a lot of football this entire season, so they’re ready to spell each other, come in. We lost Bruce Jordan-Swilling early in the game, (and) JaQuez Jackson, who is typically, normally a ‘mike’ linebacker was out there playing (‘will’ linebacker) a bunch for us. Just can’t give enough credit to our defensive staff, offensive staff and the players for just buying in and attacking throughout the entire day.”

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