Jermaine Johnson, Kalen Deloach speak on FSU’s defensive performance vs. Notre Dame

Florida State football fell in overtime to No. 9 Notre Dame by a score of 41-38 on Sunday night. After the game, defensive lineman Jermaine Johnson and Kalen Deloach spoke to the media. Deloach and Johnson were FSU’s team leaders in total tackles. Here’s what they had to say.

Johnson on the defensive line: “We definitely played really well. I feel like we set the tone... I think the defense overall played their butts off and showed our identity throughout the entire game. Still too many points, but we’ll get back to the drawing board.”

On what he takes away from the game: “It’s not a loss, it’s a lesson. Find the lessons in it. Attack this next week. We did a lot of great things out there tonight.”

On the team’s grit: “It changed through this whole offseason. It was a process. Everybody bought in, everybody was selfless. I couldn’t be more proud of our guys. We came together, we didn’t give up. Came up a little short, but so proud of my guys.”

On the team’s identity: “Not going to give up. So what, now what. We aren’t going to let anybody walk over us.”

On the atmosphere at Doak Campbell Stadium: “I’ve been around big games and big moments, but there’s nothing like that.”

Deloach on team’s comeback effort: “As a team, we came together. This is what we work for. We just wanted to play our best today and give it our all.”

On defensive improvement: “The defense is way better. We’re flying to the ball. We work on pursuit everyday.”

On the defensive line: “I talked to them before the game. I said, ‘You keep me clean, I’ll keep you clean.’ They kept me clean and let me go make plays.”

We will update this article with press conference videos as they become available.