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ATHENS, Ga. – Bulldog student-athletes Travon Walker and Nolan Smith previewed the College Football Playoff/Orange Bowl matchup against Michigan on New Year’s Eve. The Bulldogs and Wolverines kick-off at 7:30 p.m. ET in Miami Gardens, Florida.

#44 | Travon Walker | Jr. | DL
On if he has noticed any changes in practices since the announcement of the new defensive coordinators…
“I mean it is all the same because the guys and the coaches we are all still bought in. We are still on the same mission that we were on at the beginning of the year which is to win a National Championship. Now we have Michigan in our way so there is no change, everything is still the same really, just got to keep moving forward.”

On if playing few four-quarter games affected their performance…
“I can say that some of the time that some of the guys probably did get a little winded and that did play a small part in the loss. But overall I think it is just things that we have to fix on our own.”

On making a statement against Michigan…
“We just have to go out there and play our ball, our type ball. That is just being the most physical team on the field and not wanting anybody to run all over us or do whatever they do. We just want to go out there and play our ball.”

#4 | Nolan Smith | Jr. |OLB
On the sentiment of the team going into the Orange Bowl…
“New life. I will say that, new life. Coach Smart has even said it, ‘it is a one game season.’ What we did before, congratulations and what we did before it is not that bad we can always learn from our mistakes. But it is new life, it is one game and you have to win to advance. I think a lot of guys are ready to work and we are happy that we have this opportunity. A lot of people watch Georgia football for a long time and a lot of people didn’t get this opportunity that we have had and now that we have it we have to seize it. I tell the guys every day, ‘let’s just come work. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other one.'”

On building back up after the SEC Championship…
“I mean it was the next day for me. To be honest I couldn’t sleep at night so stayed up watching film and watched the game as many times as I could. Just trying to see what we could do better, things that we did wrong, places that we could have been better. I mean third down, everyone knows that third down is ‘Money Down’ in the SEC kind of like the NFL and we did not do really well on third down. We did not rush the passer well and that is on me. It is just a lot of things that we could have done better.”

On watching Georgia in the Rose Bowl being able to play in the College Football Playoff…
“I mean yeah, when Lorenzo (Carter) blocked that field goal and we went into overtime and Tae (Crowder) did that thing at half-time, I watched the whole game. I watched the whole game and a lot of people counted us out but we came back. But, I am really excited and I am happy to be on this stage and part the Georgia team that made it to the College Football Playoffs. I will be able to tell this to my kids forever let alone.  but hopefully we can win it.”