Q&A with Greg Billinger

Defensive tackle Greg Billinger talked to the media yesterday after a career game against South Carolina, where he blocked a field goal and also had two sacks.

On blocking the field goal
It was pretty fun. I just tried to penetrate the gap as hard as I can, and I just got my hands up. The kicks were pretty low all game.

On this being a personal breakout game on a big stage
It felt really good. I never had a sack before. That kind of surprised me. I'm proud of my D-Line, I'm proud of the defense and offense. We just try to play as hard as we can, every play, every series. The whole summer, I don't really read the newspapers that much, but they didn't give us much credit out here. We took what we built over the summer and took it to the game today.

On what the win means for the team
We love it. I mean, we're...I'm kind of speechless right now. We went out there and played really hard like we always do in practice, we just do what we do in practice, it just takes care of itself. Like I said, I'm kind of speechless.

Emotions before the game
We came in and we looked at a lot of film from last year and tried to bring that same intensity as last year in their home stadium. We had to close ranks in the D-Line with as many D-linemen as we lost last year. We tried to the best of our ability to do that.

What's it like to see the Blackout
It felt really good. I don't think I've ever seen the place that packed. To have South Carolina's fans in that one little area and see black everywhere else felt pretty great. We heard them in the locker room actually, going "Who ya with, VU" and "Go Black." That's very motivating. I love the student body, I love our fans, I love all the parents and family members who come out and watch us from all different areas of the U.S. That's very motivating.

On the win being a confidence-booster
It gives me a lot of confidence. I'm going to go out there this week and have the same attitude next week. That's all I can do right now. You don't want to be cocky but you don't want to stay grounded.