A lot has happened in the past year for Mikey Keene.
A year ago, the quarterback from Chandler, Ariz., signed his National Letter of Intent to play for UCF, a school he never visited during the recruiting process. Since January he's dealt with a coaching change, impressed Gus Malzahn and the new staff to earn backup status heading into the season and then took over as a full-time starter following Dillon Gabriel's injury. He was "thrown into the fire" as Malzahn put it, but helped the team achieve a solid 8-4 record despite a multitude of injuries on both sides of the ball.
Now he gets a chance to lead the offense in a highly-anticipated bowl game against Florida.
Here's everything the true freshman had to say during his Gasparilla Bowl press conference on Monday.
How excited are you for this opportunity to play the Florida Gators?
"We've been talking about it since the bowl game was announced, how huge of an opportunity this was for not only this team but for the program in general. I'm super excited. The whole team is excited. Everyone around us is excited. Our fans are excited. It's got a big-game atmosphere that we don't get to have against a true quality opponent in Florida. And being an in-state game as well, it's huge for bragging rights like Tatum (Bethune) said. Everyone is super excited for this opportunity."
What's your biggest concern about their defense?
"They move very well. Obviously playing in the SEC, the guys they get in recruiting, they just move really fast. Their front four is very dangerous. They've got some dudes out there. Honestly, it's what we have to do. It's just executing our game plan and being able to make plays happen. That goes into it every single week."
G.J. Kinne is going to leave to take a head coaching job? What has he meant to you?
"I've had a great relationship with Coach Kinne since I was in high school. He recruited me when he was at Hawaii. When he got the job here I was super excited to be able to work with him. Obviously taking the reins this year I got to work with him even more. He's just a great coach. I'm super excited for him. Super happy for him. That's a great opportunity for him to be able to take a head coaching job. I'm super happy for him and super blessed he was able to coach me this year."
Dillon Gabriel went to the transfer portal and is going to UCLA. What's your reaction to that and what was your relationship with Dillon?
"Dillon is basically like one of my brothers. I look up to him as one of my best friends and one of my older brothers from the advice he can give me and the experiences he's had that are similar to mine. I talk with Dillon frequently still. I'm super excited for him. Super happy for him for that opportunity going to UCLA. That's great for him. Super happy for his family as well. I know it's going to be a lot shorter flight from Hawaii for them. Dillon is my brother and one of my best friends. That's my relationship with Dillon."
Did Dillon give you a message?
"Nothing really. Just same things he told me in the offseason. Just be ready for this opportunity and put myself in position if something were to ever happen to him I could come in and fill in the job and do what's needed to be done. Along the lines of that."
What has been the focus of you, Gus and GJ in practice?
"Honestly, cleaning up what we needed to clean up from this whole season. Executing on third downs is a big key to what we need to be able to do to put up points on offense. Also help our defense out as well. Just executing on third downs is a critical part of our game that we need to get better at. Limiting turnovers always in every single game. That's what we try to do. Just taking care of the ball. Making things happen. Execute the game plan."
What's it like having Isaiah Bowser back and healthy?
"It just changes our offense completely. He's a game changer. It helps out with our other running backs as well. Johnny Richardson and Mark-Antony. Takes off the load. He's great in pass protection as well. He's a load, a three-down back. He's just a great player."
How great is it to have this game and then holiday break?
"My focus has been on the game, but of course it is nice to go back home. I haven't been back since this summer. Looking forward to getting to see my family back home and spend the holidays there. My focus is completely on this game right now. I'm super fired up. We've been talking about this for the last two and a half weeks, just what a huge opportunity this is and to make the most of it. That's what we've been trying to do this entire season. That's what we're going to try to finish it out with."
You're not from Florida, but do you understand the attention surrounding a game like this for UCF and Florida?
"I've gotten the message. I see how big this game is, not only for this team but for our supporting staff, for our fans, for everyone that's a UCF alumni. Just all the players from before. It's a huge opportunity like I keep saying. I'm super excited that we're able to be the team that gets this opportunity."
This game sold out in 20 minutes. Have you heard that? Were you surprised?
"That's pretty ridiculous. That's actually really awesome, honestly. I never played in a crowd like this before, but I'm super excited. Playing in the Bucs stadium is super cool. Sometimes I have to look back at it. I'm still only a freshman. I've got things popping up on my phone, like a year ago today I signed. Just putting things into perspective. It's really an incredible opportunity for me. I'm just really blessed to be here."
Florida quarterback at Emory Jones, what have you seen from him?
"I've watched games previously. He's a great quarterback. Presents a lot of problems for a defense. He's very good on the run. He's very elusive. Hard to tackle. It's coming down to defenses being able to make plays and stopping him from being able to extend plays. He's really good at extending plays and making things happen when not everything is perfect."
If you could tell yourself a year ago that you'd be leading UCF in a bowl game against Florida, what do you think your reaction would be?
"I probably wouldn't believe you. Everything happens for a reason. Like I said earlier, I'm blessed to be in this position. Wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I'm super pumped up."
Where do you think you've improved the most from your first game today?
"Just my overall preparation for the games has become a lot more clean. More efficient in a way. I understand what I'm going to be looking for in a defense. I understand what we can do to attack a defense more. Then just limiting my turnovers. I feel in the second half of the season I was really trying to focus on limiting the turnovers that I had. That was pretty much it. I was just trying to keep stacking and keep working every single week. Just limit those turnovers and give ourselves a chance to win."
Do you feel the game slowed down?
"I feel for everyone after they get their feet wet, there's always the first few plays or the first snap where you have jitters, but after that you're playing and you're going off what you've worked on the entire week of preparation and practice and film work. Your instincts come on. I felt a little more natural out there. Yeah, the game did slow down a little bit for me. Just every week of preparation kind of helped with that."
