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Q&A with junior cornerback Quenton Meeks

Quenton Meeks
Quenton Meeks (USA TODAY Sports Images)

How would you assess the development of this defense in the past four or five games?

"Each week we have gotten better at just doing our job. In the beginning of the year we were trying to do our own thing for the most part and we weren't trusting the system. We weren't trusting the coaches and it was getting us beat. As the year has gone on we've trusted doing our jobs more. If we do our job then the plays are going to come to us. You don't have to go out there and try to force plays. When you do that then that's when big plays get ripped off. As of late we've been focused on ... perfecting our craft and it has been going a long way for us."

Can you talk about losing Alijah and what you guys are doing to prepare without him?

"It was tough. Alijah, he's my brother. It was tough to see that on the field. He told me you have to go back out there and finish the game. Once he told me that my mind just flipped to finishing the game strong. Anytime you lose a leader like that it's going to be tough. We got great players coming up to fill the role. Alameen Murphy is going to do a great job for us. You don't hear about him a lot, but I think this last part of the year ... his name is going to get out there a lot because he's going to show a lot of people what he's made of. The secondary is going about business as usual."

How do you and the defensive backs view the challenge of going up against Washington State when their backup quarterback is asked to throw 61 passes last week? You can't stop all 61 passes.

"You just go in there and do your job. Do your assignment and have confidence in your ability. You know that they're a good passing offense and they're going to make their plays. The most important thing is to limit the big plays. Make them dink and dunk all throughout the field and then be strong in the red zone. Then when the plays come your way, make them. Don't drop any interceptions when they came to you."

Stanford is one of the top teams in the country with turnovers. What are you guys doing to make that happen?"

We're just trusting each other. We have the best secondary coach in the nation. He coaches us to see the game fast, he puts us in the right position and once we see the play he tells us to go make them and trust ourselves. Having a coach like that is so great for us. The players really trust him and trust our abilities as well. We keep pushing to find ways to make plays while still doing our jobs. Stay within ourselves and trust our technique."

How about your tackle on the pass to Nall?"They came out of a timeout in the same formation (as before the timeout) so I knew they wanted to see what we were in. So, they knew we were in man coverage. A lot of teams when (the defense is) in man coverage they try to do a lot of pick stuff to pick the guy who is intended to cover. What they did with my receiver is he went vertical and then ran in to pick the linebacker, whose assignment was the running back. My job was to replace his job and essentially become man to man on the running back. That's what I did. I saw the lineman out there lead blocking for him, so I knew it was a screen so I just tried to beat the block and make the play. I was able to do it. It was probably one of my favorite plays I've made in my entire life playing football. It was pretty fun."

There is an ongoing career interception competition between you and Justin Reid. It's getting close, so is there going to be a tiebreaker like degree of difficulty?

"Well right now I'm still in the lead so we're not talking about a tiebreaker, yet. He has been playing lights out this year and it really motivated me to start trying to figure out more ways to make plays. They weren't coming to me in the beginning of the year. That's my brother as well and he has been playing great. We push each other every day in practice and in games. It's exciting out there when you're playing with your brothers and they're making plays. You get excited and when you make a play they get excited. It's definitely a friendly competition but I'm trying to win."

You're a San Diego guy and it's going to snow Saturday. Do you even have it in your imagination what that's going to be like?

"Two years ago we went up there and it was pretty cold and rainy. I decided to go no sleeves. I won't be doing that again. I'll be layered up pretty good, so I can just focus on playing. I grew up in Georgia, so I used to play football games in the cold weather. They weren't pleasant but it's something you have to put in the back of your mind and really try not to think about it. Realize that everybody is playing in it, so if everybody is playing in it then it can't be an excuse."

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