Brandon Kennedy, R-Sr., OL

On the chemistry with the offensive line and what he expects from them this season…

“I think we’ve been really good at building chemistry. It has allowed us to get different guys at different positions this year, so I think it’s been great. Our expectations going in to the first game is we want to be physical up front, and make a name for ourselves with our physicality, so that’s what we pride ourselves on with the offensive line.”

On the excitement and expectations for Saturday’s game at South Carolina and if he has talked to his peers about it…

“Going into this season, I’m very excited. It’s my last season and I’ve worked very hard to get to this point, so I am just excited and ready to get out there.  As far as talking to people on the outside about playing, my mom she’s very excited for me. She’s been with me through this whole process and just seeing me get this far. All my friends have been talking to me about it and they’re all excited and ready to see some football on Saturday.”

On why he thinks this group of offensive line has such a good chemistry…

“I think we have better chemistry now because throughout this whole fall camp we’ve relied on some guys that may not usually get certain opportunities. They’ve been able to learn and grow and also some of the young guys have been able to get more opportunities. This whole pandemic has allowed them to come along, and we feel great going in to the first game at who we will have out there.”

On what his relationship has been like this past year with Jarrett Guarantano on and off the field…

“Me and Jarrett have a great relationship. We watch a lot of film and we talk about things other than football, so I think we have a great relationship that boosted over the offseason. We’re always trying to watch film and see how each of us thinks. I think that will be good and very helpful for us going into the season.”

On what he thinks of the South Carolina team they’ll be facing Saturday night…

“I think Will Muschamp has a good defense – their pretty good up front. They have some younger guys that will be stepping in to a newer role. On the back end they are pretty good, and have a solid secondary, and I also think the linebackers are good as well.”

On if they have had discussion on how to start the season better than last year…

“One of the things we have harped on is the team with the fewest mistakes will win, so that’s what we’ve been harping on this whole time is trying to play clean football and be penalty free and things like that. I think if we do that we put ourselves in good position to be successful on Saturday.”

On what he has seen from the defensive line in camp…

“The defensive line has done a pretty good job. Some of the guys I go against I got to give credit to such as Elijah Simmons and Kurott Garland. I think those guys have done a great job and they are very explosive and they have grown over the offseason as far as the knowledge of the defense. I feel they are two pretty big guys on the defensive line at the nose position.”

On what the offensive line’s internal expectations are…

“Our offensive line coach always tells us that we want to set the tone, so I think if we set the tone for the team, we can be very successful. We want to be able to win our box, (our) five guys, we have a job every play. That’s kind of the goal we set going into a game – we want to win every play and dominate our box. Those are two things that we focus on as an offensive line.”

On if he has seen an improved Trey Smith due to his return to practice…

“I think he’s grown to be more comfortable with the amount of time that he’s able to practice. Also, when he isn’t able to practice, we have other guys that are able to come along and some of the younger guys, or maybe older guys get a chance. Yes, I think he’s more comfortable and he’s grown into a very good player.”

On if he ever had doubts of a season being played this fall…

“Being honest, sitting back in April, we didn’t know what would happen. As a team, and also me as a person, we were just kind of concerned and there was a lot of uncertainty. Now that we’ve been able to go through the summer and have gotten to deal with COVID-19 and know what to expect, the medical professionals have given us advice on how to attack this. I think we’ve done a great job and I’m kind of excited now that we’ve gotten to this point.”

On if he felt hesitant when a group of players were quarantined due to COVID-19 precautions…

“It was kind of tough at first, but like I said earlier, people were able to grow. If someone was out, we were able to have someone else step up and I think that allowed guys to grow and become more comfortable with playing, learning the plays and fundamentals.”

On the progression he has seen from J.T. Shrout this fall camp…

“I think he’s making good strides as a quarterback and as far as his mental process. I think that kind of rolls over into the offseason. All of the quarterbacks have been able to get with Coach (Chris) Weinke and they’ve grown.”

On what it has been like to represent his hometown of Wetumpka, Alabama, throughout his collegiate career…

“I’m blessed to have this opportunity. Anytime I get to talk to people back at home, I always give them advice on anything that they may need. I always try to give back and I feel like that’s one of the things for me, being an older guy. As far as giving back to my hometown and giving back to some of the younger guys on the team, being able to bring them along, I think that’s my role as a senior here and I’m very excited to do it.”

On what has impressed him about freshman offensive lineman, Javontez Spraggins…

“As a freshman, he’s gotten a lot of reps with the offensive line. The one thing that I see out of him is that he’s very eager and aggressive. He plays hard. As an offensive line, that’s one of the things that really sticks out and people see. When you play hard, it shows up on film. That’s one of the things that I see from Javontez Spraggins”

On how Jeremy Banks and Quavaris Crouch have gotten better over the last couple of weeks…

“Those two guys are very physical. That’s the one thing I’ll say about them. They’re able to see formations, recognize things before they happen, those are the things that those two are growing in. I think they’ve gotten way better.”