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#Rivalry155: Pregame Q&A With DE Juwan Morrow



LFN: So your in your fifth year, you're and environmental science major. How's that? How's it been going along here for you? How has that worked out with integrating with football?

DE Juwan Morrow:  There are a lot of labs. It's a lot of field trips and class time, going out and doing certain experiments, using certain tools, you know. So it's definitely a challenge to be able to incorporate that with football. But the professors in that department are accommodating and football is very understanding. And it's a blessing to be able to have people work so hard together to make things work for me. 

LFN: Do you have any plans after graduation or do you know what your plans might be?

JM: So hopefully that paired with my environmental policy masters degree, that makes me more marketable to be able to work somewhere in Philly.

LFN: This season has been one of a great defensive turnaround. 

JM: We took on a backbone role for the defense. I think it started with the players, you know, wanting to establish an identity. And it got to the point where we said, you know what? We want people to see our identity, not just hear about it. So every time I go onto the field, I make sure to notice a run to the ball, hit people and impact, you know, make collisions, make plays happen and just be a high intensity, very emotional group of guys on defense.

LFN: As a front three unit, you've been been pretty steady - you, DE Mike Sibblis and DT Mike Laurencelle.

JM: They learned a lot. They grew up a lot over the past year.  It was great to be able to see them both grow as like as men and as players, you know, learning a lot. Taking on new coaching staff with us all together. And they took it on headstrong and they adapted and they absorbed everything they could. And I think their play shows that.

LFN: What is your leadership style on defense?

JM: I like to set the tone in a way, leading by example, but also making sure that, hey, we're all here. We signed up for this. You know, this is our job as a defense, whether they put it on the goal line or they're backed up 20 yards, you know. Same job. We want to be out there. 

LFN: Talk a little about the rivalry.  You've gone through this process a lot. Is there anything special that you'd tell younger players the kind of stuff that happens? 

JM: It's hard to to explain everything to someone who hasn't experienced it. So my words really don't do it justice. I just make sure that I'm telling them, hey, it's it's not a game. You keep doing what you're doing in your playbook to study your keys, make sure you hit the right guy and get off on the plays. So when the crowds jump in really loud and you can't hear the calls, you know, trust your technique and you'll be fine.  Play for the guy next to you.  We've been through all this adversity and now we want to come out on top together.

LFN: What does the rivalry mean to you? Just in general?

JM: It's an honor to play in this game. And luckily, I've been able to experience it for five years now.  It's just crazy how many people come out to see this game and support the players, support the teams. And that's an experience you really can't get anywhere else.

LFN: When you go to classes, or do you feel like people do people talk about it?

JM: You can definitely feel it in the air. Everyone knows it's Le/Laf week. Everyone's ready to see the game, even professors. They're ready to go. They talk about it. There's no comparison to like any other game we play at home.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Nice interview Chuck, nice to see an exclusive to LFN. Juwan's comments totally disproving that cynical commenter who says that students don't care about the Rivalry anymore. Watching highlights of the last few Rivalry games, makes one wonder who all the hundreds of LU and LC students are packed in, wearing the partisan T-shirts screaming and cheering at the top of their lungs. Perhaps they're actors brought in to fill the stands and make it look like students really care? Yeah, its not the overwhelming drunken fight filled chaos of the 1960s-80s. But when all or most of the tickets get sold, its a pretty nice step up from your mid-season game. Its a vital tradition in the Lehigh Valley.

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