GATOR COLLECTIVE CORNER: An Interview With O’Cyrus Torrence on WHAT’S HOT!

He likes it here but would like it better with hot sauce. We're on it! (UAA photo)

By KYLE CURTIS

GatorBaitMedia.com

O’Cyrus Torrence is a 6-5, 335-pound transfer from Greensburg, LA. Torrence played and started at Louisiana under Billy Napier and has yet to allow a sack in his three years playing. Torrence was a 2021 Sun Belt First Team Offense recipient.

Growing up in Louisiana, Torrence was surrounded by the bayou and famous Cajun food New Orleans. He decided to take his talents to Gainesville via transfer portal when Billy Napier and company came to town.

Aside from a few changes from his hometown in Louisiana, he has settled nicely in Gainesville. He mentions how he appreciates the football atmosphere he experienced during the spring game along with all the people here. A seamless transition for someone who has lived their whole life in Louisiana.

There is one thing Torrence misses from his Lousiana home cookin’: Hot sauce. Torrence mentioned that as the main thing he misses from Louisiana. His favorite? Louisiana Hot Sauce.

In honor of Torrence’s roots Terry Bradshaw, along with the help of Gator Collective and The Buddy Martin Show, has vowed to provide Torrence with a supply of Louisiana’s original hot sauce soon.

Question: Do the nutritionists help bring your food from home (Louisianna) to you?

Answer: “They do their best and make sure it is healthy. I have my trust in them and they have helped me with good and healthy food.”

Question: What is it about you and your mentality when game time rolls around?

Answer: “When I was growing up I was bigger than the kids my age so I was always around my older brother and older cousins so we would always wrestle and play and I would lose. I didn't like to lose. When I started playing football and started playing with kids my age it was just easier to get the mentality you don’t want to lose. I’m not going to let one person beat me.”

Question: If you spent your whole life in Louisiana what’s it like spending your senior year here in Gainesville?

Answer: “It’s different for sure. At first, it was kind of hard to explain, but then just the people and the environment made it easy. I don’t want to say the people in Louisiana are ruder, but it is more of a home feeling football-wise here. The spring game and feeling of the fans are just different. I didn’t think I liked the area but I actually love it and the community and it ended up being a good difference.”

Question: Tell us some things about Billy Napier that you know that we may not?

Answer: “He is a man of discipline. Everything he does is a plan. He would always show us his notepad pregame, and he had everything marked up from the moment he woke up to the moment he went to bed, so that’s how he’s kind of rubbed off on us. He has a plan for everything, you know what you’re going to get from him every single day, just consistency. I feel the same with the coaches he brought in, they all just have a plan. He just brings around good people just like him. As a player, you can’t do anything but respect him.”

Question: What are the advantages of having two offensive line coaches?

Answer: “No players ever block the same so you can always teach it differently. Both coaches have a different style of coaching, but it goes together with the offense. They are coaching the same thing just in different ways so all the players can understand it. And for us offensive linemen it gives us all the answers we need because the more answers we have the more comfortable I am going to feel during the game. Having two coaches going into the game, any question I have they will always have an answer and make it easier to play allowing us to play better and faster.”

Question: How was it playing in the Sun Belt and how has it helped prepare you?

Answer: “When I originally committed there, I did not think it was going to be as hard, then as we went through practices I started seeing these dudes look just like the dudes at the power 5 schools. These dudes are grown men too. I must come with A-game every day. There’s not much of a difference if you know how to play football you know how to play, if you know how to play in G5 you can play in power 5.”

Question: How can you play on the offensive line for three years and not give up a sack?

Answer: “I just apply what my coach says and then after a while, I started to get a feel once I learned how to watch the film. It then got easier when I figured out the offense and what we are trying to do in the offense and the offensive line. It’s knowing the defensive rotations and the calls, so knowing the shifts and stuff like that and playing together. Props to the quarterback too because there were a few times I got a beat, and they ran away.”

Question: What are your thoughts on Anthony Richardson?

Answer: “At first I didn’t even think he was the quarterback. I was like this guy must be a wide receiver or a running back he is too big to be a quarterback. At the end of one of the first practices, he was throwing the ball and I was like, shoot, that is the quarterback come to find out. Just from watching him practice and how he carries himself, he is just a different dude. I am excited. Once we got to scrimmage then I saw him run the ball and he turned into a running back when he ran the ball. He can throw the ball 50 yards and run like a running back, all we need to do is block and something special will happen.

Question: Why do you think you are such a productive run and pass blocker?

Answer: “I think some of it comes to my approach to it. Since I started playing seriously and giving the game all, I got, I realized I could be great at this. Once I realized I am a big enough size and if I can get my technique down perfectly it is going to be hard for me to lose run blocking or pass blocking. That’s what I work on now my technique, I feel like physically I am good. Having a good coaching staff is all helping me to get where I want to go.”

Question: During Spring scrimmages, who impressed you the most on the D-line?

Answer: “Gervon Dexter is probably one of the best D-lineman I’ve ever gone against. He’s too big to be going that fast in those small areas. Whenever I am going against him, I must make sure I know exactly where to go. He is a monster.”

Question: How has Gator Collective benefitted you and how has the process been?

Answer: “I like it. They make the process easy. It’s kind of like a bridge between them and the people who may want to give us deals. It is like Gator Collective is a safety net for us. They even reach out to friends, and I get to go talk to a bunch of fans and do experiences. It is neat because we get to get a cool interaction opportunity with the fans. I am appreciative of the Gator Collective.”