“This bowl has lived up to all the hype that I heard of it. Coaches…that have been here rave about the hospitality, rave about the venue and all the activities for the players.”

We always talk about being a spark and swinging the momentum of the game and that swung it.

Everybody has a role on the team, and some have a role as a scout team player. They have to emulate the offenses that we are going to face. Those players still have to go through the out-of-season work and they work hard.

We hadn’t lost morale. But when you fight for four quarters, it’s tough to always bounce back. The offense kept us in the game the last two weeks and to get out with a win feels really good.

We certainly haven’t used that as a motivation, … The games themselves and the time that they’ve put in in preparation for these games is motivation enough. I don’t think that has anything to do with it at all.

We had some guys that abandoned their technique and abandoned some of the things that we just worked a month on.

The people here have been marvelous. The bowl committee has bent over backwards to make sure that our stay is an excellent one. The players have something to do if they choose every day. You couldn’t find a better place.

We did not underestimate what we could do.

Most search committees use me.

I love bowl games. I really do. I like it more than the kids do. I grew up a poor kid in western Pennsylvania, and I went to Nebraska because I saw them play in the Orange Bowl and I wanted to play in a bowl game. I cherish the memories.