	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 9, 2015

Mike Bercovici

Tempe, Arizona

Q. Talk about for the seniors to stop a losing streak and secure a bowl berth and how much that means to the departing seniors?
MIKE BERCOVICI: Absolutely. Obviously, we're going to fight every single game from this point on like it's on the line because it is. And there are a lot of people with a lot of investment.

Coach talks about the guys in the front of this room, and the guys that have been here four, five years, it means a lot to us every single day. The days are counting down from practice, and especially opportunities to be in between those white lines. But we're going to go out there and compete like we always do, and just compete like Sun Devils.

Q. This is obviously the first year where Taylor Kelly has been coaching the quarterbacks. Can you talk about the effect he had on you with the long relationship both of you have had over the last several years?
MIKE BERCOVICI: Yeah, Taylor and I have obviously had a great relationship from the second I've been able to step on campus. We've always been competitors. And one of the great things about him being a part of this staff this year is that he's lived a lot of the situations that I have. He's been in the helmet. He's taken some of the hits and knows how your body is feeling at this point in time. He's just someone that I can go to for more deeper questions, and week to week he's just someone that always mentally prepares me at a very high level. I'm very thankful for him and these quarterbacks.

In the future it's going to be great to have a guy like him specifically coaching the quarterbacks.

Q. How frustrating has it been? Because at times this team has shown flashes of being one of the best teams, but how frustrating is it that you haven't been able to completely put it all together?
MIKE BERCOVICI: Football is made of one-on-one battles, and obviously there are a lot of people on the field at once, and specifically 11 on one side of the ball. It's amazing that you can see successful plays that are split seconds away from happening, whether the one-on-one be at the quarterback position, wide receiver, tight end, running back, wherever it is.

Really, what we're doing right now is watching film, correcting it, and looking forward. Because like you just said, we have three games left for this senior class, for this 2015 football team to go out and do it. There is limited time, but the corrections will be made because that's what this coaching staff does. They're just relentless with how they coach us day-to-day, and it's just going to be an exciting finish to see how we can pull through.

Q. You mentioned being close to having a couple of those plays work for you guys, including in the red zone, I know. What are your thoughts about where your team is at right now and when you get up close and those scoring opportunities?
MIKE BERCOVICI: We practice these situations a lot. It's an emphasis for us weekly, daily. It boils down to one-on-one matchups and something that as the quarterback you have to get the ball in the end zone, whether it be yourself throwing, running, however you can help. We've just got to focus on ourselves and that extra emphasis that when we do get down there it has to be six points, three points. We have to score points. We have three games left and we're going to have to dominate the situations.

Q. When you came off the field prior to the fake punt, did you know that play was on?
MIKE BERCOVICI: No, that's something that I didn't know it was coming.

Q. So it surprised you as much as it did everyone else?
MIKE BERCOVICI: Yeah, I knew it was something that we probably practiced that week. But special teams, it's a third of the game, and sometimes it's another way to get inside the red zone.

Q. Also the vertical passing game, this was something that in the preseason with the speed that you guys had with Tim and Devin, it looks like that might have been something that you guys could do a lot. It just hasn't been there. What have been the issues of being able to stretch the field?
MIKE BERCOVICI: Obviously big plays are something that are critical to big wins, and just sustaining that effect on defense is something we've got to do a better job of. It starts with me as a quarterback, and then obviously protection. Everything goes into big plays, whether it be protections, running backs blocking, wide receivers getting on the defense. So it's something that we're just going to have to -- we have to have a sense of when those plays need to happen. And as a quarterback, like I said, I take responsibility to have those guys ready to go and give them opportunities to make plays.

Everybody who is sitting here has been recruited to play here, and they all have capabilities to make huge plays and run fast. Like I was saying, we've got three games left to go do that, and I really think that we can.

Q. Want to get your thoughts on Washington. 4 and 5, two teams maybe that parallel each other, and also to get back on track at home after losing the past two home games?
MIKE BERCOVICI: It's going to be a great match-up. I think Washington is in a similar situation with us, just kind of fighting for anything that they can, and we're going to be playing in front of our home crowd. It's always fun to play in Sun Devil Stadium, especially when the time's are limited for this senior group because we have two more left to go out and play.

Just the focus is going to start tomorrow at 6 a.m. when we all wake up and get in this building. And the message is clear. Own the ball, play lights out on special teams and give these fans what they deserve, and that's a Sun Devil win.

Q. What has surprised you most about this season with how the team has played?
MIKE BERCOVICI: What surprised me the most is the guys in this room, the type of relentless effort and mental strength that we have on this football team because this game is about wins and losses.

But sometimes you think about either you win or you learn, and I think that we have guys that are setting up guys for the future who we use levels in this room. Our seniors sit in front, freshmen sit in back. By the time those freshmen group come toward the front, the year's past. They're going to learn from this type of year.

Hopefully the message is clear to go out and dominate the rest of the football season. But what surprised me the most is we have true leadership on this football team. We have guys that care, and guys that it means something to wear the fork on your helmet, and that's been the most surprising part about this season.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297