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VIZIO FIESTA BOWL: BOISE STATE v ARIZONADecember 29, 2014Bryan HarsinGLENDALE, ARIZONA THE MODERATOR: We'll get underway with some opening comments from Coach Harsin. COACH HARSIN: Well, thank you very much, first of all. Like everything here, first class. I do want to start off thanking the Vizio Fiesta Bowl Organization Committee, all the Yellow Jackets. This experience for our coaches and our players couldn't be any better. We're excited to obviously be here for the game. These guys that are going to be with us answering questions for you guys today have worked extremely hard to get to this. On the 31st we'll play extremely hard. It's nice for these guys to see, outside of our university, what it's like, and what first class is like, by how they're being treated throughout this week. We couldn't say enough about the hospitality, the people that are helping us, that put this together. I know there's been comments throughout this week that Boise State, and some of us on staff have been to this game before, but it's completely different, it really is. Every time we've been here or I've been here, it gets better and better. Some of the people have changed, a lot have stayed the same. But every opportunity that we've had with these folks has been unbelievable. For our team, not many guys have been here. This year in particular, with the College Football Playoff, the way everything in college has changed, we feel like we're one of the few teams in these big bowl games making somewhat a little bit of history with the way things have gone so far. We're excited to be a part of that. This prep week here has been first class, where we're practicing, our field, what's gone on there. Our guys have gotten everything they've needed to go out there and have success on the 31st. We're excited about it being 48 hours away basically from game time and ready to roll. With that, we'll open it up for questions. Q. You've been here as an assistant coach. How does it feel, besides the College Football Playoffs, to be a head coach coming into this game? COACH HARSIN: Very proud for our program to be back here representing Boise State. As a coordinator, that was fantastic. Those two games in '06 and '10 that we played in, different teams, different staff, but we did some incredible things throughout that season, just like we did this year. To come full circle and be back here as the head coach, very proud. But very proud of our staff and our players. If you look at our season, you probably would say that early on we wouldn't be in this position. It's a credit to our players as the season went on, this 1‑0 mentality we started to talk about, and all of a sudden Game 9, 10, we're getting mentioned in possibly playing in one of these bowl games, this one in particular, I know our team was extremely excited. Having had a chance to be here two games previously, I knew how this would affect our football program and how awesome an experience it would be for our players to be here. Proud of our coaches, proud of our players, and proud to be representing Boise State. Q. What do you remember about the year you worked with Connor Brewer and Caleb Jones at Texas and what really stood out about those two guys to you? COACH HARSIN: Those two guys I recruited, as well. So know their families, been in their homes. Caleb, I'll start with him. He's got a background. His dad played 10 years or so in the NFL for the Cowboys. Great work ethic. Understands what it takes to be successful at the highest level. We had him at Texas, he was a young guy playing. You'd like to take some of those young guys and let him marinate a little bit. That wasn't the case with him. He came right in and played. Did a great job for a young guy. I think his maturity level, watching him now, you see what experience does for an athlete like Caleb. It's showing up. The guy is a play‑maker. He's doing a great job. I've watched his demeanor, it's gotten better. He's more mature. Just getting better and better. Connor, same thing. He transferred out of Texas there. But we felt like he was a very good player and could do a lot of things for us. I don't know what his situation is right now, but he's a competitor. Great family background. He's got brothers, sisters, all playing in college. He comes from a good line there. He's another one, Chaparral High School that's done a nice job. Hopefully he gets a chance and opportunity here. Q. How has the week been? COACH HARSIN: Like a normal week, we didn't go full pads on our normal Tuesday practice, went shells. That's a normal week for us. We've been in pads, been very physical prior to coming to Arizona. I think the guys have done exactly what we asked them to do. We wanted to prepare last week like it was a game week, then we sent them home for Christmas. We wanted to say, Hey, if we play on Saturday, are we ready to play and win? This week was about coming back, being physical early on, fine tuning what they have in the game plan. Q. (Question regarding tempo and the team conditioning‑wise.) COACH HARSIN: We run no‑huddle as well. I think that's the classic line. We're a no‑huddle team, we're going to wear you down. I think that is a little bit of the past, in my opinion, because everybody is a no‑huddle team, for the most part. So I believe our players throughout the season, watching our guys in games, I feel like we've been fresh. I don't feel like we've gotten run down. But I also know this. I know that Arizona is a different animal now, too. They do a great job with their tempo. But we've seen that throughout the year. Fresno, the last game, those guys went extremely fast, our guys were still able to execute. Bottom line is we're going to have to play fantastic. Is tempo a factor? Yes. But if we're prepared for it, which I believe we are, we have to get lined up and play, too. Q. (Question regarding academics.) COACH HARSIN: Grades don't post for a couple days. Feel very confident that all our guys that are here are going to be here. I think we've had a strong semester. Don't know what the final result is yet. Talking to these guys, asking them throughout the year, we ask them to be honest with us good or bad, don't put us in a situation where we don't know. So far all that has come true. Q. Arizona has a balanced offense, dynamic. How much of a different challenge is this for you? COACH HARSIN: I think the challenge comes in, just the run‑pass options, everything on there. We've looked at them from our offensive standpoint throughout the year. When they beat Oregon, you want to go back and watch that game. This is before we even knew we were going to play Arizona. You're just kind of studying what they're doing. The quarterback's obviously playing well. But when you have a chance to read, pull, run and throw, then do it in the different ways they're doing it, I think they're doing some things differently than most. It's tough to defend, but you need to do your job is what you need to do. I think what we can get you out of doing is trying to make you do more than you're supposed to do. Try to help another guy out, all of a sudden you're out of position. Once you're out of position, if you watch them, their team speed, they can take it and go. We need to be a disciplined defense, bottom line. We need to do our jobs out there. They're going to make plays. That's the reality of it. They're going to make plays. We have to be able to make those contested plays throughout the game and not just gimme's. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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