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MOTEL 6 CACTUS BOWL: WEST VIRGINIA VS ARIZONA STATE

December 31, 2015

Skyler Howard

Phoenix, Arizona

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What has it been like here in the Phoenix area?
SKYLER HOWARD: It's been great. Wish it was a little warmer, but it's been great. Good to get out of Morgantown a little bit.

Q. Have you been out to Arizona before?
SKYLER HOWARD: No, I haven't. I went to junior college in California. I'm used to the surroundings. Nice to see the mountains.

I had some family out in west Texas, too. Used to spend some summers out there.

Q. What kind of things have you gotten to do as a team?
SKYLER HOWARD: Eating a lot, eating a lot of food. I'm really just enjoying everything. We go out as a team, big groups, do what we want to do.

Q. Are you excited at all about playing at Chase Field, a baseball stadium?
SKYLER HOWARD: It's going to be different, but not so different it's going to affect everything. I like the venue. I've seen pictures of it. I'm excited to play there.

Q. How do you think you matchup?
SKYLER HOWARD: Pretty well. Of course, we're going to say that. We've seen a lot of different teams that blitz like they do, but not as often. They're going to have a lot of different looks every time. We'll be prepared for that. We've had time to study it, know what we need to know.

Q. Do you think it's going to be more of a shootout game?
SKYLER HOWARD: We'll see. We'll see.

Q. When you look back at the season, the running game has been a big thing for you. Do you think you can rush the ball on just about anybody?
SKYLER HOWARD: Yeah, I believe we do a great job of just taking what the defense gives us. I think that's why we're successful with it. When you take one thing away, we'll hit you with something else. We have a lot of different weapons. I've talked about that all season, the weapons we have. I think that's why we're successful.

Q. How good are those two runningbacks?
SKYLER HOWARD: 7 and 4, great. They're great. Different styles sometimes in different games, but tremendous athletes, tremendous guys to be part of the team.

I love being in the back there with them. They're my brothers and I love battling with them. As far as just football goes, I don't think it can get much better than that.

Q. How much did your hand bother you when it was hurting? It has to affect you.
SKYLER HOWARD: Yeah, I mean, it hurt. Once the game gets going, you get adrenaline going. There was a time, I'm sure y'all saw, I couldn't shake anybody's hand. Always going lefty. That has to say something about how bad it's hurting.

I'm not sure how much I can talk about that. Coach doesn't like talking about injuries.

Quarterback is different. The throwing hand, that tiny. I messed up just the end of that finger, just that will throw you off a little bit. It's all about precision.

Q. Last week you were already pretty tuned in with a lot of zero blitzes. What have you been able to see these last couple days?
SKYLER HOWARD: Just a review of what we've been doing. When you watch film as many times as you do, it's like watching a movie. Two or three times you may catch something you may not have seen before. Maybe you can use that to your advantage.

So it's just a continuing process. Two more days, still a lot of work to be done.

Q. How has this offense changed without Jovon? Know you can't stretch the field that well. What were the changes for you guys?
SKYLER HOWARD: Not a whole lot. Not a whole lot.

Q. Did you see anybody kind of step up?
SKYLER HOWARD: Yeah, you know, Ka'Raun White and David, they've been working really hard on that side of the ball. They're players that have made plays this season. They're players I trust to make those plays. I have no doubt that they will make those plays.

Q. What did you learn from last year's bowl game to now? Pretty exciting time to be a part of all this. What did you take away from last year's Liberty Bowl?
SKYLER HOWARD: Different mindset a little bit. Especially for me, that was my second start. This is my 13th of the season. It's night and day for me, just as far as the approach to the game, the experience that I had throughout the season. I've learned something new every week, of course, from every game.

It's night and day for me personally.

Q. A lot of mental focus?
SKYLER HOWARD: You got to know why you're here. You got to understand that you're here for a reason, and after this game then you can have your fun. We get a little break afterwards. As much fun as we're having here, you can't go too wild. You still got two days till the game.

I just hung out last night at the hotel, didn't do much. But that's just me.

I like to prepare and be ready for things.

Q. The mindset is the real fun is playing football?
SKYLER HOWARD: That's the real fun, winning this game, having a successful game. That will set me up in the long run, set this team up in the long run. For me I'm looking at the big picture.

I won't settle for this temporary fun, going out and drinking, getting into bar fights. I won't settle for that. I want to sustain something and be successful.

Q. Bowl games launch the next season, too.
SKYLER HOWARD: Right. That's exactly what I'm looking forward to. I want to end this season on a good note, go into the off-season, get this team really going.

Q. (Question regarding Boykin.)
SKYLER HOWARD: It was in San Antonio. I don't really know the situation at all. You got to know why you're there. No doubt he doesn't understand why he's there, you just got to remember it and really focus on it, don't let it get to your head.

Q. He's missing out on his last chance to play football. What does this mean with the bowl game, to build on next year?
SKYLER HOWARD: It means everything for our offense right now I think. Going into this game is huge. Our goal as an offense was to get better every week this season. I think we have done that most of the weeks. We've had our setbacks. This is just another week we want to get better. We want to put something out there that is successful and something that we can build on for the off-season.

Q. A lot of the progress you've talked about, the games it hasn't translated, you're upset, but what are some of the big strides you've made that isn't necessarily evident in game film?
SKYLER HOWARD: I think our mental approach to the offense, knowing what we can do, knowing when we can do it. We have a lot of young receivers, just getting on the same page with those guys. You're going to see different looks every week. They're going to learn something new every week.

Q. How about for yourself? Where are you at now, the boos and everything? How do you feel about how the season went for yourself?
SKYLER HOWARD: I'm just playing ball, you know. I'm trying to think about how to say this in a nice way. I've been playing ball since I was five years old. They weren't there when I was five years old, so I'm going to continue what I was doing. I've done it all my life.

I hear it. I've taken it into account. I won't forget it throughout my next season at West Virginia. There's no doubt I won't forget it. It just makes me who I am as a player, made me play the way I play.

Take it as a grain of salt, just keep playing ball.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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