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MOTEL 6 CACTUS BOWL: BAYLOR VS BOISE STATE

December 26, 2016

Brett Rypien

Phoenix, Arizona

BRETT RYPIEN: But it's interesting, they play teams in the Big 12, and our offense is a lot different than the teams in the Big 12. We're very multiple and we'll use a lot of different personnel. So you kind of get maybe a little bit of a sense from some looks that you're going to get. But it's an interesting game, because we haven't seen -- they haven't really seen an offense that is very similar to ours this year.

Q. What makes you guys so different from what you're seeing?
BRETT RYPIEN: I think we're just always open to trying different things. And we can change personnel groups at any time. We go from a 10-personnel group to a 13-personnel group. And we'll get in 22 personnel, sometimes, too. And we just do a lot of different things and that's what makes us so unique. And it's definitely a very complicated offense, I think, to play in.

But the guys that we have taking initiative to take that extra preparation to make sure that we all know what we're doing.

Q. You actually use the tight end?
BRETT RYPIEN: Yeah.

Q. So to come down to Arizona, a little bit different than back home. You've been here a few days now?
BRETT RYPIEN: The weather's been a lot nicer besides one day we got poured on at practice. But it's been great down here so far. I'm from Spokane, Washington. So we just got seven inches of snow a couple of days ago.

So it's a lot better than that, for sure.

Q. You guys have a history in Arizona in both games, a lot of good surprises, a lot of good trends for you guys. Is there anything you are in particular looking forward to?
BRETT RYPIEN: Yeah, it's the next game. I think we talked about that all the time. And the next game is the biggest game of the year. And you know, this is a great opportunity for us to be down here. I think this whole staff this bowl game has done an unbelievable job of taking care of us. And we're really looking forward to going out there and playing our best ball tomorrow.

Q. Give me your thoughts on Jeremy, on his decision?
BRETT RYPIEN: Jeremy is my roommate. So I've been talking to him about it for a while. And kind of got a sense of where he was going with that decision. And I couldn't be happier for him.

You know, that's something that I think he needed to do and he felt like he needed to do. And it's going to be awesome for him moving forward and I'm going to be rooting for him.

Q. I asked Coach about this, about Jeremy, what seems to be (indiscernible)?
BRETT RYPIEN: Well, he's a very diverse player. And he can do a lot of different stuff as a running back and we can split him out as receiver as well. He actually played receiver in high school. So he has that experience with him. And I think the best thing he's done this year is taken his game to the next level. His physicality has been unbelievably consistent this year, and he's brought it every single week and I think a lot of teams will notice that.

He does a great job I think in every aspect of the game that you don't see out of a whole lot of backs coming out of college. He does it in the pass game, he does it in the run game and he does it in pass protection.

So he's a very, very diverse player and a guy that is going to be able to step into I think any offense and make a contribution.

Q. As you look at the film of Baylor, (indiscernible) on that team. What concerns you?
BRETT RYPIEN: You know, you see they're big and fast for sure. Probably bigger and definitely faster than any team we've seen all year. They've got a lot of different guys that can cover in space and it's going to be a challenge for us for sure.

And we've been trying to prepare for their speed as much as we can. But obviously it's going to be a little bit different going out there. And it will be a good challenge for us but at the same time we're looking forward to it and at the end of the day comes down to executing for us.

Q. Bowl game, extra practices, how much does that mean? Is it more for the underclassman than the guys who are trying to finish up?
BRETT RYPIEN: No, I think it's beneficial for everyone. You know, with those extra practices, because you kind of get a week after the final game the season is over to kind of go back and look and see what you can improve on from last year and what you need to be working on going into this bowl game is spring forward yourself into next year, and that time is really big for me because I like to go back and self-evaluate and see what I can get better at.

And I take those into our first week of bowl practices, which are very generic, because we really don't even know who we're playing yet a lot of the times.

So we go and are working fundamentals and getting back to the basics and stuff like that. Then once we know who we're playing, we start getting into more specific game planning type of things and you get a whole extra week to game plan. You get 12 practices, 12, 13 practices to game plan and get ready for the game, and that's a huge advantage.

Q. When people think of Boise State football, what should they think?
BRETT RYPIEN: They should think of a standard of excellence that has been set over the past 10, 15 years that has a very, the fan base and the players and the coaches have a very high expectation for the program and a program that expects to win 11 games per year, and if you don't, it's a disappointing season.

Q. A couple of years ago, 8-5?
BRETT RYPIEN: And 9-4 last year.

Q. What was that like?
BRETT RYPIEN: Well, last year it was difficult. I got thrown into the fire my freshman year after the third game and had some really good moments and had some really bad moments, and you kind of learn to manage all those and take the highs and lows lightly, because you can't really ever get too high and you can't get too low. You've got to kind of stay steady throughout it all.

It was a great learning experience, but it was motivating going into last year knowing that that wasn't the standard for this program.

Q. I talked to Coach Harsin, the way college football is set up today; there's the playoff and everyone seems to focus on the semifinals championship game, and it's hard as well if you're not a Power Five school. Does that bring an automatic chip on your shoulder, Boise State already had that anyway didn't they?
BRETT RYPIEN: No, definitely. Our goal first and foremost is to win the Mountain West Conference and then win a bowl game. So we know we don't control what bowl game we go to but we can control if we win the Mountain West Conference. And we weren't able to do that this year, and that's obviously very frustrating.

So, yeah, we have a chip on our shoulder at all times. We know we would have to probably go undefeated two years in a row to even be in the conversation to make the playoff.

But at the same time, if we win our conference and we take care of business non-conference, we're looking at a New Year's Six bowl. And that's kind of the ultimate goal first is to get one of those and then you start worrying about, okay, other stuff.

Q. When you heard you were playing Baylor, what did you think initially; they obviously were 6-0, and then been through a slide, it's been a hell of a year for them?
BRETT RYPIEN: I haven't really got a lot of time to pay attention to their season. So when I saw 6-6, I was kind of surprised, because you think of Baylor, they've been a powerhouse the last five years.

And then going back and looking at their season, watching the film, you can tell they've struggled with some injuries, because it was kind of hard to know who was their starter in the second -- their starters in the secondary because there was a lot of different guys moving at different positions and different things like that.

So you can tell they've been through a lot this year, but at the same time they have a lot of talent. And obviously they're a good program. And like Coach Harsin said, a lot of those guys were in the conversation to play in the National Championship just a couple of years ago.

Q. With the name of Rypien, nephew of Mark, and won the Super Bowl in '91. Probably the last good Washington Redskins team they had. With the name on your back, did that bring something with that responsibility?
BRETT RYPIEN: Yeah, I think maybe a little bit. I've gotten that comparison for years now. So I'm kind of used to it. But it's definitely nice having a guy like Mark to be a mentor for me and a guy I can look up to and talk to after games and stuff and helps me on and off the field.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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