	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

FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO BOWL: CENTRAL MICHIGAN VS WYOMING

December 20, 2017

Boise, Idaho

THE MODERATOR: We have Wyoming here, head coach Craig Bohl, Josh Allen, Drew Van Maanen and Logan Wilson. We'll start with an opening statement from head coach.

CRAIG BOHL: We're certainly really thrilled and excited to have received this invitation in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. What a great opportunity for us. We have a great deal of respect for Central Michigan, Coach Bonamego, their crew. They've had a phenomenal year, as we have as well. It's an opportunity for the two football teams to go and celebrate a great year on the gridiron and have some great competition.

We've had a phenomenal time thus far with all the bowl activities. That does not surprise us. We've heard great things about this bowl. Certainly the committee and executive director, all the people have done a phenomenal job. We're pleased. We're certainly excited to be up here with these three guys.

I'd like to announce Josh and I had a long talk. Josh is ready to play, starting this football game. He's had several great practices. So he's in position to be 100%. I know that was going to be a question that was going to be asked. I went ahead and answered that.

The other thing, Drew Van Maanen has declared himself eligible for the draft this next year. All the GMs I know are going to be flying in to know they have a chance to see Drew. Logan has another year.

We'll open it up to questions at this time.

Q. Josh, shoulder feeling all right? When did you reach a level where you felt comfortable playing in another game?
JOSH ALLEN: It's feeling good. It's been progressively getting better. It's now to a point where I feel like I'm making all the throws I normally would without any pain. Talking with Coach Bohl, I think it's best suited for this team if I were to go ahead and start this game.

I said it from day one, I wanted to get back to the field as soon as possible. It took a little longer than expected. Just glad to be able to go back out there for one more time at least.

Q. You've been practicing and working. How are you feeling, not just shoulder-wise, but getting back into it? Rusty?
JOSH ALLEN: I'm not rusty at all. Like riding a bike, I guess. Might be a little out of shape. Couple times I've tooken off on a few runs in practice, get back to the huddle, got to tell the guys they have to wait a few seconds before I can say the next play. That's about it.

Q. Josh, obviously it's become popular the last couple of years for guys with high NFL hopes to not play in bowl games. Is that something you considered at all?
JOSH ALLEN: Never a thought to sit out voluntarily. I'm not that type of guy. I want to play. This is a team I've been on for the last three and a half years. I owe a lot to Coach Bohl for extending me the offer to play at the University of Wyoming. I felt like I always owed it to my teammates. These are my brothers. Missing the last two games killed me. Getting back on the field is something I really felt I needed to do.

CRAIG BOHL: As far as his contribution, Josh is uniquely gifted. He can do a lot of special things. For me, I coached 35 years. Very few times have I seen quarterbacks be able to do some of the things he does. The X factor that maybe some of the people in the media have seen, but I've certainly seen it, is his competitive nature. That spills out to our entire football team.

I know every young man makes decisions for where they're at in their life. I think that Josh's decision to play his final game coming off an injury is what college football is about. Some of these guys that make their decisions on choosing not to finish off their career, I'm sure maybe my paths will cross a guy like that. It will be pretty hard for me to understand that.

I can tell you this: I've had extended conversations with a lot of general managers. They've all wanted to know about Josh's will to win, his competitive nature. He's a 10 out of a 10. So we're excited about having him back.

He will make a profound difference on our football team. Obviously he's a play-maker. The quarterback can have a lot of impact on that. Just his competitive nature is going to be a great, great addition.

Q. Drew or Logan, knowing that Josh is playing, how much of a boost is that? Did you figure all along he would play in this game?
DREW VAN MAANEN: It's amazing having him back in the huddle. That time that he was away for a little bit, it's hard seeing him like that. I know the nature of this kid. It's amazing. All he wants to do is play this sport. Every single day he was in treatment all the time, trying to get back on the field as fast as possible. Now that he's back out there, back doing his norm out there, running around throwing the ball like he used to, it's amazing to see.

I'm happy for him. Really excited for him. It's definitely a boost for us just having him out there. That energy that he brings for us, that positivity and everything, just those plays that he makes, it's good for us. We're excited about it.

Q. Logan, from the defense's point of view, you go against Josh in offensive practice, what is something that he does that gives the defense the most trouble, Central Michigan?
LOGAN WILSON: I would say his arm strength is absolutely ridiculous. Some of the throws and the windows that he can sink that ball into are just insane. That's what will let him be great at the next level.

Q. Coach, running practice on both sides is different. Have you liked the focus so far this week?
CRAIG BOHL: Yeah, it's been good. I think our football team has struck a balance. The bowl committee has done a great job making sure. This is a celebration. I'm sure Central Michigan players can echo this. You have a chance to have a great year, you're going to come and play a game, so we want to celebrate and embrace these opportunities. A balance along with that is there's a football game to play.

The Chippewas are very competitive. We are as well. We want to win the game. We've been pleased with our practices, the tempo and the focus. So we're set, ready to go.

Q. Coach, help-wise, any new updates there of who will or won't play?
CRAIG BOHL: From our last conversation, I think we're all set. You go through a long, rigorous season, you're going to have some guys coming in nicked up. We've utilized our practices. The guys who kind of limped along in our last ballgame are now back 100%.

Q. Looking at Central Michigan, what is the greatest challenge either side of the ball?
CRAIG BOHL: As you watch them, you don't see any weakness, whether it's their offense, the defense or the kicking game. You also see two defenses that I think are probably two of the best defenses in the country as far as takeaways, the aggressive style of play.

The other thing that I see is this team we're going to be playing finds a way to win. That doesn't happen. I know the players make a difference, but the culture in their locker room I'm sure is very similar to ours. There's a great will to win. That's what makes this competition so exciting.

Q. Drew, go-karting follow-up. You guys talked a lot about last year finishing 0-3. How tough was that to get over?
DREW VAN MAANEN: It's definitely something that we brought into the off-season, going into winter conditioning. It's something we stress with each other all the time, not ending a season like that again.

This year, our last two games haven't went our way. That's something that we preached this entire bowl prep, is not to end the season with a loss. That's exactly how our guys are going out and practicing, attacking every rep they go out there. Everything they're doing for individuals, team sets, everybody is flying around, giving everything they have out there.

We don't want to end the season on a loss. We want a bowl win, send these seniors out on the right note. It's encouraging to see all the players have that upbeat attitude out there on the practice field.

Q. Logan, Central Michigan has a very good offense. What is the biggest challenge the defense has for stopping them?
LOGAN WILSON: I mean, like you said, they do have a good offense. Put a lot of points on the board. We're looking forward to the challenge. What we need to focus on us what we do as a defense, what we've done all year up to this point. We need to make sure we're consistent on defense come Friday, hopefully try to create some turnovers, get the ball back to our offense.

CRAIG BOHL: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297