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NEW ERA PINSTRIPE BOWL: WISCONSIN VS. MIAMI

December 27, 2018

Paul Chryst

New York, New York

Wisconsin 35, Miami 3

PAUL CHRYST: Extremely proud of a way our whole team prepared for this, handled themselves in a bowl. Tonight was a good finish.

J.T. and I were just talking about it. This is the way we want to send our seniors out, a group that has done so much.

I think the best thing about tonight is it took everyone. Appreciate that.

Q. Speak to how well your defense played, especially shorthanded.
PAUL CHRYST: They played unbelievably well. Thought we had a good plan, players understood it, did a nice job of getting some in the run, and we were opportunistic. Obviously you get that number of takeaways, I know we gave up a couple big plays, but we came back. I thought they were really good.

You're right, that's kind of been the story all year. Guys stepped in, stepped up. It was good.

Q. Paul, you mentioned it took everybody. From an offensive perspective, the blocking, what do you think was the key for them to be so successful, especially moving the chains, getting big hits?
PAUL CHRYST: Yeah, I think started with they understood that was a good defense. Thought had a good plan, players understood it. They took it upon themselves, each one, to do their part.

Obviously J.T. was big-time. It was fun to see. Taiwan came in, Chris came in, Alec Ingold. In the run game, it takes so many guys to be on the same page. I thought they got it started up front, the backs, Jack had a number of opportunities where he kept it, guys made it happen.

Q. Paul, Jack's first touchdown pass to Kendric, how much do you think that helped settle him down, develop a little bit of a rhythm?
PAUL CHRYST: It's always big. You hate sometimes when your first throw is a third-and-long. He had been good on that play really kind of throughout bowl prep. KP ran a good route on it. It was good. We had time. Certainly there were times in the game where we struggled a little bit throwing it, but that was a heck of a start.

Q. Was it frustrating in the first half when it was same old, same old? You had opportunities, the offense or special teams couldn't get it done.
PAUL CHRYST: Yeah, I mean, you go through it, and was disappointed. We had the pick. Had a chance to get points there. Obviously struggled on a couple of those kicks. You don't know how many opportunities you're going to get. You just got to keep playing.

But obviously you'd like to have more than what we did in the first half.

Q. You said this was great for sending out the seniors. How about the younger guys? What do you think it does for them coming back?
PAUL CHRYST: No doubt. Those are the two things any time you finish the season and get an opportunity to play in a bowl and win it, it gives energy to both. But I think the overriding feeling in the locker room was, one, we had to come together as a team. It was going to take everyone. It was going to be the last time this team got to play. Yet I think it's a real thing when you look at the seniors, all that.

We do know they're coming back. We know there's areas we can get better, need to get better. It does give you energy. But I think I sold them out because it's the last time you're going to be with T.J. Edwards, Beau Benzschawel, Michael Deiter. There are a lot of guys that have done so much, Ryan Connelly, go on and on with it.

There's no doubt it helps the group coming back, yet this is the last time we got to play together, this team. What changes most is those seniors going on.

Q. Jonathan has gone from a guy who last year you weren't sure would be the starter until something happened in camp, to a guy that has more rushing yards in his first two seasons than a really good runner. Put in perspective what he's accomplished.
PAUL CHRYST: What J.T. has done, it's as good as there is, right? Statistically... The thing I've appreciated as much as anything is how he's done it, the way that he works, the teammate that he is. Statistically, I remember coming into this season and talking in Chicago, J.T. could have a heck of a season. The numbers may be very different.

For him to put up those numbers... What I appreciate from Jonathan is that he knows it takes everyone. We were on the podium, I was with Deiter, we all around know, too, he's truly special in a lot of ways.

Q. Quarterback play has been up and down all season for various reasons. You go into the off-season thinking you'll have an open quarterback competition or do you believe if Alex is healthy, given his experience, he would be the starter moving forward?
PAUL CHRYST: I think every time you go into it, that's the beautiful thing about sports, is you compete. You have to. There's not one thing that we did at that position that you say, All right, this is how we want it to be. There's moments, but clearly we've got to get better at that position, and better in the consistency of play at that position.

Yet every victory, they contributed to it. Alex obviously played a lot of games. Jack, it was big. He got a lot of real, meaningful snaps this year. I think everyone on our team, everyone on our roster, might be one position that's not. He's to your left.

Q. Obviously you didn't rely too much on the passing game today, but Jack is from here, how do you think he handled the moment?
PAUL CHRYST: I thought he handled it really well. Like I said, coming in, your first pass, it was a third down. Thought he had poise in the pocket. I thought he was seeing things well, playing. I appreciate what he did a lot in the run game, in the throw game. He was good.

I liked the way that he prepared. It is a big deal coming back. It's a big deal for Aron Cruickshank coming back in. That's a residual, right? You want them to play well no matter where they're at. But when they come back home, it's pretty special.

Q. Big Ten has had a lot of success in the bowl season. From what you watched of them during the season, is that surprising to you?
PAUL CHRYST: Certainly bowl games are interesting, right? All the different matchups, there's a lot of storylines that go with it. The Big Ten is competitive. There's really good players in it, I think teams that are well-coached.

Haven't watched anything yet. Now that we won, you don't mind watching a few of them. But I think it's two teams, one night, what happens. I'm just proud of a way our guys played today and prepared really throughout the bowl. It was a good way to finish this year.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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