BAD BOY MOWERS PINSTRIPE BOWL: RUTGERS VS MIAMI

December 28, 2023

Mohamed Toure

Robert Longerbeam

Wesley Bailey

Yankee Stadium

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Postgame Press Conference

Rutgers 31, Miami 24

Q. Mohamed, we'll start with you. Just your thoughts about the way this defense attacked against Miami. You guys set the tone early. You got some stops. You got some sacks. Just your thoughts about the defense's overall effort?

MOHAMED TOURE: I feel like the defense played very well. Finished our last game before this with a bad taste in our mouth, and we wanted to come out and play how we play. Play violent, play physical, and play fast, and that's exactly what we did.

Q. Robert, it looked like you got hit late in the first half, got knocked over before that one touchdown. What did you see on what happened? It looked like you were pretty frustrated about it.

ROBERT LONGERBEAM: It's just football heat-of-the-moment stuff I guess. He probably didn't hear the whistle, a little late. It's just heat-of-the-moment stuff. I chalk it up to that.

Q. It felt like it was a chippy game more than usual. Did it feel like that on the field, and why do you feel that was?

ROBERT LONGERBEAM: It was, but it's just due to the fact that we've been having 15 bowl practices, so you get to go against somebody else finally. It's probably just the extra little activity out there because you finally get to go against somebody else.

Q. Just to wrap this up. It looked like there was a pregame I don't know if I would call it a scuffle. I think you were in it. I believe you two were in it too. What happened there? What did you see? Can you guys just explain?

MOHAMED TOURE: I wouldn't say it's a scuffle. It's the championship game. Feelings are involved, and it's football. You're going out there and trying to go out and hit somebody else. So things and conversations go on. We're good. It's football at the end of the day.

Q. Mo, you talked about coming in, and you came in before Schiano was here and the losing and how to deal with it. To go out and play so well in this game, to win with your brother on the team as well, what's that mean to you?

MOHAMED TOURE: It means a lot. It's a blessing, honestly. Being able to come back for another year and just help him grow. Come in here freshman year, it was tough going 2-10. I wasn't used to that.

All we did was work. Since Coach Schiano got here, all we did was work. We brought in guys like these guys, and they've become my best friends. Just a blessing to have them and also have my brother, you know, so...

Q. For any of you guys, when you are celebrating this win, do you allow yourself to look around the room and realize that most of you will be back here next year with another opportunity to build on it, and does that make this even more exciting in a way?

WESLEY BAILEY: That's a great question. At the end of the day that's always in the back of my mind, but right now we're just thinking about being 1-0 at the end of this season. Now that we're 1-0 at the end of this season, we've got to build, and it's great that we have a lot of guys coming back. Robert Longerbeam, Mo Toure, Flip Dixon, all those great guys coming back. We look forward to just keep building off of this win.

Q. Robert, what do you feel like this defense kind of proved and then showed all season long?

ROBERT LONGERBEAM: We just wanted to prove as a defense that we're a tough group. We play hard. We play physical, and we're going to be violent. That's what we wanted to prove.

I think throughout the course of the year we proved that, so we're doing what we want to do. It's just the foundation. We're going to keep building.

Q. Robert, facing a guy like Xavier Restrepo for pretty much the whole day, what was it like facing him? What made him so tough?

ROBERT LONGERBEAM: He's a crafty receiver. He's a good receiver. It was a real competitive battle. He is a great receiver. I have all the respect to him. He gets me better, so you have to watch film, but it was all good.

Q. Robert and Wesley, we talked to Mo about coming back, but what went into your guys' decision to return for another year?

WESLEY BAILEY: At the end of the day just looking around the room. We have a great coaching staff, defense, special teams, all the way through trainers, all that.

The same thing. My brothers beside me. Just being able to play this football game with these guys and for moments like this. We're just going to keep chopping and just keep doing what we have to do as a family.

ROBERT LONGERBEAM: I feel like it was unfinished business really. All my brothers coming back. I knew this is something I wanted to be a part of from the start. So having all them back, having our defensive staff back, it's a blessing. So I know we're going to be ready to work next year.

Q. Wes, what's the whole journey like for you, just being here at Yankee Stadium this whole experience and getting this win today with your teammates?

WESLEY BAILEY: It was amazing. I see it as a blessing from God. Whether we won this game or not, I just wanted to just go all out. I know everyone did. I know I can definitely say that the guys that played beside me with the same color jerseys on definitely went all out. Just being able to be part of this moment with these guys is amazing.

Q. Mohamed, I see you're wearing the Yankees jersey. As a homegrown New Jersey player, what has been your favorite part about playing for Rutgers and representing your home state?

MOHAMED TOURE: Like you said, representing my home state. This is home. Rutgers is home for me. Being able to play at home have my family come see the games and then at the same time having my brother with me, it's a blessing getting to put on for New Jersey. You see a lot of Jersey guys. They leave Jersey, and I wanted to change that. I wanted to change the narrative. You can do it at Rutgers. You can be great at Rutgers. You can win at Rutgers.

Q. Did you grow up a Yankees fan?

MOHAMED TOURE: This is actually my first time here.

Q. Robert, did it mean anything more to beat a program like Miami, a blue blood program, national champion, big name? Did it mean anything more to have a bowl game win against a team like that?

ROBERT LONGERBEAM: Really any opponent we faced was going to be a big game. This is a stepping stone in building our program, win the bowl game. You have to do that in order to compete for bigger games.

Being able to check this off the list as a program, it was a big step for us. It was really any team we played was going to be a big game for us.

Q. I don't know if you checked your phone in the locker room, but there's a video of you doing the U and going upside down. It's going viral on Twitter. What's your reaction to that kind of blowing up? Sorry to put you on the spot.

ROBERT LONGERBEAM: It was just heat of the moment. Heat of the moment. That's all it was. All respect to Miami. No bad blood, nothing. It was just heat of the moment.

Q. Mo, you just mentioned how you wanted to prove you could do it at Rutgers. You came here in 2019. The program had two wins and none in the conference, and now you're standing here as a Pinstripe Bowl champion. What does it mean to you to see that development to the program and to the defense?

MOHAMED TOURE: It means the world to me. Like I said, I'm from Jersey, so seeing this program build and just gradually get better throughout the years and know we our whole defense back. We have a lot of guys back. We have Kyle Monangai back.

This is a stepping stone. We're just going to continue to build off of this until the next season.

Q. Mo, you're talking about how you're a homegrown New Jersey person. What would you say to someone right now who is in high school contemplating coming to Rutgers? What would you tell them to get them to come here and have the Schiano mindset?

MOHAMED TOURE: I'll be honest with them. We work hard. We grind. If you want to work and you want to win, come here. Rutgers is the place to be. If you are from New Jersey and you want to put on for your home state, Rutgers is the place to be.