BAD BOY MOWERS PINSTRIPE BOWL: RUTGERS VS MIAMI

December 28, 2023

Kyle Monangai

Timmy Ward

Trevor Yeboah-Kodie

Gavin Wimsatt

Yankee Stadium

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Postgame Press Conference

Rutgers 31, Miami 24

Q. The MVP trophy, go ahead.

KYLE MONANGAI: It's a testament to the guys that I play with on offense. I think I played a great game, but I think the guys up front played an even better game honestly, and they set the tone from the first drive, receivers were blocking well in the perimeter, and I was able to follow their lead.

Q. Timmy, to recover that blocked punt, after all you've been through coming up to this point, what does that mean for you?

TIMMY WARD: It's pretty cool. Everybody did what they were supposed to do when we were out there. I didn't really have to do anything at all. I was just standing there, and the ball kind of came popping out.

It's pretty cool to be able to do it at this stage. This is big for our program. It was all-around a good moment.

Q. Trevor, can you talk about that punt block, and Coach Schiano talked about your journey here and what this means to you at the end of it.

TREVOR YEBOH-KODIE: This means the world, especially with these guys. I honestly never thought I would be in this position. But throughout the year we kept working. I gave credit to all my teammates for believing me and trusting in me, and also Coach Schiano for trusting in me. This has been an unbelievable experience, and I can't wait to celebrate with these guys.

Q. Kyle, obviously you're the story right now, but I mean, your defense, the guy to your side right here forcing that big tackle. Deion Jennings delivers the huge tackle. The defense just balled out completely. Just speak to them and the impact they had playing complementary football and allowing you to be you?

KYLE MONANGAI: You have to play complementary football to win games, and the defense played great. They just put us in great opportunities to go put points on the board. They held them when we needed to in big-time moments.

And like some instances, to name it a few, like Deion making a play there, a couple of other guys made some plays. Mo played great.

Like I said, it's complementary football, and just allowing the offense to do what they have to do and defense handling business.

Q. Kyle, how do you kind of sum up the season that you have had, and how do you put it in perspective? Obviously capping it off the way you did today and what you showed all season and how will it carry you into next season?

KYLE MONANGAI: Yeah, now I guess we can finally look back. I think I was able to build on a lot of things. I think I set out a lot of goals for myself and I was able to accomplish them. Not all of them, but some.

It was great to be in a role that a lot of guys look to me in leadership, being a captain for the first time. A lot of guys, like I said, leaning on me just to make a play or even just for that boost to just be a leader.

It's something to build off of going into this offseason and for next year. But I think I did some things well, but like I said, it's stuff to build off of.

Q. Gavin, you dressed the part. What was the whole experience like this week, especially being on the field here out here at the stadium?

GAVIN WIMSATT: I would say it's just an amazing experience to get to play a great game with these guys and just to be able to send our seniors out the right way, like T.Y., some of our older guys. To be able to send them out the right way means a lot.

Q. Kyle, I wanted to ask, with the return of key players like yourself and just other seniors and stuff, I wanted to ask, what do you think the impact of how big this win is and just how do you think overall this will affect recruiting and just the overall impact of just the team moving forward for Rutgers?

KYLE MONANGAI: The win today I think is a huge impact. Being able to go 7-6, that's not the goal we set for ourselves in the beginning of the season, but to finish over .500 is a big step for this program.

To win the last game of the season is definitely something positive to build off going into the offseason.

Recruiting-wise, like you mentioned, I think that is something to show the high school guys, like, hey, these guys know how to win, they're taking steps in the right direction, so it's somewhere I want to come play.

Like I said all the time to the guys, it's not easy to play here. It's definitely a hard place to play. But that's just because Coach Schiano demands of us, and he knows what it takes to win. We have to be willing to step up to the plate and do the day in and day out.

It's a huge impact, this win.

Q. Gavin, is the tush push something that the offense wanted to implement more in the bowl game?

GAVIN WIMSATT: Well, off its recent success lately, yeah, definitely. Something we implemented as well.

Q. Now that the season is over, Gavin, how would you assess your performance throughout the whole year and today as well?

GAVIN WIMSATT: Today I would say credit to my O-line. It all starts up front. You know, Kyle, the run game, it opens up the pass game. I think there are definitely some things that I could have did better this season, but that's what the offseason is for. Going into the offseason and have a plan, make sure we get better for next year. So yeah.

Q. When you look at what this team has coming back, does that excite you, just the idea that you see the pieces? Many of these guys around you will be on this team next year as well.

GAVIN WIMSATT: Of course, it excites me. Ballers like Kyle, a bunch of experienced guys coming back. It makes me really confident, and I know who is around me, so...

Q. Kyle, back on the subject of recruiting. Rutgers just won a bowl game at Yankee Stadium. Tommy Devito was a quarterback at the Giants for a few weeks, and Anthony Volpe, shortstop of the Yankees, and Dylan Harper just committed to Rutgers. Do you think there's a new sexiness to being a homegrown New Jersey athlete that influenced your decision to come back and could help Rutgers on the reciting trail?

KYLE MONANGAI: That's an interesting way to put it, sexiness. If you want to put it that way, yeah, sure, there's a sexiness to being a homegrown guy.

I think it's just interesting -- I love the fact that I can say I'm from Jersey, I go to school in Jersey, I was raised here, grew up here, and I was able to do things well in my home state. And now getting this win at Yankee Stadium, I know it's New York, but it's like it feels like home still, just across the water.

Yeah, to answer your question.

Q. For Gavin and Kyle, these guys, Trevor and Timmy, might not have the perspective of what they've done. You guys have been around them as they've gone through their journeys and gotten to know them. What does it mean for you to see them come up and make a big play in this game?

KYLE MONANGAI: I love watching them do what they do. I hope they get some type of reward at the end of the season because they've been lights-out on special teams all year.

A lot of -- Timmy I think doesn't get the credit that he deserves because he does a lot of stuff that goes under the radar that from a spectator's view may not notice. But he works hard day in and day out. He puts the time in, and then on game day he does his job well, to a T.

Same with T.Y. 100% effort every chance he gets. I love watching these guys play.

GAVIN WIMSATT: These guys come to work day in and day out and give it their all. They leave it all on the field. Timmy does a lot of things that go under the radar. These guys, they're leaders. Especially on special teams. Big contributors to this team and what we do.

Q. Gavin, when you came to Rutgers three years ago, it was a little bit of a leap of faith for you, and there's been a lot of ups and a lot of downs. What does this moment mean for you personally, taking this team to a bowl win, and what do you think this can be in terms of being a springboard for the team in 2024?

GAVIN WIMSATT: It means a lot. When I committed here, obviously it was a little bit of a leap of faith, but I trusted in Coach Schiano, and he had a plan, and we had the right guys. So it's an exciting moment for this to happen. This is what we pictured, but we have bigger plans, but this is just a step in the right direction. It's exciting.

Q. For two special teamers and that awesome play. I'll start with Timmy. Coach Schiano was talking about how you started as an equipment manager. To put that into perspective now, what's the first thing that comes to your mind?

TIMMY WARD: I'm just super grateful. I've gone through a lot of stuff over the years, and to come in the way that I did, this moment is honestly insane. I can't even wrap my head around it right now.

All the credit goes to all my teammates, everybody. When I came in, they all -- obviously they could have been kind of surprised seeing one of their equipment managers now on their team practicing with them, but they accepted me right away. They were excited to see me on the team. And ever since then it's been -- this has been a ride. It's been fun.

Q. And Trevor, just I guess you really -- you decided you had an extra year. You wanted to do something with it. What went into that decision?

TREVOR YEBOH-KODIE: I played four years of Lacrosse at Brown, and you knew coming out of high school that I had that extra year of eligibility to play a different sport, and after my senior year I decided that I did want to take that chance on myself and play football again.

I'm super, super grateful that Coach Schiano took a chance on me and also my teammates over here, trusting and believing me to come in day in and day out to do my job.

I'm just super, super grateful to finally be in this moment.

Q. Timmy, going back to what you were saying a second ago. Coach was saying earlier about how much of a leader you've been on special teams. What has it meant for you to earn his trust in such a phase of the game that Rutgers places a huge emphasis on?

TIMMY WARD: It means the world. He's the one who gave me this opportunity. I just wanted to make him proud every day. I don't want to let him down. I come in every single day and work as hard as I can just to make him happy.

I do it for these guys too, Kyle and Gavin. These guys come in. They're the face of our program, face of our school, face of New Jersey, and I just want to do my job so that they can have all their success and everything.

That's what I love to see. Just all of them doing their thing, and Kyle's day he had today, that's the world to me. I love that.

Q. For Kyle and Gavin, you both recently announced you would be sticking with Rutgers in 2024. What went behind those decisions, and what are your expectations now for the upcoming season?

KYLE MONANGAI: What went into my decision was I just felt like there was more left to be done. When guys make that step to go to the next level and whatever they want to do, not come back, whatever it may be, I feel like that's them saying they've done everything they can, and they're ready to move on. I just feel like there's more to be done.

Seeing everyone else coming back, like Mo and Flip, and Rob and Reem and everybody else that decided to come back, how can you not get excited to have one more go-around with your guys going back to go achieve something greater? That's all that went into my decision.

Yeah, I'm excited for what the future holds.

Q. Kyle, do you have any plans on where you're going to put the trophy?

KYLE MONANGAI: I don't. I was actually going to give it to my mom, but it's a little wobbly right here, so I didn't want her to break it or something. So I'm going to keep a hold on it for a little bit, and then I'll decide what I want to do.

Q. Coach Schiano said that we wouldn't believe the scene in the locker room after you guys won and the celebration. Take me in there if you can. Obviously you've won other games before. It's not the first one. What was special about this one? What was it like in there?

KYLE MONANGAI: Anybody? I caught the later end of it. I was trying to find my mom, but yeah, it was crazy even when I walked in, so...

TIMMY WARD: When we win, we dance. It was a little crazier. Just guys excited. It's a big step for the program. Just excitement. This is the first bowl we've won in a while, and we worked so hard for this in the offseason. We worked our butts off day in and day out, and for this to come out, it's really exciting.