FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO BOWL: NORTHERN ILLINOIS VS FRESNO STATE

December 23, 2024

Tim Skipper

Malachi Langley

Mose Vavao

Albertsons Stadium

Fresno State Bulldogs

Press Conference

NIU 28 - Fresno State 20 - 2OT

(Stream started with press conference in progress.)

Q. (Indiscernible) could you believe they kept going to it after that first overtime?

TIM SKIPPER: In the red area, they have a lot of that. All season long they've been doing those plays. They kept inventing new ones. We hadn't seen those plays that they threw at us. We knew something was going to happen.

You have to have good eyes down there. We lost our guys, they played plays. They made plays, give them credit. Give them a lot of credit.

Q. Your take on that as well?

MALACHI LANGLEY: We knew something like that was going to happen. We just had to make our plays. Bad vision. We were in the right call, just got to be there.

Q. Coach, can you break down the quarterback handling today.

TIM SKIPPER: We alternated. It worked pretty good. I think both guys got pretty comfortable. In the second half (interruption in stream) keep on playing through it.

I think both of those guys have a bright future. They're very good players, good leaders. They showed what they're capable of. I think next year it will continue for those guys and they'll have a good year.

Q. We talked a lot about finishing. You had a lot of chances here to finish. Did you feel like you had gotten over some of those humps, missed a field goal, overtime... How did you see the last moments?

TIM SKIPPER: Yeah, it was a battle. It was just a battle. Like I said, we had our opportunities, they had their opportunities to close it out in regulation. Then we actually had the last opportunity to do it. We didn't capitalize on it. In overtime they took over.

I was worried for the last few weeks because I know we don't have the numbers that we usually have. I knew if they kept on going, extending, extending, the advantage was to those guys.

No excuses. We got to finish, do what we got to do. We had our opportunities to get it done. They just took care of business, bottom line.

Q. You made this about the players this whole time. Anything you can share about your personal experience about this season leading the team?

TIM SKIPPER: Look, I'm a Dawg, man. I'm always going to be a Dawg, continue to be a Dawg.

I've been saying all this time, it's all about the players, all about those guys. Love those guys. They gave their all. They sacrificed all year. It will continue. I wish the future a lot of luck.

Coach Entz will do a good job. I told them in the locker room, y'all got to keep fighting. I'm always going to be a fan, always going to bleed Bulldog red, get behind these guys. The future is real bright.

Q. Can you speak to any kind of feelings that you have, would you like to stay on the staff? Have you thought about that?

TIM SKIPPER: Staying on the staff stuff is not up to me. Nobody's even talked to me about any of this. Kind of know where my future is, it's not going to be here. It is what it is. That's football. That's what it is.

Have to do what I have to do. Figure out where I'll be next. I have no idea. Only thing I know is I'm going to have Christmas with my family. That's where I'm going to be at.

It's about these guys. It's not about me. I don't want this press conference to be about me. It's all about these guys, the guys in that locker room. That's who it's all about. Love those guys. This experience is for them.

Unfortunately we came up short. That's all I really have to say.

Q. Can you talk about what it was like going through one last ride together, being able to take the field.

TIM SKIPPER: Yeah, I mean, we talked last night. We wanted this conclusion to be written a little different. Wasn't written the way we wanted it to be. But we attacked the moment. We can be proud of our play and everything we've done. We just didn't get it done.

It's still love, still a brotherhood. We just have to keep moving forward.

MOSE VAVAO: Obviously not the result we wanted. I want to make sure these players on this team and the coaches, they played their heart out today, they coached their heart out.

At the end of the day just making sure the people that came before us understand that us seniors, obviously, like I said, wasn't the result, but we tried to go out the right way, which is give full effort, which we did.

It's been an honor. I love this program. I love this culture. Bulldog born, Bulldog bred.

MALACHI LANGLEY: The main thing was going out there get a team win, get the win for Skip, man. That's a great coach. I love that guy. Really appreciate him, man. A really great man right there. The emphasis was for him.

But, yeah, like Mose says, Bulldog born, Bulldog bred. It's been a blessing playing here. I love this place, man. I love it.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.