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TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL: OKLAHOMA v BOISE STATEJanuary 1, 2007Korey HallChris PetersenMarty TadmanJared ZabranskyGLENDALE, ARIZONA THE MODERATOR: Welcome, Boise State head coach Chris Petersen. Coach. COACH PETERSEN: Yeah, another day at the office, huh (smiling)? Yeah, I'd just like to first just really give Oklahoma a lot of credit. They're as good as we thought they were. We had to pull out every trick in the bag, battle as hard as we thought we would there. They're a great program. Coach Stoops does an unbelievable job. They were everything they were billed to be. I think our players, they're warriors, they never quit. I knew they wouldn't quit at the very end. I knew we had to get a break or two. I thought our coaches did a fabulous job. Both the coordinators, Bryan Harsin and Justin Wilcox, were very, very good tonight. Q. Chris, how many times had you practiced the Statue of Liberty play and had you ever run it in the game? COACH PETERSEN: We ran it once this season. It worked pretty well. We were trying to get to it earlier, to tell you the truth. We needed it on a certain hash or at least in the middle of the field. The three times we were trying to get to it earlier, we were on the wrong side of the field, couldn't get it done. It's probably a good thing because we needed a play like that to get it over with. Q. Coach, what was in your decision making to go for two and get it over with? COACH PETERSEN: They're so big, strong and physical, the first overtime didn't go so well. One play, they were in the end zone. We liked the play we had for a two-point conversion. It really wasn't a difficult decision at that point. Q. The play calls by Coach Harsin, any doubts when he's calling these plays time after time down the stretch? COACH PETERSEN: No. He's done a great job all year. You don't get to where we are without some great coaching. Certainly you got to have the players. We've said we have those all along. The coaching was fabulous. Q. Of the three kind of trick plays, which one was kind of the most leery? COACH PETERSEN: The one that obviously had the most luck involved that we had to have everything just right was the one where with we pitched it for Jerard Rabb to score. We had Ian coming out of the back, another option guy. When Jerard got tackled, he could pitch it to him. There was a clean lane. He just took off and went and outran Ian. I didn't know Rabb had that much speed. He saved it for a good time (laughter). Q. They returned the interception on you. What's going through your head on the sidelines at that point? COACH PETERSEN: We still had a bunch of time left. We practiced our two-minute drill about two or three times every week. We've been doing it forever. I knew we'd have a shot to get back down there. We might not have had to make it such a circus of a play had we not gotten sacked earlier. That really takes you out of any sort of normal play calling. We put ourselves behind the eight ball, then had to pull the old rabbit out of the hat. Q. With the hook and lateral play there, similar question. Is that something you had in the playbook the whole season? COACH PETERSEN: Yeah. You hope you never have to call it because it's not a good situation. But we work on it every week, once a week on Friday. The guys love it. We could probably practice it about 10 minutes because they love it. Half the time the linemen run down and get involved with the pitch. I'm glad they actually remember they can't go down field on the pass. KOREY HALL: Can I say something? It doesn't work in practice usually (smiling). COACH PETERSEN: Not against our guys. Q. Can you talk about Jared's composure to rally the team to victory? COACH PETERSEN: Awesome. That's what a fifth-year senior quarterback needs to do to pull out a big win. A lot of hard lessons he's learn throughout the years, which all quarterbacks do. I think the biggest thing you learn is it's never over; you always got a chance, especially when you have the firepower we have out wide. Q. Coming into this, Coach, you guys have so many questions of do you belong here, all that kind of stuff. What kind of statement did you make with this game? COACH PETERSEN: Well, we really felt like we belonged here all along. We really did. I think a lot of people felt like we belonged here. I think the Fiesta Bowl people felt like we belonged here or we wouldn't have been invited. That's why you play the game. You got to go out there and prove it at all times. Q. Jared, can you tell us how you feel right now and what this means to you to pull out this victory the way you did? JARED ZABRANSKY: I feel great (smiling). I'm just so happy for my guys. You know, this was an unbelievable game. This probably goes down in the history of college football. It can be argued as the best game ever. To have that feeling that you pulled it off, your guys believed in you all the way to the end, it's just unbelievable. Q. Jared, talk about your composure after you throw the interception, have to lead them down the field. What was going through your head? JARED ZABRANSKY: A minute with two timeouts is a lot of time. We've ran against our defense who is very good, what you've seen tonight. We scored in that two-minute drill that we have faster than that. You know, anything can happen in a college football game. We knew that. After I threw that interception, I had probably 10 guys come up to me and say, There's a minute left, you can do it. You know, we did it. Q. Defensively, the mindset, what did you have to do to keep in it after you held them at bay for so long? The partnerships kind of started pouring in at the end. KOREY HALL: You know, at that point on defense, it was such a battle. We were just trying to keep our guys up. We kind of thought we gave the game away. The offense ended up pulling us out there at the end. I think for our guys, we were just trying -- we knew we were still in the game. We just had to keep battling. Q. Coach, 13-0 now. Do you print up national championship T-shirts? You've done everything they've asked you to, right? COACH PETERSEN: Hey, we don't worry about that. We just go and play who they tell us to play. The pollsters vote how they want to vote. We're just happy to control what we can control. It is what it is. Q. Where does this game rank in games you've been associated with? COACH PETERSEN: Yeah, it's pretty high (smiling). I mean, it was just awesome to see those guys continue to compete. I think if there's one thing we talk about and preach and harp day in and day out is being a great competitor, just never saying die till that clock runs out. I think you really saw it. Certainly we had to have a lot of luck and some breaks along the way to get that done. The kids continually fight and claw and scratch. That's really what we want to be all about. Q. Did you know Ian Johnson proposed to his girlfriend right after the game? Does that surprise you in any way? JARED ZABRANSKY: Well, I kind of heard some rumors about him, you know, maybe doing that after the game. I'm sure it probably wouldn't have been as romantic if we would have lost (smiling). I kind of looked at the big screen, then I heard the guy doing the trophy presentation saying that someone proposed. Kind of knew it was Ian. You know, it's great for him. Congratulations. MARTY TADMAN: I came in with Ian freshman year. He's a little different guy. When you think about Ian Johnson proposing to his girlfriend, you got to think of the weirdest circumstance that he could possibly do it. I think this was it. For me, it's shocking to hear that. But for Ian, it's just the normal thinking in his mind, is to do that. Q. Marty, can you talk about the plays you made tonight really changing the momentum of this game. MARTY TADMAN: Ask Korey about one of them. He's the one that tipped the interception right into my chest. Otherwise, I would have made a diving catch. I have a pretty strong faith in God. I think he has a strong will for us. I think he blessed us tonight. Very thankful and humbled by that. You also don't want to talk about the plays I didn't make. I'm happy to talk about the two I did. Q. Korey, the start of the game, start of the second half, you have the two scores, interception for the touchdown. Could have gone any better for you? KOREY HALL: Yeah, that's one thing about our team. We knew we had to come out and start fast right at the beginning of the game, and also at second half. That's what our coaches were preaching the whole time before the game, at halftime. Take your hats off to the players, they came out and gave it everything they had. Q. Marty, that first interception that you caught. If you don't make a play on, that it's a sure touchdown for Oklahoma. Talk about it. MARTY TADMAN: I don't know. I made the play. They ran a weird formation that we didn't see the linemen up in a different spot and they ran a quick count too. The coverage we had totally blew. I was just post defender. Saw him open. The quarterback underthrew it a little bit. I was glad I was in front of that guy. He's huge, very tall. Glad I didn't have to going through a jump ball. As I said, I truly believe God controlled my life. That's the reason it happened. Q. Jared, could you tell us what the huddle was like when you called the hook and lateral on them, the reaction as you watched it unfold. JARED ZABRANSKY: Well, I think everybody thought about their assignment and did that to the fullest. Schouman was running in off the sideline to be our tailback. That play is designed for the tailback to get down the field. COACH PETERSEN: That was the one before. That was the streak before. JARED ZABRANSKY: Okay. COACH PETERSEN: Ian was in there. JARED ZABRANSKY: I remember seeing Ian running in front of me. The play is designed, I throw it to the single receiver side. The number two receiver on the strong side runs his cross and rout, like we did. Then Ian is there for a pitch. I'm there for another pitch. I was just trying to get down there so I could get in the play. Rabb, he put the wheels on me. I'm glad he did. End of FastScripts |
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