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HEART OF DALLAS BOWL: PURDUE v OKLAHOMA STATEDecember 31, 2012Mike GundyPatrick HigginsDALLAS, TEXAS COACH HIGGINS: First off, Purdue and the Big Ten would like to wish everybody a safe and prosperous new year. We know it's a day early but just wanted to get that out there. Wanted to thank the Heart of Dallas Bowl and PlainsCapital Bank for putting on a wonderful show. I know our kids have been spoiled beyond belief and they are loving every minute of it. Excited to be here and looking forward to a great day tomorrow. COACH GUNDY: Well, some of the same things that Coach Higgins said. We have had a great time here at the Heart of Dallas Bowl. The accommodations have been tremendous and the players have had a great five days, and we are looking forward to the game. Wanted to congratulate Purdue for being here and their success and looking forward to the competition tomorrow. Q. Just your general thoughts, Coach Gundy, on Purdue, when you've scouted them and what you've seen on tape? COACH GUNDY: Well, it was interesting watching their games a month ago or however long it's been. At times, Purdue played very, very well against really good opponents. They probably feel the same way that we do; that they wish they would have had some games back. But there was very quality opponents that they went up against in the season and played very good. And they can make plays on offense, they spread you out and obviously they will try to run the football. Defensively, run, attack, blitz and force the offense to make plays. I think it's very interesting, the game tomorrow, the concept of kind of where we are at as a football team and obviously where Purdue may be, and as you watch the Bowl games over the last week, there's no question that‑‑ I'm not sure anybody really knows how the teams are going to play, but as I said earlier, we are looking forward to the game. Q. Can you talk about the challenge of playing an offense like Oklahoma State has, the scheme and the style, which is different from what you've seen most of the year? COACH HIGGINS: First thing that jumps out, their offense is tremendous‑‑ been, and that's the one thing you look at through the years. Oklahoma State has produced nothing but tremendous offenses and we have so much respect for what they have done on that side of the ball. And they are so hard to prepare for, because they run the ball so well and they pass the ball so well, and they are very efficient in what they do and that's the thing that jumps off the film at you is you try to take one thing away; that they are so efficient at the other aspect of the game; that they hurt with you that. So you have to be a complete game. You have to read your keys and you have to know your fits. It's going to be a tremendous challenge for us to slow down an offense of that calibre. Q. Last year, 12‑1, Fiesta Bowl. This year you're here and said you'd like to have some games back; has it been easier as the weeks have gone on to get your team excited about this? A lot of us thought maybe you were snubbed in the Big 12 selection process, falling down the chain. Is it more momentum building as the weeks have gone on for this game? COACH GUNDY: I don't think so. I feel like our players, we are excited to be around each other for another month and playing a game. I mentioned this when those questions were asked several weeks ago; that I coached 11 years and never had an opportunity to play in a Bowl game, and so I tried to stress the feelings and the opportunity for our players, and certainly our coaches. I feel like that they have handled it very well. I don't think there's any question when we start the season, we all have goals that we would like to reach, but in college football, there's only a few of those teams that reach those goals. I think it's important as coaches that we continue to instill in our players that the competition and the development of them as not only football players, but young men, is very important. I think they have handled it really well, and they have watched film the tape and they have seen Purdue on tape and they know the challenge that we have at hand. So for that reason, I think they have prepared well and they are looking forward to the game. Q. Coach Higgins, your team obviously had a rough stretch with the five‑game losing streak including a couple tough losses. Talk about how your guys handled it and just to get here and what it means. COACH HIGGINS: Again, we were disappointed when we lost that five‑game stretch, because we felt that we had played really well at Ohio State and now‑‑ in that game, that led to playing a really terrible first half at Minnesota. So that one loss, I don't think as coaches, we did a really good job of bringing our team back to play against Minnesota and that led to two losses, and that's one thing that you can't have. But after that game and after the Penn State game, they kind of realized, hey, if we are going to do what we set out this year, which was to become Bowl eligible, they knew that the last three games, it was a must for us. So every game was a Championship Game so to speak. They knew: You're one‑and‑done. So they took ownership of the process, and they fought hard. And the thing about those guys over there, they became leaders. They are resilient and they fought every inch of the way, and the games that they had to win. You know, they did something that had not been done at Purdue in over 20‑some‑odd‑years when they went to Iowa and beat Iowa, and then win two consecutive Big Ten road games; that had not been done in a long time, either. And then to beat Indiana at home for the bucket‑‑ those rivalry games, you never know how they are going to go. All the credit goes to them, because again, they took ownership of the process. They decided to accomplish the goals that they set out to accomplish and they did, and so we are very proud of them. Q. Since you went to this offense, you had two Bowl games, played at a high level, Arizona game, sort of spotty, and you've looked and seen where you were better in one game than another in terms of the layoff and how the offense performed in the Bowl game? COACH GUNDY: We had not looked at that, and I wish I could give you an answer. It's funny, over the years, that sometimes you play much better in a Bowl game than you do in others. And I think as coaches, I know our coaching staff, that if we were able to come up with the key ingredients for success, we would have quite a product there. But sometimes the players are more motivated to play in a Bowl game. They study; they practice hard; they stay focused, and I think there's teams, just in my history and playing in Bowl games or coaching in Bowl games, I should say, there are teams that are not as motivated and it really comes down to that; that the players have to decide that the game is important, and we tried to stress that. And just like Coach Higgins said, exactly right, we talk to our team all the time. It's really about the players. There's a lot of guys out there that can draw up X's and O's and coach. At some point, the team has to take ownership and they have to perform and take responsibility for the games. These guys have done a great job with that. We have had tremendous leadership, and for that reason, hopefully we'll play very well tomorrow. Q. In watching film of Kawann Short for Purdue, what has impressed you, the defensive tackle? COACH GUNDY: Well, he's a very good player. You hear a lot about NFL opportunities. If the NFL are looking for big guys that can run and make good plays and have good reach and have some power and have success, and good lung capacity, it seems like that he plays for the majority of the game with great effort. And so he's no doubt a very, very good football player, and he's had success. It's interesting, as Coach mentioned, the Ohio State game, and which was one that we thought was really interesting, because you can say what you want, but Purdue really beat Ohio State at Ohio State. They went the length of the field I think in 37 or 47 seconds and then converted into beating them but for the most part, Purdue controlled that football game and I thought it was controlled by those guys up front with certainly him playing a big part in it. Q. Wondering what you expect to see from Purdue's secondary as far as mixing up coverages against you guys? COACH GUNDY: We obviously can only go by what's on tape. I think Bowl games allow coaches more time to draw up plays and schemes. I'm not sure that's always beneficial. I think at times we out‑coach ourselves. I know at Oklahoma State, we only have a certain way that we can do and execute our schemes and our plays, and so we go off the tape and Purdue's corners and safeties like to challenge receivers and have had success with that during the year. So we would expect them to play the same way they have, especially up through the last three or four games when they played very well. Q. I know you've been asked this, but you've had a week down here, is this really a different process for you, maybe the play calling in this game, versus not having done that in a few years? Has that been a smooth thing for you this week? COACH GUNDY: I made everybody aware, that question's come up‑‑ I've had to go back to work, that's for sure, I guess what has it been, the last 15 days or however long it's been since Coach Monken became the head coach at Southern Mississippi. But I've enjoyed being back in the meeting room with the quarterbacks and working with the offense. I think it's important that people realize that we have guys on our offensive staff that have been here a long time and they understand the offense and they have a good feel for practice plans and adjustments and scripting and game day calling, for that matter. So as a group, we have worked together. But I have enjoyed being with the quarterbacks over the last couple weeks. Q. On that same topic, you have said before several times how one of the things you liked about Todd Monken is he's so smart, so intelligent in the way he game plans and scouts and approaches and coaches; how much did you miss that quality out of him? Not that you don't have smart coaches left, but when you lose somebody of that quality, how much do you still miss that? COACH GUNDY: Again, I think it's important that everybody realizes that when you lose a coordinator, or at Oklahoma State, we lost an organizer, a quarterback coach and a play caller. And so we made the adjustments from that point moving forward, and we feel good about our preparation. We feel good about our game plan. As we are fortunate to have success at Oklahoma State, I would expect that this would happen more in the future. And so you move forward, make the adjustments, and give the players the best opportunity to have success. Q. Why has Josh Stewart blossomed this year? COACH GUNDY: First off, Josh likes to play football, and I think in recruiting young men, I know at Oklahoma State, we try to bring in guys that really like to play the game, because as I said earlier, ultimately it comes down to them. Coaches can't do it for them. They have to be willing to put the time in, the effort to train, the winter conditioning, the year‑round process that it takes to be a college football player, which in our opinion is the most difficult process there is in college athletics, not just compare one to the other. But a very tough to sport to play, and Josh doesn't shy away from competition, and enjoys the work and what it takes to be a college football player. And for that reason, he's in his second year now, he understands our offense, and he's got some ability and can make some plays, and so he's developed. Q. Can you talk about the changes that you saw as you watched film Purdue on tape, between their offense from the first few weeks of the season and the final three weeks in terms of changes they made? COACH GUNDY: As Coach said, I think that from week, I'm guessing here, eight or nine here, from that point on, it looked like they had settled in on what they were comfortable with and have had success. Started to kind of believe and play with confidence and again, it's hard for me to speak for what they are thinking or what's going on there, but started to buy in and said, look, this is what we are going to do and how we are going to have success. We all know that when you have success, it just breeds more success. Especially in athletics. Got comfortable running the football and some play pass, and really developed over the last few weeks of the season. Q. Sometimes you see a Bowl game that's pretty clear what the stakes are. So many Bowls, a lot of times, you're not sure what is at stake. Can both of you address what is at stake for your teams in this game and maybe doesn't have to be anything; maybe just the game is enough. COACH GUNDY: You going to make me go first. (Laughter). Our players over there will tell you, I don't think it's any mystery, go back to earlier in the press conference, it gets brought up at the end of the season: If you're not playing for the Big10 Championship and you're not playing for the Big12 Championship or a BCS Bowl or whatever your goals may be as a team, then what's left. But for us, and for our players, is that we are going to have a game tomorrow and there's a lot of hard work that goes in year‑round, I'm sure, with both teams, and they put a lot into it. And you get 13 opportunities in a calendar year to play a game. It's not like baseball. It's not like basketball where you get to go play 35, 40 games. We get 13 opportunities to compete. Our players have a responsibility to themselves and the team and the university to go compete. COACH HIGGINS: I agree. We look at it as it's a time to cultivate more of a spirit of ownership and it helps really to develop leaders.  Again, you have a whole extra month where those kids are together, and this is a catapult to the off‑season. When you go into the off‑season with a victory, well, it helps, because at Purdue, there's a flag that always flies over the stadium when we win. And when we lose, that flag is not there. So it's a lot better to go to work every day when you see that W flying over the flag, over stadium, than it not being there. And you say, so what is at stake? What is at stake is a lot of the off‑season pride. It's a lot of times when things get tough in those workouts in January and February and you can walk by the stadium and you see the W up there, and then for the kids, when the new kids come in, when anybody comes on campus, they know the effort that went into keeping that flag up there, all of the hard work they put in December and the opportunity to play on January 1 against such a quality opponent as Oklahoma State, you can't ask for a better game. Q. Patrick, it's been a rough year for the Big Ten in terms of reputation‑wise on the field, even Jim Delaney addressed it at one point. You mentioned representing the Big Ten. Is this an opportunity for you guys to sort of stake a claim for a Big Ten resurgence? COACH HIGGINS: Any time you step out of conference and you have to play another BCS conference, especially a quality conference such as Big12 and all of the things that they have accomplished, it's an opportunity to represent your conference and put it in the right light, and we hopefully will do that. Our kids have worked hard and they understand, you know, again, you ask what's at stake and that's another thing; that any time you can help promote your conference, that's always a thing you want to do. So, yeah, it's important for us that we represent the big 10 in a quality fashion, yes. Q. You were a head coach a long time ago, so‑‑ COACH HIGGINS: Long time. Nothing like this. The only thing we had at a press conference when I was at William Penn University was probably one person and me sitting in a room. That was our press conference. (Laughter). Q. My question is: Will you be giving a pregame speech tomorrow to the team? I guess what will be your message to them? COACH HIGGINS: Just go out and have fun and win. What are we here for? Again, pregame speeches last for how long? From the time you close your mouth to the time the last guy walks out of the locker room. Our kids, that's the pregame speech and it's for them. So that's about it. Q. Tell us about Robert Marve, he's had an interesting journey in his college career. Tell us about his game and what you expect out of him. COACH HIGGINS: Man, you could write a book about Robert. Started out as one of best quarterbacks, if not the best quarterback coming out of high school, signed with Miami, got injured at Miami, and they had some coaching changes and stuff like that there and ended up, got into a car accident. Got a knee‑‑ came here, got a knee, got a another knee. He's just such a unique individual, and he's overcome such adversity and he's done it with class. He's got his degree and that's the main thing. You know, at some times, you forget that these kids are still students and all of those kids sitting over there in that chair, they are all graduates right now. That's a fantastic thing when you get a degree from Purdue when you get to play Big Ten football, and he's done everything in a first‑class fashion. He's been academic all Big Ten, which I'm sure he's real proud of. And he was kind of the catalyst the last three weeks to say, okay, let's go. Because no one really thought after the NotreDame game that he's going to take another snap for us. And with his resolve and his determination, he came back and he did a heck of a job. I don't know if everybody knows this, but he set a school record this year for completion percentage. He was 66.2 percent completion percentage, and with the quarterbacks that have graduated from Purdue, Bob Griese, Jim Everett, Drew Brees, the list goes on and on. And to be in that category, that says something about the kid's resolve. And over the last three games, he's had seven touchdowns, one pick. He's taken care of the football. He's become a true leader both on the field and off the field, and with the character of keeping kids in place. So he's been nothing but a credit to the student athlete, and I can say that with pride. And he has been someone that kids can look up to and see how to overcome struggles: After you start to crawl, then you walk, then you trot, then you run. He's done it all, so he's been a pleasure to work with. Q. A few years ago, people would scoff about social media; now, you watch the NFL games and you've got a Twitter up there in the press box. I'm curious about what you tell your teams, to both coaches, about bulletin board material and what they put up there on the Internet. COACH HIGGINS: Me first this time. Social media is a unique concept and it can be used‑‑ as we know, it can be used for good and it can be used for evil, okay. COACH GUNDY: Let me check my messages. COACH HIGGINS: That's right (laughter). COACH GUNDY: I know Robert is checking his. (Laughter). COACH HIGGINS: So we always try to educate the young men that what you say can come back. I'm going to tell you a quick story. We had Irving Fryar from the NFL come in and talk to our young men during preseason camp, and he pulled up some of the things that our men had on Facebook and on Twitter and made them stand up and read it. And some of it wasn't very flattering. And that was a real life lesson right there for them that says, whatever you put down, whatever you Tweet, whatever you put on Facebook, it's there, for everybody to see. So automatically, that becomes an image of who you are, what type of person you are. You have to be very careful. It can be a great tool to promote your team, your university, your conference and yourself as an individual, but it can also do a lot of harm if not used properly. So that's the education we try to teach these young men. COACH GUNDY: Well, as Coach said, we say the same thing. We have discussions with our players and try to do the best we can to educate them, because it's here forever. I have three sons at the house, one is 16, one is 11 and one is eight and I tried to keep it way from them as long as they could. And now the eight‑year‑old is wanting to do it. So we think education is the way to handle it. Our players are allowed to be on Facebook and Twitter and whatever source of interaction that they feel like that they need to survive in the real world, and we try to educate them and handle it the right way and make the best of it. And over the last year, two years I guess for that matter, they have really improved in how they have handled themselves on Facebook and Twitter. Q. The last two years, you've won the Bowl game, without really getting much going in the running game. I don't know if that same situation were to happen tomorrow, would you end up being more one‑dimensional than you want‑‑ are you comfortable with that or not so comfortable? COACH GUNDY: Well, I'm not comfortable with not running the ball. I would like to be able to have a balanced attack. I think that's pretty much common knowledge over what would be five or six years at Oklahoma State, or maybe further back than that. And at times, the run game does not work as well as you want it to, and Purdue's big guys up front could have an effect on that. I mean, the two guys they have playing inside are wide and they are physical, and so they have to be handled the best that we can and if not, you have to throw it some. I think that we certainly would like to be able to run the ball and gives you the best chance for success. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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