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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Gregg Brandon Press Conference Quotes
October 28, 2003 | Football
Oct. 28, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
BGSU HEAD COACH GREGG BRANDON
Does it help to have an extra couple days to get ready for Miami?
"It helps (in terms of) injuries. It helps us heal up. It's hard to get preparation (to play against) Ben Roethlisberger, because he's a great player."
What are his strengths?
"He has a cannon for an arm. He can zip it in there. You think you've got a guy covered, and boom, the ball's there. He reminds me of Drew Bledsoe."
What about Miami's receivers?
"He (Roethlisberger) has some quality players, just like we do. They run good routes, and they run a good scheme and they know how to get open."
It seems that both teams have a quarterback getting all the notoriety, but there are two strong defenses flying under the radar.
"Well, their defense is like ours. It's built for speed, and really doing well against the rush. I think they're leading the MAC in rushing defense. They create turnovers, and generally run around and wreak havoc. We re going to have to block them.
Does the offensive game plan change in general from the NIU game to the Miami game?
"Offensively, it's similar (to the NIU game) in that we need to keep them off the field like we kept Northern Illinois off the field. Northern Illinois had Turner, who can hurt you at the drop of a hat, and Miami has Roethlisberger, who can hurt you just as fast. If we can keep them on the sidelines, that would be in our best interests."
Are you going to give the team any time off this week?
"We have had three days off. We are going to practice through the weekend, and treat it just like a normal week. Saturday's a Wednesday, Sunday's a Thursday."
If you were selling Josh Harris to an NFL scout in terms of potential, how would you do that?
"I don't know what they are looking for, some guys come in and say this and some come in and say that. All I know is, every pro scout I've talked to loves Josh Harris. They're all looking for a little bit different thing that fits in their system. Josh offers some things that will fit in a pro system. Aside from the tangible things -- he's an accurate, great passer, very elusive in the pocket, a scrambler and all that -- he has become a great leader. That really was evident to me Saturday night. He wasn't gonna be denied, and he made some plays in that game that made me blink. You know, avoiding the rush in the pocket and throwing the ball in there. Running the ball at crucial times for us. His leadership in the huddle and in the locker room has been phenomenal. I can't say enough about Josh Harris."
It must have been nice to get some injured players back, such as Rick Mauer.
"Yeah, Rick Mauer played some (against NIU), and that's huge for us. Our D-line has been awesome that way. We've been able to play eight or nine kids in there, and that really helped us Saturday. Mitch Crossley and Devon Parks are doing a great job on the end, and of course (Mike) Thaler, (Matt) Leininger... Monty Cooley had a great game. He stepped up, and it's nice being able to roll those guys in, with Will Teague and Rick Mauer, is huge for us."
Have you had any kind of fallout after the win against NIU, in terms of off-field things such as recruiting? Have things changed for you?
"Well, I would like to think that it is not going to be just a one-time shot. We put 31,000 in there, and I've challenged the fans to come back for Kent State. Let's put 30,000 in there for them, and show the nation that it isn't just every 20 years that we get a record crowd."
"The other thing is that we're bowl-eligible, with seven wins. It's kind of tough in the MAC. Northern Illinois is a great football team. If we have teams that are bowl-eligible, we should get some opportunities. To me, the bowls are looking for a fan base. They're all financially-driven. If we're not fortunate enough to win our conference and get in one of the two bowls ... the two years I've been here, we've been 8-3 and 9-3, and been shut out. We only have two bowl tie-ins ... if we can show to the at-large bowls that we can put 30,000 in here, we have a fan base, we'll generate some income for your bowl, then that's my challenge to our fans. If we're fortunate enough to win the MAC, great. We'll get in a bowl game. But, if we're not, and say we finish out at 9-3 or 8-4, somebody will take us if we show that the fans will come. And, that's what we need to do. We need to step up and get the crowd here like we did against Northern Illinois. Pack the place for Kent State; pack it for Toledo. We have to play well at Miami on ESPN2. There were five bowl reps here Saturday -- two from BCS bowls -- which is awesome. There's no reason why we can't do that, week in and week out, in this league. It was a great atmosphere, and Bowling Green's a great place. We showed the nation that we're a great place, and I just hope it wasn't a one-time shot. I want us to be able to sustain that."
What kind of impact did the crowd have Saturday?
"Phenomenal. It was unbelievable. When we drove up in the busses, and got out and walked down the sidewalk (through the Meijer Tailgate Park), I thought some of our kids were actually holding back tears. The Will Teagues, the Rick Mauers, guys that have spilt blood out there for five years, and never got to experience that. It was unbelievable, just seeing the fans patting them on the back and cheering them on. And then, when we came out for pregame (warmups) it was phenomenal seeing that crowd beating the Thunderstix. And, they sustained it for four quarters. It was awesome. Jovon Burkes said that it's a heck of a motivator, when you come out of that tunnel and there's 30,000 (fans), as opposed to five or ten thousand. Shoot, I played football; I know what he's talking about. The adrenalin rush is there, and I can't thank our fans enough. I just want 'em to sustain it for us, and take us to a MAC Championship. The fans are the 12th man."
Miami probably will have that advantage (next Tuesday). Having just seen that atmosphere in the last game, will that help you?
"I think our kids have experienced just about everything there is to experience in college football. We've been on the road, in a hostile environment and won; we've played in front of 110,000 and barely lost. We played at home (Saturday), and I couldn't hear. I don't think there's much that will surprise our guys right now. We are a poised, veteran football team that's shown up week after week, and I credit our seniors and our captains for getting that done."
