Bowling Green State University Athletics
Week 14 Football Media Day Quotes
November 26, 2007 | Football
Nov. 26, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Bowling Green State University football head coach Gregg Brandon and selected players took a few minutes out of their busy day to talk with the members of the media about their win over Toledo and the possibility of participating in a bowl game.
Coach Gregg Brandon
Do you have a preference as to which bowl you end up in?
"No. The Motor City Bowl is a great bowl, so is the GMAC Bowl and International Bowl from what I heard, is going to be a great spot. But it's just great for this team to get a bid. That's what makes this time exciting."
What is the practice structure right now, when are you allowed to practice?
"We can practice right now. Until all the regular season games are done, which is Sunday night, you can practice if you're bowl eligible. So anyone who has six wins right now could be practicing."
Have you or will you practice during this week?
"No. We're not going to practice. We're going to give them a couple of weeks to rest and heal up. We really need these guys to hone in on academics right now and get these guys caught up in the classroom. They're just going to run and lift for the next couple of weeks. We'll probably start practice a week from Thursday."
What are some of the hidden advantages to making a bowl game?
"It can really be a catch-22 because if you make a bowl game, you essentially get another spring football. Making a bowl game really helped us my first two years here - to be able to sustain the program. Teams that are struggling to get over that hump need those extra practices. We have teams out there that have been getting these extra practices for 20 years or so and those are the teams that are going to continue to be good because they get extra practice."
On the defense dominating the past two games
"We really challenged them after the Eastern [Michigan] game to do a better job of stopping the run. We went into that game last in the conference in rushing defense, which is just unacceptable. So we challenged them, to get out of the cellar, and in fact, I think we're ninth or 10th now, which is still not where you want to be, but it's a heck of a lot better than last. I think we got some guys healthy in the defensive line, which helped. Having [Jacob] Hardwick back, [Joe] Schaefer back and then having [Sean] O'Drobinak's hyper-extended elbow get rest was big. He [O'Drobinak] came out and really challenged everyone on that defense and they really responded. They did a great job of stuffing the run on Friday."
How much character does it show for a guy like O'Drobinak to do that kind of thing in his condition?
"It shows a ton of character. When we named him a captain late in the season, he really stepped it up and it just shows you how much quality that kid has. He's been a program guy. We asked him to move to defensive line last spring and obviously, he was a little apprehensive, but once he jumped in there, he never looked back. He's done a great job learning that position, as well as being a great team leader. All our seniors and captains really though were great team leaders this year. Those guys being Kory Lichtensteiger, Antonio Smith, Corey Partridge and [Loren] Hargrove is a guy I thought did a tremendous job this year as a senior captain. There's no doubt in my mind that we are where we are today because of those seniors."
Did these seniors have a little more incentive this year to turn things around?
"Well, we really just went through the one down year. Then we made a commitment in the off-season that we weren't going to do that again and it had to start with the seniors. Our program is based on senior leadership and automatically when you become a senior you're challenged by us to step up - some do and some don't. Then having 14 of them, some didn't play. Like Kyle Cutler is a kid that hardly played as our long snapper and he was a great leader. I mean he was a great leader in the locker room, he was a great leader on the boundary getting kids jazzed up and getting kids into the game. Those are the things that the average guy doesn't see, unless you're really close to the program."
Is the offensive line going to be the main concentration in recruiting?
"No question it will be. People are going to say you got all your skill back, you only lost two seniors on your defense so you better win it next year, but we got to replace those kids on that offensive line of ours. That'll be huge for us with only two starters back and losing three fifth-year guys. We've got some guys that have been waiting in the wings, but they've never played. So that'll be a huge emphasis in recruiting, but again, those will be young guys. Those won't be guys ready to step in right away, but we'll get it done."
Who are some of the guys that you could see stepping in next year on the offensive line?
"There's some guys we have that have been in the program now for three or four years now. Guys like Aaron Kent, Jeff Fink and Brady Minturn are all quality back-up guys and we'll have to see how things play out. The bowl practicing and spring football will be huge for those kids because we virtually have to rebuild that line."
Tyler Sheehan
On your first full season at quarterback and knocking off Toledo
"It was a huge win. It pretty much solidified us a bowl bid. When we knock those guys off it's always a big win for us. The fashion we did it in turned some heads because we knew we were going to get Toledo's best shot like we do every other year. I think they definitely came out ready to play fired up and everything I just think we out executed them and defensively out hit them. Our defense played great."
How did you celebrate?
"I went back to the hotel with my parents and sat in the hot tub for about an hour and then went to bed. I didn't do too much. Went back and enjoyed my family coming up, they made me a nice little Thanksgiving meal then sat in the hot tub a little getting relaxed and hit the sack."
Was that a mentally tough game as much as it was physical for you?
"Yes. We practiced so much, we watched so much more film this week just to be ready for them. I had so many different scenarios going through my head what we were going to do and what we were going to see. We saw a lot of stuff we saw on film in the game so it definitely helped me but mentally it is going to be nice to take a break these next couple of weeks and help me focus on school a little bit and be a regular college student for a couple weeks."
Were you nervous going into the game?
"Honestly I really don't get nervous when I play. I was confident and excited. I guess that is as close as I get to butterflies is excited. We just wanted to get out there and show everybody what we were made of. Toledo is a pretty good team believe it or not. They have a lot of good athletes. I give them our respect, I think we just played really well, probably our best game all season."
On the season and how amazing the turn around is
"It is huge. We won four more games than we did last year. Last year it didn't seem like we could do anything. I think the new coaches helped. We went to the basics on offense and right now we are expanding on it. Going back to the basics helped a lot. The coaches came with a new attitude this year they were easy going at first and as the season went on they made sure we stayed focused. I could definitely tell the difference in the way the coaching style was this year. I think it helped us out a lot mentally and physically. They were really different last year we were in full pads constantly going at it and I guess it kind of helped us this year and showed us what college football is all about. This year we kind of went easy just shoulder pads and helmets a lot of the time, which helped us stay fresh physically."
On the mood at the end of last year compared to now
"The mood last year at the Toledo game especially in that locker room everybody felt absolutely terrible. I can't even put into words how bad it was for me because I got to play a little bit and made some mistakes. I was just feeling like nothing could go right for us and it was going to be a long off-season for us. We can in with the mentality in the winter when we started conditioning that it was time to get back to business. The seniors came up and gave a big speech about it and that we need to get back to the winning ways we have here and I think it stuck with everyone through the winter and then spring ball was great, the energy and the atmosphere that surrounded all of the players kept getting better and better."
What was the main motivation this year?
"I think at the beginning of the year I talked a lot about getting our respect back and I think that was the biggest thing that people wanted to receive. We lost a lot of respect last year throughout the country and especially in the MAC with the way we performed. We wanted to come out this year and prove that we are a team to be reckoned with. Having the best record in MAC definitely says something about our team."
How much have you learned since the first game of the season and starting the whole year?
"It has been a great experience for me. Not only football wise but getting to know people, how to handle people, even the media stuff helps me out in my classes with presentations. Everything this year has been completely new and has helped me not only in football but in life in general. I plan on growing even more next year with it. This year has definitely been fun and a great learning experience for me."
Sean O'Drobinak
On the turn around from last season
"We came into the season saying that last year was last year. That was the past and this is now. It is a different football team and it was because we have new guys and we weren't young anymore. 4-4 mid way through the season we had a choice grasp it and run with it or let it slip away like last year. It being my last year I didn't want to see that or go out like that. I am just really grateful for where I am right now and my teammates, they stepped it up for us seniors because they saw what happened last year and didn't want that to happen this year."
Would you say that you exceeded even your own expectations? "I wouldn't say we exceeded our expectations because if you are a football team going into a season you are going to have high expectations if you don't you don't belong in football. I would say we exceeded the community's expectations and the people that determine preseason polls. I think we exceeded those expectations because as a football team in August we had expectations of being right where we are and if you don't have those expectations like I said you don't belong in football."
What was your favorite gift that you got from a bowl game?
"I remember that for Motor City and the GMAC bowl they gave us commemorative footballs. Every bowl gift I get I try to give a piece to my family. The first year I gave the watch to my dad, the second year I gave the watch to my uncle because he is a big supporter. Those two footballs I gave to my coaches. I think the most memorable gift I have gotten are those four because I am getting the gift but I like to give it back to the people that got me here."
Is it weird that Miami will be going to the MAC Championship and might not be bowl eligible?
"Yes. I don't know if it has ever happened in the history of the MAC or in the history of any conference. They have to take this game like it is the Superbowl if they lose they can't go anywhere and if they win my hats off to them. I wasn't thinking about that until my father said something about it after the game. I wish them the best of luck."
What is the best part about going to a bowl game?
"Freshman year I wanted to go home for Thanksgiving but I couldn't do that so I wanted to go home for Christmas but we were in a bowl game so I couldn't do that. From a freshman to a fifth year now since it is winding down I think the best part of going to a bowl game is you get to be here that much longer. I get to be here for one more month around these guys and these coaches. We had a Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday for the team and after you eat you can leave whenever you want. Forty-five minutes into the dinner most of the team is gone and I felt myself looking around and pretty much all the old guys are here just sitting around talking to our coaches and everyone is done eating. Everyone is trying to milk it for as much as they can for as long as we can. I think that is the most special part that we can be around each other for one more month."
