ball915
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- Dec 21, 2012
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Head Coach Al Golden
Opening statement:
"I hope everybody had a great holiday, and we're glad to be here today. We're excited about the matchup tomorrow. Our guys have had a great week. We appreciate all the people from the Independence Bowl and their hospitality all week. We're grateful. I know our team has really enjoyed the experience, great people, and we've practiced well. Very focused all week. We're excited about the opportunity."
On the health of Nick Linder:
"He's doing good. He was better yesterday. Obviously, today is going to help him tremendously, and our hope is he's going to be available to us. I don't know how much he'll be in the rotation, but if he's available to us, it's a big step."
On Jon Feliciano:
"I think John's going to be good. I think he's going to be good. He's practiced really well the last two days. Had a great look about him yesterday, and I know he's excited, like Denzel, Shane and the other seniors, to play in the game tomorrow."
On South Carolina's pass rush:
"Obviously, you have to handle the inside too. They get great push on the quarterback. It could be misleading because they have played a lot of spread option teams. They're playing a lot of teams that run the ball and have elusive quarterbacks. That's the important thing. We've got to do a great job protecting. They will bring five and play some Cover 1 behind it. We've got to shake free on our routes and get open and we've got to pick up five or six when they bring them."
On the key for the Miami pass rush:
"No. 1, we've got to win our one-on-one matchups, but certainly, when we do dial up the five- or six-man pressures, we've got to get home with them. We've got to make them pay. That's going to be a challenge for us, no question about it. From that standpoint, we've got to execute. Everybody's got to be where they need to be, and when we do get our one-on-ones, we have to win."
On the difference between a winning and losing season:
"I think Duke mentioned it earlier, from our standpoint, when the regular season ended, we gave the guys who were high-rep guys and vets, two weeks off to kind of regroup and when we went to work, everybody went back to work. Right now, our hope is we are a markedly different team than we were two weeks ago. To be quite honest with you, we practiced really good in the pre-site and when we came to Shreveport, we practiced really well. It will be about going out tomorrow and executing and certainly for us at Miami, winning a bowl game for the first time in eight years, obviously would be a big momentum boost for us, no question about it."
On the South Carolina offense's play-action passing game:
"That's the key. If they can get running the ball and stay ahead of the sticks on first and second down, they become very difficult on third down with their combination of run/pass and quarterback runs, number one. No. 2, if the run gets going, they have an excellent play-action game. They are an excellent play-action team. They have some length in addition to having Pharoh, a guy that can make you miss in the open field, they have some some length that can really go get it down the field. We really have to go attack the ball."
On the ACC's success against the SEC this year:
"Join the party? Yeah, we'd love to join the party. We talk about the game. These guys are preparing to play. There's a lot that goes into it. To be honest, we don't get into the storylines. We're excited to play South Carolina. We're excited to play a team from the SEC. That's been a great challenge for the last three weeks."
On the want to be here and if it is overrated:
"I can't speak for coach Spurrier, but for us, we came here with a mission. From our standpoint, these guys have done an incredible job of practicing and keeping everything in perspective and relaxing when it's time to relax and focus when it's time to focus, and we're going to bring that to the game tomorrow. We're going to enjoy the moment, enjoy the battle. A lot of things can happen in bowl games, and we have to be ready for whatever happens - improvise and adjust and really enjoy it. I don't sense any morale issues or anything. I think we've enjoyed the experience. From our standpoint, it's Denzel's second bowl game. Denzel, his first two years, was precluded from going to bowl games or the ACC Championship. I think that was Duke's first year, so from that standpoint, they're excited about being here and playing."
On his relationship with South Carolina's Steve Spurrier:
"I have incredible respect for coach Spurrier, No. 1 because of what he's accomplished in his career. Really, the turnaround, if you will, at three different programs, speaks for itself and just the way he went about his business. From a more personal nature, he and (Spurrier's wife) Jeri, for all the functions we've done together, they've been so kind and gracious. He shares his wisdom and experience and he's very approachable, a very likeable man. In a private setting, he's incredible to be around. From that standpoint, we're grateful to he and Jeri. He doesn't have any more significance (on the game). Right now, our focus is on playing really well tomorrow, executing and coming out with a win."
On Spurrier's longevity and not having a losing season in 24 years:
"I think that speaks for itself. Again, if you just look at his record in the media guide, South Carolina has his records and how he built each program. I think at South Carolina, you could see him build it. I know it took him a little longer than he wanted, maybe five years. Then he had three straight years of 11 wins or more. I think anymore, in college football, you can be susceptible to the type of season he's having this year if a couple of guys leave early, that type of thing. From that standpoint, his record over the course of time speaks for itself."
Opening statement:
"I hope everybody had a great holiday, and we're glad to be here today. We're excited about the matchup tomorrow. Our guys have had a great week. We appreciate all the people from the Independence Bowl and their hospitality all week. We're grateful. I know our team has really enjoyed the experience, great people, and we've practiced well. Very focused all week. We're excited about the opportunity."
On the health of Nick Linder:
"He's doing good. He was better yesterday. Obviously, today is going to help him tremendously, and our hope is he's going to be available to us. I don't know how much he'll be in the rotation, but if he's available to us, it's a big step."
On Jon Feliciano:
"I think John's going to be good. I think he's going to be good. He's practiced really well the last two days. Had a great look about him yesterday, and I know he's excited, like Denzel, Shane and the other seniors, to play in the game tomorrow."
On South Carolina's pass rush:
"Obviously, you have to handle the inside too. They get great push on the quarterback. It could be misleading because they have played a lot of spread option teams. They're playing a lot of teams that run the ball and have elusive quarterbacks. That's the important thing. We've got to do a great job protecting. They will bring five and play some Cover 1 behind it. We've got to shake free on our routes and get open and we've got to pick up five or six when they bring them."
On the key for the Miami pass rush:
"No. 1, we've got to win our one-on-one matchups, but certainly, when we do dial up the five- or six-man pressures, we've got to get home with them. We've got to make them pay. That's going to be a challenge for us, no question about it. From that standpoint, we've got to execute. Everybody's got to be where they need to be, and when we do get our one-on-ones, we have to win."
On the difference between a winning and losing season:
"I think Duke mentioned it earlier, from our standpoint, when the regular season ended, we gave the guys who were high-rep guys and vets, two weeks off to kind of regroup and when we went to work, everybody went back to work. Right now, our hope is we are a markedly different team than we were two weeks ago. To be quite honest with you, we practiced really good in the pre-site and when we came to Shreveport, we practiced really well. It will be about going out tomorrow and executing and certainly for us at Miami, winning a bowl game for the first time in eight years, obviously would be a big momentum boost for us, no question about it."
On the South Carolina offense's play-action passing game:
"That's the key. If they can get running the ball and stay ahead of the sticks on first and second down, they become very difficult on third down with their combination of run/pass and quarterback runs, number one. No. 2, if the run gets going, they have an excellent play-action game. They are an excellent play-action team. They have some length in addition to having Pharoh, a guy that can make you miss in the open field, they have some some length that can really go get it down the field. We really have to go attack the ball."
On the ACC's success against the SEC this year:
"Join the party? Yeah, we'd love to join the party. We talk about the game. These guys are preparing to play. There's a lot that goes into it. To be honest, we don't get into the storylines. We're excited to play South Carolina. We're excited to play a team from the SEC. That's been a great challenge for the last three weeks."
On the want to be here and if it is overrated:
"I can't speak for coach Spurrier, but for us, we came here with a mission. From our standpoint, these guys have done an incredible job of practicing and keeping everything in perspective and relaxing when it's time to relax and focus when it's time to focus, and we're going to bring that to the game tomorrow. We're going to enjoy the moment, enjoy the battle. A lot of things can happen in bowl games, and we have to be ready for whatever happens - improvise and adjust and really enjoy it. I don't sense any morale issues or anything. I think we've enjoyed the experience. From our standpoint, it's Denzel's second bowl game. Denzel, his first two years, was precluded from going to bowl games or the ACC Championship. I think that was Duke's first year, so from that standpoint, they're excited about being here and playing."
On his relationship with South Carolina's Steve Spurrier:
"I have incredible respect for coach Spurrier, No. 1 because of what he's accomplished in his career. Really, the turnaround, if you will, at three different programs, speaks for itself and just the way he went about his business. From a more personal nature, he and (Spurrier's wife) Jeri, for all the functions we've done together, they've been so kind and gracious. He shares his wisdom and experience and he's very approachable, a very likeable man. In a private setting, he's incredible to be around. From that standpoint, we're grateful to he and Jeri. He doesn't have any more significance (on the game). Right now, our focus is on playing really well tomorrow, executing and coming out with a win."
On Spurrier's longevity and not having a losing season in 24 years:
"I think that speaks for itself. Again, if you just look at his record in the media guide, South Carolina has his records and how he built each program. I think at South Carolina, you could see him build it. I know it took him a little longer than he wanted, maybe five years. Then he had three straight years of 11 wins or more. I think anymore, in college football, you can be susceptible to the type of season he's having this year if a couple of guys leave early, that type of thing. From that standpoint, his record over the course of time speaks for itself."
