EL PASO, Tex. - Pat Narduzzi and David Shaw previewed the Sun Bowl on Sunday, and here's what they said.
Quotes provided by the Sun Bowl Association.
Pat Narduzzi
"The hospitality this week has been incredible. The (Sun Bowl Association) have made this whole experience an incredible one for our players, out team, our families our children and everybody involved. The hospitality is what you heard about. When you heard you’re going to the Sun Bowl, you heard about the nationally recognized hospitality, and it’s been over the top. I had to start opening doors because you can’t even open a door when you’re here. We’ve had a great week of practice in preparation for a great Stanford team.”
On the ‘old-school’ match-up against Stanford…
“I think they (Stanford) are no huddle. Sometimes it’s hard to tell because they go so fast and a lot of talk at the line of scrimmage but I believe we’ll face a huddle, which will be the second time all year. This is old-school football and there’s a beauty of running the ball and having success running the football. We obviously would like to be two-dimensional tomorrow as opposed to one-dimensional. I think it’s important for us to get our passing game going.”
On winning first bowl game as a head coach…
“It’s great to win every game but it’s not about me it’s about this football team. I want to win for the seniors. We’ve had some great bowl games and played a tough schedule. We have another tough game in Stanford. We’ve played 11 bowl eligible teams and certainly as a university you would like to win a bowl game.”
On the trajectory of the program after playing the Hyundai Sun Bowl…
“It’s all about tomorrow. That’s what we’re prepared to do, to win a football game. You’re going to have two teams going head-to-head tomorrow that would like to win another football game.”
David Shaw
“Thank you everyone in attendance, the week’s been outstanding, second time here as a head coach, third time total. And once again, it never disappoints. Guys are having a great time enjoying themselves. I love the way this bowl is structured, we got 48 hours out and now we get to concentrate on football and get ready to play. Our guys are excited to be here, having a great time, looking forward to tomorrow’s game.”
On compensating on running game without Bryce Love . . .
“It’s very difficult. With Bryce, it really didn’t matter what you ran, he’s going to find a way to make a play. Cameron Scarlett is more than capable; he’s had some big games, some big moments really throughout his entire career. Excited about what he’s got a chance to do tomorrow. We’ll play most of the backs like we always do. We’ll rotate those guys and keep those guys fresh. But we also want to be a balanced football team so we want to be able to run we want to be able to throw it. We want to stay in positive field position and positive on the chains.”
On impressions on Pitt running game . . .
“When you watch a really good running team a lot of times what you see is a really good one-two punch. And game-to-game it’s hard to say who’s one and who’s two (with Pitt). Both guys have had big games and both guys have had big moments. We’ve had really good runners and really good rushing years, the rarity is when you have two guys that can run it inside and make big plays. Sometimes you have kind of a big-play guy, a scat-back, and one guy that pounds it out. But both guys have made big runs in big moments against really good football teams. The key is getting as many guys as humanly possible to tackle. These guys gave broken a lot of tackles. We got to tackle as a unit, we got to gang tackle, and at the same time be aware of the play-action pass.”
On WR JJ Arcega-Whiteside’s play on the field and interning with Condoleezza Rice . . .
“Condoleezza is an unbelievable human being. She’s brilliant and she’s very choosy as you can imagine. We’ve had a few players over the years that have been fortunate enough to work with her. She works with athletes, non-athletes, so just to be around her for a summer and help her with whatever comes down her pipe. JJ is a special young man, international relations major, born in Spain, and is a bright light of a human being. Positive, energetic, he’s on the field, he’s off the field, he’s the same guy. I’m excited about what he’s done on this level and excited about what he’s capable of doing on the next level.”
On whether Pitt reminds him of his own team and if he sees other teams that are the same (running the football before passing) . . .
“It’s not rampant in college football anymore, but for me once again it’s football. And we haven’t done as much as we have typically for a time there, but we get in and out of it just because I think it’s beautiful. For people that love football there’s a beauty to it. There’s a physical nature that you get with downhill running that leads to confidence in the offensive linemen. You feel good, you’re imposing your will on the opponent. That’s all over the Pitt film.”
On balancing time while in El Paso . . .
“That’s been our motto since day one for me, when we have a chance to go to bowl games we’re going to enjoy all that the bowl has, and when it’s time to work we’re going to get to work. We practice physically when we practice. We get after it, we go fast. And when it’s time to relax we relax, have fun, let our guys enjoy themselves. Families are here, coaches’ wives are here, unbelievable hospitality that we get an opportunity to take advantage of. We’re going to soak all that up and when it’s time to play football we’re going to play football.”
On handling Pitt punt and kickoff return unit . . .
“Fingers crossed, we got an outstanding kickoff specialist and punter in Jake Bailey. Who I believe is a draft-able athlete on the next level. He always does a great job as a punter and as a kickoff man. His hangtime and direction, especially when someone has a really good kickoff returner, you want that ball high and deep. So even if it’s not as deep at least it’s high enough that hopefully to get a kneel down in the end zone.”
On advantage of having played in Sun Bowl a couple of years ago . . .
“No, I think what happens when you’re in any area for a period of time you get used to the altitude, you get used to the environment. (I) used to deal with that when I was with the Raiders when we would go to Mile High. It’s hard when you travel that day or the day before and you get in there, it takes about a quarter. But once you’re around and you’re here for a week the players don’t notice the difference.”
