Fiesta Bowl Quotes

January 1, 2007

HEAD COACH Bob Stoops
Opening Statement:
"I'm very proud of my football team. They've been a great group to work with the entire year. This game doesn't change that. It was a crazy, wild game. Felt early on, of course, we made too many major mistakes that really put us in a bad position. But I'm proud of the way the guys fought back, responded to give theirselves an opportunity to win.

"In the end, Boise made, you know, the big plays on some fourth downs and a two-point play. Give them, you know -- and they deserve it, the credit for making those plays. They did an excellent job.

"Again, very proud of these guys, my entire football team, for the way they competed, the way they've handled theirselves through the entire season."

On the review of Ian Johnson's fumble in overtime:
"I haven't seen it. In the end, if it is that way, it is. There's nothing I can do about it. It's unfortunate if it is. What am I going to say about it at this point?"

About coming back from an 18-point deficit:
"Again, a lot happened. I'm proud. Everyone can make of this what they want. These guys are great to work with. Even though we made our mistakes, dug ourselves a hole, we dug out of it with those plays.

"I'm proud of 'em, the way they did, executed. You know, make two two-point conversions, Marcus (Walker) makes a great play after giving up a big play early in the game to give ourselves an opportunity to win. Just wasn't meant to be."

On what he told the defense during the timeout before Boise State's two-point conversion attempt:
"The two things we were looking for were a sprint to the trips guys out there. We made a special point to emphasize the backside. We call it the nub side away from the end over, to look for something, throw back something back to that side.

"We didn't do a very good job defending it."

On executing offense and defense better in the second half:
"Well, sure. But the first half, again, defensively there's two plays, there's two big plays. I thought their quarterback on the second one just makes -- we're all over him. He swings it back out to their sideline. Other than that, though, we're playing good defensively.

"Offensively, I felt we didn't do -- we were pretty average to poor in the first half. Of course, you know, we didn't do a very good job running the football at all. Again, to their credit, they did a nice job taking it away. You know, the turnovers really, really hurt us. In the second half, we started executing a little bit better, making some plays."

On where he ranks Boise State among the teams Oklahoma has played this season:
" They're an excellent football team. Anybody that's covered us knows, I don't get into comparing teams. They're a really good football team. I knew that, we knew that all along. Their execution, the way they play, I think Coach Petersen, his staff, do an excellent job.

"They obviously deserve their ranking. They've had a great year."

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SENIOR LINEBACKER Rufus Alexander
On the review of Ian Johnson's fumble in overtime:
"I mean, you know, bad calls -- if that was a bad call, oh, well. We still had a chance to stop 'em later on in the game, even though that was a bad call.

"The defense had to step up and make stops, when we should have made them."

On whether he expected as many trick plays out of Boise State:
"We've looked at many through our preparation. They're always looking for 'em.

"I want to give them credit because I thought they executed it in a really good way. But fourth and 19, you do get some things like that. We were in as conservative and as good a coverage as you can be in. They executed it. Their times just happened to be right.

"I think one of our inside backers slips, you know, as the ball is thrown. We can't get on the receiver quick enough before he can lateral. It's just the circumstances, the way it happened, they hit it perfect -- again, to their credit."

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JUNIOR RUNNING BACK ADRIAN PETERSON
On his thoughts of maybe playing his final collegiate game:
"I don't know, kind of -- I don't know, my head is just spinin' right now. I don't know, the play they ended in, it was a crazy play. I don't know. I don't know, man. My head is just spinin' right now, to be honest."

On when he will make a decision about declaring for the NFL draft:
"Well, I got a little time. So basically just sit back, you know, find some time to relax, think over everything. You know, then I'll make my decision. No rush."

On how it felt to play the game:
"Exactly. It felt good to be back out with the guys. The guys, offensive line gelled, improved throughout the season. It was great to just get back out and play with the guys, so..."

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SENIOR QUARTERBACK Paul Thompson
On bouncing back from early turnovers:
"Yeah, started off a little rough, made some passes that I normally wouldn't make. I think I might have been trying to do too much, it being a big game. I wasn't really playing within myself.

"We were able to regroup. The guys did a great job staying focused towards the end of the game, never doubting ourselves, never not believing we could come back.

"Yeah, started off, it was definitely rough. Wasn't really nervous; just was trying to do too much really."

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BOISE STATE HEAD COACH CHRIS PETERSEN
Opening Statement:
"Yeah, I'd just like to first just really give Oklahoma a lot of credit. They're as good as we thought they were. We had to pull out every trick in the bag, battle as hard as we thought we would there. They're a great program. Coach Stoops does an unbelievable job. They were everything they were billed to be.

"I think our players, they're warriors, they never quit. I knew they wouldn't quit at the very end. I knew we had to get a break or two. I thought our coaches did a fabulous job.

"Both the coordinators, Bryan Harsin and Justin Wilcox, were very, very good tonight."

On how many times the team practice the Statue of Liberty Play:
"We ran it once this season. It worked pretty well. We were trying to get to it earlier, to tell you the truth. We needed it on a certain hash or at least in the middle of the field. The three times we were trying to get to it earlier, we were on the wrong side of the field, couldn't get it done.

"It's probably a good thing because we needed a play like that to get it over with."

On why he decided to go for two in the first overtime:
"They're so big, strong and physical, the first overtime didn't go so well. One play, they were in the end zone. We liked the play we had for a two-point conversion. It really wasn't a difficult decision at that point."

On what he was thinking after OU's Marcus Walker returned an interception for a touchdown late in the game:
"We still had a bunch of time left. We practiced our two-minute drill about two or three times every week. We've been doing it forever. I knew we'd have a shot to get back down there. We might not have had to make it such a circus of a play had we not gotten sacked earlier. That really takes you out of any sort of normal play calling. We put ourselves behind the eight ball, then had to pull the old rabbit out of the hat."

On quarterback Jared Zabransky's ability to rally the team:
"Awesome. That's what a fifth-year senior quarterback needs to do to pull out a big win. A lot of hard lessons he's learn throughout the years, which all quarterbacks do. I think the biggest thing you learn is it's never over; you always got a chance, especially when you have the firepower we have out wide."

On what statement Boise State made with the victory:
" Well, we really felt like we belonged here all along. We really did. I think a lot of people felt like we belonged here. I think the Fiesta Bowl people felt like we belonged here or we wouldn't have been invited. That's why you play the game. You got to go out there and prove it at all times."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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