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FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO BOWL: CENTRAL MICHIGAN VS WYOMINGDecember 22, 2017Craig BohlJosh AllenYouhanna GhaifanCarl GrandersonBoise, Idaho Wyoming - 37, Central Michigan - 14 CRAIG BOHL: Well, first of all, we want to say thanks for the hospitality that our football team has received from this bowl committee, how things are done. I know a lot of times people say we may have too many bowls. I just don't see it that way. Our players had a phenomenal experience here. So I want to say thanks for the invitation. It was great competition against Central Michigan. Also I want to say thanks to Josh Allen. I know in today's world where every athlete is making all kinds of different decisions as far as playing in their bowl game, Josh made a decision to play his final game. We applaud him for that. I think those are some good things that are going on within college football. I can tell you this. If there's any NFL team that's looking for a competitor out there, you're not going to find anybody more competitive and more team oriented than Josh Allen. I want to say thanks to him. It was a great win for us. It's going to put our program in a different position as we move forward. So questions. Q. Josh, was that the ideal setting for you to get to announce it there coming off a bowl win? JOSH ALLEN: Yeah, it was a good way to announce it. I was hoping to kind of wait off, maybe spend a day or two thinking about it. I think the players, my teammates, knew. They were chanting, Do it. Had to go with what they were saying, of course. CRAIG BOHL: I want to step in here though, too. Josh and I sat down and talked last year. He graduated, did all the things we asked him to do. Certainly this was planned out on our part. I thought he played great today. Q. Josh, exactly when did you make the decision? JOSH ALLEN: I mean, this is kind of the idea about it the whole time, coming back another year, trusting in what Coach Bohl is doing, learning some more things on the offensive side of the football. I wouldn't say it was preplanned before the season. I had a pretty good feeling. I think coach had a pretty good feeling what we were going to do coming into this year. So, yeah, that answers your question. Q. Josh, got off to a great start. The first series wasn't much, but your defense gave you field position. How did you feel after the first completion? How did it feel to be back out there? JOSH ALLEN: It felt great. Sitting out for those two games killed me inside. I just wanted to be on the field with my teammates, my brothers. I got to commend the defensive side of the ball, they did a fantastic job of getting the ball back. A few times they were even in their own red zone. Came up with a few big plays. Carl Granderson with the long scoop and score, that kind of sealed the game. Trusting our defense, understanding to take care of the football, not turn it over, we're going to be put in a good position because of what they're doing on that side. Q. Carl, you finally got your touchdown there. What was going through your mind? CARL GRANDERSON: Man, a whole lot. I was just thinking, I have to get to the end zone this time. I looked at the scoreboard, nobody was around me. I just decided to take it to the house. Q. You guys played great defense all season. A lot was made that Central Michigan led the country in turnovers. You were right behind them. Was that a big motivation, showing what you could do defensively? CARL GRANDERSON: First off, I'd like to thank my defense. We've been working all year. At practice we just was trying to recover our bodies. All season, we've just been doing good on defense. Working with Yo-Yo, it's a blessing. You don't get too many D tackles like him. We just like to go out there and work as a team on defense. YOUHANNA GHAIFAN: Kind of like I want to piggyback on Carl. This defense is special. All of us, we all do our jobs. We do it exceptionally well. As you can see by the result, we're successful in turnovers. On Central Michigan having more turnovers than us, we did kind of want to get that. How much did we get? Eight? Not too shabby. Carl getting a touchdown also. This man is great. He's one of the best guys, hardest workers I've ever worked with. It's also a blessing to be right there next to him. You really see it. Carl and I always talk. All right, what are we going to do now here, Carl? It's really enjoyable and really fun. Q. What does it mean for you that Josh did want to get back to this game? YOUHANNA GHAIFAN: We were glad 'cause, I mean, I knew Josh was going to play no matter what. That's the kind of person he is. He loves this team. He wants to get that last win before he left. I knew he was going to play, so... CARL GRANDERSON: It's a blessing to have him back. We was just helping him play this game. We really needed him. He's a big part of the team, for our defense as well. Take time off the clock, give us time to rest. It's a blessing to have him back. Q. Coach, have you ever been involved in a game where either team has eight turnovers? CRAIG BOHL: I have not. We've been really productive as far as takeaways. But today was exceptional. A lot of guys were stripping the ball, going after the football. It had a huge, huge effect. This team has been pretty remarkable as far as creating takeaways, but today capped it off. Q. Coach, you alluded to it out there, but last year you came very close to a couple trophies, didn't get it done. Today you get a trophy. What does this do for your program? CRAIG BOHL: We set a goal to return Cowboy football back to national prominence. This is one of the other steps. You want to come in, not just get in a bowl game, this is the first time we've been to back-to-back bowl games in 30 years. To get in one, we preached to our football team that we got to figure out a way to win one. Central Michigan is an excellent program. They've won a lot of football games. To beat a really solid program like this convincingly, it's going to put us in good position for next year. Q. Looking ahead to next season, what do you see as kind of the key area? CRAIG BOHL: Right here. I'm an old defensive coordinator. When you have someone as talented as what Josh is, it really stresses defenses. That's obviously going to be the big replacement. We do have a lot of really key defensive players coming back. These two guys down to my left, along with a whole bunch of other ones. We're going to rely on that. We'll leverage that defense. We have to make some progress with our quarterback, running game, a lot of things. Q. Injury-wise, do you have any update? CRAIG BOHL: They're going to do an MRI. The initial feedback I got was a torn ACL. As you know, I've mentioned a couple things before, come back on Monday and said that it's not as bad. It's pretty serious, which is unfortunate for him. I know this, though, he was out there yelling and screaming and excited for our football team. Many times guys feel sorry for themselves. He wasn't that way at all. Q. The defensive guys, you were in the mosh pit yelling at him to declare. What was going on down there? YOUHANNA GHAIFAN: Me personally, I was looking mad. He got the trophy (laughter). As a whole defense, we wanted it. But I still love Josh. He still deserves it. I love the man. JOSH ALLEN: Love you too, man. CRAIG BOHL: Thanks so much. Want to say thanks to the bowl committee. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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