FAU Stadium, Boca Raton, FL Akron Head Coach
Akron vs. FAU | December 19, 2017 | FAU Stadium, Boca Raton, FL Akron Head Coach Terry Bowden Opening Statement: There’s not much I can tell you that you didn’t see. We just got whipped. I mean, they didn’t punt until the very end. We couldn’t stop them. We couldn’t get any touchdowns. We kicked a few field goals. They just were better than us tonight. It was clear to see. There was a window of opportunity, however small it was. You could see the window of opportunity we had. They miss a field goal, we miss a field goal. They make a touchdown, we get to the two-yard line, need to score a touchdown, but I’m going to kick one. I don’t know if they’re going to score every time they get the ball. I’m going to kick a field goal make sure we get points. But, fell 14-3 at halftime, and we punt them down with 1:53 left. 14-3, us getting the ball back. We won a lot of ball games this year like that. But, when they drove the length of the field and scored, and then we went for it the first drive, and missed it fourth and two. The drive before the half, they just put it away. But, they came to play. They went for it every fourth down, right off the bat. They came to win. They came to play. Because, if they don’t make those fourth downs, that can change the outcome of the game. So, you’ve got to give them credit for going fourth down in their own territory a couple of times and playing to win, not just playing to take it for granted. So, I thought that, first time, I made a note to myself, “they’ve come to win the game and not just to play it and let the path take over.” They were going to take risks, and they took risks and did well with it. But they were just better than us. I told our players, “that’s a butt kicking that we won’t forget.” But, before it’s all over, we’re going to remember the season our program had this year. Our program, we have made incredible strides, but we’ve lost to a lot of conference champions. We lost twice to MAC, to 11-2 Toledo, the MAC Conference champions. We just lost to the USA Conference champions, 11-2. We lost to Troy, Sun Belt Conference champions, best record they ever had. We lost to Penn State, 10-2, who are going to the Fiesta Bowl. And, we lost to Iowa State who beat Oklahoma and TCU, both in the top 10. That’s six of our seven losses, and the other one we changed quarterbacks on Friday before the game. And we changed quarterbacks, and lost one that got away from us. So, that’s the kind of year we had. I told our Seniors, you’ve taken us to two post-season plays, hasn’t happened ever before in our school history. You’ve taken us three wins over our conference rival. You’ve won the Eastern Division for the first time since 2005. But, there’s another level for us to go and that’s the championship level. Whether it just be in the MAC or when you get to a nice bowl like this. This is a great bowl. This one is the most fun just because it’s in the right place that our kids from Florida come home, our kids from Ohio, they want to come down where its warm. And, we practiced hard, this team just played better. Once we got behind, we couldn’t catch up. I can give you all the reasons why we could’ve made it closer. I can’t give you a lot of reasons why we could’ve won it. We just got outclassed today by a football team better than our football team.
On Devin Singletary: I just love the way he runs. I think he’s as tough as he is talented. We’ve seen some talented backs. The guy who plays for Toledo is pretty dang good. We’ve seen some guys out of our conference that play good. But, he’s as good as there is. But, it’s his toughness. You can’t knock him down. He keeps running. He keeps playing hard. He makes the tough yard as good as he makes the speed yards. I always like the short 200 lb guy that has a very low center of gravity. That you hit him low around the waist, the thickest part of their body. But, he breaks a lot of tackle. That’s the toughness we saw over and over again in practice. I think that’s what allows him to get the ball so many times. You give him enough, he’s going to get a 50-yarder or a 40-yarder in there. I do love his toughness as much as his ability. On Kiffin and the future of the FAU program: You’re in the perfect place for football. I said it the other day just because its slights our NE Ohio guys. We think we’re in one of the best football areas in the country. There might be more meat and potato guys that play linebacker, full back, tight end, and line that come from the Midwest, Ohio, Michigan, Western Pennsylvania. You all know the history of college football. We’re in the middle of it. But, you come down for speed and talent. We got 31 players from Florida, 11 from right around here. Being in this bowl, having fans being able to watch their teammates, their children, their sons play here, that was awful good for us to be down here. I know the showing wasn’t as good, but I think the fact that we come down here, we don’t want to diminish the importance of coming to a place like this. Florida Atlantic is just a great place to build a program. I’m going to be honest with you right now, there’s the SEC and the ACC, the Big 10, the PAC 10, I mean, if you can be that, face it. Do what you can, keep playing. People keep saying, there’s the PAC 10, the BIG 10, the SEC, when they come calling, they come calling. My first quarterback that I signed out of high school was Jimbo Fisher. I thought Florida State was the best place in the world….. But, FAU is a great place to build a program. I think the sky’s the limit once you make the commitment. But, if you’re going to make the move you want to make, eventually you’ve got to get into somewhere you’re called Power Five. They’ve done everything you can do in a short amount of time. I’m very impressed—I’ve always been impressed—with what they’ve done here. When I was a graduate assistant back in ’70, it was Florida, Florida State, Miami, that was all. Then, Central Florida came along, then South Florida, at FIU, at FAU. And, there’s enough football players to have a lot of good football teams in this state. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Florida Atlantic Head Coach Lane Kiffin Opening Statement: “Really just an unbelievable day. I can’t imagine being better. This is a special story. These stories don’t happen often. You don’t just come to the FAU and win 11 games. These kids aren’t even playing close games. It’s one thing to play a close game, go to triple-overtime but these kids just dominate everyone they play. By the fourth quarter, the game is usually over. To win ten-straight games is incredible. You don’t win bowl games 50-3. Sitting here one year and one week ago, no one would believe this other than maybe me. It is just awesome to see. I am proud of these players.”
On going for fourth downs multiple times: “That is all planned out. That isn’t an emotional decision. That is the Belichick formula with analytics that tell you when to do it and when not to. I told the players before the game that we believed in them. I think our players responded. I wish we had executed the on-side kick. It was there. I think that when you believe in your players, they respond.” On the contract extension: “It was a neat day. It was the University saying that they are excited about what is going on and we believe in what you are doing. I wasn’t expecting President Kelly to do that. We couldn’t be more ecstatic.” On starting slow on offensive: “It was because of what they were doing. They were playing over cover two and three technique to the back. They used to play that back at Florida State. That is hard to create explosive plays against. You have to run them out and then they come down a bit. They starting blitzing us and that opened up the passing game. Jason Driskel threw the ball very well today. We weren’t very good on third down today but we made up with that going for fourth downs.” On the defensive effort: “I didn’t think we were practicing very well that the beginning of the week so I was worried. I didn’t think we were focused. Our defensive played really well against a tough quarterback. Our guys came out, played strong and finished that last half together. That was the best half we have ever played and they dominated.” On changing culture: “I think we did. It wasn’t us. It wasn’t hard. These kids are great kids. For whatever reason, it didn’t work out for the last staff. These kids jelled together. It is a remarkable job by the assistant coaches, the strength staff, everyone. This is a powerful team. Everyone dropped their ego and just wants to win together.
Junior Linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair On next season: If you start something you’ve got to finish it. That’s what my mom taught me, you never start anything without finishing it. And Coach Kiffin, I remember one game he told us, you’re not going to do it half “behind”, basically, you’re going to finish what you started. That’s what I came to do here. So for me, everything that I’ve been able to do here over the last three years, and all the opportunities that I’ve had here, it’s only right that I finish what I started.
On the atmosphere in the locker room: It was special. Being able to play the Boca Bowl at home and do everything that we did, being able to win a bowl game, because it doesn’t happen often. For us, it’s been a long time coming, and it was great hearing all the alumni who came to the game talk about how thankful they are that we did this. Some of those guys were on the 2007 and 2008 teams, and you know it’s been that long since we’ve had a bowl win so it’s really special. On the win: The celebration never gets old. Seeing Montey Kiffin dance never gets old. Ask anyone on the team, we’ve never thought about ourselves individually, it’s always been about the team. That’s rare. With all the attention that these guys have been getting, you’ll never hear them talk about themselves, and that’s rare. Everyone cares about each other more than themselves and no one is selfish. It’s special, you don’t get that a lot.
R-Junior Quarterback Jason Driskel On where the program is today: It’s a good feeling, obviously. This year we got to play 8 games at home, which is rare, with the conference championship and the bowl game here. I know, for me in my fourth year here, previously with 9 total wins in 3 years and this year we had 11, so to do that is unordinary, but we have a group of unordinary guys here. We’ve put in a lot of hard work and a lot of time, and I’m just really proud of all the guys.
Sophomore Runningback Devin Singletary On the future of the program It’s looking pretty bright for us. It means a lot. We have a lot of guys who played this year who are coming back, so we know what to expect, we know what we’re looking for. We’re going to come back to work and try and get better.
On Devin Singletary: I just love the way he runs. I think he’s as tough as he is talented. We’ve seen some talented backs. The guy who plays for Toledo is pretty dang good. We’ve seen some guys out of our conference that play good. But, he’s as good as there is. But, it’s his toughness. You can’t knock him down. He keeps running. He keeps playing hard. He makes the tough yard as good as he makes the speed yards. I always like the short 200 lb guy that has a very low center of gravity. That you hit him low around the waist, the thickest part of their body. But, he breaks a lot of tackle. That’s the toughness we saw over and over again in practice. I think that’s what allows him to get the ball so many times. You give him enough, he’s going to get a 50-yarder or a 40-yarder in there. I do love his toughness as much as his ability. On Kiffin and the future of the FAU program: You’re in the perfect place for football. I said it the other day just because its slights our NE Ohio guys. We think we’re in one of the best football areas in the country. There might be more meat and potato guys that play linebacker, full back, tight end, and line that come from the Midwest, Ohio, Michigan, Western Pennsylvania. You all know the history of college football. We’re in the middle of it. But, you come down for speed and talent. We got 31 players from Florida, 11 from right around here. Being in this bowl, having fans being able to watch their teammates, their children, their sons play here, that was awful good for us to be down here. I know the showing wasn’t as good, but I think the fact that we come down here, we don’t want to diminish the importance of coming to a place like this. Florida Atlantic is just a great place to build a program. I’m going to be honest with you right now, there’s the SEC and the ACC, the Big 10, the PAC 10, I mean, if you can be that, face it. Do what you can, keep playing. People keep saying, there’s the PAC 10, the BIG 10, the SEC, when they come calling, they come calling. My first quarterback that I signed out of high school was Jimbo Fisher. I thought Florida State was the best place in the world….. But, FAU is a great place to build a program. I think the sky’s the limit once you make the commitment. But, if you’re going to make the move you want to make, eventually you’ve got to get into somewhere you’re called Power Five. They’ve done everything you can do in a short amount of time. I’m very impressed—I’ve always been impressed—with what they’ve done here. When I was a graduate assistant back in ’70, it was Florida, Florida State, Miami, that was all. Then, Central Florida came along, then South Florida, at FIU, at FAU. And, there’s enough football players to have a lot of good football teams in this state. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Florida Atlantic Head Coach Lane Kiffin Opening Statement: “Really just an unbelievable day. I can’t imagine being better. This is a special story. These stories don’t happen often. You don’t just come to the FAU and win 11 games. These kids aren’t even playing close games. It’s one thing to play a close game, go to triple-overtime but these kids just dominate everyone they play. By the fourth quarter, the game is usually over. To win ten-straight games is incredible. You don’t win bowl games 50-3. Sitting here one year and one week ago, no one would believe this other than maybe me. It is just awesome to see. I am proud of these players.”
On going for fourth downs multiple times: “That is all planned out. That isn’t an emotional decision. That is the Belichick formula with analytics that tell you when to do it and when not to. I told the players before the game that we believed in them. I think our players responded. I wish we had executed the on-side kick. It was there. I think that when you believe in your players, they respond.” On the contract extension: “It was a neat day. It was the University saying that they are excited about what is going on and we believe in what you are doing. I wasn’t expecting President Kelly to do that. We couldn’t be more ecstatic.” On starting slow on offensive: “It was because of what they were doing. They were playing over cover two and three technique to the back. They used to play that back at Florida State. That is hard to create explosive plays against. You have to run them out and then they come down a bit. They starting blitzing us and that opened up the passing game. Jason Driskel threw the ball very well today. We weren’t very good on third down today but we made up with that going for fourth downs.” On the defensive effort: “I didn’t think we were practicing very well that the beginning of the week so I was worried. I didn’t think we were focused. Our defensive played really well against a tough quarterback. Our guys came out, played strong and finished that last half together. That was the best half we have ever played and they dominated.” On changing culture: “I think we did. It wasn’t us. It wasn’t hard. These kids are great kids. For whatever reason, it didn’t work out for the last staff. These kids jelled together. It is a remarkable job by the assistant coaches, the strength staff, everyone. This is a powerful team. Everyone dropped their ego and just wants to win together.
Junior Linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair On next season: If you start something you’ve got to finish it. That’s what my mom taught me, you never start anything without finishing it. And Coach Kiffin, I remember one game he told us, you’re not going to do it half “behind”, basically, you’re going to finish what you started. That’s what I came to do here. So for me, everything that I’ve been able to do here over the last three years, and all the opportunities that I’ve had here, it’s only right that I finish what I started.
On the atmosphere in the locker room: It was special. Being able to play the Boca Bowl at home and do everything that we did, being able to win a bowl game, because it doesn’t happen often. For us, it’s been a long time coming, and it was great hearing all the alumni who came to the game talk about how thankful they are that we did this. Some of those guys were on the 2007 and 2008 teams, and you know it’s been that long since we’ve had a bowl win so it’s really special. On the win: The celebration never gets old. Seeing Montey Kiffin dance never gets old. Ask anyone on the team, we’ve never thought about ourselves individually, it’s always been about the team. That’s rare. With all the attention that these guys have been getting, you’ll never hear them talk about themselves, and that’s rare. Everyone cares about each other more than themselves and no one is selfish. It’s special, you don’t get that a lot.
R-Junior Quarterback Jason Driskel On where the program is today: It’s a good feeling, obviously. This year we got to play 8 games at home, which is rare, with the conference championship and the bowl game here. I know, for me in my fourth year here, previously with 9 total wins in 3 years and this year we had 11, so to do that is unordinary, but we have a group of unordinary guys here. We’ve put in a lot of hard work and a lot of time, and I’m just really proud of all the guys.
Sophomore Runningback Devin Singletary On the future of the program It’s looking pretty bright for us. It means a lot. We have a lot of guys who played this year who are coming back, so we know what to expect, we know what we’re looking for. We’re going to come back to work and try and get better.
