Opening comments ...
"It's kind of a poetic ending to the season, I felt like. Just incredibly proud of this group, the resiliency they showed. I told them there's a toughness and a hardness that's developing within this program right now that I think you can look at a lot of different points throughout this season and certainly tonight and you see that. There's a lot of excitement about that. Great win. I think this is the biggest comeback in this bowl's history, which is no small feat, especially against a really good football team in Texas A&M. We struggled to find some momentum there, and then obviously we were able to capture it and just go finish it off in the end. Yeah, proud of the guys, proud of the staff. This is an awesome win, a great way to cap the season and it's a fun locker room in there right now. Guys are excited, guys are proud as they should be. Like I said at the trophy presentation, our motto here is Fight On and this team has really embodied that and did so again tonight."
What did Jayden Maiava show you tonight?
"I would say I just a lot of the things I said about the team, really. He didn't play his best there for a while, missed a few things he doesn't normally miss, but he stayed with it and that's what you gotta do. You're not always going to have your A game. You play against a defense that is as good as Texas A&M's, they're going to make some plays too, and you've got to keep fighting. I think he showed the heart of a champion in just staying with it. That's not an easy thing to do, and he's really hard on himself. He wants to do it so bad for the other guys on the team and on the roster that you appreciate that. His teammates, though, did a great job lifting him up. There was a couple of big stops, holding them to no points there after the interception out of the end zone. It was like the team just kept lifting him up and he kind of caught fire there at the end and played really confident. So, proud of the guys around him and certainly proud of the way Jayden responded."
How did you think the backups on the OL thrust into action played?
"It felt like pretty good. We knew that was a pretty good front, and I felt like we did pretty good. We had some really nice plays in the run game. I thought for the most part we protected Jayden pretty well. Obviously knew Tobias and Kilian would get their first real time and then obviously Paige gets hurt early in the game and Justin Tauanuu has to come in there, and he really did a nice job. I was really proud of the way he came in and competed, so proud of the guys individually, but that group has to work together collectively. So I thought those new guys coming together, obviously having Coach Hanson lead those guys now like he did during bowl prep, I thought they really played well together against a great group and certainly proud of their performance."
What did you see from the players as they fell down 17 points?
"I just think we didn't flinch. We're a pretty battle-tested group. We've been through a lot this year, we've been in a lot of big games, we've been in a lot of games that have obviously come down to the end of it. So there wasn't really anything in this game that could happened where I thought we were going to totally flinch. That doesn't mean we were going to play perfect, but I knew we would stay with it. There was never one thought in my mind that we wouldn't. And attitude, leading into the game, last night in the team meeting, really the last several weeks, and then their attitude on the sideline and the way everybody was lifting each other up, nobody was down, like they just kept going. They knew we were going to get ourselves back into it. There was a real confidence on the sideline, and that's that hardness and that toughness I think is starting to develop in the program, and there were a lot of examples of that this year. And it was great to be able to finish on a great note where that was required."
After tonight seeing how Jayden Maiava hung in, how confident are you in him as the guy for 2025?
"I'm very confident in him. I'm very confident, just going through what he's been through, watching how fast he's improved, and I think most importantly for me there's your performance as a player but there's who you are as a person, a leader. When you play that position that's just part of it. The guy's so selfless, so about the team. I think he's just going to continue to get better and better, and we've obviously got some good players around him on both sides of the ball that are excited to come back and lead."
How special was it to see Kyle Ford end his college career the way he did with the game-winning catch?
"Yeah, that was awesome. For his career to play out the way it did, to come back to us here this year, he was one of our captains for the game, he's had a great attitude all year. He's been one of those guys that just wanted to do anything it took to win all year, and so yeah, it was kind of fitting that the senior gets a chance to make that play and what an awesome play it was. So what a great memory for him and, again, that's the kind of guys you want to build around, guys that are that invested in this program."
With the way Ja'Kobi Lane and Makai Lemon played tonight, what's it mean to have those guys coming back as pillars for next year?
"They've done a great job, they have. They've stepped up, made a lot of plays, so I'm proud of them. I think we have a lot of pillars coming back. Ja'Kobi, Makai are going to be pillars, Kamari is certainly a pillar, no question about it. Pregnon and some of these guys on the O-line coming back, Lake is, EG, there's a lot of them right now, honestly, and guys that are going to get better and better and some young guys that we're really excited about. I'm excited about those pillars coming back, but I'm most excited about the toughness and kind of the grittiness that's developing in this place right now."
What does this game say about the progress of the program?
"Yeah, I just think the mentality has been on display all year and it was important to finish that way. That's another good football team, we beat two good football teams in this building, had to do it in different ways. And you just kind of feel it within the locker room right now, a confidence that they're going to be in every single fight, that we're not going to go away and that we're going to keep getting better and better. I think that was the sentiment in the locker room, even some of the seniors and guys that played their last game, they were excited and emotional but they were also very vocal about what this program has a chance to do going forward. They see it and it's important for them to pass that along to the guys that are returning and the guys that are going to have opportunities that we've got going forward as a program. When your older guys see that when they're on their way out, I think that's important. I think it's a really good sign, and now it's on all of us to continue to take it to the level that we believe it can get to."
What were your thoughts on the delay of game penalty before the game-winning touchdown?
"Yeah, it was kind of a unique situation. We had a sub issue on the sideline and we had a miscommunication on a personnel grouping, so I knew there was a chance that they would sub it, but I didn't really want to play the play with 10 players. We had one timeout left at that point, and we just decided, look, don't use the timeout now because then you get shorthanded on what you can call. I would have rather have played it from the 7 with a timeout than from the 2 without one. That was the conversation -- do we use the timeout or do we hope they don't sub, and if they do we just have to take the delay. But it was the right call. They made the right call. It was an error on our part that shouldn't have happened, but I think we did the right thing being able to play it out because then we were able to call anything we wanted with that timeout in the pocket."
"It's kind of a poetic ending to the season, I felt like. Just incredibly proud of this group, the resiliency they showed. I told them there's a toughness and a hardness that's developing within this program right now that I think you can look at a lot of different points throughout this season and certainly tonight and you see that. There's a lot of excitement about that. Great win. I think this is the biggest comeback in this bowl's history, which is no small feat, especially against a really good football team in Texas A&M. We struggled to find some momentum there, and then obviously we were able to capture it and just go finish it off in the end. Yeah, proud of the guys, proud of the staff. This is an awesome win, a great way to cap the season and it's a fun locker room in there right now. Guys are excited, guys are proud as they should be. Like I said at the trophy presentation, our motto here is Fight On and this team has really embodied that and did so again tonight."
What did Jayden Maiava show you tonight?
"I would say I just a lot of the things I said about the team, really. He didn't play his best there for a while, missed a few things he doesn't normally miss, but he stayed with it and that's what you gotta do. You're not always going to have your A game. You play against a defense that is as good as Texas A&M's, they're going to make some plays too, and you've got to keep fighting. I think he showed the heart of a champion in just staying with it. That's not an easy thing to do, and he's really hard on himself. He wants to do it so bad for the other guys on the team and on the roster that you appreciate that. His teammates, though, did a great job lifting him up. There was a couple of big stops, holding them to no points there after the interception out of the end zone. It was like the team just kept lifting him up and he kind of caught fire there at the end and played really confident. So, proud of the guys around him and certainly proud of the way Jayden responded."
How did you think the backups on the OL thrust into action played?
"It felt like pretty good. We knew that was a pretty good front, and I felt like we did pretty good. We had some really nice plays in the run game. I thought for the most part we protected Jayden pretty well. Obviously knew Tobias and Kilian would get their first real time and then obviously Paige gets hurt early in the game and Justin Tauanuu has to come in there, and he really did a nice job. I was really proud of the way he came in and competed, so proud of the guys individually, but that group has to work together collectively. So I thought those new guys coming together, obviously having Coach Hanson lead those guys now like he did during bowl prep, I thought they really played well together against a great group and certainly proud of their performance."
What did you see from the players as they fell down 17 points?
"I just think we didn't flinch. We're a pretty battle-tested group. We've been through a lot this year, we've been in a lot of big games, we've been in a lot of games that have obviously come down to the end of it. So there wasn't really anything in this game that could happened where I thought we were going to totally flinch. That doesn't mean we were going to play perfect, but I knew we would stay with it. There was never one thought in my mind that we wouldn't. And attitude, leading into the game, last night in the team meeting, really the last several weeks, and then their attitude on the sideline and the way everybody was lifting each other up, nobody was down, like they just kept going. They knew we were going to get ourselves back into it. There was a real confidence on the sideline, and that's that hardness and that toughness I think is starting to develop in the program, and there were a lot of examples of that this year. And it was great to be able to finish on a great note where that was required."
After tonight seeing how Jayden Maiava hung in, how confident are you in him as the guy for 2025?
"I'm very confident in him. I'm very confident, just going through what he's been through, watching how fast he's improved, and I think most importantly for me there's your performance as a player but there's who you are as a person, a leader. When you play that position that's just part of it. The guy's so selfless, so about the team. I think he's just going to continue to get better and better, and we've obviously got some good players around him on both sides of the ball that are excited to come back and lead."
How special was it to see Kyle Ford end his college career the way he did with the game-winning catch?
"Yeah, that was awesome. For his career to play out the way it did, to come back to us here this year, he was one of our captains for the game, he's had a great attitude all year. He's been one of those guys that just wanted to do anything it took to win all year, and so yeah, it was kind of fitting that the senior gets a chance to make that play and what an awesome play it was. So what a great memory for him and, again, that's the kind of guys you want to build around, guys that are that invested in this program."
With the way Ja'Kobi Lane and Makai Lemon played tonight, what's it mean to have those guys coming back as pillars for next year?
"They've done a great job, they have. They've stepped up, made a lot of plays, so I'm proud of them. I think we have a lot of pillars coming back. Ja'Kobi, Makai are going to be pillars, Kamari is certainly a pillar, no question about it. Pregnon and some of these guys on the O-line coming back, Lake is, EG, there's a lot of them right now, honestly, and guys that are going to get better and better and some young guys that we're really excited about. I'm excited about those pillars coming back, but I'm most excited about the toughness and kind of the grittiness that's developing in this place right now."
What does this game say about the progress of the program?
"Yeah, I just think the mentality has been on display all year and it was important to finish that way. That's another good football team, we beat two good football teams in this building, had to do it in different ways. And you just kind of feel it within the locker room right now, a confidence that they're going to be in every single fight, that we're not going to go away and that we're going to keep getting better and better. I think that was the sentiment in the locker room, even some of the seniors and guys that played their last game, they were excited and emotional but they were also very vocal about what this program has a chance to do going forward. They see it and it's important for them to pass that along to the guys that are returning and the guys that are going to have opportunities that we've got going forward as a program. When your older guys see that when they're on their way out, I think that's important. I think it's a really good sign, and now it's on all of us to continue to take it to the level that we believe it can get to."
What were your thoughts on the delay of game penalty before the game-winning touchdown?
"Yeah, it was kind of a unique situation. We had a sub issue on the sideline and we had a miscommunication on a personnel grouping, so I knew there was a chance that they would sub it, but I didn't really want to play the play with 10 players. We had one timeout left at that point, and we just decided, look, don't use the timeout now because then you get shorthanded on what you can call. I would have rather have played it from the 7 with a timeout than from the 2 without one. That was the conversation -- do we use the timeout or do we hope they don't sub, and if they do we just have to take the delay. But it was the right call. They made the right call. It was an error on our part that shouldn't have happened, but I think we did the right thing being able to play it out because then we were able to call anything we wanted with that timeout in the pocket."
