Barry Alvarez Bow Quotations

We've had MVPs of three Rose Bowls and they're all running backs. When we win big games, our running backs play well. This one happens to be the most talented one that we've had.

You can talk about buildings, you can talk about bowl victories. I think the thing I'm most proud of is we brought pride back to our fans, to our football program.

I grew up a poor kid in Pennsylvania. I went to Nebraska because I saw them play in an Orange Bowl and I wanted to play in that game.

You've got to bow your neck and deal with what you've got.

There can be a lot of distractions during a bowl game. The team that can stay focused can win. I think that's one reason you see a lot of upsets.

This bowl has lived up to all the hype that I heard of it. Coaches...that have been here rave about the hospitality, rave about the venue and all the activities for the players. The people here have been marvelous. The bowl committee has bent over backwards to make sure that our stay is an excellent one. The players have something to do if they choose every day. You couldn't find a better place.

I try to stay away from making a big deal about this being my last game. I've had some very emotional days. I just always try to cherish the days before a bowl game. I'm trying to approach this one like I do all of them.

I like the fact that we can go to a bowl game and reward them (the scout team players) as well as the starters.

You only have so many. You've got to bow your neck and do with what you've got. That's how you handle it.

So, I thought we had a chance to be a nice football team. Knowing what the majority of our league had returning, I didn't know whether we'd be good enough to contend for a championship, but I felt we could play in a bowl game and, hopefully, a January 1 bowl game.

We've studied the Bowling Green defense of a year ago, and what they did and their tendencies and their patterns. And we've also studied the Clemson defense as to what they did, what he (Lovett) seems to hang his hat on, and that type of thing. So it's been a little more of a difficult preparation for us.