I know we are flooding you with press releases. But the Hoosiers arrived in Tempe yesterday and I thought I'd pass along the transcript from IU coach Bill Lynch's arrival press conference.
Opening Statement...
"I appreciate you being here. I know there is a football game going on right now that I'm sure is of interest to many of you. We are thrilled to be here in Tempe. Since the invitation came out a month ago, or whenever it was, I guarantee you we got 108 or 109 kids that came and a great support staff that have been excited about this day. We apologize that we were a little bit late. We had a few problems with our plane getting off the ground, but we are here.
Were looking forward to the next several days leading up to the game on the 31st. we've had I really think a good month of preparation for this game. We mixed in some good work on the weekends with giving our kids off for finals week. We came back and had a good week of practice last week. Gave them some time off for Christmas. Gathered again last night. And of course came today. I do think we've got a football team that is ready to play.
We've got a tremendous amount of respect for Oklahoma State. It is a very good football team we are going to play. They have a lot of weapons on both sides of the ball. Getting to know Coach Gundy on our trip to New York, we know that they are excited to be here as well. I think it kind of overwhelmed our guys when we pulled and taxied up on the runway. They all said, \0x93Look at all of the people out there.\0x94 I think they felt with us getting here late that the crowd wouldn't be here. We certainly appreciate it and know the kind of hospitality that we are in for over the next several days.
Ill share a little bit about our football team with you. We have what we think are some outstanding players that have gotten some national recognition. I think that goes a long ways towards the success we had this year. It's kind of like what we think is a turnaround season. We had a wide receiver, James Hardy that was not only an All-Big Ten performer but also mentioned on many of the All-American teams. We got a defensive end, Greg Middleton, who is just a sophomore. I believe he led the nation in sacks and was mentioned on some of the finalist awards for defensive line and defensive endplay. Austin Starr was a finalist for the Graze Award as a place kicker. I think he missed two field goals all year and was perfect with extra points. We feel like he is a big reason we are here. He hit a big field goal in our last game against Purdue to get us over the hump. We got an outstanding quarterback in Kellen Lewis, who is kind of a dual-threat guy a lot like Oklahoma States. He is a very good passer, has great speed, and is a good runner. I think the fans will really enjoy watching him play and the excitement he brings to the game. We have a cornerback, Tracy Porter that is a senior. He is also what we feel is one of the top punt return guys in the country. A lot of people didn't punt to him so he didn't get all of the numbers that he had as a junior. He has been invited to play in the Senior Bowl once this bowl game is over. Those are some guys with some name recognition that many of you will ask us about and follow as we go through the game.
There are going to be a lot of members here from the Indiana football nation. A lot of them coming from the Midwest, but we have a lot of them that live out West and coming over from California. They are anxious to be here and spend time with you. About the struggles of getting to Phoenix today Were just thankful to be here. We sat on some buses in the Bloomington Airport for four or five hours until we finally couldn't get the plane to move. We went back to the complex, got something to eat, got off our feet and then we bussed to Indianapolis and got a plane there. It's been a long day but the kids are resilient. I think its part of the whole story of this group and this football team. They've been through a lot. Many of those stories have been told. They are a group that you ask them to do something and they've been willing to do it. Today was the same way. I know they are a little bit tired and anxious to get back to the hotel. A little bit of food and I know they will be ready to go again before too long."
About fulfilling Coach Hoeppner's wishes of making a bowl game...
"Terry Hoeppner was our head football coach and passed away last summer. As a staff we all came in with him three years ago. One of things he did when he first came, knowing in order to become a football program that is rising to the point of being a national-type program, first thing you got to do is go to a bowl game. When he first came, he was asked the question when the football banquet was. At the time, Indiana hadn't been to a bowl game in quite a while. He said the football banquet is in January after the bowl game. Everybody kind of laughed at him. But that was the kind of vision and optimism that he had.
A year ago, after he had had brain tumors and a couple different surgeries, we were within one game of being bowl eligible. The last game we went into the fourth quarter even and didn't quite get it done. I think all of us knew at that time the struggles that he was having and certainly felt bad. As we went through the spring, and he became sick and couldn't coach in the spring, his last message to the football team by email was Play 13. That's after the 12-game season you have to play 13. You've got to get to a bowl. We got to take that next step. That obviously was a rallying cry throughout our football program and throughout our community all fall. And it took us until about 32 second left in the season to finally get that done. Obviously that last game was emotional and meant a lot to not only our football team, but to a lot of people who had gotten to know Terry and the enthusiasm he brought to our football team. It's been a culmination of a lot of emotion and a lot of tough times that we've all been through the last couple years.
