Oregon Head Coach Mario Cristobal spoke to members of the media today about his selection for the Playstation Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona. Cristobal praised Matt Campbell and Iowa State for the work they’ve done this season and says the Ducks have a lot of work to do to get ready for this game in the new year.
Via Fiesta Bowl Release
Pick up line:
“Certainly a great honor to be here to represent our conference at the Fiesta Bowl. Proud of our boys after a really hard-fought Friday night game. The opportunity to go out and earn a Pac-12 conference title for the second consecutive year is something we don’t take for granted. And certainly with so much excitement around the program and to be able to play in such a bowl game, this opportunity means a lot to us.
So our boys are extremely excited. Preparations start tomorrow. We give them the weekend off to get their legs back on and get some rest. And extremely thrilled and thrilled about the opportunity. “
About the history behind Brock Purdy and Tyler Shough in Iowa State
Certainly a competitive situation at the high school level, and now they will have the opportunity to do it at the collegiate level as well. I know there will be a lot of noise around it, a lot of attention, which again adds to the excitement of the game. “
“First and foremost, it’s important to note that we play an excellent soccer team with a strong culture and tremendous leadership, and we have tremendous respect for them.”
About preparing the team in the middle of a pandemic
“Follow the same approach we have all year round. In March, when everything was shut down due to the pandemic, the first and probably the most, I would say, most prominent statement we have made as an organization was that whoever handles this pandemic best is likely to get the chance to move up the trophy. to hold at the end of the year in terms of the conference and maybe more. “
About the feeling he has for the team in a shortened season
“It changes a little bit from week to week just because of the guys you get back because of an injury or delay or whatever it may be. So I think we feel pretty good. What we see is a lot of guys taking on different roles that they probably never expected to play in the season. We recently mentioned how Cale Millen selflessly came back from kickoff and kickoff. And guys like Bryan Addison jumped the defense, just like JRWaters. “
About the importance of the game for Arizona recruiting
“We want to keep recruiting that area. It means a lot to us. It is very important to us. And it will make up a good percentage of our selection in the future. “
About Matt Campbell and Iowa State
When you fast forward and watch Coach [Matt] Campbell and his career, there are a lot of things that really stand out. The deeper you dive in, the more respect you have for the level of culture and standards they adhere to in their program and just the constant commitment to physicality, execution, many of the principles we implement in our program. ”
By having CJ Verdell more players are available for Fiesta Bowl
“Hopefully. We were about to deploy Joe Salave’a the night before, put a helmet on him and some pillows, and throw him in when things shrink a bit more on the grid. But we’ll see. I am hopeful that we will have more men back and at the end of the day, remember the year of adaptability requires that there is no given and whatever we have to do, we will show up and our boys will be stoked. ”
To players traveling for the holidays
“I think it will be very difficult to let them go home. We made it, just like Coach [Matt] Campbell talked about our own bubble and we kept everyone safe. So I think with the opportunity ahead of us in the Fiesta Bowl against a top team, one of the best teams in the country, it’s worth the 13 or 14 days that should be there – I’m not thinking it’s sacrifice – which we must take advantage of to be sure to be our best during the match. “
A chance that this game offers, play with the youth
“The fact that we get to play an opponent of this caliber – our boys know very well who we play against and how good they are. So they see the challenge. They see the opportunity with a lot of young guys out there, and they are having success, a lot of real freshmen, a lot of real sophomores, a lot of freshmen. There is no substitute for repetition or experience. “
About representing the Pac-12, Oregon
Well, I think I’ve always been honored to be a part of the conference in the first place. But I think it’s first and foremost to be a member of this organization, the University of Oregon, and all that it represents. “
“It’s so important if you get the chance to honor it, show gratitude for it. And the best way to show gratitude is by the way you play the game and the way you show up and how you perform and perform and what kind of effort you show with each game. “
About matching with the state of Iowa
Certainly very different from a lot of the things we’ve dealt with. I am quite a movie addict and have spent a lot of time watching movies especially on Sundays even during the season when all the different movies from all over the country are out. “
“They are an excellent, talented, well-coached football team that schematically has more than a few things that are very different from what we’ve seen. So we certainly have a lot of preparation ahead of us. “