Nebraska vs. BYU
Sept. 5, 2015
BYU HC Bronco Mendenhall
Opening Statement
“While you were getting set up I was taking a quick look at my friend Mike Riley on the TV there and my heart goes out to him and the team. He's a good friend of mine and a really good person and a really good coach. Nebraska's to be praised. They played really hard right to the end, and so did we. Sometimes one play determines a game. Taysom Hill is lost for the season, a fracture. He did it on the touchdown run and then played more. Our athletic training staff said they'd never seen anyone go back and play in the same game once that's happened. He allowed us to stay within striking distance. There's no player or person that I've coached that I care about more than Taysom. So it's bittersweet. I'm so happy for Mitch Mathews, Tanner Mangum is just a few months off of his mission and being able to come in and help our team win. I'm just proud of the resiliency of our team in an opening game on a big stage in a historic stadium and finding a way to pull it out. Pure elation is just how it felt in the locker room. There hasn't been a bigger win for me personally and maybe it's just the way it came about to be part of, and I'm certainly not responsible for it but just to be a part of, I'm humbled and just lucky to be part of it. I can't wait to call my wife and kids and yell and celebrate on the phone from afar."
On his confidence in Tanner Mangum
"I was very confident from what he had demonstrated so far. He hasn't been back for very long. It wasn't a question of ability or capabilty, it was just a question of how long he could go because he's been back from his mission for such a short amount of time. But mentally and physically from an arm-throwing capability and a decision-making process he's really sharp. We just now have to put a unique structure in place to help him make it through the year. But what a great way to start, coming off a mission as a freshman and then throwing a Hail Mary to beat Nebraska. I think he played really well. I also have to say, Taysom's (Hill)relationship with Tanner has facilitated and gave it that growth and learning rate faster than any of us coaches could have done. This thing just keeps coming back to Taysom, and he has had a huge helping hand with Tanner and allowed him to develop so quickly."
On seeking a medical redshirt for Taysom Hill
“It's a little too fast and too early right now to even think about, so I don't know. Taysom has a bright future and in the world of business, finance and family. We'll let all of this kind of calm down for a little bit and maybe have a clearer head with a different perspective. I'll let him speak for himself on that one."
On the last play of the game
"The victory and defeat hangs in the balance on the results of one play. I know what defeat feels like. I know what it looks for the team, our community and our family. And I know what the win looks like and to be almost at the mercy of that and watching the play, there's no more raw emotion than a setting like that. The fun part is that you normally say things to people that you should have said a lot more, in terms of that you care for them and love them and maybe that's one of the cool things of coaching and my personality. Those things tend to break down barriers. It's one of the greatest celebrations that I've ever been part of in a locker room."
On the time waiting for the last play to be confirmed
"I saw it, so I was pretty confident. But until it's confirmed you don't know. Small price to pay, I guess, as long as it was a touchdown."
On what he said to Tanner Mangum before the Hail Mary
"There was a discussion amongst the coaching staff, with about six seconds on whether we take the shot now or do we try to get 10 yards closer with an outcut to the sideline. Our quarterback coach, Jason Beck, he and I communicated and then we decided if we throw it on time we might get 10 yards closer. So the last thing I said to Tanner was actually the play before, and I said to make sure that you throw it on time so we can have one more shot."
On if the second to last pass play had worked would they've kicked a field goal
"We felt we were just outside of that range. It would have been a very fast conversation because that was happening at the same time as the speed out decison. We thought would that give us enough and we thought it would be better to throw it in the end zone than to kick a long field goal. We were about five yards off I would say."
On their defensive stop to get the ball back
"The third and fourth quarters the only thing you could really see defensively is that they made some critical stops that they needed to and that preserved the game. We were inconsistent and certainly have a ways to go, but I'm going to draw on the fact that when there were critical stops needed, we made the critical stops. That will be my message before we work on all the other things we need to work on."
On whether he felt his team could over come this type of adversity
"You hope so, but I wish I could say yeah I knew for sure. But the chemistry and the leadership has been good and they've worked hard. The season will tell but what a great start. I've really enjoyed what I've seen from this team so far even before the game and you hope that leads to execution and consistency now. But that's a lot better to do after that type of win on the road."
Senior Wide Receiver Mitch Mathews
Taking us through the play
"Practiced it one time, never with Tanner (Mangum). You just hope that you can go jump ball and get that thing. Tanner didn't practice it but he ended up being in the perfect place at the right time and I had to come down with it for my guys. You see them on the sidelines and you see them look at you and you know what you got to do. You got to catch the rock and win the game."
On lunging into the endzone
"Yeah, I mean I didn't know how far it was, but I know I had to turn a little bit. I didn't know I was a score away and the refs had to talk about because I was under a pile of people. Nick (Kurtz) is laying on me just looking at the ref and just started screaming. I felt more and more weight come on me and I knew it was game over."
On being positive on the sidelines
"We have one of the best leadership teams, one of the best in the country. We want to win and make a statement. The best players in the country in my opinion goes down to the guys who step up. You see Tanner (Mangum) with so much poise, and you don't usually see that from a new quarterback. Like I said, we are going to win a lot of games and the momentum did shift, but luckily with a quarterback with that much poise we were able to get right back into the game."
On Taysom Hill's injury
"We heard he had tore it, that second quarter he comes out and he's playing and so we think maybe its not that bad. I'm sitting on the sideline talking to him, and he acts like nothing is happening, that's just the type of guy he is. He is really tough. I found out earlier, and the second time he went in you knew deep down it was worse. You come into the locker room and you want to celebrate, but you want to console a guy like that. Like I said he is one of the best players in the country and he deserves that."
On thinking the game was over and Nebraska won
"They did have a momentum shift in the second half when they got the ball, its one of those things you see the clock ticking down. There was four minutes left and they were just wasting time. We got the ball with 48 seconds left and we knew what we had to do. We tried to get it into field goal range which would have won it for us but you know, we had to do what we had to do and I threw it up and had some success with that."
On Tanner being calm and collected
He's a guy who was a back up coming into this game, but you know he is going to be a BYU great sometime in his career. This is a guy who we are going to play with in another 12 games and he is very poised very smart very good arm and can make plays and knows what he is doing. We trust him going forward."