September 21, 2009

Warchant.com Staff

Transcript of Nigel Bradham's interview with the media:

Q: A big win on the road like that, what does it do for your season?

Bradham: It was a big win for our season. Everybody else thought we were going to lose that game by a lot of points. We saw all that stuff before the game and all that really did was give us more motivation to go out there and play harder.

Q: What does it feel like when you go on the road and quiet down a rowdy crowd like you did at BYU?

Bradham: It feels really good because when you first come out on the field, you hear a whole bunch of boo's. The whole crowd is booing you. When a lot of people leave the game early, you know you are doing something good.

Q: When you guys got out to that big lead and BYU became almost one dimensional, were you able to play with a certain degree of freedom?

Bradham: We knew what they were going to try to do. We knew they were going to try to run at first and we knew we had to stop the run. We knew that they would end up having to throw a lot at the end because of that great quarterback they have there. We knew it was going to happen eventually that they would have to start passing the ball. We needed our defensive line to get a lot of pressure and start making plays.

Q: Bowden said that he was pleased with the defense's performance in the second half and saw it as something you could build on.

Bradham: I felt like we played really good in the second half. In the third quarter, they had the ball and were driving a little bit and Greg Reid came up with a big play right there.

Q: Then you stopped them on the next drive.

Bradham: Yeah. That gave us a lot of momentum and then we just kept making plays. Getting sacks, pass deflections, all kinds of stuff like that. We gave up a couple of plays, but every now and then that is going to happen.

Q: In the first half BYU made some great plays. It wasn't like missed assignments.

Bradham: They were making big plays as well. There were just a lot of playmakers out there on the field. In the first quarter though, they didn't really have the ball. We had the ball the whole - the defense was only out there for like one possession. The offense did a great job of keeping time of possession.

Q: Greg Reid's play was huge for this team.

Bradham: He is a playmaker. We knew that when he was coming out of high school. Everybody knew that. Greg made a great play and I have seen him do that before. He's just going to keep doing it.

Q: That is three weeks in a row the defense has scored. Is that something you defenders pride yourselves in?

Bradham: That is something that coach Andrews really pushes us about. The guys back in the 90's scored all the time. We pretty much just try to live up to their expectations and just go out there and try to play great defense.

Q: A lot of the talk prior to the game was about the speed differential, but you guys were the more physical team as well.

Bradham: For some reason, every time we play a team from up north - like last year with Wisconsin, they always think that we are just a speed team and we are not really physical. That's just Florida State defense and offense. I felt like we out toughed them. I felt like we played harder than them. That's why the outcome was what it was. But they are a great team though. I don't know why people think that we are just a speed team and not physical.

Q: That showed when you stopped the run early on.

Bradham: Yeah. They had those big backs. Like I said, last year when we played Wisconsin it was the same thing. It's weird when we play those teams up north, they think we have no toughness I guess and just have speed.

Q: Lee Corso and all those guys thought you were going to get blown out by BYU.

Bradham: The week after Miami, we kind of struggled against Jacksonville State. I guess that is why they had that feeling because we struggled. But the Miami-Florida State game always comes down to the last couple of minutes, but I feel like if we had won that game, everybody would be saying that we were back. But maybe we will see them again.

Transcribed by Corey Dowlar

Talk about it on the Football Message Board or on the Tribal Council