EL PASO, TEXAS—The last major media events before this year's Sun Bowl were press conferences featuring the head coaches from each team. Arizona State's Todd Graham and Duke's David Cutcliffe showed their appreciation for the hospitality of the Sun Bowl staff then dove into analysis of Saturday's 2 p.m. matchup at Sun Bowl Stadium between Duke and No. 15 Arizona State. Here are the best quotes from today's press conferences:
David Cutcliffe
On Duke vice president and director of athletics Kevin White and Football Chair of the Sun Bowl John Folmer having ties to Arizona State: "I have visited there three times so I want to go on record and say that I have too spent some time at Arizona State."
On the Sun Bowl compared to other bowl games and his experience: "The Sun Bowl hospitality is second to none. I was fortunate enough to coach in the 51st Sun Bowl and here I stand coaching in the 81st Sun Bowl, which qualifies me as old and being able to stay in coaching for that length of time, which is quite an accomplishment."
"All bowls should come study what [the Sun Bowl is] doing. [With] the events, I can tell when players aren't interested. They've loved it. We have had an incredible trip. It's been a great, great time and a great opportunity and I think three-quarters of our team is going home wearing cowboy boots."
On challenge of facing Arizona State: "They're one of the better teams in the country. There's a combination of things that make that fact. I did watch them not having any idea we were going to play them. I watched them and thought 'They are terrific.' It was fun watching them at that time—I've had no fun the last two weeks."
"Offensively, first, I think [redshirt senior quarterback] Taylor Kelly is a great leader. He makes critical plays at critical times. You think he's not a good runner, then he makes a great run. He throws the ball consistently where it should be. Their offensive front is extremely athletic and talented and their skilled people are everywhere in high numbers."
"Defensively, everything does start up front. They move well. They're big, powerful and quick. The linebackers fit and play where they should. [In] the secondary, they play man coverage and [their coaches] know it—they put them in tough circumstances and they respond over and over again."
"They've got a lot of people who can run. They're extremely athletic, so they test you in every phase. We can't make mistakes against a team like this. We can't afford those penalties, we can't give up too many explosive plays and expect to stay in a game like this. We've got to take care of the football against a defense that is very good at forcing pressure on you, so your discipline becomes pivotal."
On quality of both teams and similarities: "From a football connoisseur, from a standpoint of looking at these two teams, we are really schematically similar on offense. But if you look at these two teams, the folks in El Paso that are going to come to the ball game are going to have fun looking at a bunch of good football players. There's enough future NFL football players on that field that you're going to enjoy that."
"But you're [also] going to see two teams play hard [and] play four quarters. You're never going to see either one of these teams not play 60 minutes. There are enough similarities along those lines that I think both coaches are proud of."
On being the underdog: "We've been that so much I think our guys have grown tired of that. We came in and Duke had won 10 games in eight years. That was kind of the theme every time we took the field. What we do is respect [our opponent and] know we have to prepare well. Out of respect to Arizona State, we've certainly challenged our team."
On past bowl performances defensively and slowing down Arizona State: "We would love to make it a 30-minute game somehow if we could. 60 minutes of playing against their offense is very demanding. You have to play it just one play at a time."
"[The last two years], we've had unique games. That Cincinnati team scored some late against us that game [in the 2012 Belk Bowl]. We actually led that game the whole game. Then we turned around and led the whole game last year against Texas A&M [in the 2013 Chick-fil-A Bowl] and then Johnny Manziel decided make a swan song out of it and did a great job."
"All of these are unique to themselves, so we'll just try to play and compete well every play. Every snap they have a chance at making a big play."
On challenge of facing All-American wide receiver Jaelen Strong: "Size, great ability [and] short-space quickness. They all can run. With an accurate quarterback, it's very difficult. You've just got to be technique sound, you've got to understand leverage and we're going to have to mix up the things that they see. You've got to try to get two people in position to alter routes a little bit. We'll just have to see what happens tomorrow."
On fan support: "We've had a great response from the Duke football folks. Our fans are arriving. We've sold a bunch of tickets. We're very excited about that. They immediately responded. We sold our allotment in just days, just a great response. I've already run into a lot of parents and a lot of our fans. They're just thrilled to be here and feel great about being here."
On keys offensively: "I think if you can make first downs against a team like this, you've got an opportunity. But they're pretty good at forcing the issue. They're very difficult to stay on the field against, but that's the biggest challenge we face, no question, just trying to make first downs. They're a lot bigger deal than a lot of people think in football."
On importance of special teams: "Every play on special teams is a big play. If you think back and look at games across the face of college football, you see people break big plays in the kicking game. When that occurs, that swings games."
Todd Graham
On what his team means to him: "It is a very special football team to me. In 28 years, this is probably the best team I've ever coached from a character standpoint, from a work ethic standpoint. We haven't had any minimum standard issues. This group of [11] seniors have meant a lot to me and have helped us tremendously to be able to change the culture. I love these kids and I love this football team."
On facing Duke: "It's been a great honor to get the opportunity to meet Coach Cutcliffe and to be around their football team. We hope we mirror what their program is all about, [they have] values our program tries to live each day. To go against a team with a coaching staff that embodies those values and to have two teams that were 8-1 at one time.... This is a really, really great matchup. I'm glad our seniors get the opportunity to play an opponent like Duke. It's a great privilege for us."
On the significance of having the opportunity for back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time since 1973: "It's a huge deal for us. It's obviously a great benchmark. At the end of the season, the teams that have double-digit wins are few and far between, especially ones that have been able to do it back-to-back years. It would mean a lot to us."
On the leadership of redshirt senior quarterback Taylor Kelly: "Taylor Kelly is the best leader in 28 years that I've ever had. People wonder why we've stuck with him, that's never even been a question for me. He's the only person that can lead our football team and he's the most respected person in our building. I tried to get him to marry my daughter but didn't have much success with that. He's just a tremendous young man with great character."
On recent success for Duke: "I'm so impressed with the wins they've had and the people that they've competed against the past two years, the job they've done has been remarkable in how their guys play. They bring it on game day. It's going to be a very exciting game and challenging opportunity for us."
On Duke's 4-2-5 defense and blitzes: "They do a great job. I really like how they bring pressure. They're very, very good at it and they do a great job at being able to get free runners. The key for us is not to have negative plays and not let them be able to tee of on us. You can tell their guys are very, very well-coached."
On Duke's offensive and defensive lines: "Up front on both sides of the ball, they are as sound as any group we've played against. They remind me a lot of [the teams of] Coach [Mike] Riley, a guy that got a lot of respect at Oregon State. You can tell these guys are well-coached fundamentally."
On the importance of the running game and Duke's rushing attack: "It doesn't really change. You've got to run the ball to win games consistently. I'm very impressed with how they run the football. Their backs do a great job, they do a great job running inside zone, power, power read, obviously their quarterback makes great decisions. He's the key to making it work, but you've got to stop the running game and have got to stop the running back."
On Duke using the running game to set up the pass: "I like what they do because it's very similar to what we do on offense. The key for us is to stop the run and not give up big explosive plays. They've got speed at the wide receiver [and] have got some great height at the wide receiver position. It's very, very important that we're vertically sound and top down with our coverage."
On similarities between the two teams: "Offensively, they're a run, play-action pass football team. A lot of people, when they look at our offense, say we throw the ball. The key to what we do offensively [is to] be a team that runs the football [first]. We're very similar offensively."
"Defensively, they're a 4-2-5. We really evolve to that. Sometimes it's hard to figure out what we're doing on defense. Sometimes we know what we're doing and sometimes we don't. But we attack and wind up being a lot like a 4-2-5. You can tell they're very adaptive to their personnel with what they do."
On Duke's efficiency in special teams: "If you want to see how a team is coached, you look at the offensive and defensive lines then you look at special teams—that's the thing I'm most impressed with is how good they are in their kickoff return and [punting]. Special teams can be a big factor in this game and is probably one of our biggest challenges. In these games like this, special teams and field position [are] big."
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