North Carolina State University Athletics
Quotes From Tuesday's Gator Bowl Press Conference
11/26/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 26, 2002
Quotes from Monday's Gator Bowl Press Conference
NC State Chancellor Marye Anne Fox: "We're delighted to accept the invitation on behalf of the students, staff and faculty of NC State. This is a tremendous university, we have a tremendous athletic program and we're delighted to represent the ACC, one of the best conferences in the United States. We're looking for to January 1!"
NC State Athletics Director Lee Fowler: "We're so proud of the young men who have performed on the field this year and of the coaching staff that coach Amato has put together. This is really one of those achievements in life that you just can't put into words. I know our fans are excited about it. The worst part about this is that it's more than a month before it gets here. We'd rather it happen tomorrow."
NC State Head Football coach Chuck Amato (To Gator Bowl Committee): "All I can say is thank you. We won't let you down. For the seniors on the this football team who have held this team together over the last month when things didn't look real good, they deserve this opportunity to go down to the state of Florida and play in a great bowl like the Gator Bowl. I've been there a couple of times when I was down at Florida State. To play in a New Year's Day bowl for this young program that we're trying to get off the ground, it's a big jump and we're very thankful for you inviting us down there."
Gator Bowl Selection Committee Chairman, Jim McCollum (on reasons why NC State was invited): "Certainly a week extra to promote Gator Bowl activities and to sell tickets. Looking at the team itself, they had an exceptional year. They're the highest ranked team in the ACC right now (No. 20 in Coaches Poll/21st in AP), they have just defeated rather soundly the conference champions, and they already have 10 wins. You put those together and add on the fact that it is an exceptional program that is really on a roll. The way they did what they did this year was very impressive to us."
McCollum on who NC State's opponent will be:There's a game this weekend in Pittsburgh with Pittsburgh and West Virginia. We predict either the winner of that game or Notre Dame would be the opponent for the North Carolina State. We won't make that announcement this weekend because they both play games this weekend, so hopefully a decision could be made early next week. However, if the Notre Dame issue is still in question, it still may be a week later until the BCS can make some decisions."
Wolfpack Linebacker Dantonio Burnette: "We're just glad to be here. It's just a great honor. A lot of teams don't get a chance to play an extra game so we're just excited about it."
NC State senior offensive tackle Scott Kooistra (on earning Gator Bowl bid with season ending win over Florida State): "We knew that we were good and it just took us getting another win for people to see that this team had just a few games that didn't turn out the way we wanted them, but when we put a complete game together people started recognizing that this team is better than when we lost three in a row. When you play well against good teams like Florida State, people recognize that. I'm happy with it and I want to go back to Florida."
