FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Larry Wahl or V.J.

Monzon-Aguirre
Orange Bowl Committee lwahl@orangebowl.org vmonzon@orangebowl.org
January 1, 2010 305-613-3196 305-582-8363

GEORGIA TECH OFFENSE PRESS CONF. QUOTES

QUARTERBACKS AND B-BACKS COACH COACH BRIAN BOHANNON

(MODERATOR) JASON ALPERT: Coach Brian Bohannon, joining us. The Quarterbacks Coach
and the B-Backs coach. Coach, you guys have been here for a few days. What are you doing to prepare for
the FedEx Orange Bowl?
BRIAN BOHANNON: I think the first thing, coming down here we got up early to practice, to get
everybody acclimated to where they were. We had our first practice at Nova yesterday. I thought it was
pretty good for a transition practice, going from back at home where we were practicing at Georgia Tech to
here in Miami.
Obviously, it was warmer, which is a lot nicer. I love it. I'm not a cold weather person. So we're
getting ready.
The kids are enjoying it. The hospitality, the atmosphere, everything here has been great, and we're
enjoying it. We're going to have a good time, but knowing that we're here for a reason, and that is for the
game Tuesday.

Q. What are your impressions of Iowa offensively and defensively?

BRIAN BOHANNON: Well, I can't say much about them offensively. We've, you know, studies
more defensively because that's what we look at. They are well-coached. They're very talented. You
know, those kids understand where they fit and what they're supposed to do in their defense. I think they
do a great job.
Those coaches do a great job, and they're talented. I told somebody earlier today, you don't get here
without being talented. To get to a BCS game you've got to be a good football team, have good players and
be well-coached. And I think they hit all of those.

Q. Talk about Nesbitt a little bit, and his ability to break tackles and the kind of athlete he is?
BRIAN BOHANNON: You know, Josh has had a heck of a transformation in this offense, really.
When we first came he had never taken a snap under center in his playing career. He had had never taken a
three-step drop, a five-step drop, much less read the option and do the kind of things we're going to ask him
to do.
I think last year was a learning experience, and I think he's had a big transformation in learning what
his role was in this offense. He is physically as impressive as you'll see. He works extremely hard in the
weight room in the off-season. What it's done is now that he understands his role in this offense, he's
become a very, very tough runner. Hard to tackle. He is very, very strong.
But I think the two words to describe Josh to me, he is a competitor, and he is tough. Those are the
two words as far as -- and he's learned his role in this offense. When we've needed things to happen, he's
kind of stepped up and said, all right. It's time to go. It's time to get it done.

Q. At Georgia Tech you guys can recruit athletes to run in just about any system, I would think.
Why run this offense with that caliber of athlete?
BRIAN BOHANNON: Well, that's what Coach Johnson was hired to do. That's why they hired him.
He's won everywhere he's been. You know, I think that's the bottom line, he's won. You look at his track
record, everywhere he's been he's won. His offensive coordinator, head coach, doesn't matter, he's won. I
guess Dan Radakovich and administration, and everybody at Georgia Tech, felt like that was the direction
to go.
That is a big part of who Coach Johnson is, and that is a big part of who I am as well. I've been with
him for 13 years now. That is the decision he made and that's what we do.
Everybody asks about the offense. It's about execution, knowing what you do, and how to fix it.
There are a lot of different ways to skin a cat. This is the way we do it.
If you've got good players and you know how to execute, you know how to fix problems, in the course
of the game and I mean fix them in a hurry, then I think you have a chance to be successful. This is just our
way of getting it done.

Q. Every coach in America wants to run the ball. They talk about that every game and before
every season. What makes your system unique in that you can do it and do it well?
BRIAN BOHANNON: Well, it's kind of our belief system. I mean, everybody -- I agree with what
you said, everybody says they want to run the ball, but everybody doesn't have the patience to do it, and we
do. That's kind of who we are. But I think sometimes that's a little more of we say we want to run it, but
we may run it for six or on seven yards and we've got to throw it, because that was the next play on the
script or that's the next thing on the agenda. Whereas, that's what we do. We run the football.
There is a little bit of perception out there that we don't throw it of the you turn around and look at our
receiver and his yards per catch, and the quarterback has had close to 1700 yards throwing the ball. You
know, so we do both. But we're going to live and die by running the football.

Q. Can you talk about the challenges that Iowa's defensive line presents to the offense?
BRIAN BOHANNON: Well, they're awfully good. They do a great job of playing with their hands.
They're physical, they know what they're supposed to be in their defense, which I think is important. You
know, we've faced some good D-lines this year in our league. These guys are going to be right up there, if
not better than some of the better D-lines we've faced this year. And it's going to be a challenge. We're
going to have to play at our best. We're going to have to execute.
It's going to come down to we've got to block well inside. We've got to block well on the perimeter,
and we've got to give these guys the guy with the ball -- when they've got the ball in their hands to find the
crease and make some plays. But they're good, we'll have to play our best.

Q. Norm Parker was in here and he was giving us a little bit of a diagram with the water bottle
and the orange juice about how you guys run an offense. They said you guys will often just leave the
defensive end completely unblocked. Is there a certain vulnerability to that? Does that make you
nervous?
BRIAN BOHANNON: No, that's what we do. Really, in the triple option, it's kind of the neat thing
about it, we don't have to block them all. We're going to read them. If that defensive end takes the
fullback, then we're going to pull the ball. If he doesn't take the fullback, we're going to hand the ball off. I
think that's the kind of neat thing about it is we don't have to block everybody. We're going to read them.
We use the quarterback, the fullback, and the pitch guy. We're going to use a couple of guys that we'll
work off of whether to hand the ball to the fullback, whether the quarterback keeps it or we pitch the ball.

Q. Is it a good thing, bad thing or does it matter that Navy and Air Force were so good
yesterday running your version of the option offense?
BRIAN BOHANNON: I think it's great. I'm Navy's number one fan, I'll tell you that right now. I
spent six years there. Lot of good friends. Lot of guys I recruited played yesterday. I'm happy for them. I
mean, I'm glad Air Force does well. Navy and Air Force are kind of a rival when we were there. So I don't
think much about that. I think it's great. I'm all for it.

Q. If you could play devil's advocate, what is that defensive end supposed to do? What should
the defensive end that you're leaving unblocked do against your offense?
 BRIAN BOHANNON: That's up to Coach Parker how they decide they want to play us (smiling). I
mean, people defend us in different ways. You know other, people do different things against us. Every
team's a little bit different in how they attack us.
I mean, Iowa's a four-man front, and they're going to be a four-man front. They have four guys in the
secondary. These guys are well-coached. They're going to do what they do.
They have a little bit, one guy may be here and move over a little bit different, but they're going to do
what they do. And it just depends on how they want to defend them, and that's up to their defensive
coaches and how they want to handle them. And they'll have to figure out when they he get out there.

Q. You guys rushed for 95 yards against Miami. I know they had a long time to prepare, even
though it was the second game. What did they do that other teams haven't seemed to be able to do?
BRIAN BOHANNON: You know, they didn't do anything different than a lot of the teams how they
played against us. We didn't play well. And truthfully, that is the bottom line. That was our third game in
12 days, which had an impact on it. And I'll say this: Miami played as good as you can play that night.
They were ready to play. They played well. We did not. I don't think it was anything schematically,
because, truthfully, they lined up the same way the majority of the teams we played this year lined up the
same way and did pretty much the exact same thing.

Q. I think Jonathan Dwyer might have been injured?

BRIAN BOHANNON: He got dinged up early in the game, he did.

Q. Might have a have an effect?

BRIAN BOHANNON: I think that might have had an effect. But truthfully, we just didn't play well.
We weren't prepared. We take it, coaches, players, we just didn't play well.

Q. Can you just say a few words about Jonathan Dwyer and what makes this kid so special? He
just seems to run over everybody?
BRIAN BOHANNON: He's gifted. I don't care if it's our offense or any offense. He is gifted. He is
fast. His lower body strength is -- I mean, he can run through people. He can run over people. And he can
also make people miss, and he can outrun them. He's just gifted. It wouldn't matter where you put him,
he's a gifted athlete. He's got the ability to make plays at any time.

Q. I know this is a defensive guy, but Derrick Morgan, I mean, what makes him special?
BRIAN BOHANNON: I think I would say the same things about Derrick that I say about Jon. He's
just athletically he is gifted. He can run, but he plays with a great motor. I mean, he is constantly -- I'm not
over there all the time. But there's times when I'm watching our defense a little bit, and he plays with a
great motor. I mean, he's talented.

Q. I have a question about blocking philosophy. Notorious for cut blocks. But how do you avoid
the chop blocks? How do you coach your players if the players engage not to hit somebody else?
BRIAN BOHANNON: Well, when we initially teach it, we don't teach it chop block, per se by the
rule. We're trying to get guys up to the next level and then guys are coming back in, trying to cut them off
on the back side. But we don't teach it that way. It's just like a holding call or anything else.
Things happen in the course of a game. We don't coach chop blocking. There's times our offensive
line coaches will give our guys penalties if the officials did not call it during the course of the game.
They'll give it to them as part of their grade. You know, you had a penalty here they just didn't call it. Just
to remind those guys it's not what we're supposed to do because it's huge if it truly is a chop block.
I think sometimes the opposing coaches get in those officials' ears early in the game because we do cut
a little more than maybe some other teams.
But I've watched some other teams play and they do similar stuff, I think we just have a reputation for
it.
 Q. What is the most important thing that Josh Nesbitt needs to do on a given play to engage?
BRIAN BOHANNON: I think that for him the game needs to slow down. He needs to understand
where everybody is on the field. Both sides of the ball, and he just needs to execute. You know, that's
what we do. He needs to be focused in of the whether it's reading that five technique on or whatever it
might be. He needs to execute that and get the ball in the right person's hands.
It's the neat thing about what we do. It's not about getting Josh so many carries or John so many
carries or Anthony. It's about what the defense does, we adjust according to what they do. He just needs to
execute within the offense, and not think he has to do anything outside of that. You know. Just do what
the defense will give you, and everything else will unfold from there.
JASON ALPERT: Thank you very much.

FastScripts by ASAP Sports

GEORGIA TECH STUDENT-ATHLETES

Junior WR Demaryius Thomas

On QB Josh Nesbitt:
“Josh has been working hard and it‟s been paying off this year. We spent a lot of time this summer working
on the offense and it has showed.”

On Iowa‟s defense:
“My first time watching their defense the first thing I saw was how then run to the ball. Their whole
defense swarms to the ball. They play well.”

On how he helps the option work:

“If you try and play a safety and a corner over the top of me then you don‟t have enough people in the box
to stop the run. When we‟re running the ball well you have to have eight people in the box. That leaves me
one-on-one and our offense is a vertical passing game so we can go deep on them and most of my catches
can be for so many yards.”

Senior Guard Cord Howard

On Navy and Air Force‟s big bowl wins yesterday running the option:
“I‟m glad they looked good and I think we look even better with it. To see them have success with the same
system is good. It‟s one of those offenses that, when you perfect it, if the defense isn‟t playing mistake free
then it doesn‟t matter who you are and who they are. It can gash you. I think we can run it just as well as
anyone, especially with Josh (Nesbitt).”

On the game outlook:

“I just feel like if we go out and do what we do, we‟ll win. We‟ve practiced well for the past few weeks.
Our preparation has been great. They‟ve been pretty physical practices. Other than getting our game speed,
we‟re ready.”

On the option:
“Our system goes off of feel. It‟s straight ahead. If someone is in front of you, you take him on. Nothing
about the plays change if their linemen jump from one technique to another. Our offense is precise in terms
of where you‟re going. And our quarterback is good at checking if there‟s things going on out there if
something won‟t be to our advantage.”

On the Iowa defensive line:

“They‟re physical. Their defensive linemen play with great technique and get leverage. They remind me of
Virginia‟s defensive linemen. They step into you. They‟re great with their hands and play with great effort.
It will be a great matchup.”

Junior B-Back Jonathan Dwyer

On Iowa‟s defense which doesn‟t make many mistakes:

“It‟s a matter of sticking with it and going play by play until we find one. If it takes three three-and-outs to
find it, then we have to do it.”

On Iowa‟s defense:
“Their defensive line and their linebackers are excellent. They‟re really good. They‟re one of the top five
on defense for a reason.”

Does your system mean that you don‟t have to scout as much?
“Definitely. When I was at Louisville, we watched much more tape than here. Here, it is just a matter of
knowing where you‟re going more than where they‟re going to be at.”

On achieving their goal of being in the FedEx Orange Bowl:

“It feels good but we have to keep our eyes on the prize. We want to win the Orange Bowl and not just be
here.”

On the one thing that makes the option go:

“Josh (Nesbitt). It‟s all what he reads and what he sees. We‟re all just waiting right there telling us what to
do.”

Junior Center Sean Bedford

On the effectiveness of the cut block:

“I love it. Basically, the common misperception is that the cut block and the chop block are the same thing.
The chop block is very different from the cut block. A cut block is when you come in and fire your
shoulder pads down toward the legs, preferably about six inches above the knees and take out the legs. A
chop block on the other hand is when somebody is engaged and you go low on them. We do not practice
that.”

On QB Josh Nesbitt:
“He‟s really taken the team on his back. There‟s been a number of games where he‟s just said „follow me,
I‟m going to take you in; we‟re going to win this game.‟ I can‟t say enough about Josh Nesbitt, you look at
how many times he gets hit in this offense – no other quarterback takes that type of beating. He‟s the
toughest player I‟ve ever been around.”

Junior QB Josh Nesbitt

On what has made him be a tough player:

“I just want to win so bad I can pretty much take anything. I just want to take it on.”

On evolving into a player everyone can count on:

“I‟ve been working on going out onto the field and show people I can do what I need to do to get it done.”

On what he‟s done better this year:

“Being a leader. I felt that last year I could have done some things better. This year I felt I took advantage
of all those moments.”