On how unique the working relationship between the tight ends is
“Extremely selfless. They don’t care who starts, they don’t care who gets the ball. If you watch one of them have success during the drive, they come off (and) the other guy is the first guy to high-five them and tap them on the helmet. They truly help each other out. They’re great teammates and great leaders inside of our program.”
On if rust is a concern in bowl games, especially on offense
“Yeah, for sure. You watch bowl games, turnovers, penalties rear their head in those games. Rust is a part of that. I think that’s why you got to do a good amount of good-on-good work while you’re here at home, too. Make sure they understand the speed and tempo of the football game. Bowl games are unique in that you got to have some fun and enjoy being around each other, but when you’re in the building that’s football time and you got to be able to lock in. These guys have had really good practices here at home. When you get to the bowl site, you got to be able to manage that in the same way.”
On what he expects from Purdue
“Defensively, extremely physical. They play hard. Front seven is physical at the point of attack and we got to do a good job. You look at them, they do a good job in red zone areas, and we got to do a good job of creating some explosive plays, staying out of third and long with them.
“Offensively, their ability to throw the football around is some that we’ve got to do a great job of being able to manage. Your front four or your pressures, you got to get home and make it uncomfortable for the quarterback. (Have to) do a good job of getting it out of his hands, screen game as well. To do that, you got to be able to get your hands up and affect the throwing lanes, as well.”
NEXT: Josh Heupel’s media availability continued