LOGAN, Utah – Utah State head football coach Gary Andersen held a media teleconference Sunday to discuss the Aggies' invitation to the Tropical Smoothie Café Frisco Bowl against Kent State on Friday, Dec. 20, at 5:30 p.m., in Frisco, Texas. A complete transcript of Andersen's teleconference can be found below.
 
Head Coach Gary Andersen
On playing Kent State:
"It's a great opportunity for us. I know very little right now, but it looks like it will be a great place for our kids to go to a bowl game. It will be a new experience and it looks like the accommodations will be really cool for our kids. We have three kids on our team that get to go back home and play in Texas, so it will be a great opportunity for them to have family there. The timing is good. We'll be able to get our practices in. We thought the bowl game might be a little later, but this is a good opportunity for our kids to get the practices we need and get ready to roll. It is going to be a fun bowl.
 
"I remember watching Kent State a few times. I was watching them a few weeks ago, and I can't remember who they were playing, but they are a physical, tough-minded team. They definitely made some strides this year to get themselves where they are going. We will learn a lot more about them, but I know they play hard. Their head coach, Sean Lewis, played at Wisconsin. They are a good football team and it will be a good challenge for us. Any of those teams from Ohio are tough-minded guys and kids that grew up loving football. They play at a high level and I have great respect for the state of Ohio, and really, the Mid-American Conference, for the way those kids play football."
 
On how soon Utah State will begin practicing in preparation for Kent State:
"We will start Monday. The introduction on Kent State will be on Tuesday, but for our kids, we will have a young players practice on Monday, while the older guys will come out and run, and move around, and start watching tape on their own, or with their position coaches that are here. A lot of the coaches are already out on the road recruiting, so we will get them back in here. Basically, our plan for Monday, like I said, is we'll have practice for the younger guys and get an introduction on Kent State for the older guys through film, and a run and a lift for those guys. On Tuesday, it will be like a Monday practice for us in the season. We will be off on Wednesday due to finals and other things that are out there, but it will be a major prep day for our coaches as we get them back off the road. Thursday would be like a Tuesday practice during the season. We'll work ourselves through the week, and practice Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Sunday will be a brief practice, which would be like a Friday on a game week. We'll travel on Monday and then have a couple of more days of practice at the bowl site. Our plan is already in place, we'll present it to the kids on Monday and away we go."
 
On Kent State playing in seven games that were decided by eight points or less:
"It kind of sounds familiar, right? They were able to win a lot of those games and get bowl eligible. Like I said earlier, I've just seen them from afar on TV in those MAC games that are on in the middle of the week. They play in a very tough conference and I've always had a ton of respect for that conference. To get bowl eligible in a conference is not easy, and I know they are a team that is on the rise. They will be very excited to go to the bowl game, just like we are. They won enough close games to get themselves bowl eligible. They are excited and we are excited to go to this bowl. It looks like it is a great opportunity for all of us."
 
On playing the game at Toyota Stadium, which is home to FC Dallas of the MLS:
"The stadium seats close to 20,000 people (17,300), so it's a great venue for a game like this. It's a great spot for people to travel to. To me, it's a good time, it's a good time to be able to get there and see a game on Friday night. It's an easy place to get to on an airplane. We're excited and I think the venue is really neat, as I just briefly looked at the bowl itinerary. Obviously, this bowl is doing it the right way for the kids, for the fans and everybody that is involved. It's an exciting time for these kids to be able to get to a place they haven't been to before, and play against a team that is hungry and excited to get to a bowl game, just like the Aggies are."
 
On the benefit of playing this bowl game in Texas, where the team recruits, but doesn't get to play at during the year:
"Absolutely. Three of our coaches have different recruiting areas in Texas. For some of them, it's their main spot they go to, for others, it's their secondary recruiting spot. So, to get a Utah State presence in Texas is big. But, it's exciting for the three kids we have on our team from Texas to go back home, and have family and friends around them. It will be a special experience for them."
 
On the difference between preparing for a bowl game compared to games in the regular season:
"It's no more stressful. I look at it as a great opportunity. We have plenty of time to prepare. Whenever you are playing, whether it's on the 20th or the 31st or January 4th, you dictate your structured times. In our opinion, we would like to be able to treat it kind of like you have a bye week and then you have a game prep week, and that's really what we've got. It's absolutely no more stressful. It's a great opportunity to prepare, and I'm sure Kent State looks at it just like we do. It's an opportunity to play one game, there is a trophy involved and there is a championship involved. It's a bowl game championship that you are playing for, and it's a very meaningful game. I know it means a lot to our kids, and I'm sure it will mean a lot to Kent State's kids. You are going to see two teams that are excited to play in this bowl game."
 
On how this bowl game being early affects the recruiting process:
"With our class this year, it is a little fortunate for us, because we don't have a giant class, which we have talked about for months now. We'll still have some coaches go out on the road. I'll be out on the road on Monday, I'll be out on the road on Wednesday. Actually, I'll probably be out on the road Monday through Wednesday, and do what we have to do to get that done. We will adjust some schedules, but if we were planning on signing 15 or 20 kids on the early signing day, it would be a bit stressful. But, because of where we are at this year, we'll handle it and manage it, and get to the kids we need to. I think a lot of our kids that we are recruiting will understand the situation we are in right now, and the placement of this bowl game, but we will adjust as needed. It does not affect us in a negative way at all. The fact we are going to a bowl game, and we are going to a bowl game in Texas, is a great recruiting tool. Going to the Frisco Bowl is a great opportunity to build on recruiting and show people where we are going. We've got an opportunity to go to a bowl game, which, in my opinion, is a great recruiting weapon."
 
On using this game to end on a high note considering Utah State didn't reach the Mountain West championship game this season:
"We understand exactly where we sit in the Mountain West. We dropped two games and didn't get a chance to play in the championship. Boise State played in the championship and represented the Mountain Division on our side, and represented themselves very well. Hawai'i is in the West Division and played Boise State in the championship. Air Force was right there on our side battling to the end, also. We understand where we sit this year. We were 6-2 and took third place this year on our side of the league, and now we have an opportunity to go play for a bowl championship. I think it's really important to stress that with the kids and understand that it is a tremendous opportunity and an honor to go to a bowl game. There are a lot of people that put a lot of things out there for these young men to be able to go to a bowl game, and for our university to be able to go to a bowl game. It's a huge responsibility to prepare the right way and play the right way, not just for your school, but for college football as a whole. These people are putting a bowl game together for us and they expect our football team to come in and play at a high level, which is exactly how we'll approach it."
 
On if the team is healthy:
"I think we are right now, but we'll see as we go through the next week or so. There are a couple of question marks that are out there, but we'll see where that goes. We prepared last week through our practices that we had to be able to play a handful of young players that haven't played much, that still have a redshirt game available for them. We will get them in this game, and it may be a special teams role, it may be an offensive role or it may be a defensive role, but we are excited to get a couple of young kids another opportunity to compete and play in this football game. They will deem that as a tremendous opportunity, and I promise you that."
 
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