Wisconsin Post-game Quotes
2017 Cotton Bowl Classic
AT&T Stadium • Arlington, Texas

Head coach Paul Chryst
Inside linebacker T.J. Edwards
Tight end Troy Fumagalli

Q. T. J., talk about the pick that really turned the ball game around.

LB T.J. EDWARDS: I think their quarterback was doing a great job all game of reading our eyes and getting the ball out fast. We just needed a play to spark it, and I am just glad I was able to do that.

Q. Troy, you had a big game obviously. Did you think coming in, was there anything in the scouting report that would indicate you were going to be able to get done what you accomplished? Can you just kind of explain it.

TE TROY FUMAGALLI: Not necessarily. I think Coach [Paul] Chryst, he does a great job of putting the best matchups out there. I think they started playing downhill a little bit trying to stop the run, and it really opened up things over the top.

Q. Troy, you've had quite a journey to come to Wisconsin and now to be the most valuable offensive player the Cotton Bowl. Can you talk about that a little bit.

TE TROY FUMAGALLI: Yeah, it's special. We've done such a great job working off season. So much work goes into it. Credit to the whole team. It's a great feeling to come out on top. It's been a heck of a journey especially with the senior class to give them the opportunities they had and send them out the right way. It's been a great journey.

Q. Do you think that the way y'all were able to run the ball early seeing how effective that was that you were going to have your shots in the second half to make some big plays there?

TE TROY FUMAGALLI: Yeah, I think you said it right. They started playing downhill, bringing an extra guy, bringing a safety down. And you can't do both sometimes. So we took advantage of that, and that's where we went.

Q. T. J., how eager was the defense to kind of bounce back from the last game and make sure you go out there and put on a good performance today?

LB T.J. EDWARDS: Just like you said, I think it kind of left a bad taste in our mouth after the Big Ten championship game. It's not that we were sad or anything like that. We just wanted to get back out there and prove ourselves again. And I think our prep throughout the whole week was good, and it was just time to prove ourselves. And I'm glad we could do that.

Q. T. J., you rowed the boat after that interception. What was running through your mind. Talk about that whole sequence of events, from the pick to the row. And I guess you talked to Coach [P.J.] Fleck afterwards.

LB T.J. EDWARDS: I just made a play on the ball, and I was able to come up with it. It was just a spontaneous thing, just trying to have fun with it. Not trying to create a message or anything like that.

Q. Coach, why did you guys end up not playing Bradrick [Shaw] in this game?

COACH CHRYST: Bradrick got dinged up a little bit in the preparation so missed out on a lot of the work, and he was ready to go should we need him. And, yet, really kind of by the end of it, we were going to ride Corey [Clement] as much as we could.

Q. Particularly early in the game you guys got out on the edge quite a bit, particularly with the jet sweep. First of all, what made that so effective? And was that something that you guys saw that maybe could kind of loosen things up?

COACH CHRYST: Yeah. We thought that the way they were going into the game, the way they might fit some of our runs, especially in some of our heavier packages that we were in, that we might get something out of it and kind of what you said in the question. If not, just be able to threaten the perimeter to open up maybe some inside runs on it.

I thought the offensive staff did a really nice job of kind of prepping our kids and designing the runs. Things that we did all year but to fit the different many different looks that Western [Michigan] gave us. I thought the kids were great in the preparation. And we didn't play a perfect game, but they did a lot of things to give us a chance. And, certainly, early the jet sweeps were big.

Q. After early success with Corey Clement, they kind of shut him down after the first couple drives. What happened?

COACH CHRYST: They did a nice job of adjusting. It gave us some other plays. But it's a good defense and well coached with some good players. And they were going to make some plays. And they did.

And so I thought we certainly weren't perfect on coming back to what we had to kind of answer or how to counter their moves. But I thought we did enough adjusting that was good and gave our players a chance. But they're a good defense. And I think they did some things to adjust, and that's kind of the fun of the game.

Q. Western Michigan threw a little razzle dazzle in there, a little reverse. But it seems that the discipline of your defense was right there. They stuck with their man and didn't get confused on it. Talk about the discipline you have on your defensive side of the ball.

COACH CHRYST: I think you're right on that. I think the defense staff did a heck of a job preparing our players. And Western's [Michigan] offense, in preparing for it, watching their whole season, they can hurt you in a number of different ways. We certainly didn't play a perfect game, but guys did play disciplined. And when we didn't make a play, we knew why. We had to clean up whether a guy got into a gap or finishing a stunt.

But I think all year long our defense has done a nice job of playing. And I think they trust the plan, and they trust themselves. And I think what else they do is they trust the guy next to them. They don't try to overcompensate.

They came up with a number of big plays. We got the ball out, but we didn't get any take aways other than T.J.'s [Edwards] pick and Western [Michigan] has done a nice job. But the guys competed.

Q. Similar question with the run game. Do you feel like it was important to establish that run early so Bart would have the windows to pass the ball later on? Because it seemed they were stacking the box after the first quarter.

COACH CHRYST: We thought that we had some runs that we could get on them. And then you want to see how they adjust. And when they do, like you say, add another hat into the box, then you've got to be able to do some things in the passing game. Or they were talking about earlier whether it's with a jet sweep. They started doing a nice job of adjusting to it. But we thought it gave us some other opportunities.

And I thought guys made some plays. That was big, even the last drive. That third down was a big completion. And even finishing on the run by Ram [Ryan Ramczyk], it took a lot of guys. But they did a nice job of kind of countering what we were doing. And there was a bit of a chess match going on.

Q. Troy [Fumagalli], there are not a lot of tight ends in college football that are as effective as he was today. What are the ways you want to use your tight end? And is he perfect for what you guys tried to do?

COACH CHRYST: I've been really fortunate. We've had a number of really good tight ends at Wisconsin. And they're all different. But Fuma [Troy Fumagalli] has got the ability to be a matchup problem for a number of teams or a number of individuals if they're playing him man. And he's big. He's skilled. He runs well enough and has a great knack to separate.

And I think another thing that's important is our quarterbacks trust him, so he's got a big reception radius. And he's done a really nice job this year of continuing to develop as a blocker. And he was big today. It was fun to see.

Q. Coach, at the beginning of the season people were talking about your quarterbacks. Here today they were 13 out of 14. So a lot of improvement from your quarterbacks from the start of the season to the end.

COACH CHRYST: They did. I thought they handled both playing, wanted to play them both, and did a nice job in the preparation. And 14 attempts isn't a lot, but there were some key third downs in there. And I thought Alex [Hornibrook] came in and made a heck of a throw to Fuma [Troy Fumagalli] in the red zone.

And those two, they work at it. And they care a ton about this team and want to do their part. And you really appreciate that as a coach.

And it was good to see Bart finish his career here at Wisconsin the way that he did. And I'm excited about the growth that Alex took this year and the steps he can take to go forward. He's got a lot of football ahead of him. And both were important to us all year long. And it was certainly that way today, too.