2013 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game
Practice Day Quotes – Jan. 3, 2013

NORTH DAKOTA STATE QUOTES
North Dakota State Head Coach Craig Bohl
On his team’s practices: “Our guys have come about. We’ve had really good preparation. We had really good preparation in Fargo (N.D.), and we’ve had some good work since we’ve been down here in Frisco.”

On Grant Olson playing in the game: “Well, we were a little bit concerned. It was a little bit touch-and-go. The great thing about Grant is nobody is as instinctive or intuitive or has a better understanding as to what we’re doing than Grant, so it was good to get him out there at practice.”

What to expect from Saturday’s game: “It’s difficult to say. I do believe Sam Houston is a better football team than they were last year. Last year, they were pretty one-dimensional offensively, but they’ve really improved their running game this year. I would anticipate it being a higher-scoring game this year.”
 

North Dakota State running back Sam Ojuri:
On splitting time at running back with John Crockett: “We’ve been doing this for a couple of years at North Dakota State. Instead of having one good back, we have two. It helps your body so much at this time of the season. We’re both feeling pretty good and fresh and it helps a lot knowing that one of us doesn’t have to take the entire work load. We both take pride in our work, and we’ve both gotten better each day.”

On facing Sam Houston run defense, which allows 84.1 yards per game: “They’ve done a good job this year getting to the ball and slowing the run. We think we have a good game plan to counteract what they do. I guess we’ll see on Saturday.”
 

North Dakota State running back John Crockett:
On splitting time at running back with Sam Ojuri: “I don’t know if we necessarily feel ‘fresh,’ but probably better in game 15 than if just one guy were handling the load.”

On facing Sam Houston run defense: “They’re darn good, and we understand that. But we’re pretty good, too. They have players, we have players. They have athletes, we have athletes. Should be a battle of the titans.”

North Dakota State cornerback Marcus Williams:
On facing Sam Houston State offense: “We know what they’re going to try to do. They’ve got a new offensive coordinator, so they do run out of some different formations. But they’ve got essentially the same personnel. They’ve got the same quarterback, who’s playing better than he did last year, and they still have a great running back (Tim Flanders) who’s been running over everybody. We know what we have to do, and we know if we stop those guys it’ll be good for us.”

On facing Sam Houston running back Tim Flanders: “He’s a good running back. Watching him on film makes you realize you have to wrap him up and get him to the ground or he’ll break tackles and make you pay.”

On the improvement of Sam Houston quarterback Brian Bell: “Biggest improvement for him over last year is just making more plays. He’s staying in the pocket and hitting the right guys in the passing game. I think the coaches probably have more confidence in him as well, and he has some good receivers to work with, too.”

North Dakota State quarterback Brock Jensen
On winning throughout his football career: “You have the players around you. You have to have a good defense, good special teams, playmakers and a great offensive line. We are here for a reason, and it is all about the team. I always put the team before me and do whatever it takes from an individual standpoint to help the team.”

On being back to the championship game: “It feels great. It was a tough journey and we faced a lot of adversity throughout the year. Both we and Sam Houston State are here for a reason. We are both great football teams and it is in the making for a great game. We, as a team, are really happy to be back.”

On the difference between last year’s team and this year’s: “We have some new faces out there, but we also have a lot of returning starters. We have a different game plan and a different approach coming into this year’s game. It helps us a little bit that we struggled [offensively] last year because it lets us know what we can and cannot get away with against Sam Houston.”

On having a strong running game behind him: “Having a really good running game is every quarterback’s best friend. It enables play action and allows us to do a lot of different things with a running game. Having three really good running backs puts me in a very fortunate position.”

North Dakota State linebacker Grant Olson
On being back in the championship: “There is a lot of excitement and it proves that hard work pays off. We are happy to be back but we also want to win the championship. There are not too many times where you play the same team back-to-back in the national championship, so to play Sam Houston State makes it all that more interesting. We are familiar with them and they are familiar with us, so it is going to be even more of a tightly contested game.”

On facing Sam Houston State: “With the familiarity with have with one another, both teams are going to come out with some minor adjustments from what they normally do and have some variations of things just to have better matchups.”

On facing its third consecutive option-style offense: “It has helped us because we have had to learn to understand the triple option with the dive, quarterback pitch routine. We know someone has to be on someone for every single one of those plays. Some of our defensive calls might be similar from the Wofford game because Sam Houston runs some similar plays. So it is a little bit of an advantage to have some familiarity with that style of offense.”