Bobby Bowden Last Quotations

Leon's got a chance, ... Last week, he couldn't have done it.

Last year, we went to Aruba, ... Next year, I think they take us to Mexico. We spend a little more time talking when we're together on that (cruise).

Most of those times they were better. The last three or four games that we've played, you take one play out and we win it. You're losing by a field goal.

I think we need that. We've been down so low the last three or four years at times ... I want to get back to challenging our kids again to try to get some of our mystique back.

Last time you're playing at home (this season), I thought we'd go out there and jump all over them. We're just not a dominating team right now.

You know what they have done? They have gone back to their old offense. They were running an offense much like Syracuse and they were not scoring any points. Last week they went back to their old offense with all of the options and reverses. They have created some problems now.

Time will tell. It should help our confidence. Next week we'll be playing a team we should be favored over (I-AA The Citadel). You expect your confidence level grows because we haven't had it lately. We haven't had it the last five years.

What (Penn State) has needed over the last couple years is someone who could break out a game. Now they've got that.

What Penn State has needed, evidently the last couple of years, is somebody who can break up a game.

We went into the year with one of our biggest liabilities being the offensive line. It was that way last year. Our offensive line stayed beat up all year. I think it goes in cycles like that sometimes, but it definitely does hurt.

I've never seen a quarterback beat us with a one-man show. The last time that happened to us was Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl--J.C. Watts. Watts did it in about 30 minutes. This guy did it the whole game.

Once you get over the rope burns, it wasn't bad. It's been a very questionable mood outside of our staff. We had so many good years back to back that people expect it all the time. We have lacked consistency for the last few years. I think the hardest part of my job is winning enough games to keep people happy.

They're quicker. They're much quicker than the last team we played, we feel like.

It seems like more and more players now are waiting until the last day to announce. You used to go into the last day knowing everybody who you were going to get; maybe one guy. Now, more and more of them are announcing it on television, which really draws it out. ... There was more suspense this year than there was last year and the year before.

It wasn't scaled down that much. We had it in there, we just might not have called it. But that's not the problem, it's the way we set the formations and try to move people around. That's the thing. Last night we called a reverse, and we called it to the wrong side. We did it against Miami; run it the wrong way. And we lined up wrong a lot of times. That (learning new system) is harder than you think, playing as many people as we have. That comes with the territory.

It's been a long time (that none of the teams was in the Top 5 of the polls). It's probably almost 20 years. Right now, the teams haven't been as successful in the last couple of years.

The biggest change in Penn State over the last few years has been their offense.

It'll be up to the last week before the game before we will do it. As soon as we're sure, we'll make the move so the kids will get used to him. I'll have final say so. We'll do it when we are positive, though.

It usually comes down to the mental attitude of your players. They have to be just as focused against Wake Forest as they were last week against Syracuse, or Boston College (Sept. 17). Because you know they're (Deacons) going to be focused.

Their defense is very good. This is the same group that gave us fits last year.

I guess the biggest change the last few years, evidently, is their offense. Their offense now is so explosive compared to the past, and a lot of that begins with their quarterback. He can take a busted play and do more with it than I think anybody we've faced.

He started kicking better, ... He went 7 for 7 the other day in our last kicking scrimmage. That's what you want - the consistency part of it.

These guys, even though they're young, they're playing a little harder than the last bunch that came through, ... I think they saw a lot of things we weren't doing well, and that we weren't doing what we're accustomed to.