America II Electronics Team Welcome Event Recap
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (December 11, 2014) – The America II Electronics Team Welcome Event took place on Thursday night at the Hotel Zamora roof top party deck with the Gulf of Mexico and the white sandy beach in the background. As the sunset began, St. Petersburg Bowl Executive Director Brett Dulaney welcomed UCF Director of Athletics Todd Stansbury, UCF Head Coach George O’Leary, NC State Director of Athletics Debbie Yow and NC State Head Coach Dave Doeren. This year’s game will be played on Friday, Dec. 26, 8 p.m. at Tropicana Field.
Quotes
Brett Dulaney, St. Petersburg Bowl Executive Director
(On the selection of UCF and NC State)
“It was great to be able to watch UCF play throughout this season and in particular to see the excitement of that win last week at East Carolina. They’ve been here before and we are excited to have them back again this year. Once we saw that the ACC had several schools reach bowl eligibility, we jumped at the chance to get North Carolina State. They have a great tradition and are playing outstanding football down the stretch and will give us a quality team from the ACC in our first year of this conference agreement.”
(On the selection of UCF and NC State)
“It was great to be able to watch UCF play throughout this season and in particular to see the excitement of that win last week at East Carolina. They’ve been here before and we are excited to have them back again this year. Once we saw that the ACC had several schools reach bowl eligibility, we jumped at the chance to get North Carolina State. They have a great tradition and are playing outstanding football down the stretch and will give us a quality team from the ACC in our first year of this conference agreement.”
Deborah Yow, NC State Director of Athletics
“Going to a bowl game is symbolic for your program. Our players are to be congratulated for their success this year and they know how much their contributions mean to the overall strength of the NC State program.”
Dave Doeren, NC State Head Coach
“Our preseason goal was to improve in all phases of the game from last year. One of the rewards of that improvement would be getting into a bowl. The guys really wanted to be in a destination game somewhere. We have 12 players from the state of Florida and I know they are all looking forward to coming home and getting back to the warmer weather. We are excited to have the chance to represent NC State and the ACC here in St. Petersburg against a quality football program such as UCF.”
(On other bowl possibilities)
“There were a lot of good bowl opportunities that were rumored for us. In fact, there were so many that I didn’t even tell the team about all of them as we approached last Sunday. My belief was that when they tell us where we will be going, we will be excited and anxious to play a great game. When I told the guys we were going to St. Pete, there were a lot of smiling faces in that room.”
(On what he will remember the most about his 2014 team)
“I will always remember our team’s persistence. We started out 4-0 and then lost four straight. Our guys, though, never stopped working hard and never lost focus. We then won three of our last four including wins over two of our biggest rivals.”
Todd Stansbury, UCF Director of Athletics
“We are excited to have the opportunity to play in another great bowl game on a national stage. We have enjoyed our previous visits to St. Petersburg and feel honored to play against a great program from North Carolina State.”
George O’Leary, UCF Head Coach
“We really wanted to stay in state and were very happy to get the opportunity to come back to St. Petersburg. Bowls are a reward for both the kids and the fan bases. Being this close to home is good for us and good for our fans, especially after traveling great distances to Ireland at the start of this season and to the Fiesta Bowl last year.”
“I had the opportunity to play against NC State many times during my years in the ACC and they always were an impressive opponent. I know that this will be a challenge for our football team and we look forward to lining up against the Wolfpack in a couple of weeks.”
(On last week’s “Hail Mary” finish in the win at East Carolina)
“Well, I didn’t even see the last play. I thought they knocked it down but the guys next to me told me we caught it for the touchdown. Every team works on those last two plays every week in practice and our guys just did a great job in executing them and getting us the victory.”
(On what he will remember most about the 2014 season)
“I’m not smart enough to have memories (laughs) . . . I just hope that we come ready to play as we always do and come out of the game healthy and happy. I know that our kids will have a great experience as we are always treated so very well here in St. Pete.”