Bowl week festivities revolving around the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl officially began Tuesday morning.
During a normal year, both teams, the media and fans would already be at the bowl site enjoying everything a New Years Six game has to offer.
In this case, the warmth of the Arizona desert and the marquee pomp and circumstance of a major match-up like the Ducks and No. 10 Iowa State.
But nothing has been normal about this year and there’s certainly nothing normal about the bowl experience of this year’s Fiesta Bowl.
Or any other bowl for that matter.
Typically Media Day is held in a lavish ballroom with a beautifully designed dais in a five star hotel that’s packed with a room full of television cameras and reporters. And let’s not forget the delicious table of breakfast goodies, juices, coffees and teas.
Not so this year.
In the year of Covid-19, the bowl experience is limp with enthusiasm, quite dull and lacking everything a bowl game is for everyone involved.
At 7:30 am ( PST ) Tuesday morning, Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal and several of his key players took to Zoom to meet the media to talk about the biggest game of this crazy, wacky shortened season.
To a person, and they all agreed, nothings been normal about this year’s bowl experience while also sharing the disappointment of not being able to enjoy a full game week at the host site.
What remained normal though was the significant respect the Ducks have for their Big 12 opponent Iowa State.
“They have monstrous looking tight ends that match their offensive lines physicality that get in multiple sets, misplaced personnel, shifts and motions and complimented by big speed and explosive guys outside” said Cristobal.
“When you have a team like that, that has so many things, your fundamentals, technique, your rules, your eye discipline,…and then playing at an extremely high level, communicating on a down by down basis, all those things come into play.
You have to play your best and you have to play a complete football game because if you do allow for kinks and chinks in your processes you’ll get exposed and our guys understand that.”
On Wednesday, Oregon offensive coordinator and a group of Duck offensive players will meet the media, also via zoom.
During a normal year, both teams, the media and fans would already be at the bowl site enjoying everything a New Years Six game has to offer.
In this case, the warmth of the Arizona desert and the marquee pomp and circumstance of a major match-up like the Ducks and No. 10 Iowa State.
But nothing has been normal about this year and there’s certainly nothing normal about the bowl experience of this year’s Fiesta Bowl.
Or any other bowl for that matter.
Typically Media Day is held in a lavish ballroom with a beautifully designed dais in a five star hotel that’s packed with a room full of television cameras and reporters. And let’s not forget the delicious table of breakfast goodies, juices, coffees and teas.
Not so this year.
In the year of Covid-19, the bowl experience is limp with enthusiasm, quite dull and lacking everything a bowl game is for everyone involved.
At 7:30 am ( PST ) Tuesday morning, Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal and several of his key players took to Zoom to meet the media to talk about the biggest game of this crazy, wacky shortened season.
To a person, and they all agreed, nothings been normal about this year’s bowl experience while also sharing the disappointment of not being able to enjoy a full game week at the host site.
What remained normal though was the significant respect the Ducks have for their Big 12 opponent Iowa State.
“They have monstrous looking tight ends that match their offensive lines physicality that get in multiple sets, misplaced personnel, shifts and motions and complimented by big speed and explosive guys outside” said Cristobal.
“When you have a team like that, that has so many things, your fundamentals, technique, your rules, your eye discipline,…and then playing at an extremely high level, communicating on a down by down basis, all those things come into play.
You have to play your best and you have to play a complete football game because if you do allow for kinks and chinks in your processes you’ll get exposed and our guys understand that.”
On Wednesday, Oregon offensive coordinator and a group of Duck offensive players will meet the media, also via zoom.
