2015 MAC Football Championship: Bowling Green Press Conference
Mobile usually seems to receive high praise for its hospitality from participants in the annual GoDaddy Bowl. To keep that record of congeniality intact, someone please have the sweet tea ready when Alex Huettel arrives with the Bowling Green football team.
The Falcons are scheduled to land in Mobile on Saturday afternoon in advance of their bowl showdown with Georgia Southern at 7 p.m. CST Wednesday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
Huettel already has paid a brief visit to the Port City last week for an introductory press conference. It was there that Bowling Green"s right guard confided what he was looking forward to during his bowl trip -- besides the game, of course and it was what might be expected from a 6-foot-4, 301-pound man from Pickerington, Ohio, making his first trip to the Gulf Coast.
"I"m very excited about the food," Huettel said. "I"m hoping to try some sweet tea."
Huettel got a taste of Coastal Alabama cuisine during his visit last week, taking a meal at Wintzell"s Oyster House in downtown Mobile.
"It was phenomenal," Huettel said. "We had some oysters, some jambalaya. I got the pasta with shrimp."
The GoDaddy Bowl will be the final game of Huettel"s collegiate career. He"s started all 54 of the games that preceded Wednesday"s.
"It"s a blessing," Huettel said. "You have to (play when you"re hurt). It"s part of being an offensive lineman."
Huettel"s streak includes a bowl at the end of each season the Military Bowl in 2012, the Little Caesars Bowl in 2013, the Camellia Bowl last year in Montgomery and now the GoDaddy Bowl.
"It"s great recognition for the school," Huettel said of the bowl appearances. "There could be somebody at home debating whether to come here or to another school, and you see us on TV. It could change your outlook on our school.
"For our team, it"s a big thing because it"s another opportunity to win, and it"s one more week we"re together as a family before us seniors have to head out of here."
The Falcons have compiled a 36-18 record during Huettel"s career. Huettel redshirted in 2011. In the four seasons before he arrived on campus, Bowling Green compiled a 23-27 record.
The Falcons" recent success has resulted in coaching turnover. Dave Clawson left Bowling Green for Wake Forest after the 2013 campaign. Dino Babers coached the Falcons the past two seasons, but he"s left to take charge at Syracuse.
Defensive coordinator Brian Ward will be leading Bowling Green for the GoDaddy Bowl.
"There"s a lot of guys on this team, I"d say the majority of the roster, we"ve already gone through a coaching change before," Huettel said. "So we know how to handle it. We have great leadership on this team, so I don"t think we"ll miss a beat. And the coaches, they"re fired up for this game, too."
Georgia Southern has an 8-4 record. One of its losses was a 23-17 overtime setback against Georgia on Nov. 21, a game sandwiched between a 45-10 victory over Troy and a 55-17 victory over South Alabama.
Bowling Green has a 10-3 record. The losses include a season-opening 59-30 setback against Tennessee. The Falcons are coming off a 34-14 victory over Northern Illinois in the MAC Championship Game.
"I think it"s the preparation we"ve had week in and week out," Huettel said of the key to Bowling Green"s season. "With the long college season, you can lose sight of the long-distance goal. We"ve done a great job as player and coaches of staying focused on the goal at hand, and we"ve got to continue that preparation through next week."
Tickets for the GoDaddy Bowl can be purchased onlineor by calling 251-635-0011.
The GoDaddy Bowl will be televised by ESPN.
Source: http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/12/bowling_green_ironman_heads_so.html
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