BYU - 25, Georgia Tech - 21
Q. Carsen, Bear never likes to reveal much about his physical condition, but from your perspective, how tough is he, and how severe was that injury, and what did he go through for you guys out there today?
CARSEN RYAN: He's a fighter. I give him so much credit. He's pretty banged up. For him to run and get in the end zone, I know that hurt his ankle, hurt him a lot. He's just such a fighter, dude. It's so good to play with him and to see the maturity and the grit. I'm just so proud of him.
Q. Carsen, just take us through today for you, obviously a career day, first time going over 100 receiving yards. You're really feeling it tonight.
CARSEN RYAN: It felt great. It's so special. Just seeing everyone after we won that game and the fight we had as a team and being able to play like that, it's so special. It's the best game I've had in my career in college. I'm just so grateful and grateful for the opportunity to be here and for this coaching staff and the players and the teammates I have just helping me get to this point.
Q. Tanner, how would you describe what Evan Johnson went through in those final two minutes? Obviously the redemption play that he made. And what did you say to him, if you did, as the captain?
TANNER WALL: I didn't have a chance to say anything to him in between those plays, but I think with Evan, something we talk about on defense a lot is having the next play mentality. We gave up a long play, but were able to rally back and play the next four downs, and Evan ultimately comes up with the game-sealing pick, I think that's a great lesson to life. Adversity might strike, but you can't hang your head. You've got to keep going. I think Evan embodied that perfectly in the way he ended the game.
And our team, I think the fight that we showed too, responding from being down, but coming out on defense and getting a shutout in the second half was huge for us.
Q. Tanner, this game was sort of a microcosm of the entire season, with what you guys went through, the adversity and coming out on top. What's the reason for that? What does this team have to continually to do what you guys did this season?
TANNER WALL: I think we have a lot of heart. We've got a lot of love for each other, got a lot of love for our coaches and for our fans and for our program. I think there's a lot of things that can't be measured in statistics, the kind of intangible things that just make us who we are, and it shows in the way that we find ways to win games all the time.
Seeing the way that we responded, we would like to not come into the half down two scores like we've done. I think that might have been like the fifth or sixth time we did that in a season, but the way that we never hang our heads and come out with a lot of fight and heart and end the game the right way.
We talk about it. We've talked about it every week since the beginning of the season, and Kalani harps on the seven marks of a finisher and what a finisher does and how to embody that. So that's ingrained within us as players for him, and we came out and finished the game the right way and ended with a win and capped off our season with 12 wins, which was huge for us.
Q. Carsen, did you have a pretty good idea you'd be utilized so much in this game, being that LJ was out and Bear was a little gimpy?
CARSEN RYAN: I knew we were going to have to throw the ball a lot and I was going to be a part of that. All month we've been practicing and putting plays in to give me the ball. The ball came my way a lot, and I was able to get the opportunity to make plays. In the run game too, we had a couple guys that didn't play as much this year in the backfield for this game, and we had to step up as an O-line and tight end room to create seams for them and give them the opportunities to score when they do get that ball. Just being able to perform passing game and running game, it was a great feeling.
Q. Tanner, I'll try not to put you on the spot too much, I know Jay Hill, your position coach as well as the defensive coordinator and everything, what has he meant to you in your career, and what's been his impact as you move on to the next chapter and he's obviously got some decisions to make?
TANNER WALL: Playing for Jay has been a privilege. I switched positions from offense to safety right when Jay Hill got to BYU, so being with him and being mentored by him and understanding the way he sees the game and understands the game has helped me immensely in my development. Just so grateful to have a coach that believed in me to give me that opportunity. Obviously I had to do a lot of work to earn that, but at the same time, him believing and trusting in me...
Like the preparation that he puts in and how much he cares, it shows in everything that he does. I'm just grateful to have been able to play for a coach that wants to win and wants to do it the right way as bad as we do as players. Just super grateful.
Again, he's an amazing football coach, and he's going to continue to have an amazing career wherever he ends up. I know there's a lot of questions out there right now what's the future for him. I know wherever he may be he'll have success because of who he is and how he handles himself.
Q. Question for both of you guys as seniors, much different paths to BYU. What does it mean for you to play in this game and come out on top like you did today?
TANNER WALL: It's amazing to end the college story on this note. As I already mentioned, coming out with our 12th win of the season, first one in 25 years, over the last two seasons to go 23-4 -- it's amazing to see all that we've been able to accomplish and I’m just grateful for everyone who's had a small part of that.
Not just teammates, our players and our coaches, but so much support staff. There's so many people behind the scenes that do so much to help us. Just grateful for the impact that each small act, and every one of those people has played a role in us and our success this season.
Just so grateful that we could end it on a win and be out there with the confetti falling on us and celebrate that moment with the boys and look at each other and tell each other how much we love each other because we really do. That was an amazing way to end it tonight.
CARSEN RYAN: It's just special. Like you said, I've had a different journey here. This is my one season with this team and with these guys, and I'm just so grateful for the chance I've had to be here. The friendships I've made and the brothers I have now, I'll never forget how much I've learned spiritually, mentally, as a football player. It's something I'm just grateful to be able to have one year.
I wish I could spend more time with these guys and play more seasons with them. Hindsight is 20/20, but everything happens for a reason. I've ended up where I ended up, and it's made me the person I am today, and I'm so grateful for that. Like Tanner said, send everyone out with a bang. Last game for all of us seniors, and it was a special one for all of us, and I'm just grateful, grateful for it.
Q. Tanner, final pitch to those that are not just thinking about playing football at BYU, but BYU in general, there's a lot of stuff that goes on at BYU, academic-wise, that you've been able to accomplish. Just take us through that because it's much more at BYU, they say, than just football.
TANNER WALL: BYU is a special place. It's like that by design. The development that you have in all aspects of your life -- spiritually, academically, physically, socially -- it's an amazing place. It's such a unique place. You spend a couple minutes on campus, and you can notice that. People from outside of our BYU community who go there or are touched by the BYU community, they recognize something different.
I'm just super grateful to be able to have represented BYU in my play, in the way that I carry myself off the field, just feel so blessed for such an amazing institution that's led by amazing men and by God, and to be able to play for something way bigger than yourself. It's special to go out on the field and have the Y on the front of your jersey and your last name on your back and realize how big the picture really is and you get to play a special part of it.
As you mentioned, the academics at BYU, the environment, it's incredible. You're not forced, but you're pushed to really grow. You're uncomfortable, which is good, and you're able to grow so much outside of your comfort zone and helps you become the kind of person that you need to be.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports