On Thursday, both Syracuse and Minnesota players and assistants participated in a media day press conference via Zoom.

Here are thoughts from Minnesota defensive coordinator Joe Rossi, offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca, tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford, and linebacker Mariano Sori-Marin.

Q. Joe, I wanted to ask about Jordan Howden and Terell Smith, how they were able to fight through struggles and tough times to stick around, to not look for the grass is greener in the transfer portal, put in their time to have the success here. What stands out about their perseverance?

JOE ROSSI: It starts with just who they are as people. I think that they have the ability to persevere. They have, if you want to say and talk about grit, that's an en vogue word. They can overcome adversity. They know what they want and they're willing to work for it.

I think that ability is something that's becoming more and more scarce. I think if you find anyone who is successful in any chosen endeavor in life, there's struggle, there's hardships and things you've got to overcome. That's how you ultimately get to a goal.

If it was easy, came easy to everyone, everyone would be successful, and really no one would ever be successful.

That's the thing with 2022 and a lot of situations with football, is everyone is looking to move on and go to the next thing, find the easy way. Well, nothing worthwhile is the easy way. Those guys have chosen to stay and work hard.

They've gotten better, are good players. They're both going to get an opportunity in the NFL. Will it be easy? I don't know. I know it won't be. Will they make it? I don't know.

I know they're equipped to give it their best. They're in the best situation they can be to maximize their talent.

Q. You guys signed three defensive transfers, each level of the defense. What did you like about each of those three guys?

JOE ROSSI: We'll start with the back end. What stands out to me is the physicality, Jack, his frame. You haven't seen him yet. When I saw him in the hotel, I was probably 40 yards away from him. I said to one of the recruiting guys, Is that Jack?

He was like, Yeah.

He looks like a linebacker.

I got excited because he can run. He's physical. He's really good in the box. You know our defense, you know that first and second down nickel players have to be physical players. I'm excited about that because when I saw what his frame was, you combine that with what you saw on film with his speed and athleticism, I think we got a really good one.

Ryan Selig was a two-year starter at Western Michigan. He played Will. You slide him over, again, when I saw him in person, recruited him, he's 6'2", 240 pounds. He has the size that we're looking for.

We did our research and know that he runs really fast. We happen to have a guy on staff who coached him. So we know what he runs. The other thing is when I did homework on him, talked to his position coach, said he was the smartest guy in the room, studied the most film of everyone, made all the checks and adjustments. We said, Perfect.

He's going to slide in and have an opportunity to compete at the Mike linebacker position. I think there's some meat on the bone, too. There's things we can work on him that he can improve his game.

Segues into Chris. I love his frame. He's a grown man. When you see him in person, he's a grown man. He has some physicality, made some plays in the ACC. I also feel like there's some things we can coach him on that we can get him to be even better and more impactful, take his game to the next level.

The hidden value in the transfer game is, is there someone you can bring in that you actually feel like isn't a finished product as well, that you can coach him up and get him better. I feel like all three of those guys we can do that with, and they have the skill to help us, and they also got some meat on the bone for us to help them get better.

Q. Joe, Nick Monroe is Syracuse's interim DC. Did you cross paths?

JOE ROSSI: Interesting, yes. He came in. I was a senior. He came in as an intern after I graduated. Now, I worked in the football office for four years. After my senior year, I said, I'm not working in the football office this last year. I got an intermural basketball reffing job. I wanted to take a step away. I used to get reprimanded as the official. I was relegated to doing the scoreboard because of maybe a little incident that occurred while I was reffing games.

Yeah, I know Nick. He's a friend of mine. We're friends. I'm excited for him and the opportunity that he's got.

Q. Joe, Mohamed Ibrahim is closing his career in the bowl game. From a defensive standpoint, when did you first notice him, that he could be an impact player? What has he meant to you?

JOE ROSSI: I think he's the best running back in the country. I know I'm biased. The funny thing is I'll talk to people, I talked to some ACC coaches about this game coming up. They're like, Listen, we've seen Mo Ibrahim. That guy is awesome. I got some guys, the coach defense in the league, this guy's the best guy, the best guy.

When did we know? We knew when he was on the scout team. He's hurting us, gashing us in 2018, whatever year it was, '17. He's hurting us on the scout team.

We did a little like cross-the-ball, bye week, study each other. I remember in '19, watching us on offense. I was like, Mo is the man. That's when he was a sophomore. This guy's the man.

What's he mean to the defense? The defense, I like sitting up in the box when we get a long drive, Mo is stuffing it down people's throats.

The best defense is the defense that's not played when you're on the bench, you're able to run the ball, not to have to have the guys out there defending.

In my humble opinion, he's the best. I think he's going to have a bright career because he makes something out of nothing. Some guys need space, some guys want to slash and bounce things. You don't bounce things in the NFL. You do that, your career is short. You got to be able to create, set blocks up, you got to be able to get things when things aren't there. That's Mo, so...

Q. Joe, obviously there's a couple of different threats with the Syracuse offense. What is sort of the biggest challenge in game planning for this offense?

JOE ROSSI: I think the quarterback, No. 6. I have a lot of respect for him. He's big, he's strong. He slings people off. I think he has a really good arm. He creates on the run.

I'm originally from Pittsburgh. There's a little Ben Roethlisberger in him. He'll get to the perimeter. A guy will come up open, he'll throw it up, make a play. Move the ball down the field. He's been dynamic in the run game. He was a little banged up.

We expect him to be 110% with the weeks off. We got a lot of respect for him. The ball goes through him in the run-and-pass game. He's going to be a huge challenge for us.

Q. Obviously there are a couple people that entered the transfer portal, a coordinator change. Does that change your game plan, or is it the same deal?

JOE ROSSI: I think what you'll see is someone else calling it, so there will be different tendencies. Some guys in the transfer will opt out. Offenses many generally want to get the ball to their top players. If some other players have moved on, they'll get the ball to who they deem to be the next most impactful players.

We're expecting the offense to be the offense with some wrinkles thrown in. Maybe you can't focus quite as much on tendencies because there's a different guy calling it.

While we expect some new things, a lot of it will be similar to what we've seen. In any bowl game, there's always the "expect the unexpected" mentality because of the time off.

Q. What can you say about the rest of the offense, what you've seen from Syracuse. What have you seen from the guys that will be playing in the bowl game?

JOE ROSSI: Yeah, I mean, I've been impressed. I think they do a nice job. I think they're well-coached on offense. Their players play hard. They do a really good job getting the ball out on the perimeter with some of their arrow schemes, perimeter throws.

19 across the middle is a big target. Sometimes he's playing in a tight end role, sometimes he's detached, sometimes he's pulling around and counter, sometimes he's blocking.

I got a lot of respect for him. He does a lot of things that maybe are unseen. Sometimes he's listed as receiver, as a tight end. He's a hybrid-type throwback player. When they need to make a play, they get the ball to him. He catches balls in contested space. Has a big catch radius.

Other guys have speed, 82, 85 down the field, catch it, go vertical, take the top off. I've been impressed.

We're expecting to see them at their best. I know they had some injuries at the end of the season on the offensive line, at quarterback. Time heals all wounds. We're going to see those guys humming at their best. That's what we're expecting.

Q. Have you seen anyone in the Big Ten that's comparable to Garrett Shrader running the Syracuse offense?

JOE ROSSI: No, no. In the Big Ten, we generally don't get a ton of QB run. We got a little bit. Nebraska had some elements of QB run. No, there's probably not a great comparison in terms of we didn't play Michigan, so no.

We haven't played anyone necessarily that we would compare.

Q. Joe, you got a bowl here going forward, but what is a major coaching point that you want to see from the D-line going forward?

JOE ROSSI: Pass-rush. We got to get better rushing the passer. I think that is something that everyone knows. The couple weeks that you have in bowl prep to work at it, but then there's the extension into the off-season.

I think that that will be something in terms of you'll work on it from January all the way up until next season. But I feel like those guys have improved as the year's gone on.

I see things different than the fan. The fan sees the final number, the final result. I see the process. The process will yield the results. As the process starts to change and improve, eventually there will be a breakthrough and everyone will notice.

I have no worries about that in the long term. As that occurs, we'll play to those strengths.

The thing I think you'll notice for us as the year went on, I think the play-making up front in the run game has really improved at defensive tackle with the hands. Kyler Baugh really has stood out to me, Trill Carter. I think you see Striggow and Jah Joyner have the ingredients to be really good pass-rushers. I think we have young kids, players, that have the ingredients to do that.

I think that's something we'd like to be able to see take the next step. We've been working hard at it these couple weeks. It's the bowl game. You have practices a couple times a week as you're preparing. You get through recruiting. You hunker down for the week and a half you have to get ready for the game.

We've seen some things there. That would be it.

Q. Kirk, what are some things you noticed while preparing for Syracuse?

KIRK CIARROCCA: It's a very unique defense, one that we haven't seen anything even similar to this. It reminds me of some of the defenses you see in the Big 12. A lot of multiple looks, a lot of line stunts with it.

I mean, we've seen line stunts and that type of stuff, but not like this, not with the velocity that they move their people with. They do a great job of playing to their D-line strengths, which is their ability, their athleticism, to use their athleticism.

Q. Coach, Syracuse has a bunch of players that entered the transfer portal. How are you preparing knowing that some guys will be stepping up that don't have a lot of film or have gotten a few pieces of experience?

KIRK CIARROCCA: Yeah, it's definitely a little bit different. We're probably a little bit more focused on the scheme, even though they're going to have a new guy calling it. We really don't have a real idea of what he really likes, what's his twist going to be to the package.

But the package is the package, is the way we're kind of approaching it. So we're focused a lot more on scheme. We'll have to adjust to some of the matchups as we get into the game and we see who we're playing against, what their strengths and weaknesses are.

Q. Having an interim defensive coordinator for Syracuse, don't really know some of the wrinkles he might put in, what does that do for you in preparation?

KIRK CIARROCCA: Yeah, I always feel like from a schematic standpoint, tendency standpoint, it's really advantage him with it. Everybody has tendencies. He's looking at my self scout right now. We have tendencies, right? Some of them I don't really care that that's a tendency. That's the way it's going to be. He knows that.

He doesn't have any tendencies. I don't have any idea what he likes when he's under pressure, what is he going to call, what's he going to do. It's definitely an advantage to them.

I don't know Nick personally. Guys on our staff know him. I know he's a good coach, a really bright guy. We have to be ready to react.

Their scheme is enough of a headache for us, to be quite honest with you. We're working really hard on the different multiple looks they might do, the different line games they're going to do.

Q. You signed two transfer receivers yesterday in Corey Crooms and Elijah Spencer. What did you like about them?

KIRK CIARROCCA: I think that both have been productive already in their careers, very productive. I liked the way they competed against their Power Five opponents. I think they're established players already. They catch the ball very well. They look to me on film like they both have a natural feel for the game in space.

I'm really excited about it.

In doing our research on them, we know they're very committed. They got a great work ethic. That was important to me, too. What are we bringing into the room physically from a physical talent standpoint, but what am I bringing into the room from a culture standpoint and how are they going to fit into the room and how are they going to rub off on the room.

I'm very, very impressed with both guys physically and emotionally and where they're at from a maturity level.

Q. Kirk, Mohamed Ibrahim is wrapping up his career with the Gophers. When did you first notice him? What has he meant to you over the years?

KIRK CIARROCCA: Probably the first time I noticed him was when he was a true freshman, as we were doing the Sunday Night Football. As the season was wearing on, I noticed his acceleration into the hole. I noticed his pad level, that he was always falling forward. He still didn't understand the blocking schemes yet, but those two traits right there made me say, Huh, this guy has a legitimate chance at some point.

Who knew what his work ethic was going to be like, his football IQ. We didn't know that at that point in time in his development. It might have been like midway through the season. It was probably near the end of the season because it's usually the end of the season where they start to get comfortable and you start to really see things in certain guys.

By the way, he's meant everything to the program, everything to me. He's the best back I've ever coached and been around. I feel lucky to have been around him.

Q. When you look at Athan, how he has progressed this year, what are the biggest strides he's made? Where do you want to see him continue to strive going forward?

KIRK CIARROCCA: I think he's made a lot of strides, a lot of strides. But he probably starts with the process of how to get ready for a game as the starter, right? He's made a lot of strides in that area. Made a lot of strides in learning how to practice better so he can maximize those opportunities to continue to improve.

It's really been a race against time with him. That's the way I looked at it starting last January with him. He's more comfortable with his reads now, which allows him to be a little bit more poised and a little bit more confident. He's always had a great arm. He's always had the ability to be very accurate when he's confident with where he's going to do with the ball.

His pocket movement has improved. He's improved in every area, every area. It was probably somewhere watching the Iowa game on Sunday where I came away from that game saying, You know what, he's ready. He can do more for us. Let's let him go a little bit more with it.

I'm always going to err on the side of protecting a young quarterback, always going to be that way. Been that way my whole career with it. But he's just grown by leaps and bounds. It's a credit to him, honestly. Like, he sees this potential that he has in him, and he's been able to put the action behind that potential to turn it into productivity.

This is going to be a real challenge for him, this bowl game. The multiple looks he's going to see, the different pressures, the ability to call the protections the right way. It's going to be a challenge. They do a great job of disguising their coverages. I watch the film and I'm sometimes like, I'm not sure what coverage.

I know most of the time pre-snap you don't know with it. It will be a great test for him. I'm glad we have a little bit of extra practice time for him.

Just everything. I mean, I know that's not the detail that you want to the answer to your question, you probably want something more specific, but I've just watched him improve in every aspect of the game.

We really focused on in the bowl prep the first 10 days of the bowl prep, we just focused on not Syracuse. We focused on just principles of football and base rules and protection calls, our RPO game. I tried to use it, like, as another crash course. The more times you give it to somebody, the more they absorb it.

When you're training a quarterback, once he understands why he's making a certain call or why you want him to see something a certain way, then he can really apply it constantly and it's not memorization anymore. That's really what we've been working really hard on, is understanding the why, so he can think deductively and solve the problems in real time.

Q. Syracuse's defensive line has struggled against the run this season. When you look at that unit, what do you see? Is there a certain aspect you're looking to attack?

KIRK CIARROCCA: I mean, we really approach it the way we approach every game this year. We make no secret about it, we want to establish the run game. We've gone into every game that way. Mohamed is our best player. I want to give him a chance to influence the game. Our line has done a really good job all year run-blocking. We're going to want to establish the run game.

They're going to want to stop the run. Just like the way we went into the Wisconsin game, we went in there wanting to establish the run game, they wanted to stop the run. They did a pretty good job against the run, but fortunately we were able to probably surprise a lot of people and throw the ball pretty well against them, make some explosive plays.

We want to establish the run. Their line stunts, they're going to want to line stunt. They're going to want to use their athleticism, that's their advantage. We're going to want to use our size, that's our advantage against them.

It's like a boxing match. They're going to want to dance around the ring. If we let them do that, it's going to be advantage them. If we can pin them against the ropes, it's going to be advantage us.

They're not going to want to let us do that. That's what the game is going to come down to, how do we handle their line movements. They're going to be how do they handle our size is really what it's going to come down to.

Q. We heard you evaluated Drew Viotto in a driving rainstorm. What do you remember about that workout and what stands out about him?

KIRK CIARROCCA: I remember I was really cold while standing out in the rain. I didn't have any rain gear with me (smiling). I was like, Holy crap.

He didn't want to move it inside, but I did. I just remember he knew that everybody was there to see him. I loved that. He knew that I was there to see him. He knew what was on the line, that he was going to need to really impress me for me to do anything to get an offer from us.

I thought for him to perform like that under those conditions with that type of pressure on him, that was impressive. He really spun the ball great. He's got a strong arm, but his accuracy was really good under those conditions with it. That's really what it comes down to.

When you're evaluating a guy throwing in person, I'm looking at how does the ball spin coming out of his hands. If you have better rotation on it, it's easier to catch. It's that simple. I'm looking at his arm strength, then I'm looking at his accuracy with it. That's really what you get out of an in-person evaluation. It's not the game of football, but you get a good feel for their skill set.

We came back, put the game film on, watched that, decided to offer him because he has a great football intelligence, too. He's what I consider a gym rat. Every time I call him, I'll be like, What are you doing?

He's like, I'm watching football.

It wasn't an accident that I would call him on Sunday. I just wanted to see whether he was watching football or playing video games. He'd always tell me he's watching football.

What game?

He'd spit it out.

What's happening in that game?

He would tell me. I was like, Wow, okay, he's into it. He definitely loves the game. He's real committed, has worked really hard to put himself in this type of position to be in.

I'm just real impressed. Like I said the other day, impressed with his physical skills, with his mental makeup, how committed he is to being the best he can possibly be. When he gets here, we'll find out how he adjusts to the speed of college football.

That's the thing you don't know with the high school guys. You know they're talented, they have the physical skills you're looking for, you know they have the intangibles, but how are they going to do when the game's a little bit faster.

It's the same thing when you go from college to the NFL. How is that quarterback going to do when the game is a little bit faster, process the information. I'm excited about getting an opportunity to work with him, though.

Q. Have you made a decision on if you're coming back next year or not?

BREVYN SPANN-FORD: Yeah, I'll be announcing it next week.

Q. Whether you're coming or staying, after the bowl game?

BREVYN SPANN-FORD: No, before.

Q. What can you say you've seen defensively from Syracuse knowing there's going to be some changes out there with the personnel?

BREVYN SPANN-FORD: It is definitely new for us. That's why it's been nice getting the extra practices in and extra time for film study 'cause their linebackers and their stunts up front are going to do a lot of things we aren't really used to.

We've been working every day, making sure that we're working on every twist and stunt we could possibly see from them.

Q. I asked Mariano about the good pizza places in Minnesota. Give me a spot in Minnesota, a good place to eat?

BREVYN SPANN-FORD: If I was just kind of directing someone that's never been here, I'd definitely say get to Jucy Lucy. There's a couple different places around the city that you can get a good Jucy Lucy from. That's a Minnesota staple in my opinion.

Q. What is that?

BREVYN SPANN-FORD: A burger with the cheese inside the patty. It originated here. That's up for debate where it started, but that's what I would say.

Q. What are you looking forward to most about the bowl game experience in New York?

BREVYN SPANN-FORD: I think it's just going to be a really fun time for our team. We've heard nothing but great things about the Pinstripe Bowl. I've never been to New York personally. Closest I've been is Rutgers. It's really exciting, you get to see all the places you see in the movies, Broadway, stuff like that.

I think the whole team is really excited to get out there.

Q. Mo is wrapping up his career in the bowl game. Looking back, what were your first impressions and what has he meant to you over the years?

BREVYN SPANN-FORD: When I first came in, I was always around those guys 'cause they're only a year older than me. I was kind of there. I'm not too big on just like forcing myself into being around people.

Soon we kind of like felt each other's humor. You get around people, you realize when you got like the same humor as someone. We have similar humor. All of us kind of got closer. Chris, those guys, all got closer in my class. It feels like it was just yesterday really.

But Mo is a tremendous dude. I always say he's more valuable as a human being than he is as a football player. He's a special player, but when you get to meet him in person, he's a great dude.

I can only speak highly of him.

Q. You've had a front row seat to Athan's development here. What have you seen behind the scenes or in the huddle of how he's taken the most of his opportunity this year?

BREVYN SPANN-FORD: He's definitely a character. He's a funny dude. That's the first thing I really noticed about him, goofy sometimes. When he gets on that field, when the lights are on, he's a different dude. He's always locked in, does whatever he can do to learn from Tanner, Cole, Coach Rocco, Coach Fleck. He's a sponge when it comes to learning stuff like that.

He does a great job. He'll make a mistake in practice, but he's not going to make the same mistake twice. That's what's important about his development.

Q. What is the goofy side of him?

BREVYN SPANN-FORD: He's a jokester. A young dude, just getting into college. He's really fun to be around.

Q. What have you seen from Jameson Geers, some of the young tight ends?

BREVYN SPANN-FORD: Jamo, especially, he's come a long way since he's been here. He's a great dude. Comes from a great family. He works incredibly hard. I think that's the one thing I really, really love about Jamo is he's going to work his tail off to get better at whatever he needs to get better at.

He's worked tremendously hard this season, gotten on the field a little bit. It's only going to go up for him. I tell him every day, Keep sticking to it. He's going to be double the player I was here, so...

I'm very excited about him.

Q. In the Wisconsin game you displayed your hurdling skills. When did you decide to do that?

BREVYN SPANN-FORD: It's not really something planned. Just kind of happens I guess. One thing I've worked on in the off-season is running with the football. Obviously in our room we weren't very catch-heavy in my first couple of years. Whether it's doing running back drills with Mo, anything I can do to improve my running with the football.

Q. Mariano, big question for you. Do you have your New York dining plans scoped out yet?

MARIANO SORI-MARIN: Yes. I've been getting that question asked a few times. I have been working on it. Some of the places only offer reservations seven days in advance. These last few days I've been having to get up a little extra early to get the window opening for the reservation.

Yeah, I think we're doing a Meals with Mariano, too, one day. That will be fun, as well.

Q. Mariano, I wanted to ask about what Jordan Howden and T-Time have shown in their perseverance, to be able to stick through the hard times, to stay at Minnesota and have success here.

MARIANO SORI-MARIN: Yeah, I mean, when you look at both those guys, they played a lot of football for us. It's been a tremendous journey for them.

To see the success that they've had this year is a strong testament to how hard they've worked and overcome adversity.

I look at T-Time, he was starting as a true freshman. When you have success like that, have certain injuries, setbacks in his career, that's tough. But he was able to put extreme work in. He's a guy that we talk about a lot, stretching every single day, doing so much for his body. That put him in a position where he could be healthy and have the success and make the plays he did this year.

You look at a guy like J-How that steps into a role as a freshman, he wasn't quite ready. He had to do a job that is tough for any freshman to jump into. When you see his growth and development as well, that's what makes them special players and leaders. They were able to impact this defense and this team in so many positive ways this year.

Q. What have you seen from Syracuse's offense on film and what your takeaways have been knowing they'll be without their bell cow, Sean Tucker, and what you take in from what you've seen from LeQuint Allen, Garrett Shrader and some of the guys?

MARIANO SORI-MARIN: They're a really explosive offense. Watching them on film, I know they'll be without their running back. They're extremely explosive. They have the ability to make plays in the run game as well as the pass game. It really starts with their quarterback. He's tremendous. He has a tremendous ability to read defenses and make the second play we talk about.

When you look at a lot of his explosive pass plays, it's because he has great pocket presence and he has the ability to step up and scramble and get yards with his feet or create the second play in the pass game with his receivers getting open.

We have to be prepared for that and be prepared to stop their freshman running back that's going to step up for them as well.

Q. You spoke about food in New York. I know pizza is all over New York City. Is there any good pizza spot in Minnesota?

MARIANO SORI-MARIN: There's a bunch. My favorite pizza spot has to be Young Joni. It's a unique style of pizza, it has an Asian flair to it. That's usually the iconic spot where a lot of people go and get different types of Korean barbecue pizza. That's the one I've got to go with (smiling).

Q. What were your first impressions when you met Mo Ibrahim? What has he meant to you as a teammate? Has he made you a better linebacker?

MARIANO SORI-MARIN: For sure. The first thing when you're coming in on campus as a freshman you notice about Mo is his energy. He hasn't done it in quite a while, but when we were younger, he would be screaming, Top of the morning, when we're at an early morning workout. And he'd just be getting in people's faces, yelling it, as a way to pump them up and motivate them for the workout that day.

That's the first thing I noticed about Mo, how much he cares and loves this team, loves playing football.

Then that shows in the way he plays. In terms of making me a better linebacker, for sure. This fall camp I wasn't able to go live against him just because we were keeping him healthy. When we were younger, we were constantly going against each other in open field tackling drills, goal line tackling drills. To have to tackle him on a daily basis is for sure going to make you better. He's winning a lot of them. There's some I won. When you're able to compete with your teammates like that, have a guy like Mo on your team that's willing to be a competitor every single rep, it's going to make you and the entire team better.

He's a positive influence on the offensive guys as well. Maybe the other running backs in the room don't have to tackle him, but they can learn from him the way he studies, prepares, the way he works in practice, just shows all those combinations lead to a really elite player. That's what he was able to do for us.

Q. I know you're focused on the bowl game, but you received an invite to the Hula Bowl. How excited are you about that opportunity?

MARIANO SORI-MARIN: It's a great opportunity, just to be able to pursue my dream at the next level, showcase my talents in front of scouts, other coaches. It's going to be really exciting.

I think I'll be really prepared just coming from the University of Minnesota, being able to be coached by Coach Fleck, Coach Rossi, all of our coaches on staff. To be able to go into an environment and setting like that just really gives us University of Minnesota football players an advantage, how we prepare, how we work. We'll be able to showcase that in front of other teams and schools.

Q. You had a transfer in Ryan Selig. What have you seen from him? Any comparison compared to Jack Gibbens?

MARIANO SORI-MARIN: I know the coaching staff and the linebackers are really excited to add him to the room. I was able to talk to him before he committed on his official visit. He came and watched practice. I sat down and talked to him about kind of how we do things, the personality of the room, what it means to play linebacker here at the University of Minnesota.

When you get a guy like him, he's going to fit in really well. He reminds me a lot of Cody Lindenberg, his style of play. I was able to throw on his film from Western Michigan, see how explosive he is through the hole, how he can create plays in space. Very similar to Cody in that aspect where they have that athleticism as well as that high IQ where they can diagnose plays right at the snap. That gives them an advantage.

Yeah, no, I'm really excited for him. I think he's going to play a really big role for us next year.

Q. Has it sunk in yet that this is your last game as a Gopher? What are you most going to remember about your time here?

MARIANO SORI-MARIN: Yeah, no, I think it really has been starting to sink in. I look around my room right now, it's almost empty because I'm taking everything off the walls, I'm packing all the boxes. It's a little emotional as you're going through all your stuff, you're doing it with the guys, your roommates that you've been together for the last five years. It is emotional.

I just look back on all the times that I've had here, all the people I've met, all the relationships that I've built. You just appreciate it.

I talk about it all the time with the guys in the room, the guys on the football team, my senior speech to the team during fall camp was just smell the roses. There's going to come a day in your career, in your life, where you're going to look back on these days and wish you could put on the pads one more time. That's the mentality I've had coming into the building each and every day because you never know when it's going to be taken away from you.

Most of the time the game of football is taken away from you by somebody else. Not like basketball where you can roll the ball out there, play with your friends at 40 years old. The game of football is really unique and special, once your cleats are hung up, probably the last time you're ever going to play.

I just have that appreciation, that gratitude for every moment and opportunity that I get to play football. I thank Coach Fleck on a daily basis for giving me this opportunity because I'll look back on these moments and cherish them for the rest of my life.

As my final game approach, I'm thankful. It's going to be emotional, for sure. I'm just going to soak it all in and be thankful that I had the opportunity to do it.

Q. P.J. said you kept all the trinkets. Which ones stand out above the rest?

MARIANO SORI-MARIN: I think the Star Wars lightsaber. I have a unique story. I was actually -- the first time I told Coach Fleck and Gerrit Chernoff, our general manager, I was keeping the trinkets, they thought that was a cool story. I have all of them except one, it's the lightsaber. Our roommates had a little bit of a lightsaber fight, and I destroyed it.

Two days later, nobody said anything to me, but I opened my locker, there was a lightsaber sitting there. That's really cool.

I, of course, immediately knew it was Gerrit Chernoff. He's the type of guy, he'll hear those comments, store it in the back of his head. He'll go out of his way to make a special moment for anybody. I immediately went up to him, Hey, that meant a lot. That was the one trinket I didn't have that you were able to find an extra one and give it to me.

Yeah, that one I think is the coolest. I was able to pack those all up. My mom was actually up here last weekend with the van taking a huge load of stuff home. I was able to go through all of them, look at them. I have them in a little plastic box. I told her, Keep these safe, don't let these get mixed up with anything. She knows how much those mean to you.

Q. Were they actual full-sized lightsabers?

MARIANO SORI-MARIN: It's a little toy plastic one. Not like the full one. It's this big, lights up. There's a video I'll have to post on Twitter maybe or send it to you of us doing the lightsaber battle in the room.

Q. Was it you and Thomas Rush?

MARIANO SORI-MARIN: Yeah. Actually Josh Aune I'm pretty sure was the champion of the tournament. He's a big Star Wars geek. He was all into that, yeah.

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