WATCH: Hines Feels Great Heading Into Bowl Game
EL PASO, TX -- Junior tailback Nyheim Hines met with the media to discuss the upcoming Sun Bowl.
What do you bring to the team?
A little bit of versatility, a little bit of speed, and a whole lot of heart.
I really pride myself on playing the best I can and being a smart player.
How do you bounce-back from injuries this season?
A really, really, really great training staff. They really take care of me. Justin, the head trainer, does a lot of things; he's been really creative with a lot of things to make sure I'm feeling better.
Do you take pride in special teams?
I don't think a lot of teams take full advantage of special teams like they should. We lost a game we shouldn't have because of special teams. We lost to Clemson by seven, they returned a punt, so special teams are special obviously.
What's been your impression of El Paso so far?
I like it. I didn't know what to expect when I got here. The welcoming was great.
The Mexican food and Spanish food has been great down here. I've loved it. Hopefully it doesn't slow us down because I've been eating a lot of it.
How neat is going to Fort Bliss here shortly?
Neat, I have a lot of family members in the Army and military. I'm really excited. I'm hoping they let us shoot a couple of guns at the range. I don't know if they let us, but I'm definitely going to try and shoot one or two.
Is that one of the great part of bowls, the experience?
Definitely, I don't think other than football I'd ever come here. It's really exciting. I'm excited I came here, even last year with Shreveport. Football and sports are a lot of reasons why you learn new experiences.
That's the best part of bowl games.
What does Jaylen Samuels bring to the team?
Everything. He can probably go out there and make a tackle if we need him to.
If I got hurt he could do kick returns. He's an all-conference, All-American tight end... running back, receiver, he can be anything you need him to be. He's really a great player and brings a lot to the table.
He takes a lot of pressure off of myself, Ryan, and other playmakers because they focus on him so much.
What makes your offense so good?
That's easy, the offensive line.
They led the ACC in sacks given up, and those five guys are what makes the offense tick. Without them I wouldn't have had a great season, Kelvin, Ryan... wouldn't have time to get the ball.
The offensive line is the key part to the offense.
How much better is the program now than it was four years ago?
A lot better, that's one of the great part of seniors. They've made the program better than when they found it.
It's really important to have a Top 25 finish, we haven't had that since I've been here, and really nine wins is big. It's hard to get eight wins, but 9-4 sounds a lot better than 8-5.
We're playing hard for a Top 25 finish and nine wins.
Growing up in North Carolina, what was the football experience like?
I played against a lot of great people.
The Heisman runner-up was from North Carolina and probably one of the top five picks in the next two years, Dexter Lawrence from Clemson, him and Bryce eliminated me from high school.
There's been a lot of great athletes.
How quickly do you move to track training?
I think January 8th.
I'll probably take a week or two off and with track I'll see how I'm feeling... I'll definitely work on things with track from there.
