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Richard Telfer: I’m here with UW-Whitewater head coach Lance Leipold. You are going for the seventh straight year to the national semifinals. Congratulations.
Lance Leipold: Well, thank you Chancellor. It’s been an exciting year, and one that we are very proud of our players, our coaches,
and really one that with an excellent St. Thomas team coming in to Perkins Stadium on Saturday, it’s going to be an exciting game
and one that we’re going to need everyone behind us. I know that we’ve had great support from you and Dr. Plinske and the athletic department.
Our fans have been such a big part of our success and hopefully, we’re going to have that type of show.
Telfer: Now, St. Thomas – have we played them?
Leipold: I think the last meeting these teams had was back in 1990 – that was the last time we had an exciting playoff game with them, but it’s been an awful long time.
Many of today’s players weren’t even born yet, so it should be a great matchup and a good meeting for these two schools again.
Telfer: My understanding is we’re going to be on television again on ESPN3. Is that correct?
Leipold: Yes. What an exciting opportunity for our community and our campus to be on ESPN3. It’s essentially the online streaming version of ESPN networks.
For them to come to our campus and really do semifinal action for the first time is exciting for both teams and Division III football as a whole.
Telfer: Now, were really concerned that we have a lot of fans in attendance at this game to make a really good showing. Can you talk a little bit about the importance of the fans?
Leipold: Some of the earlier games in the season when our stands were full have been the talk of the conference and really the country. We led Division III in attendance in the regular season.
I know our players feed off of that. It’s a great environment. We know the weather’s changed a little bit since that time of the year, but we need our fans and students there because
they make such a difference. It’s such a great environment and, hopefully, we’ll have a good showing for Saturday.
Telfer: We wish you much success for Saturday and a very enjoyable game.
Leipold: It should be an exciting game between two excellent football teams and thank you very much.
Telfer: I’m here today with Matt Blanchard, who’s quarterback for the UW-Whitewater Warhawks.
We recently learned Matt that you’ve been chosen as one of the top four finalists for the Gagliardi Award. Congratulations.
Matt Blanchard: Thank you.
Telfer: Were you surprised by this recognition?
Blanchard: I really was. It’s a great honor and I feel extremely privileged to be representing the university right now.
Telfer: Great. We have an important game coming up this Saturday against St. Thomas. Could you talk to us a little bit about St. Thomas?
Blanchard: They’re a really great opponent. We’re looking forward to facing them. They’re undefeated just like we are and we’re looking forward to a great contest.
Telfer: On Saturday, we have an opportunity to be on ESPN3, which is really exciting. Could you talk to us about the importance of the fan following that we have at our games?
Blanchard: Sure. The more fans we have the better. It just gets a better atmosphere and greater excitement for the game.
We want a lot of fans there, we want a great student body, so we can show the type of following we have at this university.
Telfer: It’s been really good to follow you during your career and being nominated for the Gagliardi Trophy is really a significant one, but you also care about how well your team does.
Blachard: Yeah, absolutely. We focus on a team aspect every week. We want to make sure every player has their role –
as far as a scout team player to a starting role. We want to make sure the fans come out and see what kinds of athletes we have.
Telfer: Well, congratulations again, Matt. We’re really delighted for you and for the success of our team.
Blanchard: Great. Thanks.