There are some players who love being interviewed. For some, talking about everything from next week’s opponents to the motivation drawn from inspiring family members is “easy-breezy.”

SMU linebacker Youri Yenga is not one of those players. Since cracking the starting lineup as a true freshman in 2007 as an undersized defensive end, Yenga has been arguably the Ponies’ most consistent defensive player. After bulking up to more than 220 pounds and moving to outside linebacker, he now uses his strength, speed and pass-rushing instincts to attack opposing offenses from a stand-up position. The team’s seventh-leading tackler, with 49 stops this year, has just two sacks and five tackles-for-loss — numbers made far more pedestrian because Yenga draws more attention from opposing blockers than any other SMU defender.

Despite modest stats in his first year after moving from defensive end to outside linebacker, head coach June Jones says Youri Yenga will end up playing in the NFL (photo by Travis Johnson).

But for all of his talent — head coach June Jones has said ever since he arrived in Dallas last year that Yenga will be playing in the NFL in a couple of years — Yenga avoids the spotlight, politely deferring to his teammates.

But after SMU announced its acceptance of the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl’s bid to play Dec. 24 in Honolulu, Yenga sat down with PonyFans.com, to discuss the emotions he and his teammates went through when the Hawaii Bowl bid became official, the importance of this year’s senior class and whether he is surprised the Ponies won seven games in the regular season and are heading to their first bowl in 25 years.

PonyFans.com: After beating UTEP, you knew your team was eligible for a bowl bid, and after beating Tulane, you knew it was definite. But when you finally heard the formal announcement that SMU is going to the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, what did that feel like?

Youri Yenga: It’s very exciting. I’m excited for the whole team, I’m excited for the whole school, and just experiencing Hawaii for the first time, because I’ve never been there, and playing in a bowl … just the whole thing is very exciting.

PonyFans.com: What was Saturday night like after you beat Tulane? You knew you were going somewhere, and a lot of people certainly thought it would be Hawaii. But it wasn’t official yet. What was the celebration like, in the locker room or after you went home that night?

Yenga: That locker room … people were jumping around, so happy about it. I was very happy to know that we’re going. We’re a very close team, and we came together even more that night. At that moment, (it was clear that) all the work we put in was for a reason.

PonyFans.com: After the Tulane game, Emmanuel Sanders had some tears in his eyes. Have you gotten a sense of how much this means to the seniors?

Yenga: Before the game, we had this thing for the seniors. We wanted them to go out with a great feeling about this season … we wanted them to go out with a win. I can’t explain how the seniors felt, but I was just happy for them. I was very happy they were going out with a win.

PonyFans.com: You said you’ve never been to Hawaii before. Other than the game itself, what are you looking forward to the most when you get over there?

Yenga: The beach! I want to experience everything I’ve seen on TV about Hawaii. Drinking juice out of a coconut … all that stuff — I just want to experience it all.

PonyFans.com: The coaches have talked all year about how young this team is, with so many freshmen and sophomores playing major roles, and the team is going to a bowl game for the first time in 25 years. Do you worry about this young team getting too distracted by everything Hawaii has to offer, and losing focus about why you’re there?

Yenga: We’ve still got a lot of people on this team who experienced what happened here in the past, and those that are left remember what it was like. The older guys teach the younger guys here, and that will carry over — we’ll make sure the recruiting class doesn’t come in thinking everything will be easy. They’re going to have to grind, 24-7, to accomplish something. That’s something the people coming back next year will establish.

PonyFans.com: Coach Jones has said all year that his goal, and the team’s goal, was to win six games this season and become eligible to compete in a bowl. But he also said several times that he thought maybe the team was a year away from wreturning to a bowl game, that maybe 2010 would be the year that you break through and get to a bowl game. Are you surprised that you made it this year?

Yenga: I’m not surprised at all. Coach Jones said his goal was to win six games, but personally, I wanted to win all of them. That’s always been the case — even last year. Last year, things didn’t always go our way, but every time we go into a game, I expect to win that game.