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ROSE BOWL GAME: OREGON v FLORIDA STATEDecember 28, 2014Erick DarganPASADENA, CALIFORNIA Q. (Inaudible.) ERICK DARGAN: I would say good times and bad times, we're always going to be there. Q. One word you would use to describe the personality of your team overall, the way you play, how you guys are. ERICK DARGAN: It's pretty much like a family. Some of my closest friends, and I feel like I talk to for the rest of my life. The effort and work we put in together. When somebody does something wrong or not going as hard and you get on them and they respond positively, you know you're where you should be. Q. (Inaudible.) ERICK DARGAN: Yeah, it was hard. He feels like a brother to me. Just going out there and playing next to him, that's something you don't get playing, with a player like that. That's his caliber. He can do what he do, you know. Fortunately we do have Troy Hill and some good young players coming up that will help kind of mold and give him game. So it hurts, but Ifo is a strong individual, and he makes sure everybody is not feeling sorry for him because he's not feeling sorry for his self. You just going to go out and play. It's all about the next man up. We're always in communication. He texts us. Everything come from here on out, so let's make the most of it. Q. (Inaudible.) ERICK DARGAN: I mean I can't play corner because I'm a safety. But communication and confidence, you know. I've really got to be on my game as far as making sure everybody got the call and know what they doing. I tell Reggie all the time, this game is going to be all about communication. It falls on us if somebody in the wrong coverage. But communication and confidence. Making sure they stay positive about themself. You give up a play, just come back in and get it back, you know. It's going to be a game, I tell you that. Both teams are going to fight to the end. It's who can outdo each other the longest. Q. (Inaudible.) ERICK DARGAN: Honestly, I think it's unbelievable. Sometimes when we're not playing, have the week off, I'm watching them. Not because I feel like I'm going to play more, but felt like the fight they have. Anytime you see a team like that, that's going to fight to the end, is able to make the plays when it's really needed to make the plays to come out on top, you have to enjoy it as college football. It's all about the hunger. That team is hunger and so is ours. When the two meet, whose preparation is better. We're going to fight to the end. We're going to play our best and they're going to get our best. It's who is the dog of the night. That's what it's going to be. Q. (Inaudible.) ERICK DARGAN: Definitely. I think typically you want to win like that, but you're not really battle tested if you win like that every week. If you don't go through adversity, you've never been battle tested. You can't say you've been through some stuff, because every game has been easy. Florida State, they get down, they're able to come back. And so are the other teams. It's so hard to win in this conference, whatever conference you're in, it's hard to win. Each week we're going to get every team best that's on the top. They've got every team that's best. You just have to respect and understand everybody go through the same stuff. You're not always going to win big, so just be ready. It's good to have close wins and come back from behind, because it shows a lot about your team. Q. What's the biggest challenge facing a team that's so battle tested? ERICK DARGAN: With this type of team we're facing, you've got great running backs, great receivers, and a great quarterback. You can't just look for an advantage. In the past we have been able to shut down one receiver. But we've got one or two other receivers can do the same thing, and one receiver you want to shut down, it creates a problem. It's showing up, playing our game. First few plays are going to be exciting, but then you go back to how you're playing all season. We've been training at a high level, so we'll be ready. Q. What's the most impressive thing about Winston that you've seen? ERICK DARGAN: He can throw anywhere on the field, you know, whether it's deep, short, middle, side, the ball is going all over. You can't just say, he only likes to throw to the right; no, he's throwing all over. And another thing, he's running, he's moving the pocket. He's not an easy guy to tackle. He's big and he's physical. If you make a play, you've got to make the play, you can't kill the guy, because it's not going to happen. He's not going to let it. Staying true to your defense. You can't hype this game up more, we're playing Florida State so let's change a lot of ourselves, then we're not staying true to ourselves. We just have to stay true to our defense and everything will work out. Q. (Inaudible.) ERICK DARGAN: Definitely, definitely helps when you can get him off the field. The more we keep him off the field it will help us. Because if we're doing our job ‑‑ unfortunately he's not going to let it. He's not going to let two or three turnovers affect him. He's going to keep coming. That's the kind of player he is. That's why I like him, because no matter what he do, he's going to come back and still do his best. He's not going to give up. A lot of quarterbacks throw interceptions too and they don't want to throw the ball, and you can tell they don't want to throw the ball. With Jameis he's like, I don't care. I'm still going to throw the ball. My team needs me. As a football player you have to respect that and honor that. Q. (Inaudible.) ERICK DARGAN: Pressure, pressure definitely helps. Just trying to make plays that really wasn't there at the moment. But other than that ‑‑ I think maybe a ball or two got away from him. It's just interception. Sometimes balls get away or sometimes you just can't always do something because the defense has made a good play. And I think some was that. Q. (Inaudible.) ERICK DARGAN: Definitely. There's no doubt that he's a play maker. But they also come back to throwing balls in tight windows, allowing his receivers to make plays. DBs misjudging balls. You know he's definitely going to give his offense opportunities to make plays. We know that's coming. If a ball is there, if you can't make a play on it, don't try to make a play that's not there. Just knock it down, don't always go for the pick. Little stuff like that that we remind ourselves as the secondary. Just go get it. If it's there, go get it, don't hesitate. But we know some balls (inaudible). If we can make a play on it or not. Q. (Inaudible.) ERICK DARGAN: It's not all about the size. It's about the dog. The dog mean everything. He's got fight in him. Whatever you do, Derrick Malone is going to be there. No matter what he goes through, adversity, he's always going to be there. And we know if he can do it, he'll do it. And that's the same with the rest of the teammates. Everybody fights through injuries. We're not going to feel sorry for you. We're going to support you and help you get back. Derrick knows what he's doing, he understands the defense. So that helps a lot. If you understand the defense you can make plays anywhere on the field. Because you play within the system. And Derrick got confidence. The same with all our linebackers, confidence, believing in what you're doing and communication. Q. (Inaudible.) ERICK DARGAN: I don't know. That's a question ask you folks. Just me being around him, Ifo understands the defense. He's a hard worker and he's a competitor. He wants to be the best, I know that, at what he do. And the rest of us do. But Ifo is special. It's not too often you get a guy that can do what he does, and hold his self the way he does. He's humble and he really pushes us to up our game. I speak for myself. Out there watching him play really made me up my game. And Troy Hill, too. I think we've got two of the best corners, Troy and Ifo, that deserve every bit of credit they get. They're playing at a high level. Ifo is unbelievable. Able to play next to a guy like, it means a lot. You can the special in guys, how special they are. Q. (Inaudible.) ERICK DARGAN: Improvement. We always are talking about improvements, getting better, helping each other. And even before Ifo got hurt, we was doing it. Me and Troy and the others, Tyree, Reggie and Chris, and everybody else that's younger that's not playing, we want to push them to compete, because you have to start competing. If you're not a competitor you can't be a football player. So we like to be the life line of communication. We know that's big. And we know that in a game we're going to be in a tight situation, but we've been there before. We've had similar drills or been in actual games. Everybody in our secondary has played this year at some point. So they understand what it means to be in a tight situation, where your back is up against the wall and you have to respond. That's what we live to do. Q. (Inaudible.) ERICK DARGAN: Not what he's doing, but off the field and what he means to our football team, just as a friend, as a brother. He's been a big part of our secondary, one of the leaders. He means a lot. I cared about him not being there, but I wanted to make sure that he was all right as a person. When you see something like that happen to anybody, it means a lot, we're not just talking about football, just as a person. That's the main concern to me. Because I know he can bounce back from anything. But to me, to make sure that he was all right as a person, that meant a lot to me. Q. (Inaudible.) ERICK DARGAN: Just talking to him. It's not like we found out when you guys found out. We found out when he found out. He was blunt and honest with us. We all got together and made sure he was all right. And good thing about Ifo, he was all right. It was weird, because we were laughing and joking around almost like being happy, and when stuff like that happens, you know his mind is in the right place. Q. (Inaudible.) ERICK DARGAN: I don't know. Because he stayed the same. What we did better ‑‑ not what we did, but what he did better with the team was allowing us to grow. Trusting us, I trust you guys. I'm not going to be there in every decision you make, but just look after each other. He really brought us together closer as a team. Look, you guys have to look after each other. If you ever need it, I'm there for you. Not just saying it, but showing it. It made our team closer and played a little bit harder. Q. (Inaudible.) ERICK DARGAN: Definitely. I mean kind of, but he also said he loved it, too. It's not a bad season. We lost two games last year, but I would rather win 11 games than lose 6 or 7. And we just really ‑‑ it's just like what the media say, no offense to you guys, and what the fans say, it really doesn't matter. It's all about what's happening in‑house. It's more as a family. We're going to get some fans that are not happy or people in the media that are saying ‑‑ what they suggest ‑‑ but it matters what's in‑house and how we carry and handle things. We felt like the two games we lost we should have won. We made a lot of minor mistakes. But we weren't necessarily prepared. And I think some people down‑talked the situation. This year we just really went back to focus on what we've got to do, especially with the young guys. We have to give it your all, week in and week out, and I think we did a good job of that. Q. (Inaudible.) ERICK DARGAN: It is. We've got two guys like that that can both play anytime of the year. It means a lot. You've just got to come to play. One thing about their tight end, he can run every route on the field. That's unusual for a tight end. He can run every route on the field. He's able to run routes and catch the ball and make something happen. Q. (Inaudible.) ERICK DARGAN: You know, as a defense, we don't care, sometimes we laugh at it. If you watch closely, each week we improved. Each week we just worked on getting better. I would say nothing really changed, though, we still run the same defense, same people out there, as you can see. So, it was more experience, better communication, and sharpening up the sword. Q. Sharpening up the sword? ERICK DARGAN: Yeah. Being more sharp. Other than that, nothing changed. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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