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ROSE BOWL GAME: OREGON v FLORIDA STATEDecember 30, 2014Royce FreemanPASADENA, CALIFORNIA Q. (No microphone.) ROYCE FREEMAN: Like I said before, mental preparation. You gotta know that you're going to go out there and you're going to get every team's best shot. There is no slacking or you're going to get exposed. Q. Did Oregon do anything different in recruiting you? ROYCE FREEMAN: I feel like they were more‑‑ not to say honest but they were more relaxed about it, didn't ask me to call them too much, just kept it neutral. Q. They weren't pressuring you? ROYCE FREEMAN: Right. Q. Did you respect that in comparison to other schools that made you feel more at he's with them? ROYCE FREEMAN: I didn't want to be carried along, I didn't want to be coaxed or anything like that. Coach Cam did a great job of calling me and we could have regular talks, he knows all about football. That's what I like. Q. How many guys did you speak with, was it usually Coach Cam? ROYCE FREEMAN: From Oregon? Yeah, I mean, I talked to Coach Campbell, Coach Frost a couple times, things like that but it was mostly Coach Cam. They let him do his job. Q. Royce, Florida State was talking about this perception that the way to beat Pac 12 teams is to knock 'em off the line and the other teams from the east are more physical. Do you take that as a challenge? ROYCE FREEMAN: Not really. I've been hearing that a lot, their perspective of how to attack things. I feel we're physical up front and big and physical as well. They have a lot of physical people on their defensive line but as far as knocking us off the ball and things like that, that's technique and just us fighting back, not giving in. Q. After Washington State did that become a point of emphasis for you guys? Because Jake was saying that was a turning point. ROYCE FREEMAN: Yeah, we allowed Marcus to get pressure too many times during that game. Washington State did a great job of pressuring us, different types of blitz and they were excited and pumped up out there. From then on I felt like we did a better job of protecting Marcus and giving him more time to protect the ball. Q. Was that schemes? ROYCE FREEMAN: As far as Washington State? Q. As far as the change after that? ROYCE FREEMAN: That's more preparation, and understanding and just being kind of more effortwise out there just making sure we do our assignments correct and who to get. Q. What's your first memory of Oregon football? ROYCE FREEMAN: As far as? Q. Growing up. ROYCE FREEMAN: Growing up? Oh, yeah. Q. (No microphone.) ROYCE FREEMAN: My first memory of Oregon football was when Michael James and seeing Michael James and when they played Auburn in the national championship. Clicked on the TV and I think I had got home from practice and it was like the fourth quarter, so and I remember watching the end of that game. Q. All this stuff is really new for you just looking at it. Do you even know who Bellotti was? ROYCE FREEMAN: I really didn't coming in. Q. Do you know who he is now? ROYCE FREEMAN: They stress who he is, but I mean, I want to see him in person and talk to him a little bit so I can get some background. Q. You never met him yet? ROYCE FREEMAN: No. Q. As a recruit how much did you hear about everyone seemed to talk about Joe Nixon in the state of California and you were under the radar a little bit. Were you aware of that vibe? Is that something you paid attention to? ROYCE FREEMAN: It's something I didn't pay attention to but I was aware of him. I felt like he got most of the attention but he was a great player so that's okay. I went to a smaller school that's just how it was, it wasn't even important to me, as long as I had an opportunity to go to college to play college football, the same as he did, so I was out there trying to work hard, and he was out there working hard as well, so attention didn't play a factor to me. Q. Who was your first school that offered? ROYCE FREEMAN: Washington Huskies. Q. When was that? ROYCE FREEMAN: End of junior season, around playoff time. Q. Royce, Bryon would have been the returning lead rusher from the Pac 12 entering the season, how much do you respect him moving to slot receiver? ROYCE FREEMAN: I have a lot of respect for Bryon, because I know it's not easy when the team asks you to do something to benefit the team but that's going to hinder you in your perception nationally of the stats you put up. He is still getting the job done and running like a running back and catching the ball and making moves and stuff like that. I give a lot of respect to Bryon because he hasn't complained, he's working his butt off and contributing to the team in any way possible. Q. Were you aware during camp that the players and coaches were talking you up so much, about what an impact you could have right away? ROYCE FREEMAN: No, because I really couldn't talk to the media, so I didn't pay attention to the media because I couldn't talk to them until after the first game so I was under the radar and started to talk to you guys and I became aware of it. Q. Did you think coming in you would have a major impact? Have you surprised yourself? ROYCE FREEMAN: No, I feel like I had no expectations, so I wanted to work hard, and once I got a taste of it and how I can contribute, I just wanted to do a little bit more and contribute to the team any way I can to get us to the point we wanted to go. Q. (No microphone.) ROYCE FREEMAN: Just my running style. Being more loose about it, not being as restrictive on myself, being out there and running the ball, I felt like they said I was a little timid because of‑‑ that's just because they know what I can do out there. They know what I'm capable of, so just not holding myself back out there. Q. You have a loose running style? ROYCE FREEMAN: More not thinking so much while you're playing. I tend to think too much, overthink the holes, my assignments, but I came with repetitions over the season and I'm appreciative of that, Coach Cam and the amount of plays we run in practice helped me out there. Q. What's the difference in that offensive line when Jake came back as opposed to when he was gone? ROYCE FREEMAN: He's a great force out there. I forgot how big he was compared to other people out there, just destroying some of the defensive players so that opened up holes for us, the chemistry of the offensive line increased and it just seemed like everything was clicking. Q. Talking to the media, is that something else you had to get used to about college football? ROYCE FREEMAN: I was used to talking to media during high school, things like that, but I mean, they asked me if I'm uncomfortable, I'm not uncomfortable, it's cool, it's fine talking to y'all. Q. As a freshman you're part of a young core, Devon and all those guys, Tyrell, do you feel a bond, something special about playing and not only playing but being contributors? ROYCE FREEMAN: It's one thing to play but another to contribute in a major way, and I feel from my class there is a lot of people contributing in a major way across the country. That's great to see. Proves the work ethic that's going on out there and Tyrell, he came in, we had some injuries and he fell into the rotation and he's been doing a great job, very proud of him and Devon and Charles and other guys like that, it's just really the preparation how they trained us to be ready. Q. Was playing time or the chance of early was that something that was part of Campbell's recruiting pitch to you? ROYCE FREEMAN: No, Coach Cam never talked about playing time or things like that, because De'Anthony hadn't made a decision and things like that and we had Byron and Thomas had a great year so I knew I was going to have to come in and compete.  Guy that's on TV doing great things, it intimidates a lot of recruits but I wanted to be around the best and I didn't want it easy and I didn't want playing time handed to me. Coming in I just came in full force not expecting anything. Q. When you see how many games in a row Florida State has won, from your perspective, what do you think of 29 in a row? ROYCE FREEMAN: That's a great feat to have but we're going to come out there and try to play hard. They've had a great, great time with all these games, they played great teams, they came out with victories, so respectful of that and their record, so I mean, it's going to be a tough battle out there. Q. Do you know anything about Dalvin Cook, the freshman running back? ROYCE FREEMAN: I saw him at camps, he's a well, gifted back, he has a lot of attributes out there, very balanced, very strengthwise, speedwise of course, and he's been doing his thing out there his freshman year so that's also great to see from my class. Q. Royce, what stands out to you, what jumps out about their defense? ROYCE FREEMAN: Just the athleticism they have on that side of the ball, they're out there flying to the ball defensively. Q. Why did you come to Oregon? Was it one thing? Five things? ROYCE FREEMAN: Just that it gave me the hometown feel from where I'm from. The people are great, Coach Campbell does a great job recruiting running backs and what he brings out of them. I felt like this was the place I needed to go. Q. So much is made of all the extra stuff there, the buildings, facilities, uniforms, have you ever heard anyone say I came here because of the uniforms? ROYCE FREEMAN: No, I haven't heard anybody say that. It's just a bonus, but when you start, just, going through the process and things like that you want to play. I feel like I have to earn to wear that uniform and that flashy style, things like that. Q. What's the perception do you think nation wide of Oregon in comparison to the three other playoff teams? They've won eight national titles combined, you guys haven't won yet. ROYCE FREEMAN: I feel like a lot of people feel like we come up short a lot, couldn't beat Stanford, couldn't win the National Championship, things like that. I know this group wants to prove people wrong but it's not about that, it's about proving to ourselves and our fans that we‑‑ they deserve to have a National Championship under their belt. We want to get one knowing Alabama has a lot, Ohio State and Florida State winning last year, it's something we want to bring to them. Q. Did you grow up in a football family? Was your family big into football? ROYCE FREEMAN: Yeah, I have a couple of brothers who coached in the NFL so football in my family is pretty big. My cousin, he is a running back coach for the Raiders, the Skippers, they help me out a lot. They give me different perspectives and a different view on things. Q. What's your cousin's name? ROYCE FREEMAN: Kelly Skipper. Tim Skipper, all them. Q. I was going to say, what has allowed you, with that, I mean, how much advise and that sort of thing do you get from them about being a running back? ROYCE FREEMAN: They ultimately tell me do what I do. I've been blessed‑‑ God has blessed me with a lot of talents, not just on the field but up here in my head, making right decisions. So just to enjoy it. If I need anything I can turn to them and don't worry about the next level worry about the now and focus on the now and what I'm doing. Q. Do you talk to them a lot after games? ROYCE FREEMAN: Every now and then, every now and then I get ahold of them, I don't want to bug them too much, they also have their job. Q. What has it been like the last couple of weeks, Marcus traveling all over the country and trying to focus on practice the last couple of weeks? ROYCE FREEMAN: He's been traveling around, doing his thing, he has earned it all so it's great to see him out there. He is a guy et guy so I don't know if he likes that, I haven't talked to him about that but when he's on the field he's also focused, that's great to see. A lot of guys still have layovers or hangovers from all the press and the media. He puts that to the side and gets right back to work. Q. Has he been more upbeat in practice, been down? ROYCE FREEMAN: No, he's been the same Marcus, pushing us and making sure we are on our P's and Q's. Q. He seems like he wants to be over with and get on the field, do you sense that from him? ROYCE FREEMAN: We've been here a while so there is a lot of preparation and mental focus going into this game, a lot of media around it, things like that. So I mean, I feel like we all want to get out there and play, I'm pretty sure Florida State does, too, get out there and play but you got a couple more days to dial in. Q. This is a battle for the top freshman running backs! Is this something you imagined on this big stage? ROYCE FREEMAN: It's not really something you can imagine, neither me nor Dalvin would have imagined the year we had but we're both, I'm pretty sure grateful for it, so going out there, I want to say I hope he has a good game but that would mean our defense wasn't doing our job, so I hope our defense does a good job, but big up's to him coming from my class, I don't wish harm on anybody, so that's good to see. Q. However met? ROYCE FREEMAN: I met him at the opening, he was a skilled back, real balanced, great to see skilled backs out there. Q. Did you talk? ROYCE FREEMAN: No, I didn't talk to him. Q. What's it like to play with Marcus, at that? ROYCE FREEMAN: Marcus, he's comfortable with what he's doing and as far as placing it on us, he takes the pressure off everybody else and takes responsibility for it. Q. (No microphone.) ROYCE FREEMAN: Just he knows so much he's been here for so long that he just‑‑ the preparation that he puts into it. He knows what he's doing and everybody can revolve around that. Q. What have you been able to do from your first game at other Oregon to now and getting better throughout the season? ROYCE FREEMAN: I feel like my progress has just been through repetition, repetition in practice and repetition mentally in the film room. We just have Coach Cam breaking things down, step by step. It might be tedious at times but he's doing it for a reason. From our steps which I thought was pointless, but with repetition it's become a process that's necessary that we can only do it the right way out there and teaching maybe the red shirts or people that don't play as much and they're teaching us, they're watching us and we're watching them, make sure we all get better. Q. From your hometown, was kind of city was that to grow up in? ROYCE FREEMAN: It was a great city to grow up in. Not too much going on. I live around 20, 30 minutes away from the Mexican boarder so I'm pretty far down in So Cal, but a lot of people are kind, family‑type atmosphere, which I loved. Oregon resembles that a lot and feel at home and safe. Places like that made me want to go down here. Q. Was it a thing to go down to Mexico? ROYCE FREEMAN: No, not really for me. I stayed in Imperial, around the valley, but we have a lot of Mexican population there so they would probably go see family, things like that but as far as me and my family, no. Q. It wasn't like the party thing to do? ROYCE FREEMAN: Not for me. Q. You probably, being down there, grew up like a USC or UCLA fan, didn't you? ROYCE FREEMAN: I didn't grow up any fan, really, didn't watch college football, I watched NFL and as I got older I started to view college teams a little bit but not too seriously. Q. Was going to Oregon kind of moving on, getting away from home and having a college experience in a place away from Southern California? ROYCE FREEMAN: In a place other than California as well. California has great schools in football and academically as well and I felt like Oregon was far enough but not too far so I could evolve and grow as a man. Q. How has it been being back in So Cal? Have you been able to see family and friends? ROYCE FREEMAN: I had Christmas break before we got here to the Rose Bowl, so I mean I got to see my family and their going to be coming up for the game, and it's rare so, they don't have to drive that often. Just being able to see them, it's great. I'm always appreciative of being thankful to see my family. Q. Have you had to work hard to get everybody their tickets and is that sort of thing? ROYCE FREEMAN: I've been trying to get them their tickets, got quite a few so being in so Cal it's going to come with the certificate to her. Q. Is it going to be as large of a fan section? As when you guys played UCLA? ROYCE FREEMAN: Shoot, I don't know, I appreciated they're support! They just showed up. Q. (No microphone.) ROYCE FREEMAN: I don't know, there is a lot of plays out there. I feel like‑‑ I don't know. I really don't know. I liked the UCLA game for me, I feel like that's when I started to get comfortable, break a couple runs and I liked it because me and Thomas both clicked that game, at the same time, and wow there was a lot of power in that backfield, he was breaking runs, I was breaking runs, Pharaoh when he was playing, he was doing his thing, through the air and the passing game so that game we were clicking and awesome. I enjoy that game a lot. Q. What do you think for you is the play of the season? ROYCE FREEMAN: The play of the season? Q. Game‑changing play? ROYCE FREEMAN: Of course it's the game‑changing play is when Joe Walker picked up the fumble from Utah and took it all the way back. We were on the ropes and if gave us a little bit of life back in the game. Q. Your favorite suit you've seen Campbell wear? ROYCE FREEMAN: Favorite suit? I like when he wears the red with the red shoes and his Louis Vuitton briefcase, man, he's stylin' out there on everybody. Q. When he showed up at your high school, was he dressed? ROYCE FREEMAN: Yep, 100 degrees, suited and booted, it was hot out there! Q. Does Jake Fisher scare you at all? ROYCE FREEMAN: Jake? It's funny! Try to bump into 'em and they, like, don't move. They're such a big, physical force out there, manhandling people on the defensive side of the ball. He's a true talent. Q. When he says something to you, is he intimidating as a new guy coming in? ROYCE FREEMAN: No, no, it's cool. We know him and as I started off I was not intimidated by him or anything like that, it was a mutual bond. Q. I didn't mean it in that way, I meant inspiring to see. When he came back, something happened in that offensive line structure that seemed more than technical. ROYCE FREEMAN: Oh. Q. More technical? ROYCE FREEMAN: Yeah, more of a technical part of me focusing on the detail and the chemistry and we started to get into the details, making sure we fine‑tune everything more so we had it perfect. Q. Was there any desperation‑‑ there were two games, the Washington State game and the Arizona game where it looked like things were unravelling. Did you wonder whether you were going to get it back? ROYCE FREEMAN: Those two games were tough! Up front! I remember thinking to myself, man, this is hard, especially because it seemed like linemen was going down like flies out there. But we started to pick it back up, we started to keep working. We're not going to be perfect out there, we had a couple of tough games, playing in the Pac 12 you're going to have a lot of tough games so to be able to win how we been winning games that shows how good our team is but persevering through all that, especially with the offensive line, being diminished like that, it's great. Q. Who is the last force that addresses the team before you take the field. ROYCE FREEMAN: Before we take the field? Coach Helfrich, will give us our moment of silence and then we get revved up and Coach Rad taps us on our chests and makes sure we're ready to go. Q. Moment of silence more than a speech? ROYCE FREEMAN: Not really more than a speech, we don't really need a speech before we go into games, just the calm before the storm. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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