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ROSE BOWL GAME: IOWA VS STANFORDDecember 27, 2015Ronnie HarrisPasadena, California Q. What time did you start? RONNIE HARRIS: They started at like 6:00 a.m. because we had to go -- Blake and I had to go get treatment this morning and then we came straight here. Q. How are you feeling? RONNIE HARRIS: I'm feeling great, real great. The rehab process has been amazing. I stayed here instead of going home for the Christmas break just to continue with rehab, and it's been going well. Blake and Brandon and I have just been constantly in the training room, and we're with one of the best athletic training staffs in the world so they've been helping us a lot. Q. Did you get to see your family at all? RONNIE HARRIS: I got to see them over Face Time. I got to see them open gifts and everything, so it was cool. Q. Was this the first holiday spent away from home? RONNIE HARRIS: This was not the first. I've actually spent three consecutive holidays away from home. Q. Doing what? RONNIE HARRIS: Just out here rehabbing. Last year, I kind of had the groin strain. The year before that I kind of had a shoulder issue. Q. Is that a common thing for the guys? RONNIE HARRIS: Not for most guys. Most guys go home, but some guys stay. Q. How do you feel you and Alijah are going to be for game day? RONNIE HARRIS: I think Alijah and I are going to be 100 percent for game day, no questions asked. Q. How long has it been since you guys have been the one-two out there? RONNIE HARRIS: Man, that's a great question. Maybe Colorado or that Oregon game I played because the Oregon game is when I got hurt. I'd say the Oregon game is the last time it was me and Alijah out there holding it down. Q. Great to have you guys back. RONNIE HARRIS: I can't wait. That's my boy. Q. You were kind of hobbled for the second half of the USC game, too, right? RONNIE HARRIS: Exactly. Every day you wish you could be out there practicing, competing with your brothers. I'd say the day after the Oregon game when I found out that I had the ankle injury, I was ready to get back out there again. But of course the doctors and athletic training staff said otherwise. So just listening to their process, and I'm allowed to be out there. I practiced this week, and I'll be at the game on Saturday? Friday? Q. How much has the time off helped you guys? RONNIE HARRIS: Oh, the time off has helped tremendously. The body feels so much better, well-rested, and just ready to get out there. Q. I know some of the things people say are you guys get caught off your rhythm, you guys lose any steam that you had. What do you feel about that? RONNIE HARRIS: I would say that's not the case for most of us, just because we have so many different ways to watch film, like the virtual reality or just being with your coach and watching film. So you mostly take mental reps and when you get back out there on the field, you just try to translate it as fast as possible, if that takes one or two plays, that's what it is. Q. Based on a pro-style team like Iowa, instead of running all over covering guys down the field, it's a lot more blocking and getting off of blocks and the run game and stuff like that. How does your role change? RONNIE HARRIS: My role is exactly the same. As a DB you have to do everything. You have to play in the box, you have to be able to play the pass. For us it's kind of getting back to basics. It's kind of like playing our offense in spring ball again. I really love that. I love getting in the box and mixing with the big guys a little bit. It should be a fun time. I was a linebacker all growing up through Pop Warner and a little bit through high school, so this is my type of game, just a grinding, physical game. Q. At what point did they switch you over to DB? RONNIE HARRIS: The first time I played defensive back was my junior year of high school and the first time I played corner was when I got to college. Q. Really? RONNIE HARRIS: Yeah, it's all been a process that's helped me get to this point. Q. Why did they decide to switch you? RONNIE HARRIS: So my high school head coach, Coach Greg Minnis, saw me my junior year, and he's like, you can hit, but I think you're going to be better served at DB, so he put me at safety, and then it's just been a ride since then. Q. What do you think is going to surprise people about Iowa's receivers? Who stands out on film? RONNIE HARRIS: I'm not familiar with any names, but No. 4 stands out on film. I think they do a good job of just getting off their breaks. They're a real physical bunch. They do everything that you ask a wide receiver to do, whether that's blocking in the run game and running great routes that's not going to get them the ball, they do everything, so just a real solid group. Q. Who's been doing the wide receivers for scout team? RONNIE HARRIS: You've got Conner Crane, you've got J. J., you've got Jay, you've got Sidhart. Pretty much the same guys, but they're loving their role and they're giving us all that they have every single day out there at practice. Q. What has the focus of the preparation kind of changed from the Pac-12 season until now? RONNIE HARRIS: I think the preparation is all the same. We're just taking this as like a normal game week. Of course you have a little bit extended more time, so you get a chance to get away from it and then come back to it. I think it just keeps people stimulated and wanting to learn more about your opponent, and when you have this much time, you just try to find as many tendencies as possible. Q. How do you feel like their quarterback has done over the last couple years? RONNIE HARRIS: Their quarterback looks very solid. He's more elusive and a lot more athletic than people give him credit for. I think he has a great arm. I've seen him make almost every throw on the field. He's a solid quarterback. He took them to 12-1, so he's doing his thing. Q. Did you go on the Tower of Terror today? RONNIE HARRIS: I did go on the Tower of Terror. I was held by Christian McCaffrey and Josh Garnett. We made it through. Q. How about California Screaming? RONNIE HARRIS: California Screaming was not that bad. We have a roller coaster in Atlanta called The Goliath. It's actually way more scarier. Q. What park is that at? RONNIE HARRIS: Six Flags Over Georgia. That wasn't the hardest one. Tower of Terror it was me and Alan George. We got over our fears. We got over our fear together and we did it. Q. It has always been a dream of mine to go on a ride with Alan. RONNIE HARRIS: Alan George is the man. Q. Would you call Iowa's quarterback a game manager? RONNIE HARRIS: I definitely would not call him a game manager. To call him a game manager I think is a little bit disrespectful. He's taken his team to 12-1 and he does exactly what he's asked to do within the system. I've seen him make every throw. I've seen him turn a bad play into a great play. I've seen him scramble and buy time for his receivers to get downfield and I've seen him make some pretty impressive throws. To label him as a game manager I think is a little bit of a bad title. He's a good quarterback. Q. Stanford came in with nine new starters on defense this year. It seemed like that put a little bit of a chip on you guys' shoulders. Is that the case? RONNIE HARRIS: I would say so, especially when you have big shoes to fill, when you see the defenses that came before you. You just want to be able to compete. We're just a competitive bunch and we saw what the 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 defense did and we wanted to put our mark on the 2015-16 season. Q. Sounded like Coach Anderson showed you guys a Power Point or something. RONNIE HARRIS: Exactly. Q. And it has the pass defense's résumé. With you guys it was question marks. That had to mean you guys saw, okay, the coach is trying to send us a message here, but it seemed like it worked. What do you think this defense sort of maybe turned the corner or established itself maybe is a better way to put it? When do you feel like you established the standard Stanford defense? RONNIE HARRIS: I feel like we established that standard kind of early in training camp. We knew what type of defense we wanted to be and every day out there, whether it was two-a-days or one a day, we continued to push each other. We wanted to make sure our coaches weren't screaming every single day at practice, rather it was us screaming at our own selves and kind of getting on our own butts to make sure we were up to the standard we wanted to be. Q. What happened with Northwestern? Everybody looks at you guys and looks at that game. Obviously it was 9:00 your time, but still, I imagine that you guys, players don't know what time it is when they're playing the game. You guys probably look at that and probably hate that game, hate everything that's said about it. Is that how you guys carry it? RONNIE HARRIS: I mean, it's just like no excuses now looking back on it. They were the better team that day. They beat us, solid team. I give them all the credit. We just tried to after that loss, we got together as captains and we said that we want to hold just the team, team-only meeting so we gathered up the rest of our players and took them inside Luck Auditorium and we sat everybody down and said, hey, this one loss will not determine our season. We just need to go ahead and start stacking wins and it starts with this week, and ever since that loss, we just kept stacking wins and we've preached that you never want to have that bitter taste in your mouth like that again, and I think our team did a great job responding. Q. Players' only meeting? RONNIE HARRIS: Players' only meeting. Q. How did the coaches take that? RONNIE HARRIS: Honestly, our coaches were all for it. They just said you guys handle it. You guys get everybody together. That's what we did. It was great on our own leadership and great on the captains to get that done, and the team responded well to it. Q. Feeling healthy? RONNIE HARRIS: Feeling great. Feeling real great. Q. 100 percent? RONNIE HARRIS: 100 percent, man. Q. How close to healthy were you at the Pac-12 Championship Game? RONNIE HARRIS: I'd say I was probably like at 70 percent, but it felt good out there. Q. So now you're just back full go? RONNIE HARRIS: Yeah, I'm practicing the whole week and running around. I can't wait, man. I can't wait. Q. Had there every been a players' only meeting before in your time at Stanford? RONNIE HARRIS: Right, right. I think that was the first time that's ever been done, as long as I've been there at Stanford, for my five years, that was the first time we've called a players' only meeting, but it just speaks so many volumes to the leadership that we have this year. We wanted to make sure that everybody knew, hey, one game will not determine the outcome of the season and this is easy to bounce back from, but it's going to take a constant dedication and a constant grind to get back to where we wanted to be. We knew a lot of people were counting us out at that time, but we had all the faith in ourselves and in our teammates and in our brothers and came out and just kept getting wins. Q. [On missing out on the College Football Playoff...] RONNIE HARRIS: I think when you just like see the committee come out with their four teams, it was just like, okay, now where do we play, that kind of mindset, at least for me. I'm excited and ecstatic to be at the Rose Bowl. I think it's one of the best bowl games I've ever been a part of, and you can't ask for a better core group of people who treat us with so much hospitality, so just excited to be here. I love playing in Pasadena. This still feels like it's my first time. Just riding away. No problem. Q. This players' only meeting, who was kind of the instigator of it? RONNIE HARRIS: At the core of it was our six captains. We kind of were talking over a group message and got together after that game when we kind of sat down and talked to each other and said, hey, we need to hold a group meeting and get everybody's head back on the right page, because you don't want one loss to spiral into two, into three, so we just wanted to nip that in the bud as fast as we can and that's what we did. We got the team together and after that meeting we saw everybody's focus just kind of channeled right back in and it was kind like Northwestern never happened, which was I think is the mark of a great team. Q. I forgot who was telling me but somebody said that whenever stuff kind of -- when you guys lost focus or a couple penalties somebody would yell out "remember Northwestern" on the sidelines. Do you remember that? RONNIE HARRIS: I never heard "Remember Northwestern". I would hear people say kind of like hand over hand or take the rope, which is kind of like our motto, just to refocus and reevaluate, kind of like react was our acronym. React to any situation that's thrown at you, whether it's adversity or if it's good, if it's triumph, you get back to center and keep grinding. Q. There were still struggles after Northwestern for the first half of that game against UCF. Did something happen in the locker room? You guys came out different I felt like. RONNIE HARRIS: Nothing, just playing the course of the game. Q. And it worked out. Then obviously the USC game you guys turned on the jets. After you guys delivered that performance you felt like you could deliver, what was the sense among the team? RONNIE HARRIS: The sense just was, great win, let's start getting ready for the next one. This team is just wise beyond its years. We never got too high and never got too low. Just constantly grinding with our mentality. Q. Who's the best eater on the team? RONNIE HARRIS: Easily Joshua Garnett. Q. I heard he's on a limit? RONNIE HARRIS: I don't think so. I think he's going to reclaim the title. I think he's going to reclaim his title. I think he's going to reclaim his title back down there [at the Lawry's Beef Bowl]. Q. Coach Shaw keeps on saying that he won't, so we'll have to see. I guess he got sick or didn't feel too well after his -- RONNIE HARRIS: I can imagine. Q. He ate like nine or something? RONNIE HARRIS: Yeah, I can imagine. That's ridiculous, but I think he may reclaim the title again this year. Q. I can imagine it's difficult to balance football and academics at Stanford? RONNIE HARRIS: Everything is challenging in life, but if you just put your best foot to it and try your hardest anything is possible. We have a great support staff here. Like if you have any questions, there's a whole bunch of resources that are there to help you, and at Stanford they won't let you fail. There's too many people that care about you to let you fail. As long as you just try your hardest, you definitely can make it. Q. What will you be getting your degree in? RONNIE HARRIS: I'm a psychology major. I'm going to get my pre-med requirements and now I'm working on my masters in communications. This is my fifth year now. Q. What was your favorite part of Rose Bowl week last time you did it? RONNIE HARRIS: Last time I did it? I would say it was probably the comedy club because obviously it was Disneyland, but if I give that, people won't be excited. So Disneyland and then the comedy club. Q. What was the comedy club? RONNIE HARRIS: It's the Improv comedy club. It's great comedians and going up there off the dome, impromptu, giving great performances. It's pretty funny. Q. How much behind the scenes event stuff is there because we have media events and stuff, but obviously you guys run on a whole different schedule. RONNIE HARRIS: Yeah, I mean, they give us something for entertainment every single day. Just looking forward to the next day. I especially look forward to practice and just look forward to the bonding time afterwards. Q. What stands out on the schedule this week for you? RONNIE HARRIS: Well, we just passed Disneyland, the comedy club is tomorrow, but I'm actually looking forward to -- comedy club is today and looking forward to the Lawry's Bowl. That's just the best food -- some of the best food I've ever had. Q. I remember Heavy D got that record last time on his freshman year. Is anybody going for it this year? RONNIE HARRIS: I think JG may be back to reclaim his title. I've heard that from the grapevine. Q. Don't they limit it for the starters? RONNIE HARRIS: I don't know. I don't know what Coach Shaw's stipulation is on that. But through the grapevine I've heard JG is back and wants to reclaim his title, so we'll see. Q. How much do you think he can put down on a good day? RONNIE HARRIS: On a good day? Oh, man, I think he may be able to put down nine or ten. Q. He's going to put on like 10 pounds before practice. I guess it's not a bad thing if you're going up against that defense. RONNIE HARRIS: Absolutely. JG is a great lineman, man, and a great friend. Q. I heard you had some great reactions on the Tower of Terror. I guess everybody was staring at you when that camera went off. RONNIE HARRIS: Yeah, definitely. I'm not a big fan of that dropping. I accomplished my fear with The Alan George, so we made it happen. Q. With it being senior year, did that kind of help make sure -- you've got to go through it? RONNIE HARRIS: I think it's all your boys there, Kevin Hogan, Christian McCaffrey, Blake Martinez, Josh, they just were all down to go and wanted to see me go up there, so I couldn't let them down. Q. How fun is it to just kind of watch the young guys go through this week as well. You went through it twice as one of the underclassmen, as well, right? RONNIE HARRIS: It's great, man, seeing the young guys so wide-eyed and trying to figure out everything. It's great to see them go through this experience. This is exactly as a senior what you want to do. You just want to give the younger guys the best experience they can possibly have, so they can pass it down to the next younger generation. Q. I remember Brendon saying that some of the older guys had told them that it feels a lot better to win a Rose Bowl than it does to lose a Rose Bowl. You guys are probably one of the few teams in history that have probably both won and lost the Rose Bowl. I don't know how many teams have done that. You guys are pretty unique in that regard. How do you think that high from freshman year and that low from the year after kind of molded your focus coming in? RONNIE HARRIS: I think they're polar opposites, especially this week. You just want to make sure that you just focus because you never want that feeling of a loss after a locker room, and especially for our seniors that have given so much to this program. So channeling in our focus, to have fun when it's time to have fun, but when it's business, it's all business and you definitely want to go out of here 2-1 rather than 1-2 for me, so looking forward to that 2-1 benchmark in the Rose Bowl. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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