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ROSE BOWL GAME: IOWA VS STANFORDDecember 27, 2015C.J. BeathardPasadena, California An interview with: C.J. BEATHARD Q. Where do you think you've grown the most from the start of the year until now? C.J. BEATHARD: I think it would be just seeing stuff presnap. As a quarterback it's all about seeing things. It's more of a mental game than it is a physical game. As long as you can see things, coverages before the snap and then process them during the snap as you're dropping back, that's a big part of it. Obviously a big part of my game that I've improved on is being in the film room. Our first couple years I don't think I really understood what it meant to study film and how important that is. I think over the past couple seasons I've been staying in the film room a lot more and learned how important that is as a quarterback. Q. What's it mean to get four guys down and put a fifth guy in there? When you look at this team's identification, is that a big key for you? C.J. BEATHARD: Yeah, that's a big part of our offense, especially as a quarterback with certain run plays that we have and like versus certain fronts. But they base from a three-down front and they'll rotate a four-down in there as well. We've just got to be ready for whatever they give us. I'm sure they'll throw some changeups in there, most teams do. But we'll be ready for it. We've just got to make sure we're focused and prepared when that is coming. Q. Do you feel like you guys are respected around the country? C.J. BEATHARD: I think before the season started there were a lot of people that didn't have a lot of respect for us. But I think as we grew and continued to play throughout the season we got more and more respect. I think there are still people out there that don't respect us as much, but I think we've earned some people's respect throughout the season. Obviously you're not going to get everybody's respect. There's always going to be certain people out there that don't like you or whatever. But you can't focus on that stuff. We're just focused on our team and trying to win this next game. Q. What are some of the biggest areas of what you need to do to get the win? C.J. BEATHARD: Yeah, I mean everywhere, offensively, defensively, special teams, it's a big game. It's the biggest game we've played in all season long. It's not going to be easy. We're playing a tough opponent. It's going to be a hard, physically fought game, and we know we have to go out there and bring our best to win the game. We've got a lot of respect for Stanford, their team and their coaching staff. We know they're a good team. They've done a lot of good stuff all season long. Q. Stanford's been here quite a bit, obviously, and the state of Iowa will be responding with some 40,000 fans coming out. Will there be some jitters to work through, and Stanford having a little bit of a past here, does that give them a little bit of an advantage, do you think? C.J. BEATHARD: I don't know if it gives them an advantage other than the fact that they have more experience in this bowl. So it's still a big game. It doesn't take away the fact that it's a big game. Versus a different opponent, we haven't played Stanford. They've never played us, so it brings some jitters in and of itself. But I think every game we've played in this season I've had a little bit of jitters before every game. I think that's a natural part of it. You get nervous before games. That's just how it is. As a competitor, I'm sure a lot of people are the same way. I get nervous before all the games, and it won't be any different for this one. Obviously, it's going to be a little bit bigger of a stage and a bigger atmosphere, but you can't look at it like that. You've just got to focus on it being the next game. Q. What will work the best against Stanford? C.J. BEATHARD: The coaches have done a really good job putting together a good game plan. It's a matter of us executing that game plan. They do a lot of good stuff defensively, and we know that going into it. They run some three down defense, some four down. We're just going to have to be prepared when we see which and what we're going to get. I'm sure we'll get a changeup in there and some different looks. But we just have to be prepared for that. Q. Do you know Graham Shuler? C.J. BEATHARD: Yes. Q. Does it strike you as funny that two guys from Franklin, Tennessee, are playing on Rose Bowl teams opposite each other? C.J. BEATHARD: Yeah, I don't think it's funny, but it's pretty cool. It's different when you're from the same area and the state. It's a completely different part of the country. He played at a rival, minor high school. We played them a couple times a year in every sport, and we're rival schools. He went to Brentwood Academy and I went to Battle Ground Academy. We know each other. We're friends and stuff. I talked to him over the past couple weeks. I found out we were playing them, I knew he was playing for Stanford and doing a good job there. Q. They must have had a pretty good team. They beat you guys pretty good. C.J. BEATHARD: Yeah, they were a good team. They'd always beat us in football, yeah. Q. C.J., how about the days between getting out here on Christmas Eve and waiting for the game to start? How do you process that? It's been a month or three weeks, how do you process this final week and get ready for this game? C.J. BEATHARD: It's different because the previous weeks you're there and you're still 17 days away from playing. It's not quite there yet. But now we're five days away from game day or however many days it is. You start to focus in a little more and more about each day. We're actually into a game week now like we were all season long, and it kind of hits you. You're five days away from game time. The Rose Bowl game, playing a great opponent, we've just got to make sure we stay focused and ready to go at game time. Q. What is it about VandeBerg that you target him so much and have so much confidence? C.J. BEATHARD: A lot of it is just reading coverages as the ball snaps. We get a lot of good looks to his side. Obviously, he's a great receiver. He's done a great job all season long catching balls and making big plays when they need to be made. He's done a good job with that all season long. He's a trustworthy guy out there, and I can count on him being in the right place at the right time and making the big play when he needs to make it. Q. About film study, is that the biggest thing that you've added to your repertoire? C.J. BEATHARD: Yeah, I think I've improved on that a lot. The more reps you get as a quarterback, the better you get, I think. It's just seeing more and processing more. But obviously the more you stay in the film room the better you're going to be as a quarterback. I think this season and last season I kind of grasped that more than I ever have. I tried to stay in there more than I ever have, which I have done, and that was a big part for my game to improve. Q. What's it mean to you to be, I believe, the third member of your family to participate in a Rose Bowl game? C.J. BEATHARD: Yeah, it's awesome. There is definitely some family history there. I know my Uncle Pete was an MVP of the Rose Bowl game back whenever that was. I'm not sure when it was, but there's some family history there. I remember going to the Rose Bowl game when my uncle was a quarterbacks' coach for Illinois, and just sitting there at the game and just being there for a few days, just being around the Illinois team and seeing what it was like. Thinking one day hopefully I'll get the opportunity to do this and the opportunity is here now. It's kind of a dream come true, really. Q. Have you ever seen any video of your Great Uncle Pete? Have you seen any of your own game in it? C.J. BEATHARD: I actually have not really ever watched him on tape. I've got some old football cards of him, which is cool. But I've never really watched him on tape though. Q. How much do you enjoy all this media attention? C.J. BEATHARD: Oh, I don't know how to answer that question, really. Obviously, I don't know who really likes to do interviews all the time because you have to wake up really early and do this. I'd probably still be sleeping right now if I didn't have to do this. I'm just kidding. Yeah, it's part of it. You've got to embrace it. It's a big game, a big stage and that's part of it. If y'all weren't here, then that would probably mean you're not a very good team or something like that. But it's a tribute to having a good season and being in a big bowl game, so you've got to embrace every aspect of it. Q. You appreciate the big stage? C.J. BEATHARD: Yeah, definitely. We played on a big stage last week. It was a Big Ten championship game. We've played on a lot of big stages all season long. They're a little bit different, but when you get down to the core of it, it's just another game and just another opponent. It's another good opponent. Stanford's a great opponent. We've got a lot of respect for them, but you've got to embrace it like another game. You don't want to overhype it or anything like that, because that's when you lose focus, so we've got to make sure we stay focused and focus on the game. Q. You said you don't want to overhype it, but this is the first time you've been here in 25 years. That means a lot to the state of Iowa, how does that make you feel as a flag bearer? C.J. BEATHARD: Yeah, obviously the fans out there are excited and we're excited as well. We're going to enjoy the opportunity and embrace every aspect of it. But we're here for one reason, and that's to get a win on Friday. It's another game. It's the final game of the season. What better way to go out of the season than with a win. We're going to do everything we can to win that game for the state of Iowa and for all the fans. Q. How does that move the Iowa football program forward? C.J. BEATHARD: Yeah, it gives us a good jump into the next season. Winning this game would give us a nice edge going into the off-season. Obviously, just closing out the season with a win is bigger than anything. It would suck to lose that last game and have that taste in your mouth for a while. After a great regular season we had, it would really stink to lose the final two games. That's why we're going to do everything we can to win this game. Q. When and why did you decide to cut your hair? C.J. BEATHARD: I kind of made the decision a while ago to give it to charity for a good cause. I decided to do that. Then over the summer I felt like it was the right time to do that. It was tough to do because I'd had it long for a while, but I think I made the right decision, and it feels a lot better now. Q. Eleven months ago you got the keys to this team. Kirk made a decision to go with you and not Rudock. Did you ever envision this? What did that do to you that very day that you found out this was your team? C.J. BEATHARD: Yeah, I was excited. I've been waiting on the moment for three years now. This is my fourth season here. I've got a lot of experience under my belt now just as an upperclassman. I've been in the system for a while now. I feel like I was ready to embrace that opportunity. It's hard to predict what the season will be like, but I knew we had a good team coming back. I felt like with the leadership that we had created in the off-season and the chemistry that we created in the off-season, I thought we had an opportunity to be a great team this season. I don't know if anybody would have predicted that we'd have an undefeated regular season, but we knew we had something special, and we turned that into something special during the regular season. Q. You certainly did. What about the long path to the Rose Bowl? And your hair? C.J. BEATHARD: I just haven't had time to cut it. I guess I could have cut it in the past couple weeks. But I've kept it like this for a little while, and I'll get it cut when I go back home, for sure. Q. Will you donate it to charity? C.J. BEATHARD: It's not long enough for that. Q. Not yet? C.J. BEATHARD: No, not yet. Q. When you look back at a lot more big plays this year, what allowed the offense to be a little more explosive? C.J. BEATHARD: I think there's been a lot more experience with the guys. A lot of older guys, Tevaun, Jake Hillyer, Matt VandeBerg, those guys have been here for a while and I'm able to get them the ball. They've been here for a while and they can see things better than I have. I think that's a big part of it having experienced guys out there that know what to do and how to get open and stuff. So I think that was a big part of it. Q. Has this whole experience sunk in for you yet, the Rose Bowl? C.J. BEATHARD: Yeah, I think it has. I think it has for everybody here. We're embracing the opportunity, but at the same time you don't want to get overhyped for it, you want to stay focused, and I think we're doing a good job of that so far. We've got to continue that in the next five days. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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