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ROSE BOWL GAME: IOWA VS STANFORD

December 28, 2015

Nate Meier

Pasadena, California

Q. Just something on your head coach: I'm just wondering having grown up, you were from Iowa, right?
NATE MEIER: Yep.

Q. Was there a certain image he had in the state or stature that you kind of always had your eye on as a kid, and then has his behavior or the way he coaches been any different now that you've been at Iowa?
NATE MEIER: Well, where I grew up was a different part of Iowa, it was southwest Iowa so I'm on the border of Nebraska, so we didn't get any Iowa University football nationally. But like, yeah, like when I was getting recruited by them, I would for sure. They would watch their games and stuff and he behaves the same. He's a calm, cool guy, and he's a great coach.

Q. What are some of the marks of a Kirk Ferentz team?
NATE MEIER: The mark of a Kirk Ferentz team? I would say staying humble, stay hungry, and be poised and always have a next-game mindset.

Q. As much as McCaffrey has wowed a lot of people this year, are there other guys in this offense that you can see giving you guys some problems?
NATE MEIER: I mean, they're a veteran group. They're a good group in general, so you know, we're going to have our hands full about that. Yeah, I mean, all-around they're just a good team.

Q. How would you describe Hogan? As a quarterback how would you describe him from what you've seen?
NATE MEIER: I mean, he's a good quarterback. He can run, he can pass the ball, he can step back in the pocket. He has good awareness, and he has good receivers to pass to. He's just a good quarterback.

Q. Is he a better runner than maybe people might think?
NATE MEIER: Yeah, you know, like as we watched film, we see him get out of the pocket, scramble a little bit. I think he's a good dual-threat quarterback, good runner, and he's a good passer, too.

Q. What do you make of their offensive line?
NATE MEIER: They're good. They're a veteran group. There's only one starter that's not a senior. Of course they have an Outland Trophy winner, so that's always a benefit. But yeah, they're good.

Q. How much do you think about or have to put out of your mind the last drive that you guys were on the field?
NATE MEIER: Well, you know, it's just one of those things. After that drive, it was pretty hard, because you've come so far, and to lose a game on our last drive, it was just one of those things where like our coaches always tell us, put the game aside and we'll look forward to the next game, and the next day it got announced that we were going to the Rose Bowl, so it was a good feeling.

Q. Josey mentioned I think it was last week that he had to go back the next day and watch the film of that.
NATE MEIER: Yeah.

Q. It almost kind of tortured himself a little bit. Did you do that or do you know of other guys that did that, or when did you see those 22 plays?
NATE MEIER: Well, you could have went on social media and watched the 22 plays, so I think that's where I saw it. It was pretty tough just seeing it again. You already know what's going to happen, and it was pretty tough. Just like coaches always say, 24-hour rule, just forget about the game and just look forward.

Q. What was the experience like? I know Coach Ferentz when you guys got back together showed you guys the film of that game. I assume that's probably a normal thing, you're going to do that if you win by 40, lose by 40 or lose by 3, but considering the way that game ended, what was the mood in the room when that part of the game came up on the film?
NATE MEIER: I mean, it was definitely for sure different. You know, there's usually kind of like laughter, like always points out like if someone like fell, we'd giggle and stuff like that. But it wasn't like that. It was pretty much everyone was -- when we knew we had to watch the film, it was pretty tough, and no one really wanted to watch it again.

Q. Talking to Josh Garnett, Stanford's Outland-winning offensive guard a few minutes ago, he said watching that, that it looked like Michigan State was just executing everything to perfection, there weren't missed assignments necessarily, you guys didn't blow it, they just were playing so well. Is that your take on it, too, or do you look at it and say we could have done this here, could have done that there?
NATE MEIER: Well, personally I missed a sack. I mean, I missed a reverse. So I thought I would kind of mess it up for everybody. But it's more than two plays the whole game.

But yeah, they were executing very well at the end of the game. You know, they were getting an extra three yards every time the running back touched the ball. It was just one of those deals. They finished, and that's how it went.

Q. There weren't many pass plays on that drive. I think there were just three. When you talk about missing a sack, which play are you remembering that on?
NATE MEIER: When he scrambled for a first down.

Q. When Cook did?
NATE MEIER: Yeah.

Q. Do you play that one back in your mind?
NATE MEIER: Yeah, I have.

Q. I'll ask you also about coping this year without Drew [Ott] on the other side, and since that sixth week when you lost him, how has that changed your role on the defensive line and just what you feel Iowa has needed to get from you, from your position?
NATE MEIER: When we lost Drew, Drew is like one of our really -- he's a really good friend of mine, and it was pretty tough because we're in the same class, and we're both seniors. You know, and just losing him was -- it was really tough because I knew how much it meant to him. This is what he's been working for for four years to get to this point, and to have it just taken away from him. But Parker Hesse has been doing a great job on the other side.

And the role, I don't think the role has changed. Like our coaches told me, I'm the only senior on the line, so I have to be the leader. But everyone that plays, everyone that plays should be a leader. It starts with the stance, and he tells me to keep everyone's motivation up and head held high.

Q. Drew brought an element of uniqueness, at least on the exterior. You see Drew and some of his personality traits, and it would seem to have been -- he seems to have been a guy who lightened things up, whose character shined through. Do you have some of that in you, too?
NATE MEIER: Yeah, I mean, I guess. I don't know, me and Drew, we're similar just in a lot of ways, because we come from a small town, same mindset. Like our lifting coach just always told us we were really hard workers because we came from eight man, and we're just used to playing every position and stuff.

Q. Some of the guys have mentioned you as kind of a brawler, a real physical guy out there. Do you take pride in that style of football, and is it accurate?
NATE MEIER: Yeah. You know, I take pride in that. I'd say I'm a hard worker, really hard worker. I just don't like to lose. You know, whatever I have to do to win, I guess.

Q. Where does that come from with you?
NATE MEIER: I don't know. I think I just started wrestling when I was like three, and ever since then, just my competitive edge, I guess, I just don't want to lose.

Q. That wrestling background, I know you take a look at Iowa's offensive and defensive linemen you're probably going to find guys who wrestled. How do you think that impacts the mentality you guys have in the trenches because so many of you guys have that background?
NATE MEIER: I mean, I think it's a huge advantage. When you're a wrestler you know leverage, so I mean, you always have to have leverage. And then I don't know the word. Just where you can get like a hold of people and stuff like that in your grip, and I think it's a huge advantage.

Q. I heard somebody joke a couple weeks ago that you might be a guy who could go back to wrestling or fighting or something like that.
NATE MEIER: I don't know about that. (Laughing).

Q. Not in your plans?
NATE MEIER: Not in my plans.

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