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ROSE BOWL GAME: IOWA VS STANFORDDecember 28, 2015Joshua GarnettPasadena, California Q. So I gotta open with a question that everybody's dying to hear right now: So Ronnie says you think you can put down nine or ten prime ribs on a good day. Are you going to go for it? JOSHUA GARNETT: No, I cannot. We have a very hard practice tomorrow, full pads. I wouldn't be feeling too good if I tried that. One, maybe go for two at the tops, but other than that, I probably won't be doing that. Q. Kyle was saying at the comedy club yesterday you were joking about opening up your stomach in preparation for tonight. JOSHUA GARNETT: No. I think everyone kind of tries to overexaggerate a little bit. We'll definitely try to find one of the younger freshmen to take on the reins and see if they can match my freshman year total. Q. Who's on the list? JOSHUA GARNETT: We have a couple of guys. We might be getting Jack Dreyer. He's a 6'9" guy, about 310, 315 pounds. I think he's got the frame for it. I believe in him. As a past eater, I think he can do it. Q. So he's got the fundamentals down. JOSHUA GARNETT: Exactly. Q. Does he have the intangibles though? JOSHUA GARNETT: We'll see if he has the intangibles. It's all about speed. You just gotta keep going. We'll see if he has the heart to do it. Q. So a BIG TEN team like Iowa, a lot of physicality, but then you see Michigan State drive down in the last nine minutes and rear down that defensive front. Do your eyes light up when you see something like that? JOSHUA GARNETT: Yeah. It's real similar to the play we have as offensive line. To Iowa's credit, their defensive line they were getting after those guys on Michigan State's team. They were knocking them back, great pad level, great hands. Didn't have any missed gaps assignments. It's a testament to Iowa's team. You could tell why the only game they lost was the championship because of how well they play as a team. Q. Is it a technique thing, a skill thing? What kind of stands out to you? JOSHUA GARNETT: It's both. Collectively how they work as a unit. Like I said, they don't have many missed responsibilities. You know they're well coached. They know where to be at all times. At the end of the day they're physical, real physical guys. You don't see them with bad hands. You don't see the defensive lineman on the ground. These guys are really getting their hands tight. Great movement and just together playing well as a team. Q. So you guys have come a long way since week one against Northwestern. Do you see this as almost coming full circle and maybe a chance for redemption against another BIG TEN team today? JOSHUA GARNETT: Oh, yeah. Definitely. We're excited to play against another BIG TEN team, and learning from the Northwestern game and kind of what it takes to win a game and not forgetting what happens when you lose a game or how it feels to lose a game and what you do in practice every week. We always have Kevin Hogan saying, Don't forget the feeling you had after we lost to Northwestern. Keep that in the back of your mind. For us to come full circle from our first game to our last game, going against a great Iowa game is just definitely a great thing for us after that loss. Q. What did you learn from that game? JOSHUA GARNETT: I think as a leader personally I felt like I learned just to bring the guys up more. Don't let a guy forget that every rep at practice counts because you never know which play is going to be that determining factor. There's a lot of times in Northwestern game where maybe one play would've done this or that, or letting the guys know in practice that could have been that play where we lost the game or the play where we could have won the game. As a leader kind of leading this team and letting everyone know that. Q. [On McCaffrey getting back to the line of scrimmage...] JOSHUA GARNETT: Yeah. It's a testament to his work ethic. It's a guy that you've never seen go anything other than 100 percent. Doesn't matter if you're full pads, no pads, helmets or a team walkthrough. He's going full speed, as fast as he can. He only knows one speed. For a guy to work that hard and to have so much success, who will run between the tackles and also go on the perimeter, I think it's just a testament to his skill set and what type of player he is. Q. How do you tweak things in terms of using more one back to really feature his skill set? JOSHUA GARNETT: We have great coaching. Our coaches are going to put guys in the best position, a position that they see fit. The coaches really game plan and try to exploit other teams, and if our coaches feel like one back is the best way to go, they're going to go one back. If we feel like we're going to have nine offensive linemen in the game, then we're going to do that. If we get back, have a fullback, two tight ends, we're going to do that. I think it's just a testament to Coach Shaw, Coach Bloomgren and all the coaches on offense to really game plan and put trust in the players that we're going to execute. Q. Did you see that Photoshop that went viral of 15 offensive -- JOSHUA GARNETT: Oh, yeah. I saw that. It was definitely funny. It was definitely kind of -- it's a joke but it definitely is reality. It definitely is an honor for our offensive line, people think we have 15, 20 dudes in the game where there's just the big guys up front grinding. Q. This is your third Rose Bowl. how is it going to feel until you step in there? JOSHUA GARNETT: Every Rose Bowl is different, obviously. It's hard to say you can get used to playing in front of 100,000 people on New Year's Day on national TV when everyone is watching. But I think it allows us to get the mindset better. We kind of know what to expect. We've been to Disneyland before. We've been to a lot of the places before. So you can kind of spend more time relaxing, kind of get your mind off of it obviously. But Iowa is a great-coached team. They have a strict regime. You know that they're ready to play and they're excited to play in this Rose Bowl game. And I definitely don't think we have any more of an advantage than they do just because we played in the last three games. Q. You played at Notre Dame stadium. Does it feel different? JOSHUA GARNETT: Oh, yeah. It definitely feels different. I mean, trying to be in the Rose Bowl and being in a game that kids dream about playing in, and very few people have the opportunity to play in. It's definitely something you can't emulate during the regular season. It's only something that can be experienced on January 1st in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl. Q. Is there any difference to this Rose Bowl experience? JOSHUA GARNETT: I think just the focus of the team is definitely what stood out to me. A lot of guys, we had fun enjoying Disneyland and we were on the first bus back. A lot of guys went back. A lot of guys have been at the hot tub in the hotel, kind of recovering, stretching out in the weight room there. The focus has been a lot different for me. And guys have really been enjoying the process and enjoying the time when we had events, but when it's time to practice, guys are really motivated to practice and guys are really excited for this game and it's a great matchup against Iowa. Q. Even the seniors more so, setting the tone for this trip? JOSHUA GARNETT: Oh, yeah. It definitely started with the seniors. We were the guys our freshmen, sophomore year who were going out, running around, trying to go to LA Live, experience Disneyland until 11:00 at night, and we kind of taught the young guys and tell the young guys, hey, man we're here for the game. We're here to have fun, but we're also here to win a game. But I also think the leadership from the captain, the seniors, the trickle-down effect and helped us out. Q. What happened in that first game, the Northwestern? JOSHUA GARNETT: I mean, it was just our -- it was a first game, kind of all the first-game mishaps. A lot of things just didn't go our way that game. And it wasn't on the coaches. It wasn't on anyone else other than the players not executing to a high enough level. We didn't put ourselves to a high enough standard. The standard we set for ourselves before the season, we didn't match it. But what I will say, after that game we kind of kept that chip on our shoulder, and we kind of understood what that feeling was, and throughout the rest of those weeks we just reminded each other, like don't forget what that Northwestern game felt like. So every day in practice we were going a little harder each week, did a little more and a little more, and to be able to turn around from that first game, when a lot of people wrote us off and to be in the Rose Bowl is a tremendous honor to our coaches and a testament to the coaches and the senior leadership on our team. Q. Did you know Johnny Caspers' family are huge Iowa fans? JOSHUA GARNETT: Oh, yeah. I definitely knew that. Q. He never went their way. Are you glad about that? JOSHUA GARNETT: Oh, yeah, I'm definitely glad Johnny's on this side of the track. He's a great player and he's definitely awesome. Especially when we went to Northwestern, a guy who's been out in Chicago, definitely a guy whose parents were big Iowa fans. He watched those games growing up. For him to be able to play the Iowa team, I definitely know he's going to be juiced to play in the game. If anyone still needs some motivation, I know they're going to look to Johnny, because he's normally real hyped up before the games but I know he will be for this one. Q. What's he like as a player? JOSHUA GARNETT: He's a great player, really technical guy, really savvy, real physical, the typical kind of that blue-collar guy that's going to go to work every day. He's a great player, great athlete. He's really been able to play next to Casey Tucker, who is a first-year starter, and playing with him and lead him and beng able to come in at short yards/goal line and play center, be that versatile player, it's just a real testament to his skill set and just the hard work he's put in. Q. You're the Outland Trophy winner. JOSHUA GARNETT: Right. Q. As a linemen, and I'm sure you've spent a good amount of time answering questions about Christian. Is that cool, he's the star running back, is that the way it works -- JOSHUA GARNETT: Oh, yeah. That's the way it works. I'm not a big guy like you see in the spotlight. When we were at the Outland, got on speech and did a real quick speech and got off. Didn't want to take too many pictures, and I'm always the kind to just pump up my teammates and talk about them. That's what I enjoy the most. Without Christian, Kevin Hogan, without Kyle Murphy, Graham Shuler, Johnny Caspers, Casey Tucker I wouldn't have won the Outland. So I know that and I respect that. Coach Bloomgren, Coach Shaw and all the players kind of put me in the position to really utilize my skill set. And all the other players, Christian would be the first one to tell you without us, he wouldn't have been at the Heisman Trophy presentation. Q. What about Christian makes him a guy that you enjoy? JOSHUA GARNETT: Just how humble he is. You never hear him brag about anything. You never hear him talk about anything. You definitely know when he was at the Heisman Trophy presentation, he was itching to get back and come practice with his team. And the first time he comes back at practice, you can tell how excited he was to be back with us. And he's a guy like me who doesn't really enjoy the spotlight too much and wants to play football. And for him to be a sophomore and have that kind of prestige and hype around him and go to New York and do all that and come back and just be hungry to play and hungry to win the Rose Bowl is just a testament to him. Q. Are you able in your position to have perspective on how defenses have changed their way they try to attack him? JOSHUA GARNETT: Yeah. You definitely see it after the game when you watch the film. They try to exploit certain things. As you can tell, it's hard to stop him. It's hard to stop him in the middle of the field. It's hard to stop him pretty much doing anything honestly. But like I said, he's just a great player. Q. What stands out to you maybe as something that when you watch it on film, you were amazed at the way that he shook it off. JOSHUA GARNETT: I mean, I know a lot of teams would try and kind of load the blocks on us. As you saw at the Heisman Trophy presentation, I think he was leading the nation in rushes in eight-man box or bigger, and for a guy that people don't say is a big running back, to be able to run between tackles is really a testament to Christian and a testament to the power that he has. Q. Is it kind of hard not to load the block against Stanford? JOSHUA GARNETT: Exactly. It's definitely what it was. Our coaches seem to have a great game plan. We have great wide receivers that sometimes get overlooked because of the big offensive line, and Daniel Marx and Chris Harrell at fullback and Christian McCaffrey, Barry Sanders, all the great running backs we have, and then you look Michael Rector, Devon Cajuste, all these kind of guys that might get overlooked. (Inaudible) So it's a great testament to our coaches really to balance all the star power on this team. Q. What does it mean to win the Outland Trophy? JOSHUA GARNETT: It means a lot to be able to really bring that to Stanford. I know David DeCastro didn't end up winning it his year. But Stanford is turning to a place where a lot of offensive lineman can come, and you can be a smart, physical guy and just the offensive line has just been such a collective union, so close together. We all wanted to bring that award back, and to win it individually but know that all the offensive linemen won that award collectively. It's a great honor for not only myself but team as a whole. Q. [On Stanford's offense...] JOSHUA GARNETT: Oh, yeah, that's kind of our thing, the offensive line, those box seats, where you take the body blows, take the body blows, two quarters, three quarters and you through the haymaker in the fourth or third quarter and you really have that haymaker, getting up a little slow or they won't look you in the eyes anymore. You can kind of see them kind of jawing with each other. That's just who we are, our M.O. We keep taking shots and every opportunity to take a shot, we take it, and just being technically sound. Not only the offensive coordinator, but the offensive line coach. They are always challenging us to keep their aggressiveness, keep their technique. Q. [On offensive plan for this game...] JOSHUA GARNETT: Try to run the ball as much as possible, and just keeping moving the stick. That's kind of our mantra when we get on the field is get that first first down. The first first down is the hardest one to get, and after that you kind of get into a groove and start going a little bit and keep running the ball. And running between backs and running on the perimeter and give it to Christian and let him do pretty much whatever he wants. Q. [On Iowa's defense...' JOSHUA GARNETT: Oh, yeah. Whenever you have guys who are like that who are pretty strong, it's all about balance. You can't come off the ball as hard as you want. You can't kind of head down and fly off the ball. You gotta come with great punch and great technique. You have to have a lot of film study. You have to know when they're going to try to shake you. Try to find some keys on what they're going to do. And if you miss with your hands, 99, 67 or Iowa's team is on the ground. Playing with that technique is definitely going to be the biggest challenge. Q. [On Christian McCaffrey...] JOSHUA GARNETT: I mean yeah. It takes a little time for anyone to gel, especially a guy like Christian, who people forget this is his first year starting. And a complex offense, for a sophomore to step in and do all that it's a great honor and great testament to Christian. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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