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BATTLEFROG FIESTA BOWL: NOTRE DAME VS OHIO STATE

December 29, 2015

Ezekiel Elliott

Glendale, Arizona

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Would you mind addressing the traffic fees and get onto football.
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: I wasn't aware my license was suspended in the first place. I'm letting my dad and lawyer handle what's going on with those traffic fees. I'm happy no one was majorly injured in the accident. It was scary. I'm ready to move on from it and focus on this game that we have Friday.

Q. Are you good, though?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: I'm good, though. No injuries, nothing.

Q. What has it been like to prepare for Notre Dame, Zeke? This is a team that's very talented, very athletic. As you all look at them, do they compare to anybody you've seen this year? Are they as physical as anybody you've seen this year? What do you see when you look at them?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: I mean, they're a very physical front. They have a great front, probably the best front we've played all year. It's going to be a great challenge.

Great players like Sheldon Day, Jaylon Smith. Great athletes. It's going to be fun going out there and competing against those guys.

Q. When you get ready for this game, could very well be your last game at Ohio State, you've said that previously. How much desire do you have to go out the right way? How much desire do you have to make this a special finish?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: I think the biggest thing that Coach Meyer emphasizes to us is this class can win 50 games. We want to make sure we send our seniors out right. We go out there and play for each other every week. That's the biggest thing for us.

Q. What are you feeling? You said this is your last game. Any second thoughts? How hard is it going to be to leave? Might you have a change of heart?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: I came here to talk about this team. I came here to talk about playing Notre Dame. That's not really what I'm focused on right now. I'm just focused on going out there and playing a great game.

Q. What will it take to play a great game? How do you need to play to control the line of scrimmage, tempo, that kind of thing?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: We're going to need to execute. We got to come out there play physical, Ohio State football. If we play our game, I think we'll be in good shape.

Q. Some of the guys at Notre Dame said Ohio State is one of those teams we wanted to play before we left Notre Dame. Do you have the same kind of feeling about playing them?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: I mean, it's definitely a team you kind of want to play. This is a great matchup, two very historical teams, two teams with a great pedigree. It's great that we get to play these guys in this bowl game.

Q. Two programs with a lot of swag. They love their gold helmets. One guy said, This is the matchup the country wants to see. How do you feel?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: This is definitely the matchup the country wants to see, the two biggest fan bases in college football. There's going to be a lot of views of this game.

Q. Were you recruited by Notre Dame?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: Actually, I was recruited by Notre Dame. Notre Dame was my dream school growing up. In recruiting, they had some other plans, what position they wanted me to play. I mean, I was a Buckeye.

Q. Tony was the coach that recruited you?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: Coach Alford helped recruit me. He was a tailback coach there, obviously. I kind of felt they wanted me to be more of a defensive player from the coaching staff.

Q. Why did they not see you as a runningback? What was your take on that?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: Not sure. I mean, a lot of schools who recruited me, they did it as a D back also. My heart is on offense. That's where I wanted to play.

Q. So you made the right call?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: Uh-huh.

Q. Does it seem a little bittersweet? You're not discussing that, right?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: (Smiling).

Q. Do you play in your mind how this game goes for you, Zeke, the carries you want?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: Honestly, the biggest thing to me is going out there and getting the W for the seniors, sending them out right, out on top, getting that 50th win for them.

Q. How pumped are you for this game?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: I'm excited to play football again. It has been so long. Seems like an eternity since we've been out there on the field. I miss my brothers, competing for the state of Ohio.

Q. Who did you say was your dream school?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: Notre Dame.

Q. Why was that?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: I don't know what it was about Notre Dame. I just always had a love for Notre Dame, the combination of academics, athletics. It's the school I always liked.

Q. If they would have recruited you as a runningback, would you have ended up there?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: Who knows (smiling).

Q. Do you think everybody is all in here? It's not the national championship. All the defensive guys were talking about how you're together. Do you sense that, too?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: We definitely are together. As you saw, our last game, everyone showed up. Everybody came out there and executed, did what we have to do. When we show up with all nine units, we're a tough team to face. It kind of shows the character of our team, how we came together, united for that big rivalry game, played for each other.

Q. When you look at this Notre Dame defense, how stout are these guys, how big of a concern are they?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: I mean, they're very good. I think it all starts with their D-line. Their D-line, they hold up the O-line. They hold those double-teams up, let Jaylon Smith run free, make tackles. He's probably the best athlete we're going to face all year. His ability to run from sideline to sideline and make plays is incredible.

Q. Talk about how Jaylon Smith is as a player?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: I've known Jaylon Smith since high school, with all the opening and those camps, the Army All-American game. We've been cool since then. I played here with his brother, Rod. Jaylon is a cool guy and a better athlete.

Q. You play a rough sport. How scary was it the other day?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: It was definitely really scary. The weather conditions were really bad. Honestly as soon as I got in the car, all I was thinking was get to Woody safe. On the highway, I lost control, hydroplaned. There was nothing I could really do. I was hoping for the best.

Q. Could have been a lot worse.
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: Honestly I'm grateful that no one was majorly injured from the accident, that everyone is doing well.

Q. The playoffs were the goal. When that fell short, how hard was that?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: It was definitely hard to swallow. We realize everything happens for a reason. God has His plan for everybody. Obviously that wasn't in our plan. We kind of accepted it. We got to make the most of the situation we're given.

I mean, honestly, right after that, we got to work and started preparing for Notre Dame so we could finish off the season how we want to.

Q. You're a guy that likes to show up in the big games. Do you visualize this game as you go into it? How does it end for you?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: I've been visualizing it since I knew who we were playing. I mean, I just want to go out there, execute. I want us to go out there and play great as a team. I want us to go out there and have fun. I want us to go out there and win this ballgame.

Q. You led this team last year. It's kind of 'go time' for you, isn't it?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: I'm a competitor, honestly. I'm a competitor. I love to win games. I love to play great competition. I love to show up in big games.

I mean, I think that's how our whole team is. We're going to go out there and play for each other, do what we can to win this game, whatever we have to do.

Q. What would it mean to get a win and make a statement?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: I think it's something we definitely need, to make a statement. Without the opportunity to be able to play in the playoffs, go out there and show we're still one of the top teams in the nation.

Like I keep saying over and over, get this 50th win for the seniors. That's monumental, big. Not many senior classes win 50 football games. It's a blessing for those guys to be a part of it, something so special.

Q. You have to feel like you're as good as anyone in the country. At least there's an opportunity to say, We could have been in there, right?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: I mean, I think we are one of the top teams in the nation. But, I mean, we didn't handle our business like we should have during the season. We're reaping those consequences.

All we can do, like I said, is make the most of the situation we're in right now. That's all we can do.

Q. (Question regarding Coach Alford.)
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: Coach Alford was the coach I was closest to in the nation. I was happy that I was going to have a coach that was a familiar face, not have to get to know a new guy. This is a guy I already established a relationship with. I was excited.

Q. He'd seen what you could do as a player. He wasn't moving you out of his room.
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: No, he wasn't (laughter).

Q. So you didn't know your license was suspended?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: No, I did not know my license was suspended. But I got my dad on top of that. Hopefully that will be taken care of very soon.

Q. It's in Illinois, right?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: Yeah, my license is in Illinois.

Q. Was it expired?
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: It wasn't expired. I think it was from unpaid speeding tickets. I'm not sure exactly, 100% sure what it is. I've been pretty busy since then. Kind of letting my dad take care of that. Hopefully it will be all straightened out really soon.

Q. Glad you're all right.
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT: Me, too. Honestly, it was scary.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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