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ROSE BOWL GAME: USC VS PENN STATEDecember 31, 2016Clay HeltonPasadena, California THE MODERATOR: Without further ado, we're going to get started with the second half of our head coach press conference. I'm joined here by head coach of USC, Clay Helton. I'm requesting going to start by asking Coach Helton how this week's been going? Can you elaborate how your experience has been with the Rose Bowl game? CLAY HELTON: One, very humbling, just to be a part of such a unique and special game. For our football team I asked each one of our members of our team to raise their hands if they had been a participant in this game, and it was basically every player, and nine of the ten full-time coaches. So this is a very unique experience for us to be a part of something so special, both the game and the activities, whether it's taking the team to Disneyland, going to Lawry's Beef Bowl, having a really, really special dinner right there at the Rose Bowl with our wives. That was a nice date night for us as coaches. It's been truly, truly a special event for us as a team and very unique. We thank the Rose Bowl game as well as the Tournament of Roses Committee for providing us a memory that we will never forget. Now we turn to the game. It's Thursday for us, a Thursday format, and getting ready for what should be a really, really exciting game. Q. I wanted to ask you about does the Rose Bowl feel like a home game for you being in your backyard? Is that an advantage to not have to travel across the country where you know you have everything here and there is a feeling of normalcy for the team? CLAY HELTON: I tell you what, it's been extremely comfortable for us to be able to wake up in the morning and go to our own home facility and basically spend the day there to be able to get our meetings done, our practices done, and then come for the great events at night. So it has provided us with a little normalcy, a little bit of routine which has been really nice. Obviously you look at us and we've been having the great fortune of being successful in Los Angeles this year, whether it's at the Coliseum or at the Rose Bowl. It's been a great year for us in the city of Los Angeles. So whether it's advantage, I don't know that. I know just how comfortable I feel and I think our kids feel, and hopefully that will pay off for us January 2nd. Q. Just curious what your thoughts are on what James Franklin has been able to do with Penn State? CLAY HELTON: Oh, outstanding. I tell you what, to be where they were at 2-2, and then run off nine straight, and I think about the opponents in the big games that they were a part of, to go beat a very, very talented Ohio State team, and then to show up versus Wisconsin in the championship game and perform like they did and showed to overcome the adversity they did in that game being down, just shows the resiliency of that team and a tremendous leader in Coach Franklin of what he's been able to do this season, especially down the stretch. Q. I wonder what are some of your favorite memories of working with Brent Pry? And what it's like looking at the film and seeing his defense? CLAY HELTON: Yeah, he's always been a dear friend. I love him as a person and truly a great family man, and I have the utmost respect for him as a coach. I had the great opportunity of working with him at Memphis, and, you know, he was always one of those you knew he was going to be a star in the profession. There was no question. His aggressive nature of style of defense that he loved, you just hoped that you never had to see one day, and now you're having to see it. He does a tremendous job of really putting the pressure and finding the weakness of your offense and putting the most pressure on you as you can. You can see that defensive unit getting better from game one to where they are now, probably as good a team of getting to the quarterback as we've faced this season. I think both defensive ends with six sacks apiece, as well as all those linebackers and safeties that come. I don't know if I've ever seen a free safety have 102 tackles on a season. He's just done a tremendous job. I wouldn't expect anything less from the guy. He's a tremendous football coach. Q. A lot of coaches you have to go through the eyeball test. For viewers of the first four games, they kind of started counting you out. When did you realize this team had the potential to be a Rose Bowl-caliber team? CLAY HELTON: Utah, in that game. As a head coach, you're always trying to see if your team is getting better week-in and week-out. And as bad as the Alabama game hurt, I thought there were some lessons that were learned in that game, and I asked myself have we improved from Alabama to Stanford, Stanford to Utah? And the answer was yes. We went to Utah in a hostile atmosphere with a rookie quarterback, and he performed extremely well, as well as our football team. The fact of the matter is we had two fumbles at the quarterback position, one in the end zone and one on about the 20-yard line going in. That kind of cost us the game, those mistakes and those turnovers. We had three total turnovers in that game. But I walked away with the way that those kids had competed in that game and how they improved and played for one another, and literally walked off the field, my heart hurt, but I was smiling inside because I knew if they continued to compete like that and eliminate the mistakes, that they were going to do something special. And I told them in the locker room right after that how proud I was of them, I loved them, and I knew that if they kept on going like that, they'd look up in November and be really happy. Just try to stay poised, don't show panic, keep the coaching staff together and try to improve our team. You look up, and we were fortunate enough to run off eight straight and be in The Granddaddy of Them All. Q. There is a real interesting dynamic with you guys being a dominant first half team and Penn State getting rolling after the break. Can you explain that at all, and how do you address that as you're game planning and you're doing so well in the first half and they're doing so well in the second? CLAY HELTON: Yeah, definitely. This could be a very different game than we've had in October and November. You look at the games that we've been a part of, and we've been up in the second half several times. So we've had to preach to our football team, this is a 60-minute game. This could be an extremely close game. We may even be down. So the situations, don't panic, show the poise that you've shown. I'm hoping that that Washington game that we had where that was a tight game in the third quarter, and we kind of pulled away, hopefully that our guys learned those lessons. Because when you're talking about a Penn State team that puts up 37 points a game, and you look at what they do in the second half, just when you think you have enough, you better put two or three more up or they're going to catch you. Anytime that you have those type of weapons with Trace, with Barkley, those big wideouts and tight ends, you don't have enough points. We've had to take that aggressive style in the Pac-12 because this league does score a lot of points. You have to be aggressive in the red zone, that means going for it on fourth down some instead of kicking field goals. And this looks like that MO game again, that field goals aren't going to be good enough especially when you have a team putting up 37 points a game. Q. Talking about the Utah game, Justin Davis said yesterday he realized Sam Darnold was their quarterback after the game from the leadership he showed after the game, can you kind of speak on what he's meant to your program and how you guys took off after the Utah game? CLAY HELTON: Yeah, Sam has done such a tremendous job at a young age. I think his maturity of his game is exemplary at this stage of his career. You think about a kid that was thrown into a 1-2 season, asked to go to Utah and perform, and he did. We just lose the game in 16 seconds -- with 16 seconds left on the clock. Then he comes back and he's able to run off eight straight, really protecting the football. I felt getting better and maturing with each game. His humbleness and humility is very, very rare. I'll never forget him going out and throwing five touchdown passes in a game, and I pulled him out of the game late, and he comes over to me, and says, sorry, Coach, I promise I can do better next time. I'll get things right. He knew he made a couple mistakes. And you usually don't see that from a kid. But he's a true perfectionist. He's one of the huge reasons why we're having the success that we've had. I've always said that if you've got a great quarterback, you've got a great team, and that kid has really played great for us this year. Q. Couple housekeeping questions for you. Saw JuJu yesterday, looked like he had some cold sweats and a fever. How is his health today, and how's the health of the rest of the team in general? CLAY HELTON: Yeah, we've all got a little bit of a cold right now, so we've got the cold bug running through us right now. JuJu's got it. He's on a Z-Pak right now, some antibiotics, so hopefully with a couple days. He did practice yesterday. As we know, he's a warrior. We've got a couple other kids that are getting a little bit of a cold, as we've had a little bit of a wet winter here in L.A., but nothing I don't think will hold anybody up. Q. Ronald Jones is a guy that's really picked it up in the second half of the season. What was the turning point for him? CLAY HELTON: I thought his confidence really gained about halfway through the season. Especially when Justin got hurt, you know, and he knew that he was carrying the team on his shoulders. And I saw the play of both kids, both Ro-Jo and Ced Ware, just pick up tremendously over the second half of the season. Because he knew it was on his shoulders while Justin was out. So I'm so proud of Ro-Jo, everybody knows he's a great runner, but when you really look at where he is from day one when he started at USC to where he is now, he's become a better pass catcher out of the back field. He's becoming a better third-down pass protection guy. He's really becoming a more complete player and an every-down player. Where when he first came, he was a kid that you knew you could hand the ball to. Now he can go play 60, 70 plays in a game, and you know he can function and function extremely well. Q. Given the success and the tradition with USC in the Rose Bowl, is there a feeling that you're kind of back where you belong? Because the players all seem to think along those lines. CLAY HELTON: Yeah, I'm so proud for these seniors because it's been a while for us. It's been 2009. We all dreamed as coaches, as players, we dream about playing in this game as USC Trojans. These kids were 10, 12 years old the last time USC has been in the Rose Bowl. So I'm so proud for them for bringing us back to what we feel is truly, truly special for our university. It's one of those things that I know is special for our team to have the opportunity to be in our 34th appearance, try to be the 25th victorious football team. And for us, it's truly special. It doesn't happen very often. We've been playing football 124 years, and to have the Victory Bell, to have the Shillelagh, which is the UCLA game, the Notre Dame, and try to put a Rose Bowl Trophy with that, that's only happened 12 times in 124 years. So they've got an opportunity to be a truly special team. That's a huge thing for our team, a huge goal for our team as we move forward to this game. Q. You're a real enjoy the moment type guy, you've had the opportunity to play in the Rose Bowl against UCLA. But what is it that you're feeling going into this game that makes it so much more special? CLAY HELTON: Just the history of it. The game is iconic. It's bigger than both teams. You just are humbled as a coach and a player to step in that arena at that moment. You've got to think about it. I've got -- most of our coaches have coached 20 years or more and have never been in this game. It's so hard to get to this game. So when you step on that field, you're humbled. I grew up wanting to be a part of this game, and at some point in time I am going to look up and I'm going to go back to being a 12-year-old kid for a second and just let the goose bumps happen and just enjoy the moment. Because it's hard to get here. It's a fight to get here, and I'm going to enjoy every second of it, especially with this team. This has been by far one of the most special teams I've ever been associated with, and a group of guys that I dearly love, and this will be our last time together, with some seniors that have not only had our team's back, but has had my back through some really tough times. So these are members of my family, and it's the last time you get to play a game with them. So to do that last game in the Rose Bowl, that's a story and a fairytale in itself. Q. In your opinion, thinking about the fans, what would it be like on Monday to see two quarterbacks with the ability of Sam Darnold and Trace McSorley? CLAY HELTON: If I'm a fan, I'm getting a big box of popcorn and a Coke and enjoying it. You're talking about two kids that just have -- it's hard to explain -- I always call it the it factor. They just have it. They're winners. They find a way to make their teams successful. They help their teams win very tough games in critical moments. I think about Trace and what he did in that Wisconsin game. It was kind of he willed his team, he found a way to get it done in that second half, and that's what great players do. They just find a way, whether it's executing a play, finishing a drive or finishing the game. And that's what I've seen with these two quarterbacks here. They're two of probably the hottest quarterbacks in the country right now. I think both of them are dynamic in their throwing ability as well as their ability to create. They're both great decision-makers. I mean, Trace is sitting there with 25 touchdowns, only five interceptions. He has a true sense of urgency of getting the ball out, locating the one-on-one situations and pulling the trigger and letting his playmakers make plays for him. And that's a rare commodity. You're talking about two kids that have led their football teams. They're very, very similar. It ought to be a really fun game to watch. Q. I'm interested, have you talked to any past USC coaches with Rose Bowl experience just to see how to handle this or just get some pointers going into this game? CLAY HELTON: I've been very fortunate. I've got two gentlemen on my staff that have been part of Rose Bowl experiences with K.U. and Keary Colbert. Both relying on them a little bit about what they took out of the game, some procedures that went into the game, routines that helped them in that game, and just messaging for the players. It's been the good fortune for them, not only that they were USC Trojans and they were a part of those special games. So it's been nice to lean on them from both the players' aspect and now they're both coaches. It's been a nice, rare commodity to have. Q. One of the things that Tee mentioned this week was when watching Penn State on film, they're not the proverbial slow-footed Big Ten team that they've had the reputation of in the past, and some of the players say they even look like a Pac-12 team. What is your impression of their speed and that element? CLAY HELTON: I think that's a really good assessment, because when you look at them on tape, they have the feel of what we've gone against for the past three months in the Pac-12. You look at them offensively and the amount of skill that they have across the board, they spread you out and they use tempo, no-huddle to be able to operate. That's what we see a lot in this league. Quality quarterback, really talented quarterback, probably the most complete back that we've seen this year in Barkley. Some dynamic wideouts in a spread-type system that spreads you out, and using no-huddle. Defensively, again, athletes on the field. I look at the two defensive ends, both with six sacks apiece, and it's not just from pressures. Those were all four-man rushes. You look at the linebacking corps and what they've been able to do with those pressure schemes as well as the secondary that's done a tremendous job holding up in some one-on-one man coverage teams. Coach Franklin has done a really nice job. He's brought athletes to this program. I think even coming out here to California with Koa Farmer and the athleticism he has. He's put together a really, really athletic football team, a fast football team. And there's a reason they're the Big Ten Champions. He put a lot of speed on the field that's well-coached, and that's the one thing you can't teach is that speed, and he's got it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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