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ROSE BOWL GAME: OHIO STATE VS WASHINGTONDecember 27, 2018Nick HarrisPasadena, California Q. What does it mean to you to be able to come back to your hometown from Inglewood and be able to play, especially like a Bowl game? NICK HARRIS: I mean, it's a pretty cool experience. I grew up around the Rose Bowl and going -- I went to a Rose Bowl when I was a kid and just being from this city, it means a lot to come back and be able to participate in this. It's a big deal for like southern California kids and stuff like that. Q. Do you have memories from high school? NICK HARRIS: Not really because when I was around it, I was kind of like a young kid, but like I have family that literally lives like walking distance from the Rose Bowl. I actually was just there, like same house, same everything. So it's just always seeing it and always being like aware of like the parade and all that stuff is like kind of, you know, what -- my memory of it. Q. You got all academic honorable mention two years in a row. What's your method in being able to balance being a student with contributing? NICK HARRIS: You know, it's time management. We have a busy schedule as student athletes with practice and class and stuff. So just making sure you like, you know, make time for certain things. Make time for homework. Make time for classes and when you're done with that, putting that away and then bringing your mind on football. So that's kind of the main thing is just trying to make time for everything and making sure you get stuff done in a timely fashion. Q. What kind of resources does Washington have for you to succeed well? NICK HARRIS: We have a lot of resources. We have tutors. We have a lot of academic centers that we can go to that are open for help. We have so many resources that we use on a daily basis that kind of don't even think about you. Q. Are you guys quarter or semester? NICK HARRIS: We're a quarter school, so everything goes by fast. Everything kind of rolls by. Q. Do you have a favorite class? NICK HARRIS: I took a sociology class two quarters ago, that was probably my favorite class, most interesting and stuff. Q. Any cool facts that you learned? NICK HARRIS: I don't know if it was facts but just like different perspectives on like social issues and stuff like that. It was pretty interesting to hear. Q. What's a memory that you had with your high school football team? NICK HARRIS: Probably beating Mater Dei my junior year, it was a big deal for the school. That was probably the first time we beat them in school history. My first year starting at JSerra, so that was a big deal for me. That's the biggest thing I can think of. Q. What made you decide to go to Washington? NICK HARRIS: Well, I mean, that's kind of the only like Division I school I had in high school. I knew like I wanted to play at this level. So I mean, when it came, I kind of just took it and didn't really think twice. Just kind of just ran with it. Q. When you were studying film on Ohio State, what position did you focus on? NICK HARRIS: As a center, I kind of like break it down by like days of the week. One day I'll watch just the D-Line and see how they move and how they do stuff, and I'll watch the linebackers and I'll watch the secondary because there's things I need to see on all three of those levels to put our team in the best position. So I kind of watch it like in layers, like I don't just watch one person or one position. I watch everything. So I can see how they work as a group. Q. Can you take us through the three days, what did you see the first day and what did you see the second? NICK HARRIS: Watching the D-Line, watching how they move, their tendencies, their techniques they use on certain blocks and stuff like that. The linebackers, see how they react to different motions and stuff like that, what they do to complement the D-Line and ultimately you watch the secondary just to see how they react to certain things because it can help us get a touchdown or it can be a tackle for loss if I don't say something about it. I kind of take pride in watching that stuff and I watch it for hours and make sure I put us in the best position to win. Q. When you're watching Ohio State's offensive line, who or what stands out about them? NICK HARRIS: I think just they are athletic. They are pretty athletic guys. They move well. They are really good with their hands. Yeah, they are good up front. It's going to be a good competition to go against, definitely. I'm excited to play against them because I, you know, they are good. Q. Jones, a lot of people think he could be a first-round pick. When you go into a matchup like that, do you have any expectations on yourself? Is there something extra that you want to get out of it knowing this is this guy's last game to hoe case? NICK HARRIS: No, I don't really think about it like that. I just think about it, it's just another game. It's just another opponent. The moment you start doing that and you start thinking about who you're going against and what their potential is and stuff like that, that's when it plays with you and it messes with you. You just kind of go into it and trust in yourself and your technique and your game and then execute against them. Yeah, just -- you just focus on yourself. You don't focus on their potential or what they do. Q. Tell me about studying the game they lost. What did you notice about that? NICK HARRIS: It was an interesting game to watch. I think Purdue, they came out to play and kind of had a chip on their shoulder, it kind of looked like. I think Purdue just executed when they needed, and they made big plays and came out with the win. It's an interesting game to watch like watching film than watching the game, because it shows things that doesn't show on TV that put them over the top and made them win that game. Q. What would you say was the most challenging moment for you this season and how did you overcome that? NICK HARRIS: I think probably the most challenging for me, I probably -- I kind of got injured in the first game against Auburn. It's kind of like a lingering thing. Just try to make sure I stay on top of that and make sure I'm as healthy as I can be week-to-week. That's probably the most challenging thing I've had to deal with this year. Q. How do you find yourself managing your time being out here for the Bowl game. I'm sure you're meeting up with family, hanging out? NICK HARRIS: Yeah, mostly it's just making sure my head is where it needs to be at that time. If we're in meetings or if we're at practice, then I should -- you know, my head should be there in football and then practice with the rest and then watch film after practice, and then I can enjoy my family and enjoy the events they have planned for us. Just making sure that I have my head in the right place at the right time is kind of the key to making sure you have the most successful Bowl weeks and stuff like that. Q. You're one of the many guys on this roster that's from southern California. What is it about in the recruiting process that so attracted you to the Seattle area and the program? NICK HARRIS: Yeah, well, for me, it's kind of different. That's the only Division I offer I had was Washington, and I wanted to play divisional football. So I didn't have that many options to play in southern California, so I just took it when it came. Once I got up there, I saw what that school had to offer to me and you know, I took it, and my parents were comfortable with it. So it was a yes for me once I got up there and saw it, but there really was no option at that point. I was going there regardless. Q. So when you come back down here after being up there, what's in your head? I heard you say you want to maintain your focus. NICK HARRIS: Yeah, when I come home, it's mostly to see my family. Sometimes, you know, you get a little homesick, at times. I don't really get homesick like that but kind of want to see my mom and sisters and stuff like that. That's the main thing is just being able to spend time with my family when I get back here. Q. When you see a defensive line like Ohio State's, how do you scout it? What have you seen? What stands out? NICK HARRIS: They are just they are athletic guys and they move real well. They are fluid. They are not real choppy with their movements. Their hands are real good. They use their hands. They strike well and they work as a group well. You rarely see them like misaligned or not doing their assignments. They are really gap-sound. Yeah, it's a good -- they are a good group of guys and should be a good game, a good competition for us. Q. Do you see a lot of individual guys on that game going to the NFL, just guys that kind of stand out especially to Ohio State fans everywhere, but how do you as a group -- you say they play well as a unit, how do you prepare for a unit-based attack? How could you overcome that? NICK HARRIS: It starts with us. We don't really pay too much attention about individual guys on the other side of us. It starts with us. Communication, going out there and playing cohesive as a unit, just making sure that we have our stuff and we are ready to play. And then, you know, once it's game day and we execute and make sure we get after it. It's more about how we prepare than looking at them and trying to make adjustments to them. Q. You mentioned like their use of their hands and that's a big part of what they do and something that Larry Johnson preaches all the time. How do you defend that? I'm sure you've seen that before but what is the first step in terms of depending like a very, very kind of agile and -- like they use their hands a lot. How do you defend that? What's like the first step? NICK HARRIS: Just trusting our technique. There are ways to combat their hand usage that we're taught daily and that we take pride in. So just make sure that every snap we're playing with technique and make sure that we take advantage, if they do happen to mess up, that we take advantage of that, and that could be the difference in the game. That one play in the game they don't use their hands right and we do, it could be a touchdown. So it's just making sure we come every play with the right technique and making sure that we execute when the time -- when it's our time to execute. Q. As you watched Ohio State on video this year, I don't know how much video -- I think you've done a great job of -- all of a sudden, gash play. When you watch them, what's the reasoning for that that you've seen? You said suddenly you get that advantage and you take advantage of it. NICK HARRIS: Throughout like watching film and stuff, like you said, you see them make crazy plays in the backfield. You know, when the time comes, some teams just make bigger plays. That's just the game of football. You know, some teams execute when another team doesn't and that's kind of the case. For the most part, they are pretty sound and when those plays come, you have to take advantage of them. So that's just the key for us is just taking advantage of those plays that somebody happens to be out of their gap that we execute and that could be the difference in the game. Q. How good are their ends from what you've noticed in the video? NICK HARRIS: Yeah, they are explosive, and they get off the ball really well. They try to time snap count and stuff, try to get off the ball. They have an assortment of moves off the edge. Try to keep tackles on their toes and try to keep them guessing and once they start guessing, that's an issue. They are just good players. Q. When you watch No. 86, Jones, I'm sure you've seen him, what jumps out about his game? He's headed to the NFL after this. What do you see that impresses you? NICK HARRIS: Yeah, I mean, he's a good player. Like I said, he uses his hands well. I think that's the most impressive thing I've seen on film is the way he uses his hands; the way he, you know, uses the O-lineman's momentum against him at times and just the way he plays the game. He plays smart. He plays a smart game. He's not just like a head bang and just runs in there. He knows what he's doing out there. That's the thing I've seen most from him. Q. If you just watched the last two games of the regular season, I don't think anybody would mail those in as offensive football gems. But y'all got the job done. What do you think y'all found since then, you think, that y'all could be better offensively than what people last saw? NICK HARRIS: Yeah, I mean, yeah, regarding those two games, I think there's a lot of things that we did well on offense in those games that probably to most people, would seem like it's not good because there's not a lot of points on the board. But there's a lot of good things we did in those games. I think those two games actually have helped us take the next step. It's just we've got to execute more plays, I guess. But we were executing in those games. Just like I said, when the time comes to make those plays, sometimes we didn't and sometimes we did. So it's just making sure when the time comes, when the time arises, we need to execute. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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