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ROSE BOWL GAME: OHIO STATE VS WASHINGTONDecember 29, 2018Isaiah PrincePasadena, California Q. What has this week been like for you? You guys got to go to Disneyland, the Lawry's Beef Bowl last night. How has this experience been for you? ISAIAH PRINCE: Just been a really good experience. New city in LA, just enjoying the last few moments with my brothers. This is my senior year, so just trying to take it all in. Q. Obviously it's Coach Meyer's last game. What that has experience been like? ISAIAH PRINCE: It's just definitely crazy, just leaving out one of the best coaches in college football, and what he's done for me is amazing. I can't thank him enough. Q. What kind of challenges does this Washington defense present to you guys? ISAIAH PRINCE: They play really hard. They have really good players on defense. They're a very solid defense. They have two All-Americans on defense. They just play really hard. It's a tough team. Q. What do you think the key is for your offense going into this game? ISAIAH PRINCE: Run the ball, establish the line of scrimmage. That's what we're going to start with. Q. Obviously people are wondering what's the program going to be like without Urban. Just from afar what do you think about where this thing goes? I know you won't be here but you're still excited for the future of the program. ISAIAH PRINCE: We haven't really been focused on that. Our focus is to win the Rose Bowl. But me personally, I'm excited to see what it will be like. I know we have really good -- tons of young guys, and I know Coach Day is a great head coach, but right now our focus is winning the Rose Bowl. Q. When you do hear like a Michigan player say we're building a real powerhouse, do you guys just kind of roll your eyes? ISAIAH PRINCE: We don't really give a reaction. We don't really pay attention to that. We just stay focused on what we've got to do. Q. I wanted to ask you a couple questions about the experience. ISAIAH PRINCE: Right. Q. When you guys are coming out here, it's kind of rare for Ohio State to be a part of this. What is it like for you to be going through all these processes, whether it's the improv night, Beef Bowl, things like that? ISAIAH PRINCE: Definitely a crazy experience. I'm just trying to take advantage of it all and soak it all in because it's an experience not many people get to witness, and just to enjoy that moment with my brothers, like going to Disneyland. I always wanted to do that since I was a kid. Just enjoying those times with my brothers. Q. Speaking of which, just looking around here, being able to soak in this experience, seeing all your guys with you here, what is it like going through this whole season with this group of guys? ISAIAH PRINCE: It's been great. I wouldn't trade them for anything. I'm really thankful for this group of guys, and I'm really thankful I got to spend my last senior season with them. Q. Does it feel any more special that your last game is going to be the Rose Bowl Game? ISAIAH PRINCE: Yeah, no, definitely. The Rose Bowl is the granddaddy of them all, it's a great historical bowl game, and I'm excited to be a part of it. It's a big thing for us. Q. Being able to walk out into this area where you're going to have half the fans in scarlet, half of them in purple, do you get goosebumps thinking about that? ISAIAH PRINCE: Yeah, I do. I mean, the atmosphere is going to be crazy. Q. How are you balancing all this fun, all this Disneyland and Beef Bowl with the importance of the game? ISAIAH PRINCE: I think we have a good maturity on the team. We have great leadership from the coaches and the captains, and people in charge of their units, the assistant coaches, are just staying focused. When we need to be focused in practice, everybody just gives 110 percent focus just for those few hours that we get to prepare for this game, and then enjoy your free time. Q. Have you ever visited Southern California before? ISAIAH PRINCE: No, this is my first time being in California. Q. What's been your favorite event or most exciting moment thus far? ISAIAH PRINCE: My favorite event was Disneyland. I always wanted to go since I was a kid, and I never got a chance to go, so this was my first time, so that was definitely one of the best experiences I had here. Q. The beginning of the season there were a lot of question marks with Urban Meyer missing the first three games. How did you regroup and focus and have such a good season? So many teams would crumble with that pressure. ISAIAH PRINCE: We just had a chip on our shoulder all training camp. With everything going on, we just -- everybody was talking bad about us, people didn't even have us going to the Big Ten -- had us like sixth in the Big Ten. We just had a chip on our shoulder, and we wanted to prove people wrong, and I think that definitely showed, especially with the great leadership from Coach Day. Q. I wanted to know what Dwayne was meant to the team. You protect him all the time. Talk about his leadership, his skills on the field, off the field. ISAIAH PRINCE: Dwayne is a great leader. He's a great friend personally of mine. Just a great guy that cares about his teammates, and you can definitely see that in the way he leads and the way he plays. Everything he does is for us, and it's not really about him. It's about everybody else to him, and I think that's one of the great qualities of him as a leader. Q. I know what you're going to say because you have to say it, but is there a little bit of a disappointment that you weren't in the top four? ISAIAH PRINCE: Top four? Q. For the College Football Playoff, Oklahoma shouldn't be there, you should be there? ISAIAH PRINCE: I mean -- Q. We all know if you played on a neutral field, you would destroy the Sooners. ISAIAH PRINCE: I mean, it is what it is. We didn't take care of business. It's on us. You can't lose a game. It is what it is. You've got to accept what it is. The Rose Bowl is still a great game to be a part of, so take advantage of it. Q. What year are you? ISAIAH PRINCE: I'm a senior. Q. So this is your last game? ISAIAH PRINCE: Yeah, this is my last game as a Buckeye. Q. What will be going through your head as you head down the tunnel? ISAIAH PRINCE: Just a lot of the great memories throughout the course of the four years, just thinking back and just capturing this last moment that I have, just soak it all in. Q. What do you know about Washington's defense? ISAIAH PRINCE: They're tough guys, pretty solid. They've got two-All-Americans on their defense. They play really hard. It's a tough team. Q. When you take a look at them on film, do they remind you of anybody that you've played this year? ISAIAH PRINCE: Really I think each defense we've played this year had its own identity. These guys are just different. They play different. It's a different front than we've seen this year. It's a different group of guys. Q. How does this compare to some of the other bowl games? You've played two so far. I know you still have a little ways to go, but how does this compare? ISAIAH PRINCE: I mean, it's the granddaddy of them all. It's a great bowl game to be a part of. I think we're all excited to be here. A lot of us have never been to California before, so this is a great experience for all of us. Q. Tell me about your experience at Disneyland. You're smiling already. ISAIAH PRINCE: That was definitely one of my favorite experiences. I always wanted to go to Disneyland as a kid, and just being there for the first time, it was just like, well, I always wanted to do this. Q. Tell me what you remember. Was there a ride or did you meet Snow White or Pinocchio? ISAIAH PRINCE: I took a picture with the Black Panther. I had to, especially after seeing the movie. It was one of my favorite movies, so that was definitely one of the highlights of my day at Disneyland. Q. How about the rides, did you go on any? ISAIAH PRINCE: I went on about three. They had an incredible roller coaster. It was actually a really fast roller coaster. It was cool. It was fun. I really enjoyed myself. Q. You're a big guy. How was your fit on the roller coaster? ISAIAH PRINCE: It wasn't too bad. I got in there. Q. The journey almost over; what do you look back on? The finality of it, has it hit you yet? ISAIAH PRINCE: No, it hasn't really hit me. I haven't been really thinking about it too much. I just try to stay focused for the game. Every now and then I catch myself thinking about it and get a little sad. Q. You guys obviously wanted to be in the playoff, but this is the Rose Bowl, this is your last game, Urban Meyer's last game. Do you feel like this is one you have to win just because it's the last game? ISAIAH PRINCE: Yeah, we feel like that about every game, but especially this one. It's the granddaddy of them all. It's a great bowl game to be a part of. It's a great experience. And there's a lot of us in the program our last game as a Buckeye, so we're going to make the best of it. Q. Is there a different feel going into this game this year than there was maybe going into the Cotton Bowl last year? ISAIAH PRINCE: I don't think there's any difference. I think we prepare for every team the same way, and there's not a difference, depending on the situation. Q. Josh Alabi has been taking a lot of first-team reps this week at left tackle. How do you feel like he's stepped in there, potentially having to start the game on Tuesday? ISAIAH PRINCE: I think Josh is a hard-working guy. If he's going to play in the game, I trust that he's going to do the right things. Q. Looks like Brandon has been getting in there, getting some good work, as well. What have you seen from Brandon as he's recovered from injury this year? ISAIAH PRINCE: He's finally getting back to the Brandon that we knew when he was a starter, and I'm happy to see that for him after him sitting out for so long. Just happy for that guy. Q. I wanted to ask you about Michael and the transition he made. How did he adjust to that, and talk about that transition for him. ISAIAH PRINCE: I think Mike played pretty good this year at center. I think he helped the team a lot. I think how he handled the situation was very mature of him, just stepping into a new position, and not really knowing how to play and playing in the game. I think he handled that situation very maturely. He did the best that he can, and I think he had a good year. Q. I know Brandon had a tough recovery coming back from his injury. What did you do as someone who's a leader or veteran who's known him to kind of help him through that and get back to where he is now? ISAIAH PRINCE: Just talk to him, hang out with him. You know, it's got to be about football. Sometimes it'll be on his mind, and you haven't played in a while and you're not healthy, I know that bothers people. He's one of my brothers, just kind of stick with him, hang out with him, be boys. It's a credit to him to work hard, and I know he's a self-motivated guy, so he'll work hard to get back. Q. What are your impressions of Nicholas? ISAIAH PRINCE: Petit? He's a great kid. I think he's a really good player. I think he has a really good chance to be a good football player at Ohio State. He's just young, and he has a lot to learn. Q. What have you seen in terms of his growth? ISAIAH PRINCE: I think he's grown. I think he's grown a lot over the year, especially in his pass sets, just being physical. I think Nick has grown a lot over the course of this year. Q. Is there any young guy that surprised you, someone that's started to emerge a little bit? ISAIAH PRINCE: Josh Myers and Wyatt Davis have really stood out to me throughout the course of bowl practice. They just display toughness, and they've been working really hard, and it's exciting to see the young guys come up. Q. Josh seems like he feels pretty comfortable at center right now, right? What do you think he can be? ISAIAH PRINCE: Nobody knows it but Josh is crazy strong, and when he plays physical with that motor, I don't think anybody can stop him. Just seeing that is exciting. Q. He came in from an offense that mostly ran the ball in high school. Was the struggle to get him developed in pass pro when he got here? ISAIAH PRINCE: I think, yeah, he's developed pass pro, just understanding the offense a little better as a center. He's the centerpiece of the offense. As the center you've got to call the shots and just develop that throughout the game mentally. Q. What did it do for this offense? We know what you guys have done all year, but when you did what you did against Michigan and that defense, what does it do going into a game like this when you're facing another great defense? ISAIAH PRINCE: Definitely it gives you a little bit of momentum because you know what you're capable of. It's the standard, and you always want to play to that standard, and I think we all have that expectation that we're going to do that Tuesday night. Q. That's an easy thing for a lot of Ohio State fans to understand, that Michigan defense was No. 1, you guys did what you did. Is there anything in comparison when you look at this Washington defense compared to that Michigan defense, any way you can explain what this Washington defense does well? ISAIAH PRINCE: They just give great effort. Like they're all flying to the ball. When you see somebody getting tackled, at least eight of them are on the tackle. Like they're all flying to the ball. They have incredible work ethic. It's going to be a tough game. They play tough. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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