VRBO CITRUS BOWL: IOWA VS KENTUCKY

December 5, 2021

Tyler Linderbaum

Camping World Stadium

Iowa Hawkeyes

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Tyler Linderbaum, Big Ten offensive lineman of the year. Tyler, thank you for joining us. Appreciate you being here.

Q. Tyler, I wanted to ask you just kind of about what's the next week to ten days going to be like for you? I think you're probably going to have to go to a couple of banquets around the country. How are you going to be able to kind of rest yourself body-wise, just to get yourself back to kind of normal after a long football season so far?

TYLER LINDERBAUM: We'll have a few days off here with the team getting some time to rest our bodies. Obviously, I'm headed to a banquet this week for the [Rotary Lombardi Award]. I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a cool experience.

Yeah, this time's kind of to let your body rest, let your mind rest, and then obviously we're in a great bowl game. I know the team's excited for that to try to get our 11th win of the year.

Q. Tyler, I take it by your presence you're not opting out of the game?

TYLER LINDERBAUM: Yeah, dumb question, Chad.

Q. Just wanted to get it on the record. I guess how much do you want to get back out there given -- we didn't get to talk to you last night, but I'm sure it was pretty frustrating for you.

TYLER LINDERBAUM: It was a tough experience to obviously get the opportunity to play in a Big Ten Championship Game. Obviously, we didn't perform the way we wanted to perform. You've got to move on, take these two days, rest your mind, rest your body, recover.

We've got an opportunity to play in a great bowl against a great Kentucky team and try to get our 11th win of the season. I think that's going to be our big focus moving on.

Q. Do you know anything at all about Kentucky? Have you watched him play occasionally or anything this season at all?

TYLER LINDERBAUM: I remember watching a few games. If we're waiting in the hotel, watching some clips of them. Obviously, it's a great team. I know they've got some good defensive players. Obviously, I haven't watched enough to tell you about their whole scheme and whatnot. Obviously, they're in the SEC. I think they maybe finished second behind Georgia in their [division], which is pretty impressive.

We're going to have to be ready to go. It's going to be a great team, great competition, and we're going to be excited for the opportunity.

Q. You've noted the 11th win a few times you've been up there. Ten wins obviously was a huge accomplishment for this program. To get that 11th win is another step of rarified air. What would it mean for this team considering everything that you all have been through this year?

TYLER LINDERBAUM: It's going to mean a lot. It's not going to be easy, that's for sure. Obviously, 11-3 sounds a lot better than 10-4. That's going to be our goal. It doesn't happen often around here, 11 wins in this program. Our team's been through a lot this year. To get that 11th win is going to mean a lot to us. We're going to have to work hard and prepare our butts off for this game.

Q. I know you're close with Spencer. How frustrating is it that he gets hurt and has to come out of the game?

TYLER LINDERBAUM: It was a rough night last night for us. Just poor execution all the way around. We had some opportunities to put some points up on the board and get in the end zone, and we just couldn't execute.

Spencer's a guy that he's trying to give everything for his team. Obviously, it sucks that he's getting injured, but that also falls back on us. We've got to protect him better. It's a game of football. It's a physical game. Stuff like that happens. It's kind of the next man in mentality.

Q. Tyler, I know you haven't met as a team. Have you individually looked at the film from yesterday's game, or are you just trying to get that behind you.

TYLER LINDERBAUM: No, I haven't looked at it yet. I didn't get much sleep last night, so I've been sleeping today. I'll probably take a look at it tonight. I can already anticipate what it's going to look like. Not a lot of good things on film, a lot to learn from. It's just stuff you can learn from going into this Kentucky game. We're going to have to move forward with it.

Q. Tyler, Kirk mentioned he felt like you guys expended a lot of emotion and energy into this season. How would you characterize that? Do you kind of feel like you need a little bit of a mental break? That's what he kind of referenced.

TYLER LINDERBAUM: Absolutely. I think guys have given it their all this season. Obviously, Big Ten West champs, that doesn't come easy. We've been through a lot of tough, hard-fought games, especially in that month of November, every game coming down to the wire. Obviously, we played against a great Michigan team.

It kind of hurt. It hurts a lot, not being able to win in Indy, but now a couple days off is going to feel nice mentally and physically. Then it will be time to move on.

Q. Tyler, this is a big month for you. You graduate from college. This is a big deal. Kind of your thoughts on that. Secondly, after you graduate, are you looking for a job? How are you going to evaluate the next few weeks? Your name is getting linked to a lot of NFL clubs already.

TYLER LINDERBAUM: First off, graduated from the University of Iowa. That's important to me, getting a degree from here. I've had a lot of people help me along the way to get that accomplished in 3 1/2 years.

Also, I'm not really looking too far ahead. When the time comes, the time will come. I'm just more focused on our game coming up. I'll talk to the right people, get some insight from the coaches, family members, and people close to me. When a decision has to be made, it will be made. We'll worry about that later.

Q. Tyler, wondering, you've been through a couple of these bowls. Just these 15 practices that you guys get as a team -- obviously, you're an older guy. How do you kind of use them, of these extra 15 bowl practices, obviously, developing for the game but further on afterward?

TYLER LINDERBAUM: I think this bowl prep is huge. I remember all my practices, especially from a younger guy's perspective. We get a lot of younger guys who get a lot of work in. Also, it's time to get better, work on your craft fundamentals, stuff like that. It's not as hard as a fall camp, but it definitely has a fall camp mentality to it, to where you just focus on Iowa football getting better.

I think this has a lot of good things to it. Just 15 practices are a lot of practices to improve your craft.