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CITI BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: TEXAS v ALABAMAJanuary 4, 2010Mark IngramMike JohnsonColin PeekPASADENA, CALIFORNIA THE MODERATOR: We'll go right into questions. Q. Mark, this question is for you. We spent some time the last session talking with Julio Jones about his role as an unselfish player this year and how he hasn't been a distraction even though he hasn't gotten the ball probably as much as he wanted. That includes downfield blocking for you. What's he meant to your success this season as a running back? MARK INGRAM: He's had a lot to do with it, all the receivers and the tight ends, as well. The offensive line, they block the line of scrimmage, and big runs are created by downfield blocking, and they do a great job of getting ahead on safeties and corners and staying on their blocks downfield to create big running lanes for all of us. They do a great job, and we appreciate it. Q. Colin, can you just talk about first of all why you decided to come to Alabama after transferring from Georgia Tech, and did it turn out better than you ever imagined playing in this type of offense? COLIN PEEK: When I first decided to come to Alabama, it was predominantly the fact that once I met Coach Saban, you sort of fall in love with the man. He has so many tremendous aspects that you really don't get all in first glance. It really takes sort of a meeting and a sit-down with him to understand where he comes from and why he does the things that he does. When you're able to sort of talk to a man like that, it's easy to follow him, and I think that's why our team has had so much success this season is because we all trust him and we all have so much faith in him that we know that whatever game plan he sits down for us, as long as we execute it, we're going to be successful. Then on the other hand, I never -- you pray for this type of success when you go to a place and you always hope that the decision you made was a correct one. In my case it did turn out to be that way. But at the same time, I always told people that just playing in this organization with these teammates and the culture, the tradition, that was enough for me, because you're going to get enough teaching from our coaching staff, which I believe is the top in the nation, to be able to make you a better player first off and foremost. And then you learn so many lessons in life from them, just the way they teach you to really be a man and be accountable and handle yourself off the field. All in all, I don't think I could have made a better decision. Q. Mark, I couldn't help but noticing that you have a big smile on your face. Is this the most fun you've ever had in your life, like at this moment? MARK INGRAM: Just being with my teammates and the coaches, it's just a big family, and just to know that we've set this goal for ourselves way back in the fall and that we're here now and we have the opportunity to do something great is just real fun. I can't think of a better group of guys to do with this, and I'm just enjoying every moment with these guys. It's real early in the morning, but Peek is one of the funniest guys on our team, and I can't help but to laugh when he's talking. (Laughter.) Q. Mark, can you talk about the role of the offensive line and the award you won, and do you feel like they kind of won it with you in a way? MARK INGRAM: Of course. They were on the field every single time, and just everything that I do starts with them; from the point of attack, they've got to get movement, they've got to get a push off the ball because without them doing anything, if they let somebody come through, I can't be successful without them. Everything I've done, 100 percent, they deserve some of the award, too, and that's why I try to give them as much praise, as much acknowledgment as I could because they're kind of like the unsung heroes. They talk about me but they're never on the picture, they're never on the highlights, so I've got to show them love because they deserve it, and they deserve a lot of credit for that award and all the success we've had on our team. Q. For Mike, first of all, blocking for a guy like Mark Ingram, and what makes it easier about that? And then also, could you talk about the match-up you guys have physically with the Texas defensive front, and if you can compare that to anything or what you see in that. MIKE JOHNSON: I think you can see it on film, blocking for a guy like Mark, any time we're able to get him out in space we know he's going to be able to make that extra move, get those extra yards and fight for our team to get those extra yards. When you have a guy with his capability behind you at any time, it's big for us. All we know is we've got to open up a hole for him and he's going to be able to spring a run and fight for those extra yards downfield. Any time you have a guy like that willing to go that extra mile and make those plays for your offense downfield says a lot about the way we play. He's done such a great job for our team this year, and he's such a big reason we are where we are. Just talking about the match-up with Texas, you know, they have a great front seven, they're athletic, have a lot of speed, and they're just a bunch of athletes out there that are always playing together as a team, and any time you have guys of their capability and caliber in that type of scheme playing together, not making mistakes, not making mental errors, it seems like they're always in the right place, and they don't ever have mental errors that open up gaps, and that's why they've been successful stopping the run this year. We're just going to have to do that, go that extra mile, to make sure we get a head on a hat and really finish our blocks because of their athleticism, their abilities. We're just going to have to go that extra mile and make sure we finish and do like I said and let Mark get out in space and do his thing, and we're just going to fight for every yard in this game. Q. Do you try to be the funniest guy on the team, or do they just kind of laugh at your expense? COLIN PEEK: I don't know, I think we all bounce off each other, so it's just situations where we sort of joke around. I think this is what's made our team so cohesive this year is I really feel us as a family. These are my brothers up here on stage with me. Whenever you get a chance to sort of rag on each other, sort of put someone in their place, it's always a moment you want to savor. And then you bring it up later and it's a fun time. I think that's what's made us have that unity like I spoke of, and when you're able to have that chemistry within your offense, which is who I'm with all day, it makes it a lot easier to play with them. It makes it a lot more fun, and you have that accountability factor because you want to do well so your other teammates, your brothers, can have success. It's a blessing just to be able to block for this guy next to me and play next to Mike Johnson just because I know if we do our job up there then Mark is going to do something great and then I get to joke on him about it later after the game. It's fun, but I think we all bounce off each other, but I'd like to take the crown as the funny one on the team. Q. A question about trends in football. Alabama has never beaten Texas, they've never had a Heisman Trophy winner until you, the Sports Illustrated jinx, and now the talk about the Heisman performance in the BCS Championship game, that it's not a good track record. Can you kind of talk about how Bama could wipe the slate clean of all those things with a victory over Texas and prove all those things wrong? MARK INGRAM: Everybody else is focused on little things like that, jinxes and Heisman performances. We're not focused on that at all. After the Florida game when we -- ever since after I won that trophy, we got back and started practicing, our main focus was on doing whatever we could to improve in practice and doing whatever we could to give ourselves a chance to be successful in this game. I'm not too worried about this Heisman jinx or anything like that. I know I have teammates that support me and hold me up and they have my back, and that makes it a lot easier and a lot more relaxing at the same time. But our main focus ever since we've started practicing has been on Texas, has been on doing whatever we could at practices to better ourselves, give ourselves the best opportunity to be successful in this game. We're not too worried about all the other stuff, we're just really mainly focused on doing whatever we can to give ourselves the best chance to be successful. Q. As a follow-up, how much of a challenge has it been to overcome that Heisman hangover being in Manhattan and all that, to getting back to work? MARK INGRAM: It was crazy. From the time my name was said until it was time to get back to practice, just always running around, so many TV shows, a lot of pictures, a lot of signatures, a lot of banquets. It was just kind of -- kind of takes a toll on your body. You need some time to rest because you're always on the go, always moving around. You don't sleep much, you're up late, wake up early. But it was great to finally get back to school and start practicing again because that's all I could think about after I won the trophy was getting back with these guys and getting back to work because all those great accomplishments, won an award and I'm proud to do it for these guys and for the program and for everybody. Our main goal before the season started was we wanted to win the National Championship, so that was my focus after I won the trophy, and I'm just glad that we're here and we have the opportunity to accomplish something great with each other. Q. This is a question for all three of you if you could touch on it just briefly. Looks like you guys are going to have a huge crowd of Alabama people following you out here for this game. Can you talk about that a little bit, how important the fans are for you guys and how much it means to have their support? COLIN PEEK: I guess I'll start this off. You've got to love the Alabama fan base first and foremost. I think if they raised the ticket price to $3,000 a ticket, everyone still in the state of Alabama would buy one. That's how hard-core they are and that's why we love them to death. They're fanatics. That's what makes playing for the University of Alabama so much fun. It's hard to think that you'd have a home game out in California, but we're hoping for the possibility of it, and we know that no matter what happens, our fan base is always behind us and they're always going to support us and they're always going to be there, giving their best effort every Saturday or every Thursday for you. I think on that note, it's great to have fans like that who really ride or die with you, and they're just as much a part of this team as anyone else. Q. Mike, you're one of the few players that was in Shreveport, now the championship game. Talk about not the difference but how far you guys have come, and do you fear losing this opportunity to win a championship? MIKE JOHNSON: Well, you know, to touch on what Colin was saying about our fan base and how far things have come, you know, when Coach Saban got to school, I think I was the only one of us three that were there. He kind of said it's going to take everybody. It's going to take all the fans, everybody in the program to send this team to a championship. It kind of answers both your questions. It's taken everybody, and everybody is here now. Just being in Shreveport, being in Dallas, being in Shreveport two years in a row and feeling that heartbreak last year in New Orleans, it's just taken a lot of work. But it's like I was saying earlier, Coach Saban came in and accepted us as players. We accepted him as coaches, just being from a previous staff. I've been asked a few times how has Coach Saban turned this program around so fast; how has it come about in three years you're already in a championship and you have two successful years in a row. But I think what it is is we already had character guys in place before he got here that were willing to accept who he was as a coach and accept where this team needed to be. Any time you get that kind of mixture, talented players and a great coach, we just accepted what he was trying to tell us and accepted him as a coach and his staff, and it's just been successful. It's just been great for us and a good relationship, and I couldn't have asked for a better ending to my career. Q. Mark, they say winning the Heisman changes things a little bit in your life. Can you talk a little bit about the change, and then maybe Colin, how has Mark changed since he won the Heisman? MARK INGRAM: I remember Tebow said that now it's like you live in a glass house; everybody knows what you're doing, everybody knows who you are. I kind of got that feeling like when I would be in big cities like Atlanta or in Chicago and people were noticing me and trying to get pictures or autographs or running up to me telling me congratulations and things like that. I think that's when I kind of noticed that things changed forever. But it's just all exciting. But you've just got to remember that you can't lose focus on the hard work that you had to get you to where you were and what you had to do to get the success that you have. You've got to keep moving forward, you can't live in the past because you're going to be judged on what you do in the future. We're still focusing, still moving forward, still chugging along. COLIN PEEK: It's funny to think that someone would win a Heisman but still stay as humble, if not even more, than Mark has. I see him as one of my brothers on the team, as one of my best friends. It's funny because even though he won the award, you never even knew it really. The only time you realize it is we'll go out to dinner, and then they'll have a mob squad of people just surrounding him trying to get some autographs, and he tries to be as patient as possible. He's trying to eat his meal. But nothing has really changed. He's such a hard worker and he does so many little things for our team that people don't recognize, and he's such a competitor that really when he got back, his main focus was winning a National Championship. I don't ever think that he expected to win the Heisman. He thought he had a great chance, but he was never going to expect anything. I think the only thing that he was ever really working towards was winning a National Championship. I wish I could rag on him for a little bit about it, but the man hasn't changed. He just stays even more humble, and I think that's just a testament to the person he is and the heart he has. Q. Colin, I've got to believe when he got back you did rag on him about the ceremony; you had to have said something to him that was a little bit off beat. Admit it. COLIN PEEK: The funny thing is I think everyone else was making fun of him. I actually sent him a text message, and I was like, "I don't want to admit this but I actually shed some tears with you up on that stage." I was standing with my family, and I was so heart touched by my friend that I sort of shed some tears. I guess I should be made fun of on that. But when he got back, everyone was sort of giving the crying face and trying to joke on him. But I think he just showed the emotion he has for it. It's really sort of a blessing to see someone step on stage at the Heisman and not expect to win it. It was almost a shock. It was someone showing such raw, genuine emotion that you almost loved the presentation even more because of that feature. I wish I could, but I was sobbing back at my house with him. So I guess he could rag on me for that. Q. You guys being favored in this game, much like you were last year, how much does last year's disappointment run into you guys' minds as you get ready for this game and everybody is talking about you guys like you're supposed to be the big winners once again? How fresh in your memory is that disappointment from last season? MIKE JOHNSON: You know, it was tough for us. We lost a great player at left tackle before the game last year, and really I don't think our heads were where we needed to be going into that game last year. We suffered a big disappointment at the Florida game, and that let down -- that was big for us. We kind of expected to win the Sugar Bowl and really got it handed to us and really got put in our place and realized what it was going to take to win a championship those last two games last year. But I think it served its purpose for us to kind of realize where we needed to be as a team and realize how hard we need to work on a weekly basis, day in and day out, especially leading up to a Bowl game. I think it's really shown this year, you can ask these guys, that we've had spirited practices. We've tried to just keep it up tempo, and I think everybody has done a good job so far of really keeping our focus on where it needs to be, and nobody has had any thoughts of anything else other than winning a National Championship. Our hearts are in it, our minds are in it, and we've just got to go out and perform, and that's going to be the biggest thing for us. Q. Mark, Bama's and Texas' rushing defense are both ranked top in the nation. Do you like the challenge of going against the top ranked rushing defense, and how has going against your own helped you prepare for that during the year? MARK INGRAM: You thrive on opportunities like this. A great defense, great game, biggest game that you hope to play for as a college player. Their defense is just great across the board, so much speed, so many athletes, and they cause a lot of havoc and disrupt a lot of the tempo in people's offense. Our defense and their defense is real similar, and so it's nothing but an advantage for us just to go against them every day in practice and get the look that they give us because they do a lot of similar things, give a lot of similar looks. But yeah, you thrive on opportunities like this. It's a big game, and great opportunities are made in games like this. Great moments are made in games like this. You thrive on it, and we're just looking forward to it. Q. This question is for Mark and Mike, if you could jump in real quick. Can you talk about the contributions of Trent Richardson this year as a freshman? MARK INGRAM: Trent, that's my man, my right-hand man, like my little brother. I kind of took him under my wing when he got here. He's older than me but I say he's my little brother. He's such a great runner, so hard. He runs hard, with a lot of strength, a lot of passion. The kid out there just has a lot of fun. He's like a free spirit out there. He's just having a great time out there. I can't say enough about him because that's like my little brother, and that's like my double-headed monster out there. We complement each other. Just the fact that we know that we have each other, and Roy, too, and all the other running backs, that we always know we're going to have a fresh pair of legs in the game so we can go hard as we can and leave it all on the field every single time because we know if we need somebody, all we have to do is tap our helmet and you have another fresh pair of legs coming in. That's nothing but an advantage for our team and a headache for other teams, that you've got to have a fresh pair of legs coming at you every single play, every single quarter. Even at the end of the game when it's five minutes to go, you have fresh legs coming at you because we've been alternating the whole game. It's another advantage for our team, though. MIKE JOHNSON: Yeah, speaking to what he says, Trent has really come in with an open mind. Even committing here, he didn't know if Glenn was staying, and he knew he had a great runner in front of him, Mark and Roy and even Terry Grant. He just came into it with an open mind and worked really hard to get to where he's gotten. Obviously being from Pensacola, we knew he was a talented guy coming in and heard stories about him coming out of Escambia High School and comparisons to Emmitt Smith and all that. And he's really lived up to that. He's done great, and I couldn't say more about the kid and the job that he's done stepping in as a freshman and helping this team. Really he's been such a huge part of getting us to where we've gotten. We're very fortunate to have him come in the way he has and really work the way he has, and to make that much difference on this football team. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, guys. End of FastScripts |
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