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ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY VIZIO: TCU v WISCONSIN

December 30, 2010

Tejay Johnson

PASADENA, CALIFORNIA

Q. What do you know about Wisconsin? Where'd you grow up?
TEJAY JOHNSON: I grew up in Texas.

Q. So Wisconsin, did you think about this game or anything?
TEJAY JOHNSON: Wisconsin recruited me, and I have one of my good friends in college right now and he's from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, so he talks about the state you all the time.

Q. You don't want to come back there because it's too cold?
TEJAY JOHNSON: Something like that. It's a nice little distance from home.

Q. You guys are actually three-point favorites in this game. Do you feel a little bit that -- you're the first non-automatic qualifier to play in this game, do you feel the pressure's on?
TEJAY JOHNSON: No. We tend not to think about it like pressure of the game. The coaches and especially Coach Patterson does a great job keeping us calm, cool and collected and not letting us get ourselves worked up about it.

Q. Knowing the success you've had and the undefeated seasons, do you feel this is your chance on the big stage to maybe prove that you do belong?
TEJAY JOHNSON: We're going to try to go out and do what we've done all season. It's the last game of the season, and we'll try to go out and play our best and come out quickly.

Q. You said you're from Texas, right?
TEJAY JOHNSON: Yes.

Q. Where?
TEJAY JOHNSON: Dallas, Texas.

Q. (Inaudible) you create leverage, sometimes those safeties are down on the edge?
TEJAY JOHNSON: Running 4-2-5 and having three safeties makes us a lot more flexible in the pass and the run game. As you get those teams, they try to spread you out to five-wide, you have an extra DB on the field. At the same time our safeties are versatile enough where they come down to be sort of like outside linebackers.

Q. I talked to Coach Patterson before the season about how to stop the spread. Are you confident that they will be able to power (Inaudible). It's sort of brawn versus speed and quickness. Are you confident?
TEJAY JOHNSON: Yes, I'm very confident. I think our coaches and coaching staff did a great job of getting us prepared. I feel like as long as we keep the ball in front of us, we'll have a great afternoon.

Q. (Inaudible)?
TEJAY JOHNSON: I think so. Just being a safety in this defense, in the past years, safeties have been number two and three leading tacklers of the team just because of the schematics of the defense.

Q. I'm sure you're getting a lot of questions like how can you stop them, they're so big. Are you getting tired of hearing that?
TEJAY JOHNSON: Just by Coach P, the way he's prepared us, I think we feel prepared and that breeds confidence when you're prepared.
As far as the big versus speed question, yes, we've heard it all week. At the same time I think it's something that people really want to know about because they probably haven't seen a match-up like this before, so they're really curious about how it's going to work out.

Q. From what you've seen when you watch Wisconsin's offense on tape, what is going to be the key for you guys to slow them down?
TEJAY JOHNSON: The key for us will probably be keeping great leverage, being great tacklers and being more physical at the point of attack just because of the way they run the ball and how successful they have been.

Q. I'm sure everybody, fans, coaches, friends are all giving you advice getting ready for this game. What is the best piece of advice you've gotten in dealing with preparation mentally and physically for this game?
TEJAY JOHNSON: Just to stay calm. They're going to make plays, we're going to make plays. Just have to keep a level head throughout the game.

Q. With the experience you went through last year playing on this sort of stage in a BCS bowl game, what did you learn from that that you carried over as a team?
TEJAY JOHNSON: I think the biggest thing that I've seen since we've been here, people have been more cognizant of what they're doing, and making sure they're focused when they need to be focused and on top of their game.

Q. Obviously everything is important in a game. How important do you see the first ten minutes or so getting off to a good start and everybody being calm and not getting caught up?
TEJAY JOHNSON: I feel it's very important. You have to start out and start fast. That's what we've been talking about all year is starting fast and just staying cool. Like if something happens that you don't expect or something unplanned happens, to just stay calm and not get yourself worked up or panic about it.

Q. Everybody's broken it down. They're motivated because they're a non-qualifying team. They're motivated because they want to win as a competitor. What is your motivation that you keep falling back on for this game?
TEJAY JOHNSON: The motivation I find is it's my last college game of my life, so I just want to go out with a bang.

Q. Has it hit you that you're at the Rose Bowl and playing in a game like this on this sort of stage? You guys were on a similar type of stage before, but have you had that moment or will that not come until after the game?
TEJAY JOHNSON: I don't think it will come until after the game.

Q. Is there anything at all about the Wisconsin offense that you draw back from teams that you've played this year? You played a good Utah team, but I don't know if they're similar in size.
TEJAY JOHNSON: Similar to Wisconsin I would say are the BYU and Utah. We played and their physical levels match. Wisconsin is very physical up front and very physical in the offense that they run. That reminds me a lot of the offensive line of Utah and BYU how physical they are and how well they run the ball.

Q. That's a long process from the end of the regular season to the bowl game. You have a lot of media attention and things like this. Is it like let's get the game here already and let's kick this thing off and get it underway?
TEJAY JOHNSON: This has been a long week. Saturday seems so far away. Even today being Thursday, Saturday seems so far away. I'm just really excited and anxious to play.

Q. Tell me about your career and how it's been and has it lived up to your expectation?
TEJAY JOHNSON: It has. I've had some great moments here at TCU, played with some great people, and built some great relationships. It really hasn't hit me yet that I'm about to play my last college game of my life, but I'm sure it will. I feel like it will hit me hard.

Q. What about this group of seniors, these 26 guys, this band of brothers, what you've accomplished? What does it mean to you?
TEJAY JOHNSON: It means a lot. Though a lot of them aren't the freshman class that I came in with because I was a red shirt, we still have a great bond and great relationship.
There are a lot of guys in this senior class that have been there a lot for me, and it's going to be an emotional outcome after the game is over and everything and we all go our separate ways.

Q. Tell me about your relationship with Coach Patterson and what you're going to take from that?
TEJAY JOHNSON: My relationship with Coach P has been a good one. Coming in my freshman year was really intimidating and just being a young player and playing up to his standards was challenging. But as I've grown as a player and over the years, he's been a wonderful coach. Take it from him by going into life lessons that he's always trying to teach us throughout football and just getting up and working hard for what you want every day.

Q. Talk to me about this time of the year versus last year? It looked like last year there were some nerves and you guys made some mistakes in the game that you didn't make all year long.
TEJAY JOHNSON: Yeah, just being on the stage, I think there's always a little anxiety. People are always a little nervous. I think towards the beginning of the game people are a little nervous and a little shaky and not sure what's going to happen and what was going to be the outcome.
But I think this year just being on that stage before and coming back again, we have a lot more confidence and I think people are a lot more prepared and ready to go.

Q. When you think about this football game, you guys are favored over Wisconsin, what are your thoughts on that?
TEJAY JOHNSON: I didn't know that.

End of FastScripts

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