|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL: STANFORD v OKLAHOMA STATEDecember 29, 2011Michael ThomasGLENDALE, ARIZONA MICHAEL THOMAS: They have a bunch of guys that make plays. We got a good plan going for them. I'm confident in our secondary and how they have been playing. Q. Have you been able to simulate your talent in practice? MICHAEL THOMAS: You can't simulate that talent. But for the guys we do have that give us looks, they are doing a great job. That's all you can ask for. Q. Is this BCS‑type game a let‑down because you didn't get in the big enchilada or what? MICHAEL THOMAS: No, no, this is our national championship. This is the only game we are playing. We are playing against one of the best teams in the country. And as far as we're concerned, they probably deserve to be in the national championship. We feel like we deserve to be in the national championship. It didn't work that way. This is our national championship. This is not a let‑down at all. Q. It could be a high‑scoring game or a defensive struggle, you never know? MICHAEL THOMAS: Exactly. That's why you play the game. They have a high‑power offense. We have a potent offense as well that likes to think that they are pretty physical. So like you said, it can go either way. As far as our defense, we want to make sure people don't forget about us. We want to make sure we do everything we can to stop their offense. Q. Michael, you came in as a freshman and the team was down and now you're here. Is this almost sort of surreal that you are to this point? MICHAEL THOMAS: Probably last year. I would say it is more surreal this year. We feel like we belong, and a lot of people probably don't think we belong. We are trying to go out there and take the opportunity to show everyone. When people talk about the better teams in the BCS and better teams in college football, we do belong in that conversation. With this game, we are just looking to put an exclamation mark on our season. Q. Delano was saying he was 100 percent for the Notre Dame game. What's the truth? MICHAEL THOMAS: 100 percent for Delano is‑‑ like you just said, no one really knows what that means. If he says he was 100 percent, I will take it. Q. He has been banged up for a while. Giving a month off, is he back to full strength? MICHAEL THOMAS: He is lifting weights regular, so I would say he is back to what we think is full. Q. You know he has been hurting for quite a while, as well as I do. Tell me about Blackmon. How does he compare to Robert Woods? MICHAEL THOMAS: He is up there. As far as all the great receivers we face this year, we have to put them‑‑ just because watching film, he is dynamic just like the rest of them. Robert Woods probably ranks higher. But Blackmon is one of those receivers like the rest of them we face this year. It is required that we pay attention to where he is at on the field at all times and maybe put two guys over there. Q. Some teams‑‑ as I understand it, Oklahoma covered him three guys sometimes. Is it attempting to overcover him and give up coverage elsewhere? MICHAEL THOMAS: That's not the case. We are definitely not trying to say, all right, we will take away Blackmon and let everybody else do it. That's not the case. There will be situations where we are not going to allow Blackmon to get the ball. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|