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ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY VIZIO: OREGON v WISCONSINDecember 29, 2011Darron ThomasPASADENA, CALIFORNIA Q. What do you think about the picture of LaMichael? DARRON THOMAS: I haven't seen it yet but I heard about it, and he's one of those guys, you never know if he's playing or is he really scared. I think Mike knew they was taking pictures and he's a guy that's really funny. He maybe just did it to act like he's scared, but I don't think he's that scared of a guy. He's a very funny guy. Q. Do you like rides? DARRON THOMAS: Oh, yeah. I ride roller coasters all the time. I haven't rode them, as tall as I am, kind of kiddy rides, so I haven't really been on them. Q. You did the teacups, we heard. DARRON THOMAS: Teacups, nah. Q. The last time the team was down‑‑ DARRON THOMAS: That was really a focused experience for me. Last time I was here, I wasn't the guy that was coming out in practice, Jeremiah was the starting quarterback and helping him get prepared and ready to go. This year I'm a little more focused because it's on me to come out and play the game. It's helping me to get focused and ready to go and the team has done a good job preparing and we are taking this as a business trip, not really as a trip to go and have fun as a vacation, really just to come out and handle business. Q. Is there any notion two years ago that you thought you had any chance of getting in the game? DARRON THOMAS: Not at all. I was redshirting at the time and it was my last game redshirting, but it was getting Jeremiah prepared to get ready. It wasn't like we was just walking through having a vacation. But it was also getting the defense ready and I was also helping on the scout team. Q. Inaudible. DARRON THOMAS: I think I still have a lot to grow because I'm so immature to this quarterback position. I've only been playing a couple of years. But I love it, fell in love with the quarterback position and I just want to get better. But try to work on really throwing and passing and working on my action and things like that, but I feel like I can complete any ball that I want to throw and let go and put it any position I want to get in and working through things like that is just going to steadily improve day‑to‑day. Still have a lot to improve on but I still have gained a lot. Q. Inaudible. DARRON THOMAS: The biggest challenges, maybe just getting on the field and making sure you know everything. I've got a lot of young guys on my offense that I have to adjust everywhere, put everywhere that really they didn't know too much at the beginning of the season. So it helped me also by helping out the younger guys, because now I know everything about our offense and can put guys anywhere, wherever I want to put them. The big learning curve is just getting in the film room and learning everything and not being the guy that can watch film and just think they can come out and play the game. Q. Inaudible. DARRON THOMAS: You've got De'Anthony, one of the smartest guys. He's not a guy that came in and wasn't smart.  You tell him one or two times, he's going to know and he's going to remember. But you've got guys like Hroniss, he does a big job for our team. Not only the center, snap the ball and adjusts protections. He sees things. He's a new guy, he starts seeing things and really a lot of guys attack him because he's the new guy on the offensive line. He did a great job holding his ground and he's got a lot of young guys on his team, some big time players that are young guys but they are really smart guys and helping them adjust and just seeing their value on the team has really made me happy. Q. With the extra time to prepare, has Chip added some new wrinkles to the playbook for this game? DARRON THOMAS: Not really. Coming out the last two and three BCS games really came out with some different things. But I think this time we are coming out with doing our deal, coming out zone reading, playing off the zone read and just coming out and being consistent in what we do, really not too many tricks. We never really run too many tricks. A lot of people say we are doing trickery things, but it's not trickery. We are just a team that's going to come out with the ball the way we do it. I think we are just going to come out ready to go with the same thing we've seen on film, just have to make sure we are executing and playing the game and winning. Q. Did it help‑‑ DARRON THOMAS: Really no emphasis on running the ball even more, but like I said we have got two great running backs, three great running backs. Two of them‑‑ one over a thousand yards, running close to a thousand yards; so I think they can do the job running the ball and they are good when the ball is in their hand. But if I've got to run the ball, it's easy for me also. Q. Is your knee 100%? DARRON THOMAS: It's getting 100%. Still getting healthier day by day but I'm ready to go. I'm full 100% ready to go, full 100% confident in my knee. Q. When did you start playing quarterback? DARRON THOMAS: I started playing quarterback my junior year in high school. Never thought about playing quarterback but really learned, I just learned from running zone read a lot to being the passer that I am. Really my senior year started throwing the ball and started learning a lot about throwing the ball. Q. What did you play previously? DARRON THOMAS: I was a defensive back, really a big time receiver and defensive back. Q. Do you ever feel a little bit lost in the shuffle, people talking about quarterbacks in the Pac 12? DARRON THOMAS:  My name is going to come out one day or another, it's just winning the game, maybe just getting this big win. No, those guys, Andrew Luck is one of the top two quarterbacks. I respect those guys for what they do. They are great quarterbacks; some of those guys, the great plays they make, they are great quarterbacks. So all I do is respect those guys and I know they are good guys that can play quarterback and if anybody else‑‑ Andrew Luck is a guy that can get over Matt Barkley so not really worried about how much fame I'm getting from this quarterback position. Q. You played in last year's game, such a huge stage, the BCS game, what did you learn from that? Did you take anything away from having played in that game? DARRON THOMAS: Oh, yeah, you learned a lot from that game. You really learned about‑‑ it really helps just the atmosphere, you are really not too worried about the atmosphere now. Guys who first time are in the game, really just wide‑eyed really. You really get adjusted into the game by the second and third quarter but coming out from the jump, we are comfortable playing in these type of games, I'm comfortable because I've played in four or five of these games, big‑time games and every game is a big‑time game for us because everybody wants to knock us off so they come with their best punch. I feel ready to go. The atmosphere is going to be calm for us, which I've never played in a Rose Bowl but I've played in enough games that I'm going to be comfortable and not nervous about things going on around me. Q. Are you surprised Matt Barkley decided‑‑ DARRON THOMAS: He's a great quarterback and has a lot to accomplish up there and he had a great season this year and I think he's going to put together some consistent seasons to show everybody that he's a great quarterback. And we've got a young team and they can go out, they try to come out and win the Pac 12 and they have got a goal. Q. Are you lobbying for LaMichael? DARRON THOMAS: He's one of the great guys that have performed out here. Did he a lot of things for Oregon and he's going to continue to do a lot of things for Oregon. He's a guy that like I say, he's just come out and do thinks hinge. He's not a guy that's going to talk it up and he's a guy that's going to just bust his butt and come out and just run the ball as hard as possible. Q. So you're not going to lobby him one way or the other to come back? DARRON THOMAS: Not at all. It's his mind what he's going to do. He's really not having told nobody what he's going to do but all I told the team is that he's coming out really prepared for this game 100%. It's in nobody's mind that he's leaving right now but everybody knows he has done great things here and if he leaves, we all are going to be giving him happy hands and giving his farewell because he deserves an opportunity. Q. What are your impressions‑‑ DARRON THOMAS: I think Russell is one of the most consistent guys. I was looking at him since NC State, he's a great guy, he take care of the football as a quarterback. That's one thing you want to do, you want to take care of the football. If you can throw 30 touchdowns and only have three or four picks, I think that's the best positive ratios you can get. Q. Is it a speed versus power‑‑ DARRON THOMAS: Who? Q. Montee and just the running style. DARRON THOMAS: I think LaMichael is really ‑‑ he's a powerful guy. A lot of people don't think he's a very powerful guy but he runs with power. He's not the fastest guy‑‑ definition of running with speed, but LaMichael he's a powerful guy. I think Montee Ball is a bigger guy. He really runs with speed, too, and has got nice movement. But a LaMichael is a guy that finish the play from anywhere. He's got a little bit of everything; he's got a little bit of juice, power, he can run fast. He is an all‑around guy. Montee Ball is also a great running back, he can run the ball all around. I can see him break runs. I don't think he will break, but he's a very powerful guy. But I think they are two similar backs, rather than different. Q. Talk to you at all‑‑ recognizing a defensive quarterback? DARRON THOMAS: Oh, yeah, sometimes it really gets to me but I'm a team guy. I'm a guy that wants the team to get the victories. I know at the end of the day, it's going to pay off at the end of the day. If I keep working hard and keep my head down and just keep grinding through all the things that I have to grind through at the end of the day, hopefully it will payoff. I know I've been doing great things and I know the team respect me and I just want to give the respect to the team and for them to trust me and them to be 100% behind me. Q. Inaudible. DARRON THOMAS: Oh, yeah, I talked to a lot of those guys. Those guys keep my head up, they respect me a lot and they think I go out and do great things. Maybe don't get a lot of respect in the media, but I think a lot of the teams that I play against, they know about me and when they see me on film, they try to prepare to stop me. Q. Looking back, you answer questions about what happened‑‑ gotten better for, from your perspective, and everybody makes mistakes, what do you think is important when mistakes happen? DARRON THOMAS: Wise men all told me, it's not about what you did, it's about how you bounce back from it. It's about how you're going to show guys that you are a strong guy and you can come back from things that you did wrong. Everybody is going to learn things but everybody is going to do bad things but you've got to learn from them. You can't be a guy that's consistently going to make mistakes, and nobody is really going to trust you. So I just learned from a lot of guys and got a lot of knowledge from a lot of guys that have called to me and talked to me about doing the right things and things like that. I have a family to feed back home and I really can't give up on this opportunity that I have and God have blessed me with this opportunity and I really can't just let Him down on what He has blessed me with. Q. After losing the last couple of BCS games, is there pressure on you guys to win one? DARRON THOMAS: Oh, no, it's not really pressure but we want to win one. I have lost one, my fellow quarterback has lost one and the team together has lost two in a row. So it's pressure for us to come out, get a victory. But I don't think none of us is walking around like, hey if we don't get this victory something going to happen bad. We want to get this victory just for us, for our team, our coach, for everybody who bust their butt all year round. So it's just really‑‑ it pays off at the end if we get this victory. Q. How did it feel to look at the TDrecord? DARRON THOMAS: I really enjoyed getting the TD record but all of the guys who caught touchdowns for me this year‑‑ I want to continue to make more touchdowns, if I can get that record a little bit higher. I won't break it any time too soon but I love it, just love throwing touchdowns. A lot of players always ask me, why you don't run the ball, are you going to run the ball in this offense‑‑ well I want to play quarterback and throw touchdowns and I have did that consistently. Q. Inaudible. DARRON THOMAS: Just coming out‑‑ executing the ball not before the game, after the game, talking trash. Respect your opponent. Just come out from whistle to whistle, play as hard as you can; when the whistle blows you stop playing the game and just play with respect. We have a good team and we have been ranked high. A lot of guys look up to us. So you've got to look at all our opponents who are looking up to us who want to do things that we are doing. And so we have to show guys‑‑ our coach tells us show guys the way it's done and show guys the Oregon way, and that's what we come out and do. Q. Can you talk about what you've seen from Wisconsin defensively on film and the challenges they present? DARRON THOMAS: They are a great team. They are an all around equal team and they are not going to do nothing that's going to shake you up and they are not going to show you a look that you have not seen. They are a base team and going to come out and do their thing. They know their defense to a T and they know everything about their defense, and know their adjustments, but really not too much going to confuse you. I know the defense to a T but it's just about coming out and executing against that defense because you know what defense they are going to be in; you just have to execute against it, because they are a smart group of guys. Q. The comparison to Stanford, is that accurate? DARRON THOMAS: Not really too much Stanford because they have got a different defense at Stanford. A couple of teams that we have played have played a similar defense but maybe the weight, size and how big they are maybe is a good comparison to Stanford. Q. So who had an impact on you ‑‑ DARRON THOMAS: Who had the biggest impact? Maybe my high school coach, he's a guy that gave me the opportunity to play quarterback out of nowhere. He just asked me to play and just told me, come in and make sure I learned it. But pushed me through this quarterback because I had a lot of stressful times just moving from a position where I never through the ball at all to being the guy and being the team leader, things like that. But my mother has pushed me a lot. She has helped me through a lot of things just overcoming all of the downtime. She's not really down on me about anything. She's just happy with the success I have, and if everything is in today, I think she still put a smile on her face about the success. But I just have learned a lot of stuff and I'm just happy to be in this position. My mother and high school coach have did a wonderful job just pushing me. My high school coach pushes me to this day, he don't care what the record is. He's a guy that is always going to strive to get better and wants to see the best come out of me. I talk to this guy almost every week. He's a guy that he's going to call me just to update me about anything going around the world he updates me about. He's a lovable guy, one of the guys that help me and help me get here to this day. He also helped me get to Oregon because he influenced me to come out here and just take a look. Q. What's his name? DARRON THOMAS: Coach Jones. He's Bob Jones‑‑ willing to talk to you. Q. Inaudible. DARRON THOMAS: You go to college to learn things. I have been my own man since I was about 17 coming out to Oregon on my own, been around, a lot of people that I didn't know just making the adjustments, just trusting everybody. But I have learned a lot that I take back home. Even now, just going back home and being a smarter guy than other guys who have just been at home not really up to nothing. But have learned a lot from the coaches and the players and I think you take those‑‑ you take those into life and the next two and three years and it's going to pay off just being a smart guy and with those resources that I have. Q. You said that Wisconsin does remind you of a couple of defenses you faced; which ones were those? DARRON THOMAS: Wisconsin is a similar team to the Arizona State defense. They are really a base defense team that does a lot of great things, has a lot of great athletes, good linebackers and really good run‑stopping team. So I think Arizona State has been a close comparison to me just looking at them and getting the feel of them and just their defense and what defense they play. Q. So does that give you confidence just because knowing what you were able to do against Arizona State? DARRON THOMAS: Oh, no, not really much confidence because you have a lot of different players out there that's going to do different things. Arizona State got a good set of group but these guys are very disciplined and much more mature about their defense. Q. Do defenses have an advantage to prepare for you guys in the off‑season? DARRON THOMAS: I think it helps both ways. I think we have got a little bit more time preparing against their defense and they have got a little bit more time. But it's all equal game to us. No matter how much time you have got and how much time you have ready to go, you still have to come out and execute it on the field no matter what. If you have three months to five days to get ready, I think both ways you have to come out executing because the defense got five days, the offense only got five days to prepare all days, also, so it's an equal thing. Q. What would you do differently‑‑ DARRON THOMAS: I think we are going to take care of the ball. I think we have a bigger emphasis on taking care of the ball. But come out and play the game really the same way. We have got younger guys that's going to be more mature like De'Anthony; Kenjon is a more mature guy, more emphasize ball security and things like that. But we kind of find‑‑ first game just looking for some guys, some receivers and things like that but now we have got a set group together. We have got the guys that are going to come out and be consistent. But I give our hats off to that defense, ready to go. All around their team was ready to go, a little bit faster than ours, because it was a mature team but I think we have grown a lot and ready to grow against anybody. Q. Are you better at taking the ball now than you were‑‑ DARRON THOMAS: Oh, yeah, that was really like the most turnovers we ever had in that game. And I think‑‑ I don't think we had fun maybe out there, once or twice after that, and he fumbled like three times in that game, just being a young guy not knowing that people want to knock out the ball and maybe do a little bit more about tackling. Q. You've seen an evolution over the last couple of years with the coaching of the offense, still Chip's offense, do you see it any different? DARRON THOMAS: Oh, yeah, Coach Helfrich did a good job coming in with his offense. I think Chip gets a lot of the publicity about the offense but Coach Helfrich does the dirty work and teaches us about everything because Kelly gets all the fame for it, but I don't think Coach Helfrich is worried about that. He's just worried about getting us prepared. He's a guy like me, he's worried about the team and making guys happy. He's one of the coaches on the team that everybody loves, not the offense but the defense and everybody thinks he's a cool guy. He does all the dirty work for Coach Kelly, making sure we know what we need to do. Coach Kelly don't have to speak too much about what we are doing. Q. Do you have a sense for how much input he has on a play‑to‑play basis? DARRON THOMAS: I think he has a lot. All week he comes out and prepares us. He's a guy that write the scripts every day for practice. He's a guy that's getting us prepared for practice and I think he has a lot of emphasis in Coach Kelly on what things we can do the best and what things we can run. But we have ran a lot of his offense, not last year ‑‑ but we ran a little bit last year but this year we have did a lot running his styles of offense. When I look back at some of his film and his former teams and things like that‑‑ but I think we did a lot. It's really 50/50 thing right now for the offense. Q. That you've integrated ‑‑ what's an example or a play that you've incorporated that Coach Helfrich brought? DARRON THOMAS: Really a lot of plays. Coach Kelly and him have really similar minds. They come from really the same backgrounds. Coach Helfrich know a little bit about under center, so I play a little under center times. We run the same play that he ran our center in the gun. So a lot of the plays that they ran this year was a lot of new plays that we ran just because of the style of offense we got. And he knows how to work with speed guys and getting guys in the best position to put the ball in their hands. I think it's an equal thing and they both come out and do a good job. Q. Inaudible. DARRON THOMAS: He's a funny guy and has been to a lot of different places and knows a lot of different guys, Coach‑‑ I know many different ethnic groups and many different players, and he just love to coach and he's an open guy, talks to us about anything and he just love to play the game and love to coach the game and that's one thing you like about him. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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