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ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY VIZIO: OREGON v WISCONSINDecember 29, 2011Hroniss GrasuPASADENA, CALIFORNIA Q. Can you talk about your first start? You weren't playing on an Oregon stage. HRONISS GRASU: It was a blessing to be able to get the nod to start the game. I try to look at it as a regular game, but it was hard not to think about playing at Dallas Cowboys Stadium and LSU. A great team, obviously. But I try to do whatever I can to keep my cool. After the first series, I didn't hear the crowd or notice the crowd after the first series, so, a lot of help from my teammates helping me make the play calls. So it was a great experience. Q. Carson said you actually told him to shut‑up? HRONISS GRASU: Yeah, I can't believe he said that. We're all very competitive and want the best for our team. So we all want to make our own calls. But we're on the same page now. If I feel I'm making the right calls but they don't, I tell them I've prepared. I know they've prepared too, but I'm trying to make my case. Q. Well, it is your responsibility? HRONISS GRASU: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Q. Talk about playing and time of possession. Do you feel like the way you explained it, it helps to slow down the game at all (Inaudible)? HRONISS GRASU: I think the way we practice it makes the game a lot slower so I think if we start practicing slower, it will make us play slower. But I don't see that happening. That's because when we play we want to get faster and get better. Coach Kelly will never be satisfied. He always wants us to get better. That's what I like about this offense, and that's why I came here because we play fast and we wear our opponents down. So it's great. Q. A lot of people (Inaudible)? HRONISS GRASU: From watching film, the first clip I saw I was like wow. These guys are work very hard and they're very well disciplined. You can tell they work well together. They'll do whatever they can to find the ball, especially the linebackers. They're very active. They'll find the ball very well, and obviously they've got size. I also think they've got speed too. It's going to be a great match‑up with our speed. We're not small guys either, so I think we'll match‑up very well. Q. Have you played shotgun center before coming here? HRONISS GRASU: Yeah, down in high school in Encino with Brian Bennet and Blake Stanley. I don't think I've ever played other than (Inaudible) center in my career. Q. Is there any additional pressure doing that? If it's off just a little bit, you lose timing? HRONISS GRASU: I try not to think about it. I think the more I think about it, that's when a bad snap will happen. So I do whatever I can not to think about it. Yeah, a bad snap will probably ruin the whole play. But hopefully I haven't had too many of those. Darron hasn't told me I have, so I guess that's good. We practice a lot before practice with me and Darron going under center, just in case. I don't know when that will happen, and shotgun snaps every single day, so preparation is key. Q. Can you talk about Montee and two of the top running backs in the country? That's something that's obviously exciting to fans, but can you talk about it? HRONISS GRASU: I haven't really thought about it. But to say something about t they're two great running backs. They both work very hard, and they both will do whatever they can to help their team win. They're team player type of guys. They'll contribute to the team no matter what. Even if they carry the ball ten times or 25 times, they'll play with a hundred percent effort and do whatever they can to get the W. Q. Probably describe it as a speed versus power thing? HRONISS GRASU: Yeah. Q. What do you think it would be like if those guys were playing on the other team's offense? HRONISS GRASU: I haven't thought about that at all. But I'm sure they'd both do very, very well, because they're both very talented players and they both prepare very hard. With the preparation, I think they'll both fit in both programs very well. Q. Can you talk about the brand of offense? Is that a selling point? HRONISS GRASU: Well, the coaching staff when I came up here, I felt like I was at home. My brother was playing at Washington State at the time and they had offered me as well. But my brother never told me come to Washington State. He told me I should go where I felt at home. So as soon as I got to Eugene and met up with Coach Greatwood and the coaches I felt like I was at home. The academic support that we get was key, And we ran the same type of offense at my high school as Oregon did. And our coaching staff spent the whole week up in Eugene, learning from Coach Kelly and Coach Greatwood and Mark Helfrich. So that was a big key as well. Q. The competition was open for center. Did you feel like you had a shot or were you like I'll wait my turn? HRONISS GRASU: I was always confident in myself, but I took every day, day‑by‑day and step‑by‑step. In fall camp, I didn't look forward to hopefully I get to start against LSU. I said I just want to get better today. I think that's really what helped me win the job. I was trying to be consistent every single day. I didn't look two days ahead of practice, so I think my consistency was key. Q. You said that after the first series things really were good. Was that the last time you felt that? HRONISS GRASU: Yeah, yeah. I'll admit it. I was nervous before the LSU game. But then I sat down and with the help of my teammates I really all the preparation we did, there should be no reason why we shouldn't be able to win the game. So ever since then I've been very calm during warm‑ups. I didn't waste all my energy getting pumped up or anything. So I'm excited. Q. Your teammates say they've never seen you rattled? HRONISS GRASU: I try to be as calm as I can, worry free. If I make a mistake, you know, I don't really freak out about it. I just think about getting better on the next play. I'll never worry about the bad play that I had previously. I just worry about getting the next play done and just play worry‑free. Q. Do you think the whole speed versus power thing gets a little overdone? HRONISS GRASU: It's football. It's football. Both teams are big and fast. You know, the more physical team is going to win. It's going to be a great football game. Both teams have great individual talents, great team chemistry. Their D‑line is great. Our D‑line is great. Our O‑line is good, and their O‑line is good. So it's going to be exciting. Q. You guys have some power too? HRONISS GRASU: Yeah, people say all we've got is speed, but we also have power. During the summer and winter workouts, we don't just work on running and sprinting. We obviously lift, and Coach Radcliffe, a lot of credit to him for giving us the balance of speed and power. Q. This year, correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks to me like you guys are running more power stuff? HRONISS GRASU: Yeah, I've heard a lot from different people like why do you guys always run on the outside or toss the ball? But I know a lot of this year we ran a lot of downhill football, inside zone power. So I don't know where people are getting this stuff from saying that we're afraid to run downhill. But if you look back at a bunch of the game this is season, we ran the ball a lot downhill. Q. Wanted to ask you. I talked to a couple of linemen about LaMichael. Has it changed at all the way you guys have to get going, his running style? HRONISS GRASU: He makes our job a lot easier, I think. He's a great, great running back, but he's also a great teammate ask great leader on this team. He's always getting us pumped up before a game and telling us great job after every single series or play. Blocking for a guy like LaMichael and Kenjon, and blocking for Darron really makes our life a lot easier because they're so talented and very good players. With them, yeah, you have to be patient for our offensive linemen you just try to get downhill, get off the ball, and beat the guy in front of you. Q. What's he like in the huddle? Does anyone ever say anything? HRONISS GRASU: We don't huddle, so, yeah. Q. You don't? HRONISS GRASU: We really don't. Between plays we don't do any of that because we've got to go. Q. Is there any exchanges at all then? HRONISS GRASU: Maybe after a series. Even if it's a bad series or a good series with the result of a touchdown, they always come up to us. We're always sitting down on the bench and catching our breath. They always come up to us and give us fives and tell us how good we're doing. So it's really great getting LaMichael or Darron or Kenjon coming up to us and giving us that compliment. It's great. Q. Any play in your mind stick out with him over the course of your career? Is there any play that involved him? HRONISS GRASU: Yeah, I think in the Cal game. It was the first or second play. Q. This year? HRONISS GRASU: Yeah. We thought the play was supposed to go to the right, but I guess the skill guys heard to go to the left. With no blocking in front of him, he still managed to hit the edge and beat the Cal defenders to the edge and scored a touchdown run. Q. No blocking? HRONISS GRASU: No blocking. It shows how great he is to get a touchdown not doing our job. Q. What was that exchange when he came back to the huddle? HRONISS GRASU: We were all confused. We thought we the whole line thought did we really not hear that? It was kind of funny. When I was a recruit, a commit, I was watching the Oregon at UCLA game back in 2009. And he had the ball on the 2‑yard line or 1‑yard line, and LaMichael got stuffed on the line of scrimmage, but fought his way out and got a 50‑yard gain. That was a play that stuck with me when I was a recruit. Q. For you guy guys, what do you think you took from last year's game that you can maybe apply this year? HRONISS GRASU: I was a red shirt freshman, but all year long I was paying attention. I was trying to pay attention as if I was going to get a shot to play. And in that game last year, I was never‑‑ all year long I don't think we prepared. I think that was the best game that we prepared for all year long. I thought we did very well with all the calls. Did very well during practice. But in the game I guess we just didn't execute. Nick Fairley blocked a few plays and made a few big plays, you know. So I think in the Rose Bowl two years ago people were happy to be there and last year people were happy to be in the BCS game, but now we've got to win it. We can't just be happy to be here. We have to win this game. Q. Do you feel the offensive line, did you guys feel collectively that people were making so much of the offense and people were beating you up. Did that resonate? HRONISS GRASU: Yeah, that's still in the back of my mind. I have a lot of questions like in the past two Bowl games you guys have been physically dominated by the defense. I just want to not just me, but the whole O‑line wants to prove to everyone that we're not going to get dominated. Q. (Inaudible)? HRONISS GRASU: We played great defenses. They're obviously great teams, and I guess they have great time to prepare for this. But a lot of credit to them for being a talented defense. It's very disciplined. They were all very disciplined defenses. In the Auburn game, I think the best defensive player, Nick Fairley, got untouched a few plays. So a lot of credit to them and the teams that beat us. Q. One of your guys was saying LSU's front seven was the best you guys had faced? HRONISS GRASU: They're very talented. They didn't take plays off. They brought it every single play. But there is no reason why we shouldn't have won that game. We gave up no sacks, and I know the rushing game wasn't there. But, yeah. You can't just blame those turnovers on the individual. With O‑linemen, if we blocked better, they wouldn't have been touched. So it was a team loss. It wasn't an individual loss, it was a team loss. Q. But that was probably the biggest factor. HRONISS GRASU: Yeah, yeah. Q. (Inaudible) I heard one of your players saved someone's life? HRONISS GRASU: Yeah, Mark Asper. Some guy was choking on a big piece of prime rib. His son tried to help him out, and I guess he didn't have enough strength or he wasn't able to do it. Of course, Mark Asper, there wouldn't be any other guy I would think to do that but Mark Asper. He got up all calmly and went up behind him and popped that piece of meat right out of his throat. Q. Mark has two girls? HRONISS GRASU: Yeah, he has two girls and that's why we always tease him. For some reason no one knows what's going on, for some reason Mark always knows what's going on. He always knows the answer to everything. He's like, I don't know, like the internet, like a personal internet. He always knows the answer to everything. I'm not surprised at all that Mark was the guy to do that. Q. Can you talk about the confidence of this defense? What do you guys need to do to have success to score the points you guys can score? HRONISS GRASU: They're obviously a very talented defense, all front seven guys are very well disciplined. They play very hard, and they do whatever they can to find the ball. We've just got to execute our plays and be confident in my point calls and our communication and just execute. Q. Has anything changed or what gives you the confidence that you guys are going to be able to come out quicker than the program has in the last couple of bowl games? HRONISS GRASU: Like I said, we just have to execute. We're very well prepared, and I know in the past two bowl games they've been very well prepared. But now we've just got to come out and execute and play to our ability. The way we practice makes the game a lot easier, so I think there should be no reason why we shouldn't be able to come out and execute from the git‑go. Q. Can you talk a little more about what has stood out to you about Wisconsin's defense? HRONISS GRASU: I know the first clip that I saw of Wisconsin immediately jumped out how well the linebackers play and how well and how smart they are and how well they find the ball. So to me it's a great game against a great competition, so I'm excited. Q. For people who haven't paid attention to the job that your defense has done. Just talk about the job they've done especially playing with a team that scores so quickly? HRONISS GRASU: I know a lot of people when they think Oregon, they think offense and how many points we put up on the board. But a lot of credit to our defense. They get a lot of three‑and‑outs. They give a lot of pressure on the quarterback, especially in the Stanford game playing against a great quarterback like Andrew Luck. The defense won that game for us, so a lot of credit to the defense. Q. Do you have family down here? HRONISS GRASU: My whole family. I'm from here. I went to high school in Encino. I lived in the Valley, San Fernando Valley. Yeah, it's awesome. Q. Where'd you go to school? HRONISS GRASU: Crespi, all boys Catholic school. Q. So Crespi is where? HRONISS GRASU: Right on Ventura Boulevard. Q. Did you play Oaks Christian? HRONISS GRASU: We wanted to. But they didn't agree to a contract to play with them. I played Mater Dei. I played Servite in the playoffs, Notre Dame High School. Q. Sure, Notre Dame, Loyola? HRONISS GRASU: Long Beach Poly. Q. How about Loyola? HRONISS GRASU: That was one of our biggest rivals. I don't like to talk about them. I'm kidding. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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