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TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL: STANFORD v OKLAHOMA STATEDecember 30, 2011Andrew LuckGLENDALE, ARIZONA ANDREW LUCK: I try not to wear Stanford clothing when I go out. It is easier to walk around. Some people will notice me; some won't. I think it is just the nature of playing the quarterback position and having somewhat of a spotlight on you. But it is all right. Q. I asked the other day if your dad consulted you the other day if your dad consulted with you for his position. What was it like growing up as a former quarterback as a dad and an AD at a school on the other side of the country? That's got to be a unique experience as well. ANDREW LUCK: Absolutely. I find it very interesting because people ask him questions about the other side of college football. You have the student‑athlete part and then you have the administration. It is interesting for me to hear about maybe what he has to go through, the decisions he has to make, maybe the financial stuff or the conference stuff. I enjoy it. I enjoy just picking his brain about it every now and then. Q. Have you been around Dana much? We enjoyed him at Oklahoma State. He is an acquired taste and he is a different kind of character. ANDREW LUCK: I haven't been around him much. I haven't been to West Virginia since I was two years old. I will be able to go see the house and everything after this game. Hopefully I will be able to meet Coach Holgorsen. From what I have heard from my dad, they get along very well. Q. You have been down at the Manning academy. Is that where you have had a chance to be around Brandon Weeden? ANDREW LUCK: Absolutely. It is a great deal for all the college quarterbacks to get together. Q. That's what I hear. ANDREW LUCK: To meet everybody and talk ball and even outside of ball. It is a fun experience for all of us. It has been a pleasure getting to know Brandon as well. Q. Are you one of those guys that hangs out and listens to Peyton and Eli and Archie tell stories? ANDREW LUCK: I think you have to if you are a high school or college or middle school quarterback. You definitely have to try to soak up as much as you can from them. Q. What's your relationship with Brandon? I know you went to camps and things like that? ANDREW LUCK: I have known him the past two years, see each other once in the summer. Easy to talk to, great personality. Good guy. I'm looking forward to being on the same field with him coming up shortly soon. Q. When you guys talk and everything, do you talk about football? What do you generally talk about? Mechanics? Anything like that? ANDREW LUCK: Not really, just recount interesting football stories or stories in general. I listened to him talking about his minor baseball experience and how that helped or his college football experience. That was very interesting to me. Q. When you watch him play, analyze him from quarterback to quarterback. ANDREW LUCK: I think he can make all the throws, monster arm. You can tell he is very comfortable in his offense. He definitely understands what they are trying to accomplish and I think how he fits into that role and this is just from, you know, highlights and maybe games and games I have seen because obviously I'm watching more of the defensive film than offensive. You can tell he has a mastery of the offense. Q. Is there something you can learn from him? Maybe "I can do it that way," or something like that? ANDREW LUCK: I try to watch as much quarterbacks as I can. I think he is one of the best in college football. Take bits and pieces of NFL or college quarterbacks and try to apply it to your own game. Like I said, I have only really seen highlights in games. He does a lot of great things. Q. Obviously everyone talked about you being the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft coming up. When you look at your game at your stage of the career, where are you looking at? ANDREW LUCK: I think the old cliche, always trying to improve. Especially in the footwork, consistency in that department, continuing to understand defenses and offenses, how they are built to attack each other. Q. It is only a few days away from game time. This is it for you. Is it hitting you? ANDREW LUCK: I'm trying not to get too nostalgic and looking back and getting emotional about things because that will hinder the game. But I understand it is shortly coming to an end of the college career. Q. What about the OSU defense? You look at it ranked 107 in the country, which isn't impressive, but you look behind those numbers and you see the No. 1 in takeaways and they have done a good job of keeping teams off the‑‑ off the board from scoring. What comes tower mind? ANDREW LUCK: They take a knock for giving up yards. But when they need to make a play, they make a play. It shows in their 42 takeaways. When their team needs a swing, it seems to come from an interception or fumble or a good play from the defense. You got to take care of the football when you are playing them. If you have an opportunity to put points on the board, you better take advantage of it. Q. Studying the film of it, does anything stick out in your head? ANDREW LUCK: They have a very active secondary, when the ball is in the air, if it is not thrown in the right spot, they will go up‑‑ you see some DBs bat it down maybe. They will catch it. They will return it. I think their outside line backer No. 11 had an unbelievable play against Iowa State where it was a one‑handed catch and returned to the house for a touchdown. Very athletics guys. Q. I find it amazing you guys have only had 13 three and outs in the entire season. It says in the stats. That's pretty amazing, the consistency of your offense. ANDREW LUCK: I guess we try to generate drives, and obviously starts with getting that first down. That is a focus of ours. Q. You have a lot of great receivers on your team. How nice would it be to have a guy like Justin Blackmon? ANDREW LUCK: He is unbelievable. He does an unbelievable job, playing football and, of course, you love to throw with guys like that. I will say right now I wouldn't want to have anybody else on the team but the guys we already have, but he is a very special player. Q. Your tight ends, you can't borrow any tight ends from Oklahoma State or anybody else in the Big 12 for that matter. When you have‑‑ obviously you know who is in the game at any one time, but those three guys, do they each do different things well? Are they interchangeable? ANDREW LUCK: They are interchangeable to a certain degree. But everyone has their own little, I guess, niche where they really do excel. It is fun for me on the Tuesday, Wednesday to start seeing the game plan unfold and how we are going to use the tight ends this week. They all do a lot of stuff very, very well. Each of them has a little couple things that sets them apart from each other. Q. When you have looked at defenses at times, how many times do you see guys on the defensive side of the ball kind of shifting their eyes, like we don't know what's coming here next? Do you see that lot? You might just have to catch that. It is not necessarily something you are looking for, but have you noticed that? ANDREW LUCK: Maybe a little. Like you said, I really don't pay attention to who is shifting their eyes. I think I'm more worried about the shape and other things. Maybe our keys try to focus on that. But I would like to think that in some of our formations we present problems. Obviously, somebody has been very well prepared for us. Q. With a month just about in between games, a lot of them that advantage goes to the defense? If you have been successful offensively, do you even try to change? ANDREW LUCK: I think you have to change a little bit every week. Obviously keep your core offense but then understand how that's going to fit against an Oklahoma State defense as opposed to our last game versus Notre Dame. You definitely have to tweak things. Q. Did you watch the Alamo Bowl last night? ANDREW LUCK: We went to the movies as a team, so I didn't catch the whole part. Q. If you caught bits and pieces, you saw about 40 points scored. ANDREW LUCK: Exactly (laughter). Q. What are some of the challenges OSU poses? ANDREW LUCK: Defensively is what I'm a little more focused on. They get a knock for giving up yards, for passing, rushing yards. 42 takeaways, that's a statistic quarterbacks pay attention to. When they need to make a play on defense, they make a play. We are going to have to be very fastidious about taking care of the football. If you have an opportunity to put points on the ball, you better do so. Q. Has the team worked on protecting the ball in the last week? ANDREW LUCK: That's obviously an emphasis every week. You never want to be in the negative for turnover margin. But guys are aware of it. We are definitely aware of how opportunistic they are on defense. We will make an emphasis‑‑ it has been an emphasis and we will continue to protect the football. Q. What can you say about your offensive line? ANDREW LUCK: Great guys. Wouldn't want to play behind anybody else. They take a lot of pride in what they do, in their approach, in their preparation. It is a fun group to be behind. Q. Did you meet your expectations for this year? ANDREW LUCK: I think obviously anybody is going to want to come back and win a national championship. That's not what's at stake perse. To be in a BCS Bowl game and play a team of the caliber of Oklahoma State on the national stage in the Fiesta Bowl, I think that's something very special. Q. Would you get up and watch the NFL games when you were overseas? ANDREW LUCK: Yeah, I would get up to watch the Super Bowl. Q. So that's midnight? ANDREW LUCK: Yeah, it was in the middle of the night and I would make my mom wake me up. Q. Does that reinforce your desire to play in the NFL? ANDREW LUCK: I'm sure it doesn't hurt. My dad was my hero. He played football. So, of course, that's what I wanted to do as well. Q. What's been the highlight of the week so far? ANDREW LUCK: There has been a lot of them. Great hotel in the Fairmont and great hospitality, and the practice and the opportunity to be in the Fiesta Bowl, that's the highlight for me. Q. A lot of guys from Arizona, nine guys. We talked to Trent and Drew. They are fired up to be back and see family, but, more importantly, to get a win in front of their friends and family. ANDREW LUCK: It is always nice when the guys get to go home and play a game. Obviously with Arizona and Arizona State in the conference, you usually come back once a year. It is nice for them to come a more extended time and see people. Obviously winning is the end goal. Q. What is your main focus against the Cowboys? I talked to a lot of guys, holding onto the ball. They are a team that thrives on takeaways. ANDREW LUCK: Absolutely. 42 takeaways on the year. Definitely try and take care of the ball. As a quarterback, you don't want to have any errant throws or mental mistakes that put your team in a bad position. And you have a chance to put points on the board, you better do so against a defense and the offense on the opposing side. Q. What has the month off done for Todd Montgomery? ANDREW LUCK: It is always fun to see the younger guys trailing behind the guys and following them around everyone. College football season can be very long for a freshman. Redshirted and it was still long for me. Maybe to get some time off and let the body heal and mentally sort of adjust a little more and soak up more of the offense. It definitely will help him. To his credit, he has performed all year long. I just think with a month off, he will continue to gradually go upward as well. Q. You talked after the USC game about the hook and ladder play, that you had the confidence. From there, has the confidence in him grown more now that he has proven himself on the field? Is there anything to that? ANDREW LUCK: Absolutely. Stepping on the field‑‑ and maybe it is more subconscious whether when we know a guy will make a play. I have all the trust in tie. That comes with hours on the practice field, game experience. The more time you spend with receivers, the more your confidence grows. Q. What were your impressions of Wayne? ANDREW LUCK: I was frustrated because he was always in the same spot on camp. You wish the DBs will ease up on you. He will be a special player. When I talk to him he talks about how he wants to come back and play in this game. He just wants to play football. The people may forget about him because of his injury this year, but he is going to be a very special player in the future. Q. How has this week compared to the hype surrounding the orange bowl last year. Maybe "hype" is not the right word. ANDREW LUCK: Obviously different because it is different parts of the area‑‑ or different parts of the country. To us it's similar because we want to win a football game, we want to win a BCS Bowl game. The festivities on the side is a bonus. Maybe that's my personal philosophy, I try not to get too caught up on it because we are here to play a football game. Q. What do you think Oklahoma State's defense look likes? ANDREW LUCK: I know they take a knock on taking yards. They have 42 takeaways. When they need to make a play, they make a play. They do a great job of stopping the offense when the offense needs to be stopped. So you got to be fastidious about protecting the football. If you have a chance to put points on the board, you better do that. Q. Everybody says you got to take care of the football but they still turn it over. Everybody says that. How do you not turn it over? ANDREW LUCK: You have to be conscious of running the right way, carrying the football the right way. As a quarterback, understanding the timing between your receivers and putting the ball in the right position. Q. Along the lines of that, how do you guys practice for that considering a lot of that is more like a ball‑hocking‑type method. Not necessarily a set but a skill that's hard to emulate. How do you prepare for that defense with the turnover? ANDREW LUCK: Just putting an emphasis on carrying the ball the right way. Obviously you are not going to go full blow in practice and rip at the ball. As a football team, that's‑‑ the whole year is taking care of the football. So as a quarterback, I try to be very critical of my throws, maybe. Maybe it is completed during practice, but maybe it is a little bit behind the guy. You got to be critical of yourself and understand an interception and six points the other way. Q. Is there any statement you would like to make, I'm sure you think you should be in the title game. Can you make a statement about your team to win this game? ANDREW LUCK: I don't know. I don't approach the football game trying to make a statement. I just want to win. If that's the statement in itself, great. I don't know if I'm too into making a statement about being in the BCS game‑‑ or the title game. Q. Does this team remind of you anybody? ANDREW LUCK: Oregon maybe. Obviously Oklahoma State would be the best team we would play to date. Not a knock on any other teams we have played, but they are very good and present their own challenges. Q. You said the method is the same with the Orange Bowl and not getting caught up in the festivities. Is there any approach that you guys did last year that you thought maybe we shouldn't do that and you carried over this year and adapted? ANDREW LUCK: Not really. Obviously with the different head coach, things are going to be different. I'm trying to remember back to the Orange Bowl. It does seem like a very long time ago to me. I can't remember much. I think we were successful last year. I don't think we've been changing too much. Q. You seem like a guy that's pretty focused. Have you paid attention to what Harbaugh has done at the 49ers? Have you been keeping an eye on your former coach? ANDREW LUCK: Absolutely. I'm a football fan. I watch as many NFL games as I can, as many college games. I am happy for his success and how he has been able to go through this year. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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