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ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY VIZIO: OREGON v WISCONSINDecember 30, 2011Michael ClayPASADENA, CALIFORNIA Q. How has your week been? MICHAEL CLAY: It's been great. Q. We're closer to the game, what are your thoughts? MICHAEL CLAY: I think we're definitely ready as a whole team. We've had, what, two weeks in Eugene and a week down here. I think we're definitely ready to play Wisconsin on the 2nd. Q. What sort of things (inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: I mean we really haven't changed anything. We're still doing the same thing we've done all year. Nothing is different. Even for the big venue, big stage, we haven't done anything different. We stick to our guns and our same game plan as we usually do. Q. I know you're on the opposite side of the ball, but tell me what type of player Darron is? MICHAEL CLAY: Darron, he's a playmaker. He's got all the great things you want in a quarterback. He's tall. He can run. He can throw the ball. He's a playmaker, knows when to make the right decisions. He's a great leader on the offense as well. So he has all the intangibles for the great quarterback which he is. Q. (Inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: Not really, just some passing, here and there, but not really hanging out with him, anything like that. Q. What's the biggest challenge of Montee Ball? (Inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: I mean, you can compare him to Polk. Polk is a really good back, he's bigger than most people think and runs really hard. Montee Ball has great feet in the hole. He can make quick cuts similar to LaMichael. He runs behind his pads. It's going to be hard to take him down after one hit. You'll have to wrap him up in game tackle. Q. In terms of their passing game (inaudible) such a dynamic threat. What do you see as to how they throw the ball? MICHAEL CLAY: You know, they just get out their routes. Combination routes. They kind of get you with the play action, kind of keep your eyes on the back field and get behind you. It's a well‑organized passing attack. Q. What did you learn from (inaudible), what did you learn that you can take away in this game? MICHAEL CLAY: I mean, it was just a learning experience. We kind of just got hit off big plays. Nothing too bad. Couple throws here and there did us in. But every game's a learning experience from week one all the way to week 13. Q. We talk a lot about how the offense's tempo, it's so hard for the other team. How does it help you guys in practice going against them all the time? MICHAEL CLAY: It gets us conditioned and slows the game down immensely. When you get in the game you feel like they're going too slow for you and you get too antsy, especially going against our offense during the practice week, they go so fast. We're going at their tempo. But when it gets in the game it definitely slows the game down a little bit more. Q. What's been your best event so far? MICHAEL CLAY: I thought the Improv was the best event. Had a lot of fun dancing, laughing. It was all in good fun. Q. Have you been to a Rose Bowl before? MICHAEL CLAY: I was here two years ago, I was a true freshman, two years ago. Q. How would you describe your guys' defense? MICHAEL CLAY: I would have to say multi‑faceted. We come out different things. So it's definitely multi‑faceted type of defense. Q. Pressure the quarterback? MICHAEL CLAY: You know, it helps for any team to get pressure on the quarterback. We have great defensive linemen and outside linebackers that we can put pressure on the quarterback more than other teams. But just playing, I feel, as a balanced defense. We come out at a lot of different things. So it's just multi‑faceted. Q. The running game and the multi‑quarterback, how do you prioritize that? MICHAEL CLAY: You have to stick to your game plan, have to be fundamentally sound and disciplined. If you stop one thing it kind of takes away from their game plan and they have to go to something else that they're not really used to, which favors the defense a lot more. Q. So the key is stopping on first down and hopefully they don't get second and seven and third? MICHAEL CLAY: Definitely stop them on first down and make it second and third and long and take a lot of their key bread and butter plays out have to go to the high passing game. I think with our defensive line we'll pin our ears back and get to them if they have to go third and long. Q. (Inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: No, their offense is great. They put up 40 plus points a lot of the time. So it kind of goes under the radar. They can really put up the points. But as a defensive group and defensive staff, we respect it totally. They put up 40, 60, 50 points. So we've just got to be ready to go out there and play our best game. Q. (Inaudible) Montee Ball? MICHAEL CLAY: The whole offense is really good. They're a big "O" line. Montee Ball, Heisman finalist and Russell Wilson, very athletic quarterback. He can throw the ball and he can run. The receivers block really well and they get open. It's just a really well‑balanced offense. Q. The defense, is it like the offense‑‑ I guess it's just how it works. (Inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: I think all around the nation the offenses get more of the publicity than the defense, but we know as a whole defensive staff and defensive group that we're pretty good. We're fine not getting the whole national attention as our offense is. Q. (Inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: I think if we stop one of their key things they'll have to try something different, something they're not accustomed to, something they're not so used to that it might get a little dicy for them. So as long as we kind of take them out of their rhythm I think we'll be fine. Q. (Inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: I mean, nothing really too significant. They show what you're going to see. They want to get behind their offensive line and run the ball. They're going to hit you with play action if you load up the box. So we've just got to be disciplined and fundamentally sound. Q. (Inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: Definitely gang tackle him. Definitely hard for one person to take him down. Runs plays behind his pads. And if we play in their backfield, we'll be able to make him dance a little bit more than he wants to, instead of getting north and south, which will help us out a lot. Q. What is the key? How do you (inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: You know, playing in their backfield, make them go third and long, I think, will be a big key for us getting a win. And a lot of the defensive plays are on special teams. I think special teams are going to be big key for us. If we get a couple of scores on special teams it will set the tone for the rest of the game. Q. I know at times you're conditioned to say all the right things but is there pressure to be on the stage (inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: I wouldn't say pressure. I think it's pressure week in and week out to win, especially with Oregon being as good as we've been over the last couple of years. I think it will be just a great feeling to finally pull out a win January2nd. Q. Is it a message that you guys have everything but one of these games? MICHAEL CLAY: A little bit of a sense of unfinished business. We've done so well over the past three years. We've played so hard throughout the season and coming into Bowl games we really want to get a win. Last couple of years hasn't gone our way but definitely unfinished business to finally get one this year. Q. What a bizarre week this week for you guys, stuck in elevators and Asper saving somebody's life, very interesting things happen before game day? MICHAEL CLAY: We haven't talked about it. It's fun to talk about it on the bus after practice and stuff but when we get down to the practice field it's strictly football, strictly business but we really can't do anything about the elevator getting stuck on the first day and Mark Asper going back to his Boy Scout days and saving a man's life. It's great good fun, but it's a series of unfortunate events, I guess. Q. Anything that's different about this trip than let's say the last couple, anything different? MICHAEL CLAY: I think we're a lot more focused. Last two years we kind of were just in awe, first time being in the Rose Bowl two years ago then being in the National Championship last year, I think we're a lot more focused this year. We know what to expect with all the attractions come Rose Bowl week. So I think it's just been a lot more focused type of group and we're just ready to play on Monday. Q. And Montee Ball, that duo with 30 passing, 30 touchdowns runs, touchdowns, how do you keep those guys in check? MICHAEL CLAY: Playing fundamental and disciplined football. Getting in the back field. Making him dance more than he wants to go north and south and game tackling everybody running to the ball and creating turnovers. Q. One more touchdown, are you aware of that record? MICHAEL CLAY: Yeah, we're aware of it. If he gets it, he gets it. If we hold him to one touchdown we're doing a great job if he's only getting one touchdown a game. Q. I didn't hear the story. Somebody saved somebody's life? MICHAEL CLAY: We were at Lowery's two nights ago. Mark Asper‑‑ an older man was choking on something he was eating. He came over and pulled the Heimlich maneuver and pretty much saved his life. Q. How different an experience this has been as opposed to what you guys went through last year at the National Championship? MICHAEL CLAY: I think we're a lot more focused than last year. Last year it was the National Championship. We were just kind of in awe, take everything in but this year we've already been to one Rose Bowl two years ago. This year we're a lot more focused. We knew what was coming, with the attractions and Disneyland and Lowery's and Improv, Pasadena, and we're just ready to get after it on Monday. Q. Do you sense the way the things have changed in your preparation in practice? MICHAEL CLAY: Yeah. You know, we really don't change what we do as a team, but it's a lot more focused and it's a lot more crisp than the past couple of years. And I think we're setting the tone for what's coming on Monday. Q. When you look at Wisconsin, can you compare them to someone you saw during the regular season? MICHAEL CLAY: Offensive‑wise I'll say the closest thing we'll get is Stanford. They want to get behind the pass and run the ball at you. But hit you with play action and get some big gains on you. And they'll use their tight ends well like Stanford does. If we compare it to Stanford, that's as close as it will get. Q. That's good. You had one of the best performances against Stanford, Heisman trophy winner, made him look average. What were you able to do that made you so successful? MICHAEL CLAY: We did what we had to do. Read our keys. Played disciplined run defense and pass defense. Got a couple of interceptions. DeWitt Stuckey got to the quarterback. When they went to the passing game, our "D" line did a great job to get after them and fumble with Terrell and everything. So I think if we're bold enough like the Stanford game, we'll bode well against Wisconsin. We're fast enough and physical enough. We can stop the run and play the pass. Q. People keep talking this game's going to be in the 40s on both sides. I know they have to be annoyed about hearing about your guys' offense and how many points they can put up and they're too slow. Nobody's talking about you is it a chip on your shoulder hearing how many points Wisconsin is going to score? MICHAEL CLAY: No, we know what we can do. Past couple of years people thought it was going to be a shoot‑out. Obviously it wasn't, they were in the 20s. We don't see it as a chip on our shoulder. We know what we have to do to win the game. Q. Do these games lend themselves to be defensive games, long layoff, defenses get a chance to study what an offense does? MICHAEL CLAY: Defensive Bowl game, going up to the 60s and 50s, but I think it helps the defense a lot more. There's a lot more time to study film. Kind of break down things and kind of figure out tendencies from the other teams. But I wouldn't say Bowl games go hand in hand with defense. Q. If you have a month to get ready but you don't have a defense, it doesn't help, so maybe that's what you saw last night? MICHAEL CLAY: I mean, I can't comment. It was an entertaining game. It had me fired up to watch the game going into the 60s, I thought I was watching a basketball game how many points they scored. Q. What's the best thing you've done so far down here at the Rose Bowl? MICHAEL CLAY: The Improv last night was hilarious. We had our whole team people dancing on stage and comedians were great. I think the Improv was the best thing so far. Q. Does Chip dance? MICHAEL CLAY: No, Chip didn't dance. Q. He plays the music, not even a jig or nothing? MICHAEL CLAY: Haven't seen it yet. Maybe he does it secluded in the corner or something but I haven't seen it yet. Q. What's Michael Clay's dream moment at the Rose Bowl? MICHAEL CLAY: To win it. When the final seconds tick down, to finally get a Bowl ring that says champion not just champion participant. That would be my dream moment. Q. Do you feel pressure, you hear the whispers, can't win the big one, five straight losses against big non‑conference opponents? MICHAEL CLAY: Not really. Week in week out you feel the pressure of winning it doesn't really change even though it's a big stage I think we want to go out there put our best foot forward and win the game. Keep him out of the end zone it would be great. If he gets the record, he gets the record. Kudos to him. He's had a great year to even get close to this record it's an accomplishment in and of itself and I respect him completely. But if we keep him contained‑‑ if he gets his touchdown he gets his touchdown but we want to keep him contained not have him go for like four touchdowns. Q. (Inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: You know, by yourself in the open field trying to make an open field tackle either Russell Wilson or Montee Ball or the receivers, because one‑on‑one in the open field, it goes to the offense, and in a few minutes it could be a big game. Q. (Inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: I mean, they're tight ends. They really block really well. They get in position to block, and they leak out and get some big catches for them when they need it. Q. (Inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: I mean, we'll just see how the game pans out. If we're able to pin our ears back I think we'll feel really good going into it. We've got great defensive line: Terrell, Isaac, Taylor, Wade, Dion, and B Hanna, bringing pressure off the edge really helps our defense. Q. (Inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: I think there's a couple of things. Just going into practice, especially with the seniors this being their last week of preparation, you just want to spend time with them. Just have a ball with them. And last night at the Improv, you know, our team‑‑ I just love our team so much. We had people dancing out there and everybody was joking around and we had a great time with the comedians. Q. Were you up on stage? MICHAEL CLAY: No, I was in the back corner with Taylor Hart, just looking from a distance. But Terrell had everyone going, had people coming up dancing, showing what kind of dance moves they had. Q. You talked about the seniors. Is this game different? Do you look at this game different, collect more memories? MICHAEL CLAY: I wouldn't say look at it different. You always want to send the seniors out in the correct way, with a win. And the last couple of years we haven't done that. So this year we want to send them out, they're the winningest group in the University of Oregon history. So we want to send them out with a W. Q. (Inaudible) what sticks out most to you besides the offense? MICHAEL CLAY: They could get you with a little bit of trick plays that you really don't see. They'll throw a couple of trick plays. It's in their game plan. There's nothing off impulse. It's in their game plan. Couple of running back throw backs to the quarterback. They scored a couple of times on that play. We have to be correct with our eyes and disciplined. Q. What about the weather? MICHAEL CLAY: Weather doesn't really faze me at all. It's beautiful weather. When I have downtime I love to go out and relax. You can't do that in Eugene with being 35 degrees and windy and rain. But the weather doesn't really play a factor. Q. What's the biggest challenge this week tackling Montee Ball and staying disciplined, covering Russell Wilson (inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: If we don't play disciplined football it will be really tough for us. But as long as we stay in our gaps and we're being disciplined sticking to our roles, we'll be able to hem them in and put our best foot forward and stop them. Q. What are your impressions of Russell Wilson (inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: He's a great athlete. Being drafted, you know, to play baseball that's an accomplishment in itself. Then coming again to play one more year at Wisconsin from North Carolina State, I watched a couple of North Carolina State games, and he was tearing it up down there. But he's a really good athlete. He can throw the ball and he can run. He's a very good quarterback. Q. What about the offensive line? (Inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: Big offensive line. They're very athletic, too. They get their pads downhill, come after you. So if we're able kind of hit them in the mouth, kind of slow them down, I think it will be a really good battle. It's going to be a great battle between the front seven and the O line. They've got a great O line. Big O line that can move. I'm definitely looking forward to the battle on Monday. Q. Is there a certain (inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: I mean, anything can give you troubles playing disciplined football. So as long as we've been practicing like we have been, I think we'll be just fine on Monday. Q. Heard a lot about their big offensive line? MICHAEL CLAY: Yeah, it's pretty big. Q. Size doesn't matter? MICHAEL CLAY: No. Q. How does this Bowl compare to some of the other Bowls? MICHAEL CLAY: I mean, the Rose Bowl, kind of the same thing. That's the only Bowl I've been to. The National Championship, it was kind of big. A lot more attractions here to do than in Scottsdale. Scottsdale was kind of just there. Kind of out in the desert. Q. A lot has been made about Wisconsin this year. They bounced back from back‑to‑back losses to Ohio State. (Inaudible) how difficult was that mentally for you guys? This day and age one game threw you out of the National Championship picture. How do you stay focused? MICHAEL CLAY: It wasn't that hard. First few days it was tough to swallow, want to put your best foot forward, get that first win. Played a great LSU, in the National Championship undefeated. That wasn't that hard. We knew what we had to do. One game can't define our season. We still have the opportunity to win the Pac‑12 championship and get to the Rose Bowl, which is a great honor. The granddaddy of them all. Why wouldn't you want to play in it? Q. (Inaudible) all the attention that was given to them. Almost seemed like (inaudible) to get there. MICHAEL CLAY: I mean, it was very satisfying at the end of the game. We played one of our better games. We got out there, put some big numbers up. We were able to kind of hold their offense within the limits. Something they really didn't face coming up to the game. But it was a really good feeling. But I think our best feeling was being able to host the first‑ever Pac‑12 championship and winning it in front of our home crowd. Q. Wisconsin has been in practice using a couple of different scout teams. They're trying to do whatever they can to get used to the frenetic pace that you guys have on both sides of the ball. And they've said that one of the best ways to get ready for your offense (inaudible) what about you guys? Does facing your offense in practice, does it throw you off at all? Because I can't imagine there's another offense in the country that plays at the pace that your offense does? MICHAEL CLAY: No, it doesn't really throw us off. It gets us well‑conditioned and ready for the game. Doesn't throw us off. We've been used to it. We've been practicing against our offense since August. Hasn't really thrown us off at all. Q. Have you noticed that the speed by game day is less than what you're facing sometimes? MICHAEL CLAY: Definitely. During practice I'm really heavy winded trying to catch my breath especially against our offense. When it comes to game time, kind of slows down you're able to catch your breath a lot faster.  It just feels good you're not going against our offense. Q. I'm assuming you've seen some of Montee Ball on tape. (Inaudible) how would you describe what goes through your head? MICHAEL CLAY: They have great feet, great feet in the hole. Can make sudden cuts and get away from the defender. What people kind of overshadow LaMichael is very hard runner, could be a power back if he has to, similar to Montee Ball, running behind his pads. I think those two similarities go hand in hand with Montee Ball and LaMichael. Q. (Inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: You know, he's a very hard runner. He runs behind his pads but he has great feet in the hole. Similar to like Chris Polk from Washington as we saw last night. One run, you really couldn't see him. He found a hole, got to it. He runs well behind his pads. With LaMichael, he's kind of that change of direction, kind of stop your feet and go again. Misdirection type of guy. He can run behind his pads as well. They both have great hands out the backfield. They'll use both we'll use la Michael out of the back field to catch balls and they'll use Montee Ball to catch balls in the back field. Let them do what they do to create for the offenses. Q. (Inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: I mean, I respect the offense. They put up 40 plus points a lot of the times. What goes under the radar, when you think of Wisconsin, you think just hard nosed running time consuming, but they'll put up the points if they have to, which is something I kind of noticed early on in the season. Q. Does it remind you of anybody you played? MICHAEL CLAY: Similar to Stanford. They want to run behind their big offensive line. Play action pass, hit you in the back field. Hit you using their receivers and tight ends to get behind the defensive back. So I'd say similar to the Stanford game. Q. (Inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: Yeah, you know, you can see the numbers a lot better than our old uniforms. You can see our names. But they're comfortable. Really can't say anything. I put them on. It's not like I say no I don't want to put them on. They pay my scholarship at the University of Oregon, so I guess I have to. Q. Are you enjoying everything prior to the game (inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: Lowery's got great food. Prime rib is good. Creamed corn and mashed potatoes. Enjoyed Disneyland and the second day, the Improv last night was hilarious. I've enjoyed the festivities so far. Q. Talk about you guys as a team. How focused are you (inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: We're definitely focused. A lot more focused than we have been the past couple of years. We know when to turn it on and off. When we're on the practice field we're really focused want to get after Wisconsin, when we're off the field it's down time, we have fun and joke around. Q. (Inaudible) what's one thing that you would highlight? MICHAEL CLAY: The Improv last night. We had our whole team was out there dancing. The comedians, we were all laughing. So I think the Improv was one of the better things so far. Q. Talk about your inspiration, what's your inspiration? MICHAEL CLAY: Person, I'd say my grandfather and little sister. My grandfather passed when I was a freshman in high school. He was a big influence on me then. My little sister, my goal for the end is to get my degree and then pay for my sister's high school tuition. Those are my two inspirations. Q. (Inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: Progressed immensely. In the beginning, you know, they're just new out there, getting their feet wet. And we've seen them progress throughout the whole season. They've gotten better. Terrance and Troy have really came in and done a great job. And also Avery. He plays multiple positions. So I think they progressed really well. Q. (Inaudible) were you concerned about that (inaudible) MICHAEL CLAY: No, not at all. I could say the same thing. I played as a true freshman. I knew what they were going through. I wasn't concerned. We were able to do it. I was able to do it so I knew these guys were able to do it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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