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TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL: STANFORD v OKLAHOMA STATEJanuary 1, 2012David ShawGLENDALE, ARIZONA COACH SHAW: Happy new year, everybody. Gosh, our guys have had a great week. We have been taken care of. Much better than we deserved, I'm sure, by the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl people. Had a good week of practice. Excited about the next day and a half here and can't wait for the game. So I will take questions. Q. Now that your preparation is done, how would you‑‑ what have you done differently than Coach Harbaugh's preparations at the Orange Bowl last year? COACH SHAW: Timewise, really not much. We just had a normal‑‑ tried to have a normal week of practice as far as the time that we're on the field. We tried to be normal with our meeting times. Granted, we had a little bit extra time. Our guys had just about the same time off with probably a few more activities here than we had back in Miami. But nothing that was more strenuous for our guys which was great to stay off their legs as much as they did this week. Q. I understand you had a 1:00 a.m. curfew last night for your players. I think it was 10 p.m. in Miami. What was the difference in our thinking there? COACH SHAW: That's not true. We had a team‑‑ we had a team function a year ago in Miami that was through New Year's. That was a false report that was put out after the fact. The thing is, we did the same thing this year as we did last year. Team gathering, no alcohol, just some snacks for the guys to bring in the new year together. I unfortunately did not make it. I was in my room. Didn't quite make it to New Year's last night. But I know our guys‑‑ we changed the curfew. There was no reason to have a 1:00 a.m. curfew. We made it 12:30 and our guys didn't bat an eyelash. They were all going to be in bed by 12:15 or so anyway. Q. Coach, this is Oklahoma State's first BCS game. You had the benefit of the Orange Bowl last year. How has that helped your preparation just in knowing what to do or how to approach the week leading up to this? COACH SHAW: I think as much as being a BCS game, just this being a big game‑‑ Oklahoma State's played in big games on big stages. So I wouldn't say there is that much of an advantage. Maybe handling the amount of things that go on during the week, but besides that, they're a good football team. They played in big games. They have got some big‑time players that he are not going to shy away from the spotlight tomorrow night. So I think it is still pretty even. Q. You still have Andrew for one more game. Have you thought about what you are going to miss most about him? COACH SHAW: There is not one thing. It is just the‑‑ I think he is a future college football Hall of Famer. There's nothing that he doesn't do well. I rode back from practice yesterday on the bus with him, and the entire time we're talking, I'm trying to find a way‑‑ okay, what can I say that will entice him to come back one more year? I couldn't think of anything and it wouldn't have worked anyway. It has been an unbelievable four years with him. And I say four. Even the year he didn't play was phenomenal, just to be around him and watch him systematically figure out what this college football thing was about as a true freshman and get ready to play lights out as a sophomore. Just his leadership, his ability to be an ultimate competitor but to stay even keel. I get a lot of credit for my sideline demeanor. But for that guy to have that and still have that drive and still to be in the fire and still to be so‑‑ to think so clearly in such high‑pressure situations with all the things we put on his plate, it is just‑‑ he's just‑‑ he's one of a kind. Q. As you evaluate Oklahoma State, talk about what concerns you most about stopping them and do you anticipate as most of us do a high‑scoring shootout‑type game? COACH SHAW: For us, I mean, it starts with No.81. I mean, he's as good a college receiver as you will ever find. He's got the size. He's got the quickness. He's got the speed. He's got the run up to catch. He has got unbelievable ball skills and body control, the explosion after the catch. The fact that the guy never gets tired, it doesn't make sense. To run that kind of an offense at that high a tempo and for the guy to run a postroute ‑‑ if you watch the film, he runs a post route. He comes right back and runs a go route and he comes right back and runs a reverse for 20 yards and he goes right back in the huddle. It's uncanny to pair him up with an outstanding quarterback that's extremely accurate that doesn't make mistakes; plays an extremely underrated running game. As we say all the time, we don't talk about stopping teams like this. We talk about containing them. We have a chance to make a play, we got to make a play. If we have a chance to get a sack, we got to get a sack. We got to get him on the ground. When those guys catch the ball, we got to get as many hats to them as possible and gain tackle. And then offensively, we'd like to keep the ball away from them as much as we can and we got to end our drives in the end zone. Q. Most coaches say they want to stop the run first. They admit their pass team first. Which one are you aiming at first? COACH SHAW: It's all together. It's all together. Bottom line defensively, that's where you always stay you want to stop the run. With these guys, they work together so well. If you just drop out and pass coverage the whole game, the running back, he is so talented, he will rush for 250 yards. So it is about changing up. It is about not showing them the same looks too many times in a row and making sure we try to keep them as off balance as we can. We are not going to surprise Brandon Weeden. He has seen it all. But at the same time, we are going to make sure we do just enough to hopefully maybe make him hold the ball for an extra second or when they do run it, have enough guys in their gaps that can rally to the run. Q. How healthy are you now and how does it compare to what you were over the last month of the season? COACH SHAW: There is no comparison. We're so much more healthy now with all of our tight ends being healthy. Jordan Williamson, our kicker, being healthy. Delano Howell finally being healthy, was never healthy the last month of the season. He is now 100 percent. Just to have guys that have fresh legs, even the guys that haven't been hurt. I know Ty Montgomery did a great job for us the second half of the year. But you can tell the last couple games his legs weren't quite as fresh. His legs are fresh now. Stepfan Taylor has had one of his best weeks of practice all year. So we are excited to be healthy. We are excited to be fresh. We are excited for this game. Q. You've had two Pac‑12/Big 12 games already, David. Can you watch those games or glance at them and get a better feel for what you're dealing with in terms of talent and speed and those kinds of things? COACH SHAW: Not at all. Not at all. Every team in this country is different. Both in each conference, there's no overlying Pac‑12 way to play. There is no overlying Big 12 way to play. Every team is individual. As I said the other day, I got dizzy watching that Washington‑Baylor game. That was unreal. But we know that Oklahoma State has got great weapons. We know they've got an opportunistic defense and it is going to be a big challenge, big challenge tomorrow night. Q. The most emotional guy on the field last year and maybe the best guy was No. 11. Obviously he won't play this year. But what is Shayne's role been during this five weeks in kind of helping guys prepare for this spotlight? COACH SHAW: Shayne's best attribute is his competitive fire. He's just‑‑ it is an overused word, but he is a warrior. He is just a fighter. He is a battler. Whatever you want to call it. And that's the one thing that translates with Shane even during the year when he is on the sideline and on crutches. You hear him yelling and screaming and prodding his guys. And he gave an outstanding talk during the year at halftime at one of the games just about guys playing to their ability. He's 100 percent right. He set a high standard of play for his position. So doggone it, whoever steps in his position better play one heck of a game. That's what he's been holding AJ Tarpley to all year. And I think it has helped AJ a lot. As far as the game week preparation, I see the pain on Shayne's face sometimes when knows he is wants to be out there. But right now his role is different. His role is to help the guys that are playing. And his secondary role is to get himself healthy. And I told him, you are not getting healthy enough to play, you are getting healthy enough to dominate. Let's make sure we are on that same mind frame. And he just smiled and said "You better believe it, Coach." FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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