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ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY VIZIO: OREGON v WISCONSINJanuary 2, 2012Kiko AlonsoChip KellyDe'Anthony ThomasPASADENA, CALIFORNIA Oregon – 45 THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome Oregon head coach Chip Kelly. We also have De'Anthony Thomas and Kiko Alonso. A brief opening statement from Coach and we'll take questions for Coach, and turn it over to the student‑athletes after that. COACH KELLY: First of all, I want to congratulate Wisconsin, Russell Wilson, Montee Ball, Bret, a class‑act operation from top to bottom. Two teams battled. It came down to two seconds to go on the clock, and it could have gone either way. That's one heck of a football program, and we have the utmost respect for those guys. For our guys, we talked about having faith and being resilient and being feelers, and that's what these guys do in every stretch of it. It's awesome. When they had to make a play, they made a play. So many different guys contributed to it, and it's truly a team win, and we're just proud that we can say that we were Rose Bowl champions. Q. Coach, what do you say to the critics that say that the Pac‑12 doesn't play any defense? COACH KELLY: I don't care. Q. Pardon me? COACH KELLY: I don't care. Q. Do you think that the Pac‑12 plays defense? COACH KELLY:  I don't care about critics. They can say whatever they want. It really doesn't bother me. Q. Chip, this is the first Oregon victory in a Rose Bowl in 95 years. First of all, what does that mean to you personally, and secondly, was that something that you and the players talked about before the game? COACH KELLY: Personally, I'm just proud of our guys and how they represented our school. None of us were around 95 years ago, and we never talked about it. We didn't talk about last year's game against Auburn or being here two years ago. We just talked about we're a forward‑thinking operation. We're always looking ahead. We can learn from our past experiences, which I think we did when we played here two years ago and we played against Auburn last year. But I never once‑‑ did I, guys? We don't talk about that stuff. We don't meet for very long because we don't talk about much. Q. Can you talk about your offensive line? They seemed to do a great job protecting Darron tonight, and also talk about Lavasier. COACH KELLY: On the first part, I thought our O‑line did a great job against a team coming in that was 8th ranked in total defense, and sixth in scoring defense. It was really going to be a match‑up for us. I think in the last two games, that was probably the difference. I think our O‑line did a great job not only in the run game, but also protecting Darron, and LT came up big today. For a senior, sometimes you get those moments and he had a signature moment. What an unbelievable way to end his career and his performance here in the Rose Bowl. Just really proud of him. He's a warrior, and that's what we've expected from him. He finally got his chance, and when his chance came, he took it. Q. Any thought coming into this game that this was going to be that high‑scoring a game? And you talk often about learning from everything. What do you learn from this win? COACH KELLY: I really didn't about the high scoring thing just because, again, learning from the past. There was so much talk going into the National Championship a year ago, us versus Auburn, that it was going to be a high‑scoring affair, and it was 22‑19. What we learned from it, I think, is that it really just kind of validates what we stand for, is that this team is fearless. They're resilient, and they've got faith. But that faith is based on preparation. It's not a fake thing where we just talk about it. They really stick together and believe in the guy to the right of them and to the left of them because they see what they do every single day in practice. That's what you need to kind of hold your hat on, and that's what these guys do. These two guys get it. They understand it, and that's what we're kind of all about right now. Q. You do such a great job of day‑to‑day, no game is bigger than the next. But seeing the emotion you had after the game on the podium, is it okay to take a step back now? Did this one mean more? It seemed special to you when you were up there. COACH KELLY: It was special for me, but it wasn't special about the game. It was special about how far Kiko's come. Q. How does it feel‑‑ COACH KELLY: You have a website named after you? Q. I came up with the idea, yes. COACH KELLY: That's awesome. Q. Thank you. I'll take that as an endorsement for the site. COACH KELLY: Write it down. Q. How does it feel to get your first BCS win and to do it in a game that people will be talking about for a while, because this is really trending all over the internet all day? COACH KELLY: Another internet word, trending. That's good. We're just excited for the win. I think a lot has been made out of we hadn't won a BCS game before. To be honest with you, I think that could be the case if we had been in seven or eight or nine of them. We'd only been in three. We're 1‑2 right now, but we take each game individually, and that's what we've always talked about. For us to go away from that, I think these guys would think I was crazy if we all of a sudden started to build it up as that. We believe it's on the line every day we step on the practice field. We believe it's on the line every game we play in, and that formula works for us. We're 34‑6 in the last three years because we take every game like it's the Super Bowl. Some people don't believe that, but you watch these guys practice every day and watch how they get after practice this past Tuesday, this past Wednesday, and it's on the line every day for us. That's what works for us, and we're going to stick to that. It feels great. Any time you win it feels unbelievable. And the thing that gets you excited is when you can share it with your players, and they see kind of the fruits of their labor pays off. I've never been around a harder working group of guys. But that's why you win. There are no shortcuts to success. If you work hard, you're going to have an opportunity to be successful, and these guys get it, and that's what I'm proud of. Q. De'Anthony averaged 77.5 yards per carry. Any reason why he didn't get a third carry? COACH KELLY: There were two calls that were going to happen for De, but he returned long kickoffs, so I had to take him out for a play. I'm going to have to work on his wind. I'm going to have to be a better play caller. I don't know that I've ever had a kid average 77 yards a carry. I'll see if next year we can get him an extra carry or two. Q. De'Anthony and Kiko, what does this victory mean to each of you? Does the fact that this is the first Oregon Rose Bowl victory in 95 years, does that make an impression on you at all? De'ANTHONY THOMAS: Just being in here as a freshman means a lot to this team. I feel like our freshman class has a lot more to accomplish, so I feel like we'll be back next year. KIKO ALONSO: I feel like it means a lot too. This is what we've been want to go get since January when we were working for it since January, and we've still got work to do for next year, like De'Anthony said. Q. How big of a game was this for you, especially coming back home. You're from Southern California, and I'm sure you have friends and family in the stands. How big a game was this for you? You performed well in the game, so it must have been a bit of a thrill for you? De'ANTHONY THOMAS: I feel like every game is a big game to me. Coming in with this Oregon offense is great. Just being a part of it, and being coached by some unbelievable coaches is great. I just can't wait until the off‑season next year to work hard again and just be there and be a leader for my team. Q. De'Anthony, on those long runs, did you see anything? Did you get touched by any defenders, or was it just air? De'ANTHONY THOMAS: I'm not sure. Just great blocking from the offensive line. That's about it. I just seen open field, and I just tried to take a touchdown. That's about it. Q. Kiko, you have come a long way. What does this mean to you? Was there a dark moment when you thought that this wouldn't happen? KIKO ALONSO: It means a lot. At one point is was a dark moment, but we got by that. I don't even think about that anymore. I just got to work hard and stuff like this will happen if you work hard. Q. De'Anthony, how many friends and family did you have in the stands today, and how did they respond to the fact that you were going to come here? De'ANTHONY THOMAS: To be honest, I don't even know how many friends and family. I feel like our whole Oregon fan base is part of my family and my friends. So it's great to see yellow pom poms just waving up and down throughout the whole game. It's great. I just wanted to say thank you for the support for the Oregon fans. Q. Kiko, there was so much offense in this game. Can you just talk about how important it was to make a defensive play at the end of the game? Especially with 4 minutes to play? KIKO ALONSO: Yeah, it was really important because they got two turnovers on defense, and so we needed to match them, and that's what we did. Q. You've had a great freshman year, but what would you like to work on in the off‑season to take a bigger role and take your game up? De'ANTHONY THOMAS: I feel like I've got to work on everything. Just when the season comes, we'll just start all over and work harder just like I did this summer. Just be a leader again for my team. Just excel with the freshman class that's coming up next year, and it's going to be great to watch. Q. How does it feel to get this win for the seniors, especially coming against the Badgers of Wisconsin? KIKO ALONSO: It feels great to get the win for them because I came in with most of them. It just feels great to get it for all of them. Q. Montee Ball had an excellent first half. What did the defense do to hinder him in the second half? He talked about the safeties coming up and filling some gaps, this sort of thing? KIKO ALONSO: Yeah, we weren't tackling very good in the first half. We knew we just had to tackle and take him down, wrap him up. He had one big run, but the other runs were like three or four‑yard gains, so we knew we just had to keep pounding. Q. Talk about the interception, if you would. Maybe the overall growth of the defense from the beginning to the end to this game? KIKO ALONSO: Well, our defense does a lot of stuff. At this point, I think we've gotten to the point where we've almost mastered it. But on that play, I was loose arming on the sideline looking at him, and I just got a good jump on him. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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