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ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY VIZIO: STANFORD v WISCONSINDecember 27, 2012Ben GardnerEd ReynoldsShayne SkovPASADENA, CALIFORNIA Q. Ben, Chase and Trent were talking about the mullet of legends. You've got to take the hat off for this press conference, don't you? BEN GARDNER: It's a little messy right now, but I'll probably get it cleaned up tonight and get it looking right for the game. Q. They described you as like a nitty‑gritty tough guy, cowboy kind of a guy. Is that just how you grew up in Homestead? Is that kind of what you bring to the table? What is the story? BEN GARDNER: I don't know. I've never been called that before. I kind of like it. But I call Murphy the cowboy kind of guy. I think I'm probably a classic, classic guy that you find from Wisconsin, just average mid‑west guy, trying to make it out in California. Q. Shayne, this team prides itself on party in the back field, getting sacks, getting to the quarterback. You're playing a team that might throw the ball ten times the entire football game. How does that change the mentality? In fact, all of you can comment on this. How does this change the mentality of how you go about your business? SHAYNE SKOV: I don't think it changes it at all. The success we've had has been predicated on stopping the run. I think we've done that for the most part of the season. The party in the back field thing. We like to play defense aggressive. We want to dictate the terms of engagement when we play, and have fun at the same time. So I think it's an aggressive and fun group to play with. This is what we want to do. So run or pass, it doesn't matter; we're going to be ready to play. STUDENT‑ATHLETE: As a secondary, we're not thinking of it as we need to focus on this run and just let the pass go over our head or anything. It's one of those things if the run comes to us, we need to make a tackle, otherwise it's an explosive play. Just because they run the ball a lot to get that play‑action shot down the field. So we have to be‑‑ we have to be attentive to that and play what we've been doing all year. Play fundamental ball. Play top down. As a whole team and defense, keep swarming to the ball. Q. Ben, do you remember watching the 2000 Rose Bowl, Wisconsin and Stanford? BEN GARDNER: Yeah, I remember that. Big Ron Dayne fan at the time. Q. Did you think you'd go to Wisconsin? BEN GARDNER: Yeah, I probably did. If you asked my dad, he'd probably say I was out in the backyard pretending to be a Wisconsin Badger. But times have changed now. I couldn't be more happy about how my whole process ended up being here to play for the Stanford Cardinal on January 1st. It's really been a blessing how everything worked out. I wanted to be a Badger at one point. But now to be here with these guys, I couldn't ask for anything more. Q. Ed and Shayne, you were what, 10 and 11 at the time, I would imagine when Stanford played Wisconsin, right? ED REYNOLDS: I think sadly enough I was a Cal fan at the time growing up in the east bay. Quickly came to my senses. I mean, my dad went to Cal. But I do remember that game. Wisconsin, and Ron Dayne had a great game. But hopefully‑‑ I believe it's a different era, and we're ready to change that. SHAYNE SKOV: I think myself, being from the east coast, I wasn't paying attention to anything out here. I was focused on SEC and ACC ball. I do remember Ron Dayne being one hell of a back, but I don't remember too much about the actual Rose Bowl. Q. Would you want to tackle Ron Dayne? SHAYNE SKOV: Would I like to? Q. Do you want to try? SHAYNE SKOV: If I have to, that's what it comes down to. He might not have an ACL afterwards. I'm definitely going low on him. But he was one hell of a back. Q. Ed, as your first go‑round as a major BCS bowl game as a starting player, can you talk about what the last four weeks have been like leading up to this? ED REYNOLDS: I mean, we've approached it no different than if we were in a regular game week. Just making sure that we put in the right amount of preparation to feel good about how we can play on January 1. It's great to have guys on this team that have been to big bowl games and have played in them and know what it takes to prepare and win like these guys up here with me right now. But it's just one of those things where you don't do anything different. You don't play outside yourself; you just make sure you get in that routine. You're grinding hard during the week so can you play fast on Saturday. Q. Ben, you mentioned that it wasn't just Wisconsin. There were a lot of people that didn't take a serious look at you. How did that fuel your fire to make you what you are today? BEN GARDNER: I think just coming in as a young player. Stanford obviously being my only Division 1 offer, it just gave you that sense that had you to come in and prove yourself early on. Kind of establish your standing on my team. But I think that was four years ago, so I think I'm not sure it fuels me anymore. It definitely fuelled me as a young player. But four years later being so immersed in my team's goals and our success, I think that fuels me more than anything getting into the Rose Bowl and winning the Rose Bowl. And those certain goals that we set is now what fuels me over anything that happened in my recruiting process. Q. As a follow‑up, just because, obviously you've been pretty honest about wanting to be a Badger, obviously growing up in Wisconsin at one point. How do you channel your emotions properly to do what you need to do game day? BEN GARDNER: I don't think it will be too different for me. Having a whole month to prepare I think will help, being so familiar with this team and watching so much film. So I think once we get fired up to come out of the tunnel, I think it will be just another game, and I'll try to keep that tunnel vision focus that I try to bring to every game. I don't think the opponent will necessarily matter. We try to approach he each game like nameless, faceless opponents. So regardless who is on the other sideline, I believe I'll be able to approach it the same way, and our team will be able to approach it the same way. Q. I know this is going to be a very different answer for all three of you guys and very different vantage points from a year ago. But can you address how the Fiesta Bowl close loss maybe stays with you and motivates you, and if that has any effect or lingering effect on your psyche heading into this game in terms of motivation? STUDENT‑ATHLETE: Obviously I wasn't an active participant last year, so that's always tough. Any time your teammates are out on the field and struggling, it's difficult to not be able to step on the field and help them out. So being in that position was tough. But I think it can be said for any of us that your last game of any season kind of dictates the tempo, and I guess the taste in your mouth for the rest of the year. So we've obviously gone through this past off‑season fully aware that we lost that game, and it hurts and it kind of stings a little bit and stays at your side.  But we're ready to go. I think our goal every year has been to win the Pac‑12. We finally got it done this year, and now we're here in this platform, and we'll be ready to play. This is an incredibly focused group. It's always a hungry group. So I think we'll be ready come game time. STUDENT‑ATHLETE: Playing in that game was a great game. We felt like we did enough things to probably end up winning the game. But that's one of the thing that's we've been preaching since we all came in as freshman is that we need to finish, finish, finish. There's always been something that we've talked about every day whether it's in season or off‑season. It's something that we weren't able to do, and it definitely stung. It's one of those things that sticks with you for months because it's the last game, the last taste that you have in your mouth for the season. This year, we've got to do everything in our power that we can to finish so that we don't have to sit around and think about what could have been for six months until we can put the pads on again. It's a terrible feeling to lose your final game and to lose it in a heartbreaking fashion like that game ended. This year, if it comes down to the fourth quarter and the game is close, there is no letting up from our side. Q. Ed, when you win seven in a row, can you talk about momentum and confidence? ED REYNOLDS: Momentum and confidence? Yeah, just, for us as a defense and as a team, if you can stack great performances on top of great performances and do everything that you're supposed to do, make sure your preparation is right and you're making the right adjustments and just playing at a high level, it resonates with the whole team. Not just the team, but in the Stanford community, you get our students at the game, and the fan base is going crazy. It's definitely something that's hard to explain. You feel it, you play through it, and it definitely gives you an edge where you feel like I'm playing against such a high level that nothing really can stop me right now. As a player you try to go and you play at that high level every time you touch the field. But when you're in that type of win streak, you're doing everything in your power to just keep it going. Q. Ben, when we talked a week and a half ago, you said you were going to go home or go to Mequon just before Christmas. What was that like? What type of comments did you get? Did you have people that you've known your whole life say we want you to do well? What was that like? BEN GARDNER: Well, I didn't go to Wisconsin. I'm going after the game. I went to see my parents in Seattle. As you know, they live there now. But, yeah, I've been in contact with people from back home in Wisconsin. I'm going there after the game. It's going to be interesting, no doubt about it. It already has been. But I've seen a lot of support from people back there, obviously, even from die‑hard Badger fans that want to see me do well. Probably don't want to see these two guys do so well (laughing). But I've said it before, I think that Badger blood runs deep. I know the fans back home are very dedicated to the University of Wisconsin, and for good reason. It's a great university, much like our university. So I think that's what makes this game so special. Two proud traditions, two outstanding academic institutions that can also line it up with some big boys and play some good football. So I think it's going to be exciting. It's going to be a physical football game, and it's going to be a really good one to watch. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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