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ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY VIZIO: STANFORD v WISCONSINDecember 27, 2012Ben GardnerPASADENA, CALIFORNIA Q. Do you mind going over the whole recruiting thing for me? Wisconsin offered you a walk‑on, right? BEN GARDNER: That's right. Yeah, Wisconsin offered a walk‑on. I had a solid number of offers from FCS schools around the area, the Dakota schools, Northern Iowa, Illinois State, those type of schools. So I was committed to play in Northern Iowa for a short time before Stanford came into the fold, which was really late, probably two or three weeks before signing day that year. Yeah, you know, it was a frustrating process for me, because I felt like I could play at a Division 1 level. I didn't feel like I was going to be given an opportunity. So thankfully Stanford came in. When it did, I couldn't have been more blessed the way it worked out, because a lot of guys in that situation don't get the opportunity ever. So I was lucky it came, though it came as late as it did. Q. Coach Harbaugh's dad was the first one to get on you? BEN GARDNER: Yeah, that's right. Coach Harbaugh's dad was I think Associate Athletic Director of Marquette at the time, and he was friends with my high school coach, Coach Keel. And he was in our weight room one day, and I was working out, and Coach Keel called me over, and I talked to him for 15 minutes, got to know him and asked him if he would take a look at my highlight tape, because I knew his son was out at Stanford. He said, yeah, I'll take a look at it. I didn't think anything would come of it. But he looked at it and told me he liked it, and he was going to send it on to Coach Harbaugh at Stanford. So that's how that all got rolling. And I still didn't think anything would come of it until I got a call out of the blue from Coach Harbaugh saying they were going to offer me a scholarship. Q. So did you (Indiscernible) with Wisconsin? BEN GARDNER: No, I didn't really camp anywhere. I was really just my only focus was on my team at the time. We were really solid coming back our senior year and trying to win a state championship. So I wasn't worried about the camp circuit. Q. What did (Indiscernible) tell you when he was recruiting you for Wisconsin? BEN GARDNER: Yeah, when they're recruiting kids, they're going to tell every kid that you like them, no matter what. They did want me as a preferred walk‑on, which I don't take any‑‑ I didn't necessarily feel disrespected. I just wasn't interested in being a walk‑on. Q. The fact that they were recruiting a teammate, was that frustrating at all? BEN GARDNER: No, not really, because I had played with Shelby, and he was an amazing talent. He was the Player of the Year in our state our junior season and our senior season. I knew what he could do. I didn't think that they should be recruiting me over him. I was happy for Shelby, and I was trying to find my own place, my own home. Q. Some guys get motivated by that, and it kind of spurs them their entire careers. Is that a motivating factor for you? BEN GARDNER: Maybe a little bit early on. Just coming into college with the initial chip on your shoulder. Thinking even though I did pick up an offer from Stanford, it was late, and I was the lowest rated recruit in my class coming in. So, yeah. You definitely come in looking to prove yourself. But after a year or two, once you're integrated into the team and you're so immersed in the team goals, I think the motivating factor each year for me now has been to get to us this game, which we haven't been able to do. We've been really close. We haven't been able to do it until now. I think it may have motivated me early on, but I don't think about it much anymore. Q. What do you think about the chance of getting to show Wisconsin what you can do though? BEN GARDNER: I'm excited for that just because I know I have so many friends and family back in Wisconsin that will be watching, and that will be invested in the game for many reasons. It's exciting to show what I can do and what our team can do. This team is really special. Think not a lot of people outside the west coast have seen what we can do, so we're excited to go out there and show it. But we're going to have to bring it, because Wisconsin's a heck of a team that can really run the football. Q. Getting to the important stuff, you did not cut the mullet this year. BEN GARDNER: Didn't cut it, yeah. Q. Did your teammates talk to you beforehand after what happened last year and said do not cut it this year? BEN GARDNER: Absolutely. Q. Who was the biggest? BEN GARDNER: It was that guy over there, Skov. Skov got on me, because I was getting close to cutting it. Q. Really you learned nothing from last year? BEN GARDNER: No, I didn't. I wanted to prove it was an aberration last year. It wasn't my fault cutting my hair. But they wouldn't let me do it. So I think an uprising would have started in the locker room if I would have done it. So I'm keeping it. I'm rocking it for this game. I'm ready to go. Q. (Indiscernible)? BEN GARDNER: Seriously, I mean, look at that. (Laughing). Q. You obviously grew up watching Big Ten football. It seems like the image of this Stanford game is not "Pac‑12." Do you feel you're more in the model of a Big Ten team? BEN GARDNER: Probably, yeah. Growing up, watching a lot of Big Ten football, it's run the football, defend the run, and do everything else after that. So that's basically what we do. It's what we've done the last few years. It's a little different now without Andrew Luck playing quarterback, but I mean, we still feel like we've got the play makers on offense to still have a passing game and add that dimension. But the basis of what we do to run the football, stop the run, and that's always going to be what we do here. So I think that makes this a great match‑up, because that's been what Wisconsin does too. That's always been the style of football in the Big Ten. So coming from the midwest, I love it. It's the kind of game I want to play. It's the kind of game our defense wants to play. We couldn't be more fired up about it. Q. Did you grow up thinking when you thought about Pac‑10 teams, all offense? They don't play defense? BEN GARDNER: I didn't think about the Pac‑10 teams until the Rose Bowl. It's so different. In the midwest, it's all about Big Ten football, to be honest. It really is. Just like it is anywhere. Just like it is in the southeast. It's all about the SEC and the West is all about the Pac‑12. Yeah, I mean, the best thing about it is you're in your own separate world until January 1st, then those worlds clash. So we'll see. Pac‑12, Big Ten, it's always been a great battle for the Rose Bowl, and I expect nothing different this year. Q. How big a Badgers fan were you? BEN GARDNER: I was a big one. Watched them every week. Went to a couple of games a year. Q. When you found out they were going to be the opponent, what was your initial reaction? BEN GARDNER: I was fired up. Called a bunch of my friends who are Badger students and stuff. I watched the game against Nebraska, and it became pretty clear early on that they were going to win. So I was excited about that. My family is fired up too. So we talked to a lot of people. I heard from a lot of people that I haven't heard from in a while.  Everybody's fired up about the chance for me to play Wisconsin and just for this match‑up in general. Q. What is the biggest challenge concerning stopping Montee Ball? BEN GARDNER: Well, I think it is the fact that they can rely so much on Montee Ball. He's so versatile and can do everything that you could want a running back to do. But then they also have two other running backs that you have to account for that bring a little different style. I think that's what makes it most difficult is you have to worry about James White and Melvin Gordon, too, who could on any given play take one 60, 70 yards to the house. You try not to focus too much on just Montee Ball, but just focus on their running game in general. If you try to take a play off when one of those other guys is in there, you know that's going to hurt you. Q. As far as your pass‑rush skills, they don't throw the ball a lot. But is your concern mostly to keep your position, your gap? BEN GARDNER: Well, when you watch these guys, it's apparent that you have to stop the run first. That's going to be our mindset on game days is we have to earn the right to rush the passer. That's what we've talked about. So in order to have the chance to rush this guy, we have to play well on first and second down, and get them into third and longs, because they're committed to running the ball. They're not going to change that just because we have a little success early on in the game stopping them. They're going to pound the football until they have to throw it. So we have to earn the right to get this guy on third downs, otherwise we're not going to be able to rush, which is what we do best, probably. Q. (Indiscernible)? BEN GARDNER: We're a proud unit. It's been a complete effort in terms of the run defense. Everybody gives credit to our front end, but something they don't understand is we have two of the best run stop and safeties in the nation as well. And our corners will come up and hit you too. So it's been a complete effort with 11 guys every week. And we slipped up a little bit in the Pac‑12 Championship game. We gave up almost 300 yards rushing, which we have a little sour taste in our mouth from that. So we have to come back and bring our A‑game. Otherwise the Badgers have the running attack that can make you pay. Q. (Indiscernible)? BEN GARDNER: Definitely. They did hurt us on the edge a little bit. What they did best is they spread us out with quick screens out to the flats and spread formations and we were able to run in our interior. We only had five or six guys in the box. So we weren't able to get off blocks and make tackles as well as we normally do. Not sure why. I couldn't really point to a reason for that. But Wisconsin is a much different style of running team. They're going to come with big formations and run the ball inside and outside. So we're going to have to really run and tackle when they get the ball in the edges with the fly sweeps and the stretches and the stuff like that. Then on the inside we have to bang and hold our ground against their offensive line, because they're obviously very large and very powerful guys. Q. What did it mean for your team to get Chase Thomas back this year? BEN GARDNER: Oh, it was everything. Chase was the leader of our unit last year, and has been such a steady force for our defense because he's there every week. He's never really had injury issues, knock on wood. He's so productive every single week, the teams really have to focus their game plan on blocking him and making sure he's not in the back field which opens up everything for all the other guys. You see that surface on game day. So it's been great to have him back to have that steady force and kind of grumpy, salty guy out there on the edge. He's a guy that's not real friendly on game day, and we love that about him. Q. Is he grumpy all the time? BEN GARDNER: Yesterday at Disneyland might have been the first time I've ever seen him smile (laughing). Q. What was he doing? On a ride or something? BEN GARDNER: Yeah. I think he was a little scared on Splash Mountain, about to go down the drop. He was smiling. I don't know. I think he was scared about getting wet. I'm not sure what it was. But I did see a little bit of a cracked smile in there. So I guess he enjoyed Disneyland. Q. He loves to be fuelled by that stuff, right? BEN GARDNER: Absolutely, he does. Our whole defense kind of takes that identity from him. There is a certain nastiness we try to play with on game day. It starts with Chase. He sets the tone for us, and then guys like Shayne and Murph, and shoot, A.J. Tarpley, just each one of those guys kind of brings a different element to the table. But everyone plays with that same chip on their shoulder, which really, we try to pick up as our defensive identity, and we try to play with a mean streak. Q. Is Ball similar to anybody you've faced? BEN GARDNER: Not necessarily. The guy he reminds me most of is our running back Stepfan Taylor. He's a little bit bigger. But in the same mold that they can really do everything. Ball has much better speed than people give him credit for. But he's very big, and powerful, and he's got great balance. He's able to bounce off blocks and uses his spin move very well. So a lot of the things that we see from Stepfan in practice all the time, but I wouldn't compare him to any of the other backs in the Pac‑12 that we've faced. We've faced a lot of great backs. But none with the complete and total package of a power back with breakaway speed. Q. You've talked about the fact that you have to earn the pass rush. But the fact that you've been able to do that pretty consistent? BEN GARDNER: Yeah, it's important. It's something we take pride in up front. There have been times in the season where we've been calling a lot of blitzes and maybe getting hit in the back end on some passes and we've kind of gone over to the coaches on the sideline and said, listen, we think we can get home with four. We don't think we need to bring pressure. So that's something that can really open up a lot of things for a defense schematically. At the same time, with a team like Wisconsin, a lot of their passing game is boots, and seven or even eight man protection. So if you want to get pressure at all, you've got to bring a few extra guys. So we'll see how that plays out on January 1st. Q. (Indiscernible)? BEN GARDNER: That was special. Oregon had been a big‑time thorn in our side for a couple of years, for as long as I've been here. Most people thought we could never beat them just because they talked about the speed disadvantage, and how we can't run with those guys. We might be able to play with them for two quarters, but in the second half they'll wear us down and run us off the field. So to be able to win it, and especially to be able to win that game on the road when really nobody thought we could win. I mean, I didn't see anybody pick us to win, and justifiably so. But to be able to do that was a heck of a team effort and a testament to the belief from our team in the fact that we were a contender, and we were going to get to this game no matter what it took. We went through a lot of ups and downs this season, but never lost sight of the goal which was the Rose Bowl game. Q. (Indiscernible) they weren't able to establish defensively? BEN GARDNER: Yeah, I don't know if we were that much better defensively. I think we're better defensively. But it came down to maintaining our execution for four quarters. In the last few years, we've really, if you turned on the film, you'd see a lot of the same stuff that you saw. This year it came down to six or seven big plays where one guy is out of place, one guy misses a tackle, and they're so explosive that they'll take that for 60 yards for a touchdown. We were really on top of our game in terms of our assignments and our communication this year, which allowed us to avoid those big plays, which is really tough to do against a team like that. Q. Did things change much when (Indiscernible)? BEN GARDNER: No, I don't think so. Coach Tarver brought a lot of energy and intensity to our defense. And really, he's a great football mind. He really came up with a lot of our front pressures and our line stunts and stuff and the way we run those stunts. We tried, even when he left, continued to do what he was teaching. So I don't think it changed much. Coach Mason does a great job of letting the guys up front do what we do best, which is go get the quarterback. In doing that, we're able to run a lot of different pressure packages. A lot of those were with the help of Coach Tarver. I think we've kept all of those that he implemented last year. Q. What did you think of Wisconsin's game plan against Nebraska? BEN GARDNER:  I thought it was awesome. They were really able to attack them from every way. One thing they were able to do is utilized their unbalanced formations. So they'd come in with the heavy packages and get six offensive linemen on one side, two on the other, and get Nebraska into a check. It seemed to us on film like they were doing that more and more as the game went on, because they were having a lot of success. I'm not sure if they saw Nebraska and they were able to get Nebraska in the same defensive shell or what, but they were able to have a lot of success with the unbalanced formation. So we've been working a lot on that in practice and making sure we made proper adjustments to those formations to make sure they can't outnumber us on one side and beat us to the edge. Q. That's a lot to prepare for, isn't it? That package? BEN GARDNER: Absolutely. They have so many offensive linemen that they can bring in that are all good players that it's been difficult to prepare for. We feel like we're getting close. We still have another week to get ready for it. But it's something if you want to have success stopping those guys, you have to be ready for all the looks that they can give you, and there are countless looks. Q. Shayne was saying it's sort of analogous to the offense that you guys were running two or three years ago. Is that a fair assessment? BEN GARDNER: Yeah, I think so. When you look at the San Francisco 49ers and Coach Harbaugh and his staff do a lot of that stuff. They'll give you any look you can imagine. They'll dress it up with motions and shifts and all that stuff to try to get you out of place. That is the type of offense that we've seen from Wisconsin, and it really causes the defense a lot of problems, because you have to make sure that you're communicating at all times. But we've seen it. We've run that type of offense at Stanford. So we're excited about the challenge, and we think we'll be ready for it. Q. So this has got to be a dream match‑up? BEN GARDNER:  Oh, yeah. Q. And your feelings for Wisconsin's football program? Is it a healthy dislike? BEN GARDNER: Um, growing up a Badger fan, so I obviously was a big fan, and I wanted to play for Wisconsin. That obviously didn't happen, so I won't say I have hard feelings. I'll just say they're our opponent this week, and we're fired up for the chance, because Stanford, the whole time we've been here, we've been trying to come to this game and win this game. It's been hard to get here. Now that we're here, Wisconsin's in our way, and that's all I'll say about them. I'm fired up to play them. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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