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TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL: KANSAS STATE v OREGONDecember 29, 2012Nigel MaloneGLENDALE, ARIZONA THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q. What part of Bill Snyder is going to be part of your life in 15 to 20 years from now? NIGEL MALONE: Just the whole discipline aspect of it. I felt like I was a disciplined guy coming in. Definitely feel like I was very well‑mannered. But it's a different animal up here. I tell you, it's different. But definitely being early, watching how I interact with people. Like I say, I always feel like I was nice. But now the way I interact with some people, I feel I'm a little more friendlier, things like that. But definitely just discipline. Five minutes early. I find myself getting everywhere early. Even class a couple times (smiling). Q. Talking about the discipline, I know about your 16 goals for success. How do all those come into play when you take on a team like Oregon, who seems to specialize in wearing down defenses? NIGEL MALONE: I think the biggest thing for us and football as far as the 16 goals go is responsibility. Everybody out there has their own assignment. Name of the game is going 1‑0. Your own individual assignment is to go 1‑0, make sure you win everything that you do. For us really, it's every guy going out there and doing their job. Football is a simple game. At the end of the day, offenses are really difficult, but if you go out and do the things you're supposed to do, play the way you know how to play, outcome can be anything. Q. When you look at Oregon, the attack, obviously it starts with the quarterback. For a redshirt freshman, how impressed are you with what he's been able to do this year? NIGEL MALONE: I'm really impressed. I'm definitely impressed. I know he comes from the same high school as Masoli. I'm a big Masoli guy, myself. He's real similar as far as running the ball. He throws a pretty nice ball, a pretty accurate ball. I'm definitely impressed. Q. How did you get to be such a Masoli guy? NIGEL MALONE: Went to the same junior college guy. He left the year before I got there. You always support your guys from the same school, stuff like that, so... Q. You saw Masoli, what he did at Oregon. For a while, he was pretty good at the zone read. NIGEL MALONE: He definitely was. He's definitely done some good things. Q. You've been watching Oregon quarterbacks for a while? NIGEL MALONE: Yeah. Been a real long while. Q. Are you one of those student‑of‑the‑game type of guys? NIGEL MALONE: Yeah, well, back then, I grew up watching Dennis Dixon when he was in high school, stuff like that. Since I've gotten here, I give a lot of credit to Coach Hayes because he's definitely got me in that kind of mindset. I critique when I watch the different games and stuff like that, I'll see what other offenses are doing, maybe how other defenses lined up, what they're doing. Like I say, thanks to Coach Hayes, I'm able to look at the game in that aspect rather than just watching, I'm able to critique. Q. Was it San Leandro High School? NIGEL MALONE: Yes. I remember watching him play Maurice Drew. Q. Where did you go to high school? NIGEL MALONE: I went in the valley, about 15 minutes from Stockton, 45 minutes from San Leandro. Q. With Oregon's offense, DeAnthony Thomas, I wanted to ask you about the receiver. You've probably seen enough of him, right? NIGEL MALONE: Yeah. I saw him actually when he was younger in high school. They told me all kind of stories. I watched the game for myself and said that he's a really good talent. It definitely will be fun to go out and see what he's got. Q. You've seen some of the things he's done in college, turn people around in the secondary. NIGEL MALONE: That's a God‑given talent, you know what I mean? He goes out and displays it every Saturday. Q. What about the fact that Oregon seems to wear teams down with their tempo? NIGEL MALONE: Well, coach actually comes in and plays a big part in that. He put us through it during this month we've had off. He put an emphasis on conditioning, making sure we can get lined up and run with these guys. We prepared for that. Like I said, if you can get lined up, that's the biggest thing. When they go fast like that, they get, a lot of times, all kind of discombobulated, can't get lined up. If you can get lined up, it puts a different kind of aspect on the game. Q. We've heard from the other guys talking about Arthur, The Predator, sideline to sideline. What does he mean to your defense? NIGEL MALONE: He is so fast, he's so quick to read, it definitely helps getting to faster guys before they get started. Hopefully we can do that come the 3rd. Q. After this game you'll probably be thinking about an NFL career. What are your aspirations there? What do you think your chances are? NIGEL MALONE: Well, I mean, everybody at some point in time is wanting to play in the league, so forth. Kind of coming into K State, it was such a far gone thought to me. I was always just trying to work my way onto the field, onto somebody's team. Now that I've actually played two years, hopefully I can make it. I'm not too sure of my chances. Hopefully I can make somebody see I can at least be a special teams guy. I want to get out there on the field and play with the best of them. Like I said, I just want to play on somebody's team. Q. Does it give you hope seeing what guys like Tyson and Emmanuel are doing right now? NIGEL MALONE: It's definitely something that I kind of am hopeful for. I don't base my own success on somebody else's success. More than anything, I'm happy for those guys. They were here grinding with us last year. To really see their hard work has paid off is really gratifying. Q. How do you think your game translates to the next level? NIGEL MALONE: I mean, me personally, I think I could play if given the opportunity. I feel like there are some things that I definitely could work on, just getting stronger, technique things. That's what I'm saying. Coach Hayes, why I've grown, he's allowed me to play man and zone as well. So I understand. Football is so simple. It's man and zone. I think having played both, I really understand the in and outs of playing both. I think my knowledge has definitely grown. Q. You were talking about you weren't very highly recruited at all. Now possibly going to the NFL, quite a leap. NIGEL MALONE: That's what I'm saying. When you come from that far to NFL talk and all that, it's kind of way over my head. Like I said, I'm going to give it my best shot. Q. Coach said the key to this game was not doing anything fancy, but do what got you here. How do you do that? NIGEL MALONE: The same thing that we have been doing, you know what I mean? It really starts with coach, what he calls. We've been preparing a game plan all month, and really the biggest thing is sticking to what we practice. We've seen what they like to do, what we have. Q. No temptation to break out something new? NIGEL MALONE: Why would you? Like I say, it's another game. We played a fast team before. Texas Tech last year was going 15 seconds a play. Like I said, we've gone against fast, up‑tempo teams. Getting lined up, playing football, nothing special. Q. Did you get much brief after the Texas game? NIGEL MALONE: Oh, man, I heard it. I heard it. I think I did a really good job. Normally I don't really take the people I don't want to say criticizing, some people was bashing me a little bit, but coming out here, I've learned a lot of patience. I didn't want people calling out my name, talking down to me. I had people, No top 10. But they're not the ones playing. I didn't really let it get to me. Q. Looking back, do you think you let it go too early? NIGEL MALONE: That's the thing. I'm pretty sure I crossed the line. The line was behind me before I let the ball go. But it is what it is, so... I know next time I will make it close. Q. You get a pick six in this game, you're not going to drop it? NIGEL MALONE: Might bring it back to the sideline. Q. Just keep it? NIGEL MALONE: Yeah. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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