|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 16, 2015Mike BercoviciTempe, Arizona MIKE BERCOVICI: Obviously a pretty special week. You know, going into a senior day weekend, this is something that I never thought I'd be sitting in this situation, finally being a fifth-year senior and playing my last game in Sun Devil Stadium. But for this 2015 unit, especially some of these guys that have been here five years, being here before Coach Graham's entrance to this football team, it's obviously extremely special. I mean, it's an amazing achievement for a lot of us seniors just to know that we've been through college football up to this point, and it's going to be a special, special day Saturday for us. Just the amount of sacrifice that's gone into a lot of us being able to be in this position, between our parents, guardians, family members. So our team has our backs. Coach Graham said that you've got to play for these seniors, and it's just pretty special to be able to be sitting here in these shoes, sitting in my senior year along with some of my greatest friends for the rest of my life. We're excited, and it's going to be a great week of preparation. Q. I know you and Jordan are close. What was the reaction like when you found out he'd be out for the year? MIKE BERCOVICI: Yeah, when Jordan came here a couple years ago, immediately just became best friends with him just because I saw the type of work ethic that he has, and it's every single day. It doesn't matter if it's Sunday morning or if it's the day of the game. I mean, the kid is just -- he's just special. He's got a special heart, and just to see him being done for the rest of the season is obviously extremely heartbreaking for his family, for our football family, for us as roommates. But if there's one kid that can bounce back from something like this, it's him. Anybody that knows him has no worries about how he's going to prepare from this point for the rest of his career, and you know that he's going to be the best team player that we have. He'll be helping this football team whether he's on the field or not. Q. You had four incompletions on the final drive of the first half and then you went 12 of 14 in the second half. What led to that and what was that like playing in that type of a half? MIKE BERCOVICI: Yeah, it was obviously a special half for us. Just felt good to finally start clicking on offense. But I mean, all that really is is preparation. A lot of things that we saw on film, was something that we attacked, and our offensive line did a really good job in the second half. Receivers played well. Tight ends stepped up. Obviously the running game started becoming more explosive, and once this offense gets going, we have that type of ability. And as a quarterback you've got to put the ball in the right spot and let your playmakers make plays. It's something we need to build on moving forward. Q. I wanted to get your thoughts on the rivalry, and secondly, for the seniors playing their last home game at Sun Devil Stadium. MIKE BERCOVICI: Absolutely. I think this is something that, like I've said before, you wait for this game all year, the second the schedule comes out, but this is something, like I just mentioned it's extremely special for us seniors just to know we have one last opportunity to put it out there on the field, last time on Kush Field, last time in Sun Devil Stadium for our parents that have been coming here for four or five years or if you're a junior college kid, it's pretty special to see the type of emotions that I've seen over the years. I can still remember Taylor Kelly's face when he came out of that tunnel last year for the last time, and it's something that you never see it looking forward, but now that it's finally here, it is pretty amazing. We know what the mission is Saturday, and we're not going to be distracted by the emotions of senior day, but it is a pretty monumental day for us seniors. Q. I was just wondering if you could put into words your journey from day one to now coming up. MIKE BERCOVICI: To put it into words would be pretty hard. Coming in here, being recruited by a completely different coach, having a coaching change, one of the most -- one of the things that sticks out in my mind is the first time Coach Graham came up and talked to us. I was sitting back here somewhere, and just the type of energy that he brought was -- you could tell, and the funny thing about it is it hasn't changed in his fourth year here. He still has that type of -- that same tenacious attitude that he did the second he stepped foot in this team room. But obviously just being a backup for the first four years I was here was something that I learned a lot through just being with my teammates, seeing how a college football roller coaster ride works, and just being able to see how playing with your brothers and competing on the field, in the classroom, summer workouts, can really bring a football team together, and just realized how unity and brotherhood is really what wins football games and the things that you remember for the rest of your life, not just Saturdays. Q. You played in the Territorial Cup last year. Just kind of recount what that experience was like, and how much of a difference does it make not having Scooby Wright to worry about? MIKE BERCOVICI: This is something that we have the bitter taste in our mouth from last year, but I can't say enough about this football team and just the type of character that this football team has possessed all season. Obviously we're sitting in a situation where we have our most important football game ahead of us, and it's going to be a special, special opportunity to take the field one last time with this 2015 group. I know that a lot of us guys have been talking about it, how we can't believe it's finally here. We look some of our freshmen in the face and say, you guys have no idea how fast this goes because you constantly say that this time goes quick, but it really does go by in the blink of an eye. So it's something that we're looking forward to, and the mission is simple: Take care of the football, play amazing defense, and win on special teams. Q. I know you kind of perused the subject, but what would it mean for the team to beat Arizona, your most hated rival? MIKE BERCOVICI: I mean, obviously this is -- like I said, this is the biggest football game of the year. We're fighting for our sixth win, and that's the mission. We know what it takes. We know the keys to victory. But for this football team, it means everything. Obviously it's just -- we're looking for our sixth win, like I just said, but it boils down to character, fundamentals, basics, things that we learned the second you step foot on this campus, keeping the ball high and tight, own the football at quarterback, playing and swarming to the football. That's what it takes to win this football game. Q. For one reason or another, the one-two punch of Kalen Ballage and Demario Richard is something we haven't seen until the last two, three games. Just talk about from a quarterback perspective how different you feel the offense is now because of that factor. MIKE BERCOVICI: I mean, Kalen and Demario are two pretty special not only football players but people. They prepare extremely hard and they're really good people off the field. I know how much they care about each other, and that's what makes them dynamic, but as a quarterback and the offensive line and the offense as a whole, you can see how amazing it is for an offense when you do get a run game like that going. It boils down to preparation. You see how hard those guys work day in and day out, in the film room and on the field, and whether it be pass blocking, running the ball. They are dynamic football players, and they're just selfless team guys. That type of energy rubs off on the rest of the football team, no matter if you're in competition at linebacker, I mean, you can just find ways to build off that. But it's going to be just another week of hard-nosed football for them, and I think they're going to be rising to the challenge. Q. Kalen thinks he's a little bit mislabeled as a power back because he thinks he has elite speed. Obviously he is very fast. Have you ever heard him talk about this, and if not how would you describe him as a running back? MIKE BERCOVICI: Well, we don't talk about labeling running backs. It's not so much that. There's more correcting and coaching on the football field. But it is pretty amazing to see how fast Kalen is when he does get in the open field, and I'm just thinking about workouts when we've got ropes and if you break away from -- he's up there with Gump with that type of vertical speed that he has. But I know Kalen's attitude, and he wants to be elusive, power, every -- he's got a whole bunch of different adjectives that you can talk about Kalen, but it boils down to him being a selfless football player, and I know that he knows that. I know he jokes around, but he really does care about this football team, and he'll be ready to play Saturday. Q. I want to get your thoughts on with Jordan being out how other players have to step up in his role? MIKE BERCOVICI: Yeah, I think Antonio said it the best here after the game. Obviously Jordan is a special football player, not only on the field but just a vocal football player. But it's really a next-man-up attitude. You can go from Pop Warner to the NFL. There's people that are going to go down. What's great about this program is that everybody prepares at a championship level. So the next man up who's ready, you saw Chad and James play at a very high level, and it's just a credit to their character. Those are the type of people that they are. They're people that you can count on in anything in life, and that's just -- just like I say about how we have a brotherhood here. We've got guys I can count on. I know Jordan has all the belief in the world in those safeties that he leads in his DB group, so the mission is simple. Goals haven't changed because Jordan is not back there. But Jordan will have an emphasis on this team, and he'll have an output on -- he's still going to be that vocal kid that Jordan always is. Q. When there's a coaching change in a program, I think there's always -- it's a challenge for players, a transition period. I'm just wondering if you look back a few years, for guys like you and Vi and Gary who were recruited by the previous staff, what was it that you heard or saw from Coach Graham and his staff that enabled you to put your trust in them the way you did and help move the program forward? MIKE BERCOVICI: Absolutely. I mean, buy-in is kind of the word that Coach has used before, back in 2012, and it's something that you constantly fight. When you've got a new coach, whether you're hearing him or not, it's just, am I really -- am I going to be -- am I bleeding maroon and gold the way this guy is. It took about -- I think it took about -- when Coach Graham first stepped in here and he talked about a National Championship, he said, I can look at your faces and I can only see about half of you guys actually believe what I'm talking about. It took about one year to realize the next time he stood up here before the year and talked about winning championships, and everybody was on board, and that's just because of the steady, day-by-day things that he talked about. He's just resilient in how he talks about character, passion, discipline, toughness, and still four years later to this day he's still talking about the same things and still talking about competing for championships, and he really does have a true buy-in of this football team. And once you've got the leadership and the seniors, you know, the seniors being able to be bought in, it just trickles back into the juniors, sophomores and freshmen and it's just kind of a self-sustaining football team, and that's what he's created here. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|