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ROSE BOWL GAME: USC VS PENN STATEDecember 30, 2016Sam DarnoldPasadena, California THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: It's awesome. But at the same time you got to credit the guys around me. It's not possible without them. But it's awesome to have your name in the papers, but at the same time you don't lose focus of the goals at hand. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I just see a bunch that's really fundamentally sound. They're not going to make mistakes. I think that's the biggest thing we see on film is they bring a lot of pressures as well as playing a lot of coverages behind it. They like to mix it up a lot. I think that's a really great thing that they do. They're really disciplined, well-coached. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I mean, it is nice. But at the same time, you know, it's Penn State. It's not easy. Every single game this year is a hard game for us. But Penn State brings challenges that other teams don't. We're just really looking forward to it. I think our whole team is really excited to get out there and play. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: Right. I mean, I haven't been able to watch a ton of college football at all really this season, to be honest with you. I've been watching Penn State' defense. I haven't had a chance to watch their offense at all. Our defense talks about him all the time as a great player and a guy that can make plays. I know our defense is really excited for the challenges that he brings. We're just excited to get out there and excited for the opportunity. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, I mean, I think I have a lot of good qualities that you find in quarterbacks. At the same time, I focus on my game and I just play every single game to the best of my ability. That's really all I'm focused on. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I mean, Lawry's last night was pretty unbelievable. The food they brought out. The steak, the creamed corn, mashed potatoes. All that stuff was really good. I know our guys had a fun time with it, too. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: Right. Definitely for the seniors, you want to win this game for the seniors. To say that this is their last game kind of takes you back for a second. You don't really believe it. You just want to win it for them, but also for the guys that you've been with for a couple years now. It's been a crazy ride, crazy journey. Now that we're here, I think we just want to take care of business. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, I mean, you definitely learn from those experiences that others have done, whether it's the '05 team or the '09 team beating a team like Penn State. You look back on different things. You learn from different teams. This is a different team, a different USC team, different Penn State team. It brings its own challenges. I just think we're ready for it. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I think it says a lot. I think it says a lot about both teams, about the adversity we faced. I think it really talks a lot about the off-season training. I know a lot of people don't get to see it. I know Penn State probably works really hard as well. We've worked really hard in the off-season. We went through adversity, whether it was coach saying that we were done, then bringing on another round of obstacles that we had to go through in training. I think it really does come full circle in that regard. I think we've done a great job as a team of battling through adversity, whether it's the whole season as a whole, going 1-3. When you look at games, whether we were down, having to come back. I just think we're really ready for the opportunity and whatever faces us. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I know he's a father figure to a lot of guys on the team. He talks about having three children of his own and adopting 105. He really is that type of guy. He really is a great leader as a man. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: Just playing. I think just seeing how this whole thing unravels. Just to see how they attack us, how we're going to attack them, how it all will just play out I think is really interesting. Penn State is a really good team. They've battled through a lot of adversity this year, as well. I think these two teams, us and Penn State, we have a lot to fight for in this game. It will just be a fun game to watch. It will be fun to see how it plays out. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: Right, I mean, you definitely grow as a team. Coach Clay is a huge figure in that. He talks a lot about growth and maturing as a person. Every meeting he comes in and just talks about maturity, what it takes to be a man, all that kind of stuff. If anyone knows about that, it's Coach Clay Helton. We take his word for it and listen to every word he says. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I don't think any moment is too big if you just take it on with the abilities that you're given. I think it's really interesting 'cause with the abilities I'm given, I think I can achieve anything to my ability. With that being said, yeah, I think anything's possible. I don't think any situation is too big for me ever. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: Right, I mean, I can definitely say I'm a lot more comfortable with the guys and the system. In that regard, yeah, I'm a lot more comfortable. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I mean, I don't think anything is ever really shocking to us. A 1-3 start obviously isn't the way you want to start a season. But we took it one game at a time after that. We won every single game after that. We did take it one game at a time, prepared every single week for that one game on Saturday. That was really our mindset, was just taking it one game at a time. That's our mindset now. We got one more to go to complete a great story. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, it's a lot of things. The O-line definitely has to protect, which they have done a great job of all year. At the same time, as a quarterback, you've got to know and kind of feel out where the pressure's coming from. So it will be interesting to see what they do, what Penn State does in that regard. I mean, like I keep talking about, I'm really excited to see how it plays out, see what kind of pressures they bring. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I mean, you definitely think about it. But, I mean, you try not to. I mean, as an offense, the quarterback, you just want to score as many points as possible. So in that regard, I'm not too worried about low scoring, high scoring. Whatever happens happens. But definitely as an offense, you want to score a lot of points. Hopefully our defense can hold them to as little points as possible. But, yeah, definitely as an offense, you just want to go out there and score. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I mean, I haven't watched a ton of him on film because I'm focused on their defense. I haven't had an opportunity to watch a ton of college football this year. But I know Trace is a really great athlete. He can make plays when things necessarily aren't there at first. So I know he does a great job of that. I know our defense is really excited to play such a great player. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I mean, I think everyone stands out to be completely honest with you. They have great athletes in the back end and the front end. They're a Big Ten defense. They've really done a great job stopping the run all season and in the pass game. They do a great job getting the quarterback. I think Penn State does a lot of great things well. I think their biggest thing is being well-coached and being able to not give up the big plays. I think keeping everything in front of them is something they've done a great job of all year. I'm just really looking forward to the opportunity playing a great defense. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I think they bring a lot of different challenges than any other team we've faced, to be honest with you. You can compare them to a Colorado, if you want. I mean, Colorado's a three-down defense. They're a four-down defense. They bring a lot of different things, so... They're really different from most of the teams that we've played. They're a really good team, so we're just really looking forward to it. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: It's going to be awesome to play in such a great crowd. I know Penn State is going to travel well, they always do. Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it. I just want to get out there and play already. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I love Coach Clay Helton. I know he loves every single one of us as players. You always want a guy like that to succeed because he really does deserve it. When you see a guy like that succeed, it really just gives you a lot of closure as a player to be able to say you've helped him do that, so... Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I mean, I'm definitely antsy. I want to go out there and play the game already. You got to wait, got to do that. With that being said, we do have a lot more to prepare for. Like I keep saying, Penn State is a really good team. They bring a lot of different things. You can't prepare enough for them. We're going to take our time with them, but I'm definitely antsy to already get out there and play. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, I mean, to be honest with you, I didn't notice it. I watched the Wisconsin-Penn State game. Really noticed it then, how hot they can get late in games, all that kind of stuff. I'm just really looking forward to playing such a great team, a great closing team like Penn State. What they're able to do in big games is really special, what they've been able to do this year. It will be interesting to see how they come out, how we come out, all the different momentum swings, all that kind of stuff. It will be fun. I know as a fan, as a player, I'm excited to get out there and play. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: At my little house right by USC. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I mean, I just think, like we keep talking about, us and Penn State has gone through a lot of adversity, whether it's the past few years or even this season. So I think they really did a great job of battling adversity in games. You saw that in the Big Ten championship. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I wasn't really thinking about it. I was thinking more of just trying to get that win. When we didn't, I was bummed out when we lost against Utah. Yeah, I was more bummed out than thinking about the future. I mean, to be honest with you, I was just more thinking about that. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: The key to our turnaround I think is just trusting each other, trusting the coaching staff. I think after the Utah game, we came in as players only and had a team meeting that way, without the coaches in there. We just developed a trust with each other. It's not like we didn't build a trust before. We had to reassure it with each other, reassure with the coaching staff that we were going to be fine, everything is going to be fine, let's just take it one game at a time, move on from there. It's been a wild journey. We'd like to get one more for the seniors. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, I mean, as the season goes on, as you keeping winning games, trust definitely builds. I think we've done a great job of building that trust. I think that's really a key to our success as the season has gone forward. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I think I've definitely gotten a lot more confident in terms of being able to talk to guys, all that kind of stuff. I think I've always had confidence in my game, when you talk about on-the-field performance. I've always had trust and confidence in myself to be able to go out there and make any throw that's there to be made. In regards to that, I've always had confidence. But I definitely have a lot more confidence in terms of leading, being able to talk to guys. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: My state of mind is the same as it has been this whole season. I think if you prepare well, you feel really good. It's the same as if you prepare really well for a test, you're going to go into the test being really confident. I'm really confident about it. I just want to get out there and play. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: That's a really good question. I think Coach Helton and the staff have done a great job of preparing our practices leading up to this bowl game. We still had games on Saturdays, so we would practice throughout the week Monday through Friday as if we had a game that Saturday. I think that's a great way to approach it. That's how we've been doing that. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, I definitely think we would have. But like I said, I mean, Penn State, they do a lot of things different defensively. I can't speak about their defense going up against our offense. There's definitely little things you can still pick up as the weeks go on. So we're just really looking forward to it. But we're definitely still watching film, going through the standard protocol in terms of that. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I mean, it definitely brings its own challenges. Big Ten defenses are sometimes a lot different than PAC-12 defenses and vice versa with Big Ten offenses. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. I keep saying it, but it will be interesting to see what they do, how they adjust or how they don't adjust, and how we adjust or how we don't adjust. It will just be interesting to see how it all plays out. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: Right, I mean, a Big Ten defense is just a really good defense. PAC-12 defenses are also really good. It's just different when you have cold weather. You got to be able to stop the run. You know you're not going to be able to pass it as well. PAC-12 offenses, most of our offenses are spread. I mean, it's just interesting to see how it will all play out. I know Penn State's offense is really similar to ours in that regard. But I know Penn State has gone up against a lot of offenses that love to run the ball, all that kind of stuff. It will just be interesting to see how it all plays out. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I mean, there's a lot of great players on their defense. I don't want to point any one guy out in particular. They just do their job on every single play. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I mean, there's a lot of guys. You look at Josh Imatorbhebhe, Tyler Vaughns, Michael Pittman, all those guys. They've really stood out to me on scout team, even Mike Pittman playing with us with the ones. I'm really looking forward to playing with them in the future. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I think it has a lot to do with your mindset coming into college, just continuing to work hard no matter what the circumstance may be. You may not win a job your true freshman year, which some guys think that they can do coming into their true freshman year. If they don't win that job, sometimes they get their head down, they get down. I mean, no matter what the circumstances are, you just want to stay up and be confident in your abilities. You just want to continue to work hard even if sometimes you feel like you're not getting a fair opportunity. A lot of guys, yeah, that's basically it. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: Trace is a really great player. I haven't had an opportunity to watch him a ton this season. I know our defense is working hard to stop him right now. I'm watching Penn State defense. I haven't had a ton of opportunities to watch him, but I know he's a great player. He can make plays when something isn't there at first. I just know he's a really great player. I know our defense is really looking forward to trying to stop him. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, I mean, they just say he plays like me kind of. He can kind of make plays when something is not there. He has a quick release, all that kind of stuff. He's just a really natural football player, I guess, out there. I mean, you can see that in whatever watch you Penn State in. It will be interesting too much our defense go up against their offense. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I mean, yeah, that's a huge play. But I know we've had a ton of important plays this year. With that being said, I mean, I haven't ranked our plays or anything. I think that's a huge play. You look at that play, if Colorado intercepts that ball, they can go down and score, possibly win that game. Darreus making that play, kind of closing that game out for us, it was a huge, huge play. But I don't know where it would rank in terms of plays from the season. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I think you realize it when a guy comes out after every single summer workout and wants to play catch. I think it's really just determination in the off-season, but also during practice. You see him not take a play off during practice. When you see that, you really develop trust in a guy, in a guy's ability to go out there and do it in a game. There's a direct correlation to practice and games. When you see a guy like that prepare the way he does, practice the way he does, it's no surprise to see what he does on Saturdays. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: Penn State, they bring a lot of pressures. It will be interesting to see what type of pressures they bring against me. But they also mix up their coverages a lot in terms of rotating safeties, all that kind of stuff, whether they bring pressures or not. It will just be interesting to see what they do. But, I mean, I don't think we're going to get any blown coverages from Penn State. They're a really great defense, fundamentally sound, technically sound. They're really well-coached. They got the athletes to do it. Penn State is a really great team. We're just really looking forward to facing the different challenges that they bring. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, definitely. I mean, you think about that stuff a little bit, but at the same time you want to just prepare as it's the next game. That's what we've done every single game so far this season. We've really looked at it just preparing one game at a time, going about it that way. You definitely look at the storylines of how hot Penn State is, how hot we are right now. It will be interesting. It will be an interesting game, an interesting storyline that carries on throughout the game. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: Right, yeah. I mean, I watched the highlights from that game. I didn't get to watch it live. I know that that was a crazy game. That was definitely a wild game. Penn State is a team that has gone through a lot of adversity throughout the last few years. I think it really shows up on the field with their ability to go through adversity and just be able to move on every single play, play every single play like it's their last. That's something that sticks out to me, is their effort on every single play, their ability to not give up on a particular play. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I mean, it's nothing that we really paid attention to, to be honest with you. We know, like ourselves, Penn State has gone through a ton of adversity. We know exactly where they're coming from, how bad they want to win this game. It's an interesting storyline. Penn State is super excited. I know we're super excited to get out there and play. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: I think you always want to come out fast. We are aware that Penn State is a really good second-half team. At the same time you just want to play a good game overall. You don't want to focus on, We got to start off really fast because they're going to come back in the second half. You don't want to think about it like that. You just want to play a solid game. I think that's our focus, just playing a really sound game overall in all three phases, whether it's special teams, defense, offense. I think we're really prepared for Penn State's ability to also come back in the second half. But we just really want to start off fast, as well, so... Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, JuJu is a special talent, special player. He's going to do great things at the next level. I think what separates him is his ability to prepare, whether it's in the film room, in the weight room, and even during practice. He always wants to stay after and work on his routes. When you got a guy like that, with such special talent, it's going to be hard to stop him. I know that I've developed a trust in JuJu. He's trusted in me. We're looking forward to getting out there and showing the world what we can do. Q. (No microphone.) SAM DARNOLD: Sometimes I wish I could have Adoree a whole game. Adoree is a wonderful player. Whenever we get him on offense, he's going to do his thing. We just really love having him out there. Just to be able to see the things that he does in all three facets is really something that amazes me. The things he's able to do on special teams, returning kickoffs, returning punts, just playing cornerback is something that he's really done a great job of this season. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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