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ROSE BOWL GAME: GEORGIA VS OKLAHOMA

December 29, 2017

Pasadena, California

THE MODERATOR: Thank you for joining us today. To my far right, we have offensive lineman Orlando Brown; to his left we have Mark Andrews, tight end; and then joined by offensive coordinator Cale Gundy.

Coach Gundy, I'd like to ask you to give a couple opening remarks about your time here in Los Angeles.

CALE GUNDY: Thank you. It's been a great first few days we've been here. I think all of us know when you talk Rose Bowl, you talk kind of the granddaddy of bowl games, and awfully excited.

We've had two very good days of practices. Players are excited, coaches, families, the times we're spending out here. We're having good times and some enjoyable time, but then we're having football time.

Players have been really locked in, focused through the course of meetings and practices on the field. A lot of energy out there.

We still have a few days before game day, so you've got to kind of control your emotions, but obviously, as you've seen throughout the course of the season, when game day comes around, we'll be ready to go.

So appreciate everything, and look forward to spending the morning with you.

Q. Cale, talk about the Georgia defense and their concepts and some of the things that they do. We hear so much about how strong and physical they are, but what catches your eye about them?
CALE GUNDY: Well, I think most importantly what catches your eye is what you started off saying, is just how athletic they are and strong and physical they are across the board. Play with some depth on the defensive line. Anytime you've got a defense throughout the course of the season that's held all opponents, except for two, under 300 yards of offense, that's pretty exceptional.

So it will be a great challenge for us. Which anytime you get down to the last four teams in the country fighting for the National Championship, you're going to have good football teams and good football players across the board.

Game day you've got to go out there and execute. You've got to play fast. You've got to take care of the football. Obviously haven't played -- it's going to be a month by the time we've played our last game.

So the execution, the small things, the turnovers, the false starts, all of that is very important when Monday comes around.

Q. Baker's absence, what have you seen, and how is he doing today? What did you see in practice yesterday as well? Cale, if you'd go first.
CALE GUNDY: Well, Baker being at practice is something that's going to be left up to Coach Riley to talk about. Obviously you saw him out there, so we'll just leave it at that.

MARK ANDREWS: Same thing.

Q. You've been surrounded by great coaches, your brother Bob for 17 years. What do you take from your first year with Lincoln and seeing him as a head coach, and what stands out to you about him and the way he's handled this?
CALE GUNDY: Well, again, I think it's been noted, I've talked about it recently in the past with Coach Riley. I've been here now 18 years, and very fortunate to be around a lot of great head coaches. Obviously Coach Stoops, who I worked for for many years, and a lot of coordinators that have moved on to go be head coaches.

Being around Coach Riley now for the third year and his transition into being the head coach has just been -- it's not a surprise to me, because I saw it from day one when he first got here and became our offensive coordinator.

He's a tremendous leader. He's a motivator. He's somebody that each and every one of our players will tell you that they know that he cares deeply about them. He's the first one that can get right into you and challenge you at the very best. But they all know that he has their back. He's been exceptional.

I think he's done a tremendous job just learning and observing from other people he's been around over the years and had some great mentors. He's really, really good.

Q. Orlando, you went to Peachtree Ridge in Gwinnett and played against some of the Georgia guys in high school. Do you still follow the program? Is it kind of cool to see them here? What are you expecting?
ORLANDO BROWN: Honestly, I don't much, you know what I mean? I'm just ready to get out there and play, man. It doesn't matter who we're lining up against, it's a playoff game in the Rose Bowl. I'm pretty excited.

Q. Orlando and Mark -- and Cale, if you have something to add on -- on Lincoln, if there was a moment that you could pick very early in Coach Riley's tenure that assured you that the transition would go the way that it did, what comes to mind?
ORLANDO BROWN: For me it was really that win at Tennessee in 2015, I think it was. Yeah, I think in that game we were down, and he continued to press us, and he had a confidence and a swagger about himself that allowed us to go out there and persevere.

For me, it was that time, that game that I knew what he was capable of.

MARK ANDREWS: Yeah, I think one of the things that stands out for me is right when he took over the job and bringing everyone together, bringing the team together and saying that he's going to earn our trust and that it's not going to be given. I think that most coaches coming in, being a head coach, expect the trust to be there and expect that.

So for him to be able to come in and tell us that he's going to earn it, which he has, has been one of the biggest things that I've seen.

CALE GUNDY: I was going to say the same thing that Mark said. Even though I was not there, some of his coaches were on the road to football camps, Lincoln stayed back with the team. He wanted to be with the players. He felt that was the most important thing. But talking to a couple of the players about how that meeting went, the bell went off in my head that that was the best thing he could have done, was the most important thing was to be with the players and be with the team to make the transition as smooth as possible.

Q. Orlando, we've watched you really transform into a good player into a great player. Could you talk about -- you've always had the talent, but could you talk about the support that you had at OU that helped you along the way, get your body in shape and to become the player that you've become?
ORLANDO BROWN: Yeah, obviously, that starts with our strength staff. Coach Schmidt and his group and what everyone there was able to do with me. From the point that I stepped on campus to get here, they continued to work with me. Even when, you know what I mean, I didn't want to work at times.

Coach T, our nutritionist, and her staff, everything that she showed me what I need to do to make sure that the weight comes off and stays off. Obviously, Jammal Brown, what he's done for me on the field and off the field, helping me grow there as far as being a better person and a better player.

Then our coaches, what they were able to do, Coach Gundy, Coach Bedenbaugh, Coach Riley, putting me in the best position to go out there and dominate play after play.

From there it's my teammates, and it's been a blessing to get here to this point, but I'm still working. FastScripts by ASAP Sports

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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