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FEDEX ORANGE BOWL: SOUTHERN CAROLINA v OKLAHOMA


January 2, 2005


Dan Cody


MIAMI, FLORIDA

Q. Because of USC's offense, is this the biggest challenge you've faced this year?

DAN CODY: Yeah, I think there's a lot of truth to this just because they're so balanced on how they can run the ball, make the big play and how they can throw the ball, it's almost like a triple threat, the two good running backs. But the biggest thing is the way we prepare, the way we get ready for teams can't change. The way we've been winning games all year has been in a good style, in a good way. We don't want to change that and look at them any different than anybody else.

Q. Do you have any of the same feelings this week that you did before the Big 12 Championship game?

DAN CODY: Yeah, the same feelings, and our confidence level, how our guys feel and how we're prepared, but it's a different kind of game. It's a different time of year. We win that Big-12 Championship, it wasn't about redeeming last year, but we all felt like that was a chapter in our lives that we needed to close and get that behind us so we could move on to this.

Q. Dan, quick question for you. With the team speed you guys have on this defense, does that allow you guys maybe to -- talk about the opportunities that that presents to maybe send more blitzes or send more things because you're not afraid of the one-on-one match-ups on the other side.

DAN CODY: I don't think that's the particular case. For us to be able to create blitz opportunities we've got to get them at 3rd and long. We can't be coming out of nowhere with it. We've got to set up our blitz package the way we have all year. They're not used to being at 3rd and long. We've got to get them at 3rd and long. We have to get guys sitting back in the pocket, and it gives us opportunities to do things with the way we blitz and the way we're covered.

Q. Is the key to this game showing down Matt Leinart, to get pressure on him early?

DAN CODY: Absolutely. You don't want to let him get in any kind of rhythm. Once they start popping big plays and run the screen and run the draw, and once they get in that kind of rhythm where they're doing different things, that's where you want to get on their heels and we want to take the attack them to them.

Q. Talk about the offensive line for USC.

DAN CODY: We give them quite a bit of respect. As much as they throw the ball and protect the way they have and given up as few sacks as they have, I think that speaks a lot of words right there. When they're max protecting like that and they have extra guys in the box and that kind of prohibits us from doing a few things, but the key is we have to get those extra guys split out where they can get the ball down the field.

Q. Dan, looking at USC's offense, are they the best you've played by far this year or do they compare to anyone in the Big 12 you've played against?

DAN CODY: I don't know if they compare to anybody in the Big 12 in their type of offense, the type of plays they run, but it's hard to tell what the team is all about until you've played them. There's a lot to truth to that. You don't know what they're about until you get on the field with them. There's no way of telling. Obviously the impression I have on film, generally the guys we thought were impressive on film played well in the game, and generally that holds true for these guys or they wouldn't be where they are right now.

Q. When everybody talks about how dangerous Reggie Bush is, do you go against guys like that in practice when you see Mark Clayton or Adrian Peterson or something like that?

DAN CODY: Well, you go against guys like that in practice, but the speed is never the same. He is a big play threat. That's a big part of their offense, what he does, and that's going to be a big key to stopping them is getting on him before he makes a big play. You know, he gets the ball, runs a few yards past the line of scrimmage and turns it into 70-, 80-yard plays. That's what we can't let happen.

Q. How aware are you of what they do on defense? I know that you pay attention mostly to the offense, but their defense is ranked in the top ten nationally in a bunch of different categories. Does that add to your guys' motivation to show they can hang with them?

DAN CODY: Yeah, their front seven is really good. It's comparable to our front seven. You know, we do a lot of the same things in the way we play. I know Sean Cody personally. I've had a couple of opportunities to hang out with him, and I know the caliber of player he is and the type of player he is, and I know that he's a leader and a guy that those people look up to. That's their style of play is going to be kind of after what he does, and them being in all those type of categories reflects what he's about, being that leader on defense. That's going to be a big challenge for our offense. I think a lot of times both our defenses might get overshadowed by the offenses because of what they do and how high-powered they are, and that shouldn't take any credit away from their D because that speaks a lot of words, especially when they run the ball as much as we do.

Q. Do you think that the ability of their defense and the problems it might be for the offense might add even more pressure to you guys?

DAN CODY: We've seen so many different things from so many different teams this year, trying to stop the dual threat offense, I think our guys feel pretty comfortable and confident being able to handle what they're going to do, just because we've seen so many different types of defenses and so many different teams have tried to take them in so many different ways. Obviously they haven't seen anything, but they should feel prepared and confident in what they're going to do.

End of FastScripts...

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