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ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY VIZIO: OREGON v WISCONSINDecember 29, 2011Aaron HenryPASADENA, CALIFORNIA Q. Put into words what this experience means. AARON HENRY: Man, it's been utterly amazing, man. How did I leave Florida and come to Wisconsin? I think Coach Doeren, who was the recruiting coordinator at the time, I think he was the linebackers coach at the time, he did a tremendous job of recruiting me. It boiled down to University of Wisconsin, University of Florida. I mean, Florida came on kind of late and Coach Doeren kind of pretty much stuck with me throughout the whole way. He was actually‑‑ he went down there originally to recruit my teammate and he went down there to see my teammate and he saw me one day and he asked my coach about me, and from there he kind of followed me throughout the season. They ended up offering me I want to say after the four weeks, it was like four weeks in a row I had a punt return for a touchdown but I was also on defense, and even prior to him offering me, I can remember having an interception like right on the sideline where he was, and I tossed him the ball. It was a whole bunch of fun, man, we was having a good time. He came in, he made everything really personal. He didn't lie to me about anything. He kept his word as far as them going out to recruit me. I mean, the guy was genuine, and I think he's a really, really, really good coordinator, and I also think he can recruit really well. I mean, we kind of established a relationship, and it was kind of like a father‑son relationship.  It just kept the whole way through. When I came into the school, we had a lot of one‑on‑one time together, got to know each other a little bit, and he didn't jive me, and that's pretty much what it was. But my time at Wisconsin has been amazing. For me to be in my second year at safety and for this to be my second Rose Bowl, you kind of think, how come he didn't make the switch earlier. But I mean, I was a cornerback at heart. I felt comfortable playing cornerback. After suffering a couple of knee surgeries, Coach B felt that I needed to move to safety, and I think that was just for the simple fact that we had a whole‑‑ we had like eight corners, and we had like two safeties in Jay Valai and Chris Maragos, and he wanted some depth back there. I knew I could play safety, but my whole life people have been trying to move me to safety because of my size. I was always bigger than the average corner. But he ended up making the transition. I hated it. I didn't like Coach B for it at all, and I was upset, man. I can remember calling and talking to my Pop Warner football coach. It was just crazy, man. But to see this thing come full circle and for me to be in the position that I'm in today, man, I'm very, very thankful for the opportunity, and I'm very excited about this game. Q. Oregon is going to obviously try to establish their run game. How much do you expect them to try to beat you guys downfield? AARON HENRY: Man, I'm sure they're going to have some wrinkles in there. Traditionally and predominantly they like to spread teams out to run the ball. But they consider us to be a slow football team, so I'm sure they're going to test us downfield and throw the ball downfield a little bit. I think in every game they've thrown the ball downfield relatively decent depending on the opponent. But all in all, I think it's going to boil down to us just going out there and playing great football. You know, they have a phenomenal team. They're really good at what they do and controlling the tempo, and whether it's slow or fast, I mean, they're good at getting guys in open space. I think for us, man, the main thing is going to be to just go out there and play Wisconsin football to the fullest. I mean, if we can stay in our element and stay composed and not have too many turnovers or generate some turnovers and not make too many mistakes, I think we're going to have a really good day. Q. I've got to believe that you don't consider yourselves a slow football team. AARON HENRY: Not at all, man, not at all. I think it's very reminiscent to Miami. We played Miami in a Bowl game a couple years ago and all they talked about was the speed comparison. We have a lot of guys on our team from Florida, we have a ton of guys on our team from southern states who can run, as well. I think at the end of the day it boils down to playing football, can you play football. Yes, speed does help, but in certain instances and in certain situations, but I don't think it's‑‑ me personally, I don't think it's going to be that much of a factor. Yes, they are a very fast team, but if you can tackle, if you can run to the ball as a unit, I think you can negate a lot of that. Q. The thing about tackling, we saw it in the Auburn game last year, they had such closing speed. AARON HENRY: Exactly. Q. That's the key, and then wrapping up, is that the key? AARON HENRY: Yes, sir, most definitely, man. Instead of getting one guy to the ball, it has to be two, three and four guys getting to the ball and definitely tackling as a unit. I mean, I'm not sure what were the instances, what they thought going into the Auburn game last year. I'm not sure if they thought they were fast or if they thought they were slow. As you guys can see, Auburn played them really well. A lot of people thought Auburn wasn't going to be able to keep up with the tempo, and at the end of the day Auburn was able to control the clock and they did some things on offense really well and they went out and won the game. I'm not comparing us to Auburn at all, but I definitely think if we can take some of those similar instances and generate turnovers and run to the ball as a unit, I think we can go out there and be successful, as well. Q. You've kind of become an ambassador for this program. They call you the Closer. What's that about? AARON HENRY: Yes, sir. Well, the reason why he calls me the Closer, it's just for the simple fact that my red shirt sophomore year when I messed up my knee, I sat out that whole year. What they were doing was they were bringing guys in and having me host them, and so all the guys that I dealt with, all of them that I talked to and that I hosted, all of them eventually ended up committing here, you know what I'm saying. If they really, really liked the guy, you know what I'm saying, they put him with me. Dezmen Southward, Conor O'Neill, Antonio Fenelus. I'm trying to think of some of the other guys that I dealt with, Russell. But every guy that I dealt with, it was pretty much, like they loved the place. I don't know if I had anything to do with it, but I just think I did a really good job in relating them to Wisconsin and trying to keep it real with them. A lot of players, a lot of people on the outside, especially when you're being recruited, they want a player's perspective, so any time you can put it in perspective, and me coming from Florida, any time guys dealt with distance, okay, I'm right here, I'm dealing with distance, I know you can deal with it, as well. It was just a great opportunity for me to, I guess, showcase my ability of recruiting a little bit. Q. What does LaMichael James present? AARON HENRY: Oh, my gosh. The guy is a very, very dynamic football player. You guys saw on tape, he can run extremely well, that's clear‑cut. He can make guys miss in open field. He has the ability to run between the tackles, as well, you know, when they do that zone read play. The guy has‑‑ I mean, his ability to break tackles and maintain his balance, I mean, the guy is a good back. It's clear and evident. I think last year he was up for the Doak Walker Award. Even though he did suffer an elbow injury, he's still a really, really good player. They have a couple of guys to complement him last year in Barner and Thomas. I mean, they're really good at what they do, so I think for us, we're just going to go out there and you've got to go out there and be able to tackle as a unit. This guy has the ability to make the first guy miss, and I think it's up to us to just fly to that football and play sound. Q. How big a factor is time of possession in this game? AARON HENRY: Oh, yes, sir, most definitely, I think it's going to be crucial, and I think it's also going to be beneficial if our offense can go out there and do that. They're really, really good at‑‑ you guys call it holding the ball, but they're just running the offense. They've been very, very successful at it. They've been doing it well, and it's clear and evident that Coach Chris knows what he's doing. He has the ability to control the game from that side of the ball, and it's definitely, definitely beneficial to us. Q. (Inaudible.) AARON HENRY: Oh, it definitely means a lot. I think once you set out and you come to this University, every kid goes through that process, every kid that's been recruited goes through that process of having the ability to go to a different school. So I think once you come to the University, and I know for me, when I set out to come to the University of Wisconsin I didn't just want to come here and play and do my time and get out. I wanted to come here and definitely make an impact. I mean, I definitely wanted to make an impact on the field but also off the field with my faith and what I stand for. But I mean, it's been a great ride of just representing the University of Wisconsin down in South Florida. Between Naples and Fort Myers I didn't have any idea of how many Wisconsin people were down there. It's ridiculous. Any time I go back home, people are constantly, constantly, oh, my gosh, we're so proud of you and this and that, and that's great to hear coming from a really, really small area and heading up to Madison and not usually being around it, whether it's the weather, whether it's the cultural background or even the football atmosphere. So I mean, it's just been a great ride thus far being up there and enjoying my time there and the friends and relationships that I've made with people. It's been utterly amazing. I'm just looking to cap it off right this time. Q. Can you talk about how you guys are prepared to deal with Oregon's offense? AARON HENRY: Well, for the most part, we have done a lot of conditioning, a lot of conditioning, and getting ourselves ready and prepped for this game. I'm not sure if‑‑ Oregon is a very good team, and I know they do some different things as far as their offense goes, so I'm not sure if the conditioning is going to help or if it isn't going to help. I'm pretty sure it is, but the way they're able to just speed the game up almost instantly and then slow it down whenever they want to, it's‑‑ I mean, you never seen an offense like that. But I think with our conditioning, the things that we've done and up tempo, we haven't faced a team like this yet. In my last couple of years the only team that I can probably even compare to them is Michigan, and even Michigan kind of took their time with their offense, as well. The only reason why I compare them to Michigan is because of Denard Robinson and the things they were doing with their wide receivers and backs. But as far as their stable of backs and wide receivers, we haven't seen a team like this. But I think it's going to be a great challenge for us. We're definitely going out there looking forward to it, and I think it's going to be a lot of fun. But some of the things that we've done, I mean, it's just been that much more conditioning. The pace has been that much more up‑tempo in practice, and we've just been trying to get to the ball as a unit. Q. Have you seen progress in preparing for that? AARON HENRY: Oh, yes, sir, most definitely. I can remember when we first found out we were going to play them, and our first day going out to practice, man, it was probably about four weeks ago, and when we found out we were going to play them, we were trying to do the up tempo thing. It got really, really sloppy, just for us. That wasn't something that we were used to. Yeah, we have faced kind of like a fast tempo throughout the game, depending on which game we were in, but this team has the ability to be up tempo the whole game. I mean, it got kind of sloppy for us. Guys were tired and rightfully so, but now, when we did that same up tempo drill yesterday, guys were flying to the ball, guys were excited, guys were‑‑ I mean, it wasn't no lacking in guys being tired or anything like that. Everybody was getting to the football, and I think with our preparation of us doing a lot of conditioning, I think that definitely prepared us for a game like this. I'm sure we're going to be doing some more of it to get us even more ready. Q. How valuable was the extra time? If you had a week to prepare for this team in the middle of the season‑‑ AARON HENRY: I can only imagine what it would be like because they present so many different things on their offense. One week they're running this crazy formation that you've never seen before, and the next week they're pretty standard. So if we had a week to prepare for them, that's why I'm not a D coordinator. My job is to go out there and just play the calls. So our coaches live pretty well to make those kind of calls and do that job. But I think if we had the ability to prepare for them in a week, I think it would be extremely difficult. But because we have this extended prep, we were able to break them down offensively slow. We were able to break them down day by day, and from there, I mean, from there we've gained a ton of info that I definitely think is going to be beneficial for us during the game. Q. Can you play nickel against them? What's the key to being able to play nickel? AARON HENRY: I definitely think we can play nickel. But I think the key is at the end of the day it's going to boil down to us tackling as a unit. I mean, it may be a guy making a tackle in open space, might be a couple of guys making tackles in open space, but I think for the most part it's going to boil down to guys flying to the ball. I think we can play nickel because, I mean, the way our safeties kind of play, we go from linebacker to safety depending on the play and depending on the down and distance. I think LSU did it, USC did it, a couple of different teams did do it, and I think we're going to be presented with the same opportunity of doing it. Just because of all their skill position players, I think it's really, really hard to just sit in a three‑linebacker set or a 4‑3 defense and just play with them unless you've got some guys who are freakishly athletic. We had some linebackers a couple years ago that were 4‑3 guys legit in Jonathan Casillas and Dre Levy, and we could have easily stayed in that defense, but because of some of the different challenges they present to us as far as speed goes, I think we have to switch it up every now and then. Q. Do you feel like the underdog? AARON HENRY: I mean, according to the media we do, but I definitely think in our locker room we definitely know what we're capable of. I think the only thing that matters at the end of the day is all those guys in the locker room with you and those coaches. If you've got any guy in that locker room that doesn't believe we're going to go out there and win, I don't want him in there. If you've got any coaches that feel that way, I don't want them in there. I guess it kind of does feel like an underdog situation, but at the end of the day we've got to go out there and play football, whether you're considered underdogs or not. This will be a great underdog story, but I'm sure Oregon is going to go out there and play their butts off, and I think we have to go out there and do the same thing. Q. Do you think anybody is betting on you guys? AARON HENRY: Not at all, not at all. Everything I've been hearing is Oregon's speed and uniforms. The uniforms have gotten more play than we have as a whole team and unit. They do have some nice uniforms. I think they're nice. I think any time you have the ambassador for Nike, and as far as a school goes, I'm sure all of your stuff is going to be top tier and top of the line. I don't think you really can compete with those kind of things. Q. What was it like that two‑week period against Michigan State and Ohio State for you guys? AARON HENRY: Oh, man, we heard a lot of criticism from the outside. People that don't usually watch football somehow some way they watched those two games. I mean, it was definitely hectic on the back end, especially being a senior, hearing some of the players being scrutinized and criticized because of some of the certain situations. I mean, it was definitely disheartening for me to hear some of those things. But I mean, people are going to have opinions. You can't really buy into that, but I think it was my job as a captain to make sure those players stuck with us. I think it's easy whenever a game is lost like that, whether it's the Michigan State game or the Ohio State game, a player can easily‑‑ that can definitely change a player's career. All I could think about is Bill Buckner and when he missed the routine ground ball down first base, that‑‑ that's all people are going to remember him for. We could have easily went down a different track from there. I mean, guys got on task and guys stuck together, and we started playing as a unit. Not saying that we weren't playing as a unit before, but you're talking about two plays, two plays. Two weeks and two Hail Marys. I've never seen anything like that. We had coaches in our defensive staff rooms, Coach Huxtable, who's been around the game for a long time, he'd never seen anything like that. I think any time you're dealing with something like that, man, sometimes that's just the way the ball bounces. It was definitely unfortunate, but I definitely think it brought this team that much closer. Q. Coming out of the Michigan State game you guys tried to regroup there, you did Hail Mary drills, and then it happened again. What were you thinking? AARON HENRY: Man, I was‑‑ I didn't know what to think, man. But we definitely‑‑ once that happened the second time, you know, we definitely ended up changing it for the good. And I think people or coaches, some of the players, when that happened, we didn't accept it, but something didn't seem right. It was almost like, okay, well, if two Hail Marys happened to us back‑‑ some things you just can't control, like some things are just what they are. It was very, very difficult for us to deal with being that we did lose those two games. But we were able to bounce back from them and move on, and I think those two losses put us in the position that we are in today. I want to say that it allowed us to take every snap and every play that much more seriously, you know, because if we'd knocked the Hail Mary down, we possibly go into overtime, we possibly win the game. If we keep Ohio State out of the end zone before they threw that Hail Mary we win the game and we go on from there. But the end of the road could have been a little different. Big Ten Championship game, we probably could have lost that game. So it could have been a whole bunch of different scenarios. But I'm happy that we are back here and we have an opportunity to go out there and prove something this year. Q. You mentioned the Big Ten title game. Bret was asked if he lost that game would the season be a disappointment. He said no, but if he lost this game it would be. AARON HENRY: I don't think it would be a disappointment. It would be very, very upsetting because I think any time you can take a group of guys and you can get to a BCS Championship game, I think it's great. But I think if we can go out there and win this game, I think that could propel the program and definitely get us over that hump because we hadn't been here‑‑ prior to last year we hadn't been here in ten years. I don't think it would be disappointing. I think it would be very, very upsetting. I think for me as a senior and going out, I'll be extremely upset and mad about it, but I don't think it would be disappointing at all. I don't think we want to discuss that until we get to that road, you know. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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