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ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY VIZIO: STANFORD v WISCONSINDecember 28, 2012Pep HamiltonKevin HoganSam SchwartzsteinPASADENA, CALIFORNIA Q. Coach Hamilton, can you just talk about the Badger defense, and what they bring to the table? PEP HAMILTON: Well, I think in a lot of ways, their defense is a lot like ours. They're physical. They're tough, and they take the bend‑but‑don't‑break approach. And there are so many unknowns though. With the coaching change, I had to do a little research. Just the other day I called Todd Husak, he was the starting quarterback for Stanford in the 1999 Rose Bowl against Wisconsin and when Coach Alvarez was the head ball coach. He pretty much confirmed that they were tough, they were physical, and he did a really good job of getting those guys to play hard for him. Q. Coach, can you take us through how you get a quarterback to think within your offense in the huddle, at the line of scrimmage, and kind of that process with Kevin? PEP HAMILTON: Well, I don't know that you really train them to think. I think systematically there is a way of getting him to have a starting point and a finishing point with each passing concept, should I say. But I think his talents, his you natural incompetent stings and talents is what gives him a chance to be successful in the offense. And to say I've been surprised to be an understatement. I knew he had the talent, but the poise that he's shown in the four game stretch that he's played has been tremendous. Q. Kevin, four starts, four wins over ranked opponents, can you give us some context as to where you are now and your feel for the offense and feel for the game, and how that's grown over the four football games? KEVIN HOGAN: I'm feeling good. The more reps I've been getting with the guys, the better timing we've been having, and I just I'm feeling more comfortable. I've been learning more, watching more film, and just trying to develop my game a little bit more. So I feel like I've continued to get better each and every week. Q. Sam, you played with Andrew last year and now you're playing with Kevin. Are there any similarities in the way they conduct themselves or play or play in the huddle? SAM SCHWARTZSTEIN: It is pretty similar, but they have their different styles. Andrew was all business and kind of commanded the field out there, and that's how Kevin is. Sometimes in practice it's a little different because Kevin is still kind of learning different ways. But once it gets to game time. They both went out there and commanded the huddle. Didn't matter how old they were or how they were playing in the game at the time. But they command the huddle and own it. Q. Sam, you've had several fourth quarters where you've had to come back in the last four games that Kevin has played. Talk about being in the huddle with him, and the offense, and how you've handles those situations? SAM SCHWARTZSTEIN: So starting with the training programs during the year, we always talk about how we have to finish and how we have to be a fourth quarter team. That's how the whole team approaches it. We've been there before. We understand what it takes. Being in the huddle with a guy like Kevin who can make a play at any point, and we have so many different play makers across the board with David Yankey and Drew Terrell and Stepfan Taylor and Zach Ertz it's pretty much one of those things that's become routine for us. We have the guys and we're capable of doing it. Q. Kevin, can you expand on what you learned from watching such the consummate professional last year? KEVIN HOGAN: Definitely. He's the ultimate game manager. He manages bad plays. He managed protections, the pocket, makes the guys around him better. So just watching that and watching his poise and leadership I try to emulate my game as much as I could after him. Q. Kevin, this Rose Bowl is a little unusual in the fact that both you and Curt kind of came in mid‑season, and obviously taking control in the last four or five games. What did it take for you to get comfortable and lead the team to this point? KEVIN HOGAN: Just, when I got in there to try not to force anything, protect the ball as much as I could, and just let the guys around me do their jobs and play ball. Just get the ball to Stepfan, get the ball to the receivers, tight ends, and try not to force anything. Q. Pep, you mentioned at the top how similar these teams are, lot of people call them mirror images. So when usual dialing up plays for this offense against this defense? Are you more tempted to look at Wisconsin and say maybe this is a game where we've got to open things up and try to do some things differently than we otherwise would? PEP HAMILTON: I think our approach never changes. I'm talking as far as we want to go into a game and not waste plays. But for us, we want to control the line of scrimmage, and Sam made a great point when he was talking about the playmakers and our offense. We consider our offensive linemen to be playmakers. David Yankey pulling around and attacking the linebacker on the second level. For us, that's just as important as a post‑route receiver. So we want to establish the line of scrimmage. We've got to be able to run the football, and that's going to open up our passing game. I think the one thing that Kevin affords us to do offensively is when a play breaks down, they've got to account for him running the football. I'm not saying that he can't pass the football, he's completed 73% of his passes, and I've been very impressed with that. When you compare his first four starts and his numbers to even Andrew, and Andrew's first year as a starter, he's really impressive. He's on track to be a really good quarterback at Stanford for a long time. But we've got to establish the line of scrimmage. I'll say that again. We've got to make some big plays in the passing game. That is one thing we didn't do against UCLA in the second game, in the championship game. We've got to open it up just a bit in the passing game and really attack their coverages vertically. Q. Sam, can you talk about the freshman on the offensive line and the development you've seen from them through the year? SAM SCHWARTZSTEIN: These past couple of weeks with getting to see the second team guys as well and also the third team guys that we didn't see that much this year. But across the board all six guy that's the coaches brought in are going to be great players for Stanford. Really a testament to the recruiting process with the coach being able to pick out guys that are not only good players, but Stanford guys that buy into the program. But seeing guys like Josh Garnett make some plays that look unbelievable. Murphy looking consistent as always. And even some of the guys that I didn't get to see much this year. Johnny Caspers, Graham Shuler, Nick Davidson, all of those guys are fantastic players, and once Andrus Peat turn it's on, it's even better. So it's going to be awesome. Seeing them play in the scrimmages, it's a sign of good things to come in the future for the Stanford offensive line. Q. Kind of what Sam said for Coach Hamilton. Can you talk about any young guys that maybe don't get playing time but they've shown themselves in the last couple of weeks for bowl prep? STUDENT‑ATHLETE: Barry Sanders. Barry Sanders. I'm sure these guys would attest to the fact that he's been very impressive over the course of our bowl preps and our bowl practices. I think at the same time, the young offensive linemen. PEP HAMILTON: We made a conscious effort as a staff to make sure we gave some of the young guys an opportunity to go out and play and be evaluated. The young offensive line group is very impressive. From top to bottom we feel like we have six guys that will afford us an opportunity to be solid up front in the near future. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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