After defeating No. 7 Arizona in the Pac-12 Championship last Friday, Oregon had pretty much solidified a spot in the inaugural College Football Playoffs. The only thing to be determined was who and where they would play.
Sunday morning, it was announced that Oregon, the No. 2 team in the nation, would face off against Florida State, the No. 3 team, in Pasadena, California for the Rose Bowl.
Later in the afternoon, Oregon seniors Hroniss Grasu, Keanon Lowe and Derrick Malone met with the media to discuss the matchup with Florida State – the reigning national champions.
With Florida State and the reigning Heisman trophy winner, could you just talk about the matchup itself?
Hroniss Grasu (HG): “Yeah, I’ll go first. It’s a blessing and we’re very thankful to be able to play in the Rose Bowl. We know it’s going to be a really good matchup against Florida State and we understand they’re undefeated…so it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Keanon Lowe (KL): “Yeah, I think it’s just an awesome matchup. We get to play a team that doesn’t lose, that is undefeated in their last (29) games. That’s a great challenge. We’re excited to go back to California and get another opportunity to go play in the Rose Bowl.”
Derrick Malone (DM): “Like Keanon said, we’re going to play against a team that knows how to finish. It’s a great matchup and we’re really excited to get the chance to represent our conference in the Rose Bowl and it’s going to be a great one.”
You guys are seniors and you’ve played in big games. How does that experience help you guys now that you’re in the semifinal?
HG: “You got to try and treat it like a regular game. I know it’s hard to do, to not make it a bigger deal than it already is, but you got to not let it get to you too much, treat it like a regular game, do what your told and just trust the process.”
KL: “We’re just going to treat it like a business trip, like it is. At the beginning of the season we set a goal out to finish this season the way we wanted to finish it and we have a lot of time to prepare.”
DM: “Like Keanon said, it’s a business trip. The entire team, we have a great group of mature guys and we’re going to be focused and ready to prepare. We’ve been on a big stage before and we know how to handle ourselves.”
How much of a testament to Florida State is it to win 29 straight games?
HG: “It’s huge. Anyone who knows anything about football…it’s really hard to win those games they’ve won and it’s really hard to be undefeated two straight seasons. It shows they know how to finish.”
KL: “29-0, ya know, that speaks for itself. Clearly they have one of the best coaching staffs in the country to be able to (win) two years in a row.”
DM: “They’re a great team on all cylinders. They’re a complete team that knows how to finish and we have to make sure that each and every play we bring our ‘A’ game.”
Follow Joseph Hoyt on Twitter @JoeJHoyt