Iowa Player B1G Ten Championship 2023
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00:00 Yeah, the game turned out how we didn't want it to.
00:03 What wasn't working?
00:05 Just, I mean, I'm not going to say anything about the drafts.
00:08 It's not my position.
00:09 You know, we've got to control what we can control, but just the turnovers.
00:13 Eliminate those and maybe take a different game.
00:17 Their defense, number one scoring defense in the country.
00:20 Could you tell that was a different caliber of defense
00:23 than what you guys were used to facing?
00:25 Yeah, I mean, they were good defense on our game plan.
00:28 We knew what coverages we were going to get into going into the game.
00:32 You know, they're a good team.
00:34 What stuck out to you about this game?
00:37 Obviously, it's a bigger game.
00:39 Michigan's a good team.
00:40 They've got a lot of good players.
00:41 They're well coached.
00:42 They just executed better than we did.
00:44 What did you guys say to each other in the locker room?
00:46 Did you address the team at all?
00:47 Did anybody have much to say to each other?
00:48 KF, talking to the guys, I walked around.
00:50 Told the guys I love them.
00:52 They said it back.
00:53 Just being there for each other.
00:55 It's always rough.
00:56 I didn't give it.
00:58 Just tell me what the last month or two has been like for you.
01:00 I mean, when you came in,
01:01 probably not a lot of people had you guys pencil in to the Big Ten championship game.
01:04 But for you personally, just what it's been like to be able to get to this point.
01:07 Yeah, I mean, it's been a wild ride.
01:09 Not expecting this, beginning when I first got here.
01:13 But it is what it is.
01:14 We got here at this point as a team, not just because of me.
01:18 Our team is the reason we're here.
01:20 Those guys are there, hell of a ball players.
01:22 So, yeah, we've got one more game together.
01:25 Can you walk us through what happened from your perspective on the incomplete pass turn from Holbrook?
01:30 Yeah, I mean, I was looking downfield, went to throw, ball got knocked out.
01:36 I thought it was an incomplete pass.
01:38 But, you know, it turned out the way it did.
01:41 Obviously, usually in situations like that, most of the communication goes to the coaches.
01:45 Were you given any indication on the field as to what was going on
01:49 or what may happen in the immediate aftermath?
01:51 Like when they were reviewing it?
01:53 Yeah, no, I was just getting ready for the next play.
01:57 Thought it was going to be the next play.
01:59 It turned out it wasn't.
02:00 So, yeah, but I was just prepping for whatever the next play was going to be.
02:03 With all the adversity that you guys dealt with this year and you guys still got ten wins,
02:08 can you describe a little bit about the culture that head coach Kirk Berenson built at Iowa?
02:13 Yeah, he's built that family culture, that resilience that you see within this team.
02:18 You know, everybody believes in each other.
02:20 Everybody gives up on each other.
02:23 So I think that's the biggest thing, is just the way this team believes in each other,
02:26 no matter who's stepping up to the plate.
02:29 This is your guys' second appearance in three years in the Big Ten Championship.
02:32 Do you see this as an upward trend for Iowa in the future?
02:35 Yeah, I think any time you get to be here, you're lucky enough to do so.
02:41 It's hard to win games in the Big Ten.
02:44 Obviously, next year the Big Ten is going to be a little different,
02:46 so we'll see what happens when that comes.
02:48 But it was nice to be here for this last one.
02:51 I can see your eyes are a little bit red.
02:53 Is there an emotional element to all of this for you and your team?
02:56 Yeah, I mean when you go out there and compete and give everything you've got,
02:59 sometimes the chips fall where they may.
03:02 They didn't fall on our side today.
03:04 But when you give everything you have into something for so long,
03:11 and it turns out the way you want it to, some emotions are going to come out.
03:15 I know I'm not the only one, but I just wish we could have got this one for the seniors.
03:20 I'm just prepping for the next opportunity to get up there.
03:23 Obviously, it didn't go our way.
03:26 I was just getting ready for the next place.
03:27 I wasn't really paying attention to what was happening.
03:30 Brian reacted to that.
03:32 You were right there.
03:33 What were your thoughts there?
03:34 Yeah, Brian's going to react.
03:35 I was going to react.
03:38 I mean I'm not going to--
03:40 Well, you kind of had your back there.
03:41 Yeah, he did.
03:43 But their coaches are going to handle what the refs do.
03:46 We're just kind of--we've got to control what we can control as players.
03:50 I did try and keep Brian back, but yeah, he always has my back.
03:58 Did you feel like your arm was moving forward, or in the moment is it hard to even know?
04:03 Honestly, you can't really tell.
04:05 Sometimes you can if it's really deliberate,
04:07 but honestly I didn't really know what was going on.
04:10 The ball was on the ground before I saw the ball hit the ground.
04:14 And then you heard the whistles.
04:15 It seemed like the play--
04:16 Yeah, I thought the play was dead.
04:18 It was just the whistles were blowing, the ball was on the ground, nobody had it.
04:22 So I thought it was a dead play, but whatever.
04:26 Where did things go wrong for you guys offensively today in your view?
04:30 I think we just made some mistakes.
04:32 The little turnovers never help.
04:34 The two foam balls.
04:36 We get the ball in a great field position, and we have another foam ball.
04:40 So I think just execution, we didn't do well enough in that category today.
04:44 Yeah, I'm just super proud of this team
04:47 and the way we've continued to stay together and fight throughout the season.
04:50 What did Kurt kind of say to you guys after the game?
04:54 I feel like there's obviously nothing perfect that can be said, obviously,
04:57 but just kind of what was he telling you guys?
04:59 Yeah, proud of the season we have, that we've had.
05:06 Proud to be a part of a team like this that's been able to fight through so much.
05:12 We've still got another game.
05:14 We've got to keep moving forward and improve.
05:17 Do you feel like you guys were able to move forward after the call that was--
05:21 you know, the controversial call?
05:23 Did it feel like that changed the momentum at all,
05:25 or did you feel like you guys were still locked?
05:30 Yeah, it certainly changed the momentum.
05:32 Giving up six points is never easy.
05:36 It's going to be a momentum swing, but we still fought, still stayed in the game.
05:45 Yeah, like I said, I'm proud of the guys, very proud of the D-line
05:50 and the way we have been able to come together, grow as a group.
05:54 There's definitely been progress made there.
05:56 We just need to continue to move forward for the next game.
05:58 They moved the ball pretty good on that first drive,
06:00 but after that you guys kind of settled in.
06:02 What was kind of the difference there?
06:05 Getting a feel for things.
06:08 Yeah, first drives are always tough.
06:11 It's all scripted.
06:14 It's just a different feel.
06:16 Once you feel out your offensive line, once you feel out the tempo,
06:19 once you start hearing some of their calls,
06:24 the momentum starts to swing a little bit.
06:27 I've never fallen down and just swung by.
06:30 How are you feeling right now?
06:32 I feel good.
06:34 I mean, if you look at the score, it's 0-23,
06:37 and I feel like as a whole team we played a good game,
06:41 but there was big moments in the game where it just flipped the whole game around.
06:47 If you don't have those plays, you never know where the game could go.
06:50 The Michigan did a good job of winning that turnover battle.
06:54 They had a lot more turnovers than us, and they capitalized on them.
06:58 What are the conversations that the coaches were having with you
07:00 during the game and afterwards?
07:02 Just keep on playing.
07:04 The same thing they've been saying all year, just keep on playing.
07:07 Play the full 60 minutes, and we'll see where we stand at the end of the game.
07:13 Appreciate it.
07:15 How proud are you of--even though the result wasn't what you wanted,
07:18 the effort that you guys have given this season through a lot of adversity?
07:22 I'm sorry, what?
07:23 Through a lot of adversity this year, how proud are you of what this team did accomplish?
07:27 Oh, yeah.
07:29 Like beyond proud because it speaks a lot of volume to our team.
07:38 Like the fact that all the stuff that we went through as a team
07:44 and just the fact that we're still here in the Big Ten Championship competing.
07:49 Yeah, it means a lot.
07:53 We just keep on fighting.
07:54 You have some potential decision to make about your future.
07:59 How are you going to process all that here in the next week or so?
08:02 I'm going to take my time with it.
08:04 I'm not going to rush anything.
08:06 I'm going to weigh out the options.
08:09 I'm going to just see what's best for me and my family.
08:12 Given it any thought?
08:14 I'm going to hear it in there in the season, but, yeah, I don't have no idea
08:18 because I do have one more year.
08:19 Just one more year.
08:21 So there's always possibly I could come back.
08:23 I could see in Deacon's eyes that there was some emotion there.
08:26 Was there kind of an emotional element in the locker room
08:29 in the immediate aftermath of the game?
08:32 Yeah, I can imagine for those guys in the office,
08:36 because I'm pretty sure they didn't play the game they wanted to play.
08:40 It could be hard because I know if I was in their shoes,
08:44 I'd let the team down in a sense.
08:47 I know they did the best they could do.
08:54 You can't ask for more than that from a teammate, from anyone, I guess.
09:01 No, yeah, I'm probably...