TCU and Wisconsin held their first press conferences leading up to the Rose Bowl Tuesday morning. TCU defensive coordinator Dick Bumpas spoke, along with linebacker Tank Carder, defensive end Wayne Daniels, tackle Cory Grant, free safety Tejay Johnson, and strong safety Colin Jones.
When Bumpas was asked if the Horned Frogs had seen an offense like the Badgers' this year, he laughed:
"Probably the Green Bay Packers back in their heyday.
They're without a doubt one of the most powerful explosive offenses that I've seen in quite some time. In fact, I think Barry Alvarez compared this current team to the teams that Wisconsin had in their Rose Bowl years."
On TCU's recruiting style:
"We've had a lot of young men that we've brought into the program that have gone to other positions. And the one thing that we always look at is can the young man run, and if he can, then that's a good basis to start for a lot of positions.
And consequently, when they get here, then we look and feel which way they can or where they best fit in. And it's worked very well for us."
Bumpas was also asked whether he'd attribute TCU's decade of defensive success to the scheme or to the players:
"Players. Players. Definitely players. (Laughs). Because we do some innovative things, or I think they're innovative things, but the reality of it is when the rubber meets the road, it's the players that are having to make those plays. And so I think all our success is due to our players."
He was also asked whether, in his opinion, the TCU defense is easier or harder for young players to learn. Laughing again, he answered:
"It's pretty -- it's pretty sophisticated in terms of what they -- because they themselves do a lot of audibles.
In fact, Tejay is the quarterback for us, and what he has to know and what he has to see is really pretty -- we have a lot of staffs come in, and they're a little bit overwhelmed about what our players do."
Bumpas was also asked whether the game would come down to TCU's speed against Wisconsin's power. His response had the media laughing again:
" Oh, no. I mean that's like a Ferrari and a dump truck. I mean we are fast, but the reality of it is when the dump truck is going straight ahead, it's a dangerous weapon.
And we're going to have to do a good job of playing well at the point of attack and being good tacklers because their backs are extremely good."
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