Iowa’s defense took center stage during a session with the media in California Monday as the countdown to the Rose Bowl continues. Stanford has the Heisman Trophy runner up Christian McCaffery in the backfield, but Hawkeye All-American defensive back Desmond King says they are not a one dimensional offense, with a lot of weapons, including a top tight end, and a great offensive line. Sixth-ranked Iowa is the underdog going into the game against 5th rated Stanford, and King says that’s okay because they’ve done well in that role all season long.

“That’s fine with us — we want to be the underdogs— we’ve been that way all season…all year. We just know that we have a big plate to fill up and we’re going to take that,” King says. He says Stanford’s offense likes to grind it out just like Iowa’s offense and that may give them an idea of what they’ll face. He says they are very similar to the Hawkeyes, which may help, but at the same time you never know what type of team they can be. Linebacker Cole Fisher says that grind it out style makes it tough.

“They’ve shown in the past that it’s hard to get their offense off the field. If they’ve got like a second and four to go then seems like what they want to do make is make it a third and one or third and two,” Fisher says. “….it’s really hard stopping them at the line with the techniques that they use.” He credits McCaffery for making the offense work so well. Fisher says McCaffery is good because he has the patience to wait and see where the holes will open up when he runs. McCaffery named linebacker Josey Jewell when asked who he saw as a standout on defense. Jewell says he is just part of the overall unit.

“Out teammates put us in those positions for other people to call us out. So, the defensive line is a big critical part of linebacker play, and the safeties filling in– so it’s the whole team aspect, it’s not just one player doing really well, it’s the whole team doing really well,” according to Jewell. He says if everyone on the defense does its job, then they make things happen.

“It’s all about the small details with us, following the ball the right way, setting edges, we just have to do the small things right to give us a chance,” Jewell says. Iowa’s players have stayed pretty close to the party line in not wanting to give any bulletin board material to Stanford. While he didn’t say anything to upset the Cardinal, defensive lineman Jaleel Johnson did stray a little from the standard answer and says defense is about playing mean on defense. He says that’s part of his history.

“My family is full of mean people, so you know it was just handed down. My grandfather, he was a really mean person, my father was a mean person, so that’s where it came from,” Johnson says. Even though they are mean, that doesn’t make them bad people. “They’re great people, they’ve very, very great people,” Johnson says. “I take pride in being mean just like them.” Johnson says he doesn’t need anything to turn on his mean side in a game.

“It just happens that way, you make a play, make a very great play, it all comes from being mean. You can’t be soft out there,” Johnson says. The Hawkeyes at 12-1 meet 11-2 Stanford on New Year’s Day in the Rose Bowl.

(Radio Iowa)

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Jim Field.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Alex Smith threw two touchdown passes for Kansas City, and the game clock finally stopped Johnny Manziel as the Chiefs held on to beat the Cleveland Browns 17-13 on Sunday for their franchise record-tying ninth consecutive victory. Smith threw for 125 yards while running for 54, helping Kansas City (10-5) clinch a playoff berth when Pittsburgh lost to Baltimore moments after his own game ended.

The Chiefs jumped out to a 17-3 halftime lead Sunday, but their offense became listless over the final two quarters, just as Manziel was pumping some life into the Browns (3-12). The former Heisman Trophy winner led Cleveland to 10 straight points, then took over at his 30 with 1:52 left and no timeouts. The Browns picked up three first downs, and Manziel hit Darius Jennings on fourth-and-10 from the Chiefs 32. But time expired before Manziel could get another snap off.

He spiked his helmet in frustration as the Chiefs poured onto the field.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Iowa tight end Jake Duzey will not play in the Rose Bowl against Stanford after aggravating a knee injury in practice. Duzey tore his patella tendon in spring practice, and played in nine game on a limited basis. After finishing with 36 catches in 2014, most among Big Ten tight ends, Duzey did not catch a pass this season. The school made the announcement Sunday.

Iowa tight ends Henry Krueger Coble and George Kittle filled in and combined for 52 catches for 675 yards and seven touchdowns. Krueger Coble is second on the team in receptions and third in yards receiving.

The Rose Bowl is Friday.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Ric Hanson.

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HONOLULU (AP) — Chase Fischer scored 26 points and Kyle Collinsworth added 12 points, 17 rebounds and six assists to lead BYU to an 84-76 win over Northern Iowa in the fifth-place game of the Diamond Head Classic Friday. The Cougars (9-4) shot 50 percent (28 of 56) from the field and had five players score in double figures. Zac Seljaas had 12 points, Nick Emery chipped in 11 and Kyle Davis 10.

Fischer shot 7 of 14 from the field and made four 3-pointers two days after scoring a career-high 41 points against New Mexico Wednesday. Fisher, Emery and Collinsworth combined to go 16 of 16 on free throws. BYU shot 19 of 21 from the foul line and outrebounded the Panthers 42-27. Matt Bohannon scored 21 points and Jeremy Morgan had 19 to lead Northern Iowa (8-5). BYU led by as many as 15 points and held a 38-28 advantage at halftime.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Chris Parks.

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