LOS ANGELES -- Stanford cornerback Ronnie Harris will play in the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual. The senior said that his ankle is 100 percent healed at the first of three media day events Sunday. He played at the beginning of the Cardinal's Pac-12 championship game victory over USC, but was unable to continue after reporting only "70 percent" effectiveness early on.

Unlike most of his teammates, Harris stayed on Stanford's campus over the Christmas holiday to continue his rehabilitation efforts. He connected with his family across the country in Atlanta digitally.

"I got to see them over FaceTime," Harris said. "I got to see them open gifts and everything, so it was cool."

He expects his fellow cornerback Alijah Holder, who was banged up in Stanford's last game, to be 100 percent for game day.

Those were the only pieces of news to come from the Rose Bowl's first media sessions. Here's a rundown of other discussion topics on a day during which representatives from Iowa's offense and Stanford's defense spoke:

Much is being made of the fact -- even in this age of spread offenses -- both Iowa and Stanford run more traditional formations. That means this game will feature tight ends on both sides, and that makes the Hawkeyes' Henry Krieger Coble happy.

"It's been awesome being able to watch [the tight ends] from Stanford over the years," he said. "They have NFL guys coming out annually, it seems like. And for us to be able to play a team that has a lot of different, versatile players is great. Because that's what we try to be on our end."

Two main thoughts from Iowa TE Henry Krieger Coble: He considers his facial hair a... https://t.co/bwoQ2TWfZf pic.twitter.com/dfX8rZUXuF

— David Lombardi (@LombardiESPN) December 27, 2015

Harris shed some interesting light on how Stanford was able to bounce back from its season-opening loss to Northwestern to win a Pac-12 title: He said the Cardinal captains organized a players-only meeting following that setback -- the first time that's happened in the David Shaw era.

"We sat everyone down inside Andrew Luck Auditorium and said, hey, this one loss will not determine our season," Harris said. "We wanted to be sure they knew it was going to take constant dedication and a constant grind to get back to where we wanted to be."

Iowa also overcame disappointment to reach this stage. The Hawkeyes' gut-punching loss, though, came not at the start, but in the final game of the season against Michigan State. Offensive lineman Jordan Walsh said that the following day's Rose Bowl selection made the defeat easier to swallow.

"It was a tough loss, a tough game," he said. "I was kind of surprised at first that we got to the Rose Bowl ... I was in my apartment with my roommates, and one of them said, hey, we're going to the Rose Bowl. I'm like, 'Oh, dang, that's pretty cool.'"

A meta moment: A picture of @BScarlett17 taking a picture of @AzizShittu at Rose Bowl Media Day #Stanford pic.twitter.com/mJN29zgqvU

— David Lombardi (@LombardiESPN) December 27, 2015

Stanford senior defensive lineman Aziz Shittu experienced a Rose Bowl win back in 2013 when he was a freshman. In fact, replays of that game clearly show Shittu preparing the Gatorade jug to dump on coach David Shaw's head. But he never got to finish that job -- the upperclassmen took the jug away from him. So both Shittu and fellow defensive lineman Brennan Scarlett, a transfer from California who's never before administered a celebratory Gatorade shower, expressed a yearning to win this Rose Bowl so that they could douse Shaw.

"I want that really bad," Shittu said. "Because at the end of the day, if you dump the Gatorade on your coach, that means you got the win."

Iowa heads to Lawry's in Beverly Hills to eat prime rib on Sunday evening, while Stanford will chow down on Monday night. The team that consumes the most protein will be named this year's Beef Bowl champion. Stanford offensive lineman Joshua Garnett, this year's Outland Trophy winner, is again the favorite to lead the way after he reportedly devoured nine slabs of prime rib his freshman year. Coaches say that he's been put on an eating limit, but Harris thinks that not even regulation from above can stop the senior behemoth.

"I think Josh Garnett may be back to reclaim his Beef Bowl title," Harris said. "I've heard that through the grapevine ... On a good day, he may be able to put down nine or 10."