Postgame Quotes
November 15, 2015 | Football
POSTGAME QUOTES
Washington State 31, UCLA 27
November 14, 2015 – Pasadena, Calif. (Rose Bowl)
UCLA head coach Jim Mora
opening remarks
“Obviously, a very disappointing loss for us. We struggled on offense to finish, and we finally had a good drive and a great play by Josh [Rosen], and then we came up short at the end. It's a very disappointed locker room. That is something that we have got to get over quickly. As crazy as it is, completive athletics are crazy, and we are right in the hunt for what our goal was all along. We have to learn from this and get better and move onto the next one with great energy, great focus and great enthusiasm. I believe our guys will do that. It was disappointing the way it ended. That's a very good offensive team over there. That quarterback [Luke Falk] came back from what looked like a serious injury and had a good second half. We will look at the film, we will regroup, and we'll go play a good Utah team on Saturday in Salt Lake City.”
on the final defensive drive for UCLA
“They made plays. We were playing man. We were trying to take care of corners and double up some things. They ran a little choice and go, and they shook free and they had a nice throw and catch.”
on offensive procedure penalties
“Early in the game we had some problems and then got it squared away. The shifts got us. But, we got it fixed going down the road. It wasn't a factor in the second half. We are still trying to find that elusive holding call on our opponents' offense.”
on whether early drives that stalled in the red zone affected UCLA's chances
“Absolutely. The two drives that come to mind are when we had the ball not just in the red zone, but deep in the red zone around the two-yard line, and we couldn't capitalize with sevens. We had to settle for threes. Everyone is going to focus on the end of the game and the last play, but there are so many things that lead up to that point. Those were certainly some of them.”
WSU head coach Mike Leach
on if this is a statement win for the program
“It was a good one, they all are. Maybe next week if we play good against Colorado, that'll be a good one too. We need to focus on the next one. We did a good job hanging in there. But we have to focus on the next one. This was a good one, and our team did a good job hanging in there. There were a lot of Cougar fans out there, we could see and hear crimson. The Rose Bowl is a tough place to hear somebody because it's clear, they are back and there is a lot of blue. I appreciate them sticking with us. I'm proud of our guys, it's one of those deals where we said we have 60 minutes and needed all 60 minutes.”
On being successful in last-minute touchdown drive situations
“Well I think some of it is that we keep playing. I think we do a good job of trying to make the best play we can and not going through a bunch of anxiety, and I think a lot of it is that Luke (Falk) is so stable. He has a very calm and stabilizing influence on our offense. And I think we got a lot better at protecting the second half. UCLA is big and physical on the inside and fast on the outside, and they gave us a tough time in the first half, but we did a good job of keeping them off in the second half.”
On Falk coming back after taking a hard hit
“Well, it's kind of business as usual trying to play quarterback, because those guys are trying to hit you. But he's a tough person, a tough player, played tough down the stretch. We're really proud of him.”
On Josh Rosen
“He's a good player, plays very mature. The running back (Paul) Perkins is really good. With all due respect to Rosen - he'll be around a long time - but if you want to stop UCLA you need to figure out a way to stop Perkins, because he can hurt you on the ground and down through the air. If you ask me who the best player for UCLA is, I would say Perkins.”
