Postgame Quotes - UCLA vs. USC

POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 34, USC 27
November 17, 2018

UCLA head coach Chip Kelly
opening remarks
“I just think that it’s a group that works hard. We don’t have a lot of things and we don’t have a lot of numbers, but keep playing. We’ve got to play to our strengths. Josh [Kelley] is a strength for us right now. We needed to run the ball, control it. They’re just so explosive on the offensive side of the ball. We tried to keep them away from it a little bit. It’s a great experience, and I’m just happy for the kids and what they have put in all year long to win this right now. This gives them an understanding of what we have asked them to do and it pays off. For a 24-hour span, we can feel OK about ourselves. And then we’ve got to get ready to play Stanford.”

on running back Joshua Kelley
“He’s important not only because of his production, but also how positive and what type of person he is. He kind of typifies everything that’s gone on this season. He started off the season as a starter and then he lost the job and actually didn’t play in the Fresno State game. But, because of his mentality and his positive outlook on everything – in our week leading up to the Colorado game, we had an open date and he worked extremely hard in practice. He got the job back and hasn’t given it back. What we try to build is that everything is earned here. So what he did today doesn’t surprise me. I don’t think it surprises our coaching staff or surprise anybody in that room, just because of what they see he does every day. We’ve had a short week and we’re back at practice on a Sunday and he’s diving for balls on the field at practice. That’s a kid that might’ve had 31 carries one night before, and there he is just typifying what our team is about right now.”

on quarterback Wilton Speight
Well, he got hurt in the beginning of the season. The one thing that we knew coming into this year is that he had started 16 games at a power five school and he had played in the Ohio State-Michigan game. Wilton is a cool customer. He does not get fazed. I am sure he wants that one pass at the beginning of the second half back. There is a calmness about him. I think that helps and I think that pervades through our offense. You know, when he’s calm, I think that everybody else is calm.”

on running back Joshua Kelley getting 40 carries
“I wish he had carried it 100, to be honest with you. We’re good on that. We track all our guys with GPS systems. We’re the most scientific team in college football, so don’t worry about it.”

on the positive attitude of Joshua Kelley
“Well, you’ll see it. When he comes in here, he’ll uplift this room. That’s just the kind of kid he is. He’s special. We’re just proud that we have a chance to coach him. He’s a special young man. If you are going to buy stock in a human being, buy stock in Josh Kelley.”

on facing a momentum shift with USC blocking a UCLA punt
“Again, you’ve got to learn in his game, that it’s ebb and flow. It’s going to go back, and I think that part of it is your response after a bad play. You know, we kept our same punt team on the field and they faked a punt and they got it. Instead of feeling sorry about ourselves, they blocked a punt, all right, but let’s go. I don’t think this team dwells on the past. I think they learn from their experiences and they kept fighting forward. It’s a very resilient team.”

on key defensive stops by UCLA
“It’s a team win in all phases. How important JJ’s kick was. We talk every week. We outline a gameplan – where do we need to get to? We need to get to the 32-yard line. So, if it’s fourth and third, I don’t care that it’s fourth and third because the ball is on the 32 and I know that JJ can make it from there. I thought our special teams contributed to this victory and I thought our defense, as we continue to grow, made some key stops at critical times. That was a difference for us.”

on whether that is the best he’s seen Wilton Speight throw passes into tight spaces
“I mean, last week I think until the last drive, he was like 23 of 25. He is a really accurate quarterback with the football. So, in the last couple of weeks, it has been starting to build for him.”

on his reaction after UCLA’s defense had stopped USC on that final fourth down play
“I would hope that they were rowdy. This place was jumping. The fans were awesome. It was such a great experience to be a part of this game, to play in front of that crowd. And when you finally make the play to win the football game, I think that the exuberance was well-deserved.”

on how this feels for him, personally, to get this victory
“I’m excited. I’m more happy for those guys, because we have a process that we go through and it validates it for those guys. It’s about just doing what we can control. We can’t get anxious about what happens in the future or what has happened in the past. We just have to stay in the moment. That was the message to the team this week. Let’s just stay in the moment and I think that they did. Hopefully, they will learn those lessons. Those are skills that they’ll have to develop over time. We’re just trying to help them develop life skills. It’ll help them on the field and then help them post-career at UCLA. I’m just really happy for them that whole group. They’ve worked extremely hard. For them to get a victory like this, it’s a deserved victory. It was not a back door into this win. You know, there’s no question in that game that we played hard, and we played harder and that’s why we won the football game.”

USC head coach Clay Helton
opening remarks
“Good college football game. Both sides fought extremely hard. At the end of the day, they made a couple more plays than we did, especially in the second half of the game. From an injury report standpoint, we lost John Houston at halftime to a hamstring and basically lost [Aca’Cedric] Ware to a shoulder. Everyone else I’ll be able to diagnose once we get back home.”

on what went wrong offensively in the second half
“I thought we’d have a couple of turnovers in the second half; we had long field that we had to go. We took the opening drive and get it down to the three-yard line and had to kick a field goal. We went back and had a turnover. We drive it back down to the 30 and get a penalty that takes us back to the 40-yard line, and the drive stops there. Then we had an interception where it was an unfortunate ball that slipped out of the kid’s hand while trying to throw it away.”

on why USC quarterback JT Daniels struggled
“I don’t know that he struggled. He threw for over 330-something yards and two touchdowns. I thought he saw the field well. I’ll get a chance to see the tape, but it was one of those games where they loaded the box, it was man-to-man coverage, really challenged us early, and I was proud of our receivers. I thought they did a phenomenal job of winning the one-on-one matchups and making some big plays, especially down the field. So no, I don’t think JT got caught up in the moment. I think we made two errors in that second half that got us, but for his first time out there, he didn’t have the big eyes. He was going in the right places with the ball.”

on the team’s trouble with containing Joshua Kelley
“We knew coming into the game what Coach Kelly is. He’s a run first guy. He always has been. He’s always had a good back and coming into the game we had a lot of respect for Joshua. He’s a very physical back, and a very good runner. He got going tonight. He gets over 30 carries, and credit to him and their offensive line. I thought they did a nice job tonight of being able to get the ball outside on the perimeter and bouncing the ball outside really well today.”

on his reaction to people saying that he should lose his job
“It doesn’t bother me. My main heartbreak is for our seniors, because I wanted it for them. I know the job. The job is you win, people are going to pat you on the back; if you lose, they’re going to get after you. If you don’t like it, don’t be in this profession. I know it. It rolls off my back. So I’m not worried about it.”

on looking forward to next week against Notre Dame
“You know, I’m pretty heartbroken for our kids. But we have a game left, an important game for our seniors. Marvell [Tate III] was great in there. He said ‘Coach, we’re going to come back to work Monday. We’re going to get it right. And let’s go do something special in this last regular season game.’ When you have kids like that, you’re going to get out of bed in the morning and work your tail off to try to do something special next week.”

on whether he thought there was a turning point in the game
“I was hoping that first drive when we were up three in the second half, we drive it a long way and then stall out on the three-yard line, to try to get that a six-point game instead of a 10-point game. That’s the one that jumps out at me just a little bit. And then the last drive. I thought we were rolling there for a second, had some good matchups. Just one of the routes, we missed the fourth down.”

on whether he’s more concerned for his job than he was earlier this week
“No. Just like I told you, I work my butt off every 24 hours to try to buy them 24. You know, if you work as hard as you can and do the best job you can for your kids and for the university you love, you have no regrets, and I don’t. I’ll continue to work as hard as humanly possible. I’ve had great support from USC, from Lynn Swann, and from these kids. And I will continue to work as hard as I can for them.”

on whether he knows if he’s coming back in 2019
“That’s a great question for Mr. Swann. Out of respect to him, I’ll let you ask him that. As I said earlier this week, I feel tremendous support from Mr. Swann and what we are doing here and thank him for being with me every step of the way.”

UCLA running back Joshua Kelley
on rushing for the third-highest single-game total in program history
“It’s really a testament to the offensive line. Those guys fought hard. We embrace running the football here. It was just amazing how hard they [offensive line] fought.”

on describing his performance against USC as ‘dreamlike’
“It was crazy, playing them. This was a game I watched since I was eight years old. I was out there, and I wanted to make sure I embrace ever single moment and make the best out of it. It was a crazy experience, I loved it. The atmosphere was amazing. That’s what big-time college football is about.”

on getting 40 rushing carries
“I’m with Coach. Whatever he wants me to do, I’m going to do it. Forty caries, that’s a lot. Tomorrow morning, I’m going to feel all 40 of those. If that’s what it’s going to take, call me in the game.”

on building confidence through the season
“I would say I’m more confident. At the beginning of the year, it was a little different for me. I think now, it gives me that assurance of ‘Alright, I kind of belong here.’ It’s kind of a testament to the guys around me. We have playmakers around me. We have a great offensive line. Me mixing with those guys helps my job become easier. I can for sure build off of this. The coaching staff, they’re great. I just try to execute to the best of my ability.”

on his reaction to Krys Barnes’ pass breakup
“I jumped. I was screaming. That was crazy. It really hit home and I was like ‘hey, we won this game.’ It was a great feeling. Krys Barnes is a heck of a player. He fought hard tonight. We appreciate him.”

on the improvement of UCLA’s offensive line
“They’ve always been consistent. I just think I had a slow start to the year, and it was just me who was making a lot of mistakes. They embrace running the football, they embrace passing it. Those guys fought hard. I can’t say enough about what they do. They were tremendous. I love every single last one of those guys. I can’t run for that many yards or I get that many carries without them executing play after play.”

on his 55-yard touchdown and UCLA’s play call
“That was a great play call by Coach Kelly. I just got to rip and run, that’s what we call it. I just get the ball and make a read, and try to run with speed. I know one of the other plays I got hawked, so we’re going to be watching that in film, and I’m going to be kicking myself. We ended up scoring, that was great, but I just told myself, ‘this is a crucial play. I have to execute. I have to capitalize.’”

on his improvement and growth since the Fresno State game
“It was a lot of my coaches and my teammates telling me, ‘we believe in you.’ They were reassuring me that I had to look myself in the mirror. I know I say that a lot, but I really had to. Just because I got myself to this position doesn’t mean I have to stop working. You have to continue to earn the right to stay here. I had to really look deep down. Football is an up and down sport. Coach [Kelly] says the same about life. Some days it’s going to be great. Some days it won’t be. I would just tell myself, ‘you have to keep fighting.’”

on the energy of the Rose Bowl crowd
“I for sure feed off that energy. My teammates kept telling me, ‘we’re going to keep feeding you.’ I just embrace it as a running back for sure. I like running the ball. I’m going to keep embracing the opportunity to keep going.”

UCLA quarterback Wilton Speight
on this crosstown rivalry
“It was a lot of fun. It just had a different vibe than any game we’ve had this season. Guys that have been here in the past have told me that was going to happen, and it was cool. Obviously, the stadium wasn’t packed. But with there being a lot of USC fans, it kind of felt like a neutral site, which made things more interesting.”

on his first quarter touchdown pass to Theo Howard
“That was a coverage zero look. I alerted it at the line of scrimmage, just changed some blocking schemes around, and knew with the flat-top defense and with Theo’s speed that he was going to have a chance. I knew Theo was going to make a play. I just gave him air and he could adjust to it accordingly.”

on this victory impacting the season outlook
“It’s just about the team. I was telling some guys in there that one of the main things I learned at Michigan was when you win, you represent the guys you’re playing with, you represent the coaching staff, but [also] for all of the players and coaches that came before you, and all of the players and coaches that are going to come in the future. That’s what this win was about – obviously for this locker room, but for all the Bruins that came before us in the rich history of this football program.”

on preparation for today’s game
“I think we had a great week of training. Guys were locked in. I know we had two wins going into this game, but it wasn’t a two-win football team. Obviously injuries played a part into that record, but the coaches did a great job of keeping us focused. Every Monday we come into meetings. We came in last Monday excited – it was a crosstown rival, and we knew we could win this thing.”

on running back Joshua Kelley
A quarterback’s best friend is a solid running game. It doesn’t really help preparation or anything, because you don’t know going into the game that a guy is going to have 289 rushing yards. In the flow of the game, it definitely helps.”

on cementing his personal legacy at UCLA
“No, it’s not for me to decide. I think time tells that. I’m only here for one season, but the bottom line is we beat USC, our crosstown rival. LA belongs to the Bruins this year.”

on keeping the drive alive with a 33-yard pass to Theo Howard in the first quarter
“The one I threw away where I got hit really hard stands out, because that hurt a lot. Theo made a great read. They had, I think it was their seven, right there in the middle of the field. He was spying. Theo came around his break and saw that. As soon as I locked eyes with Theo, I knew he had seen that. He got QB friendly, moved the chains. That’s big time to get hit like that and then answer with authority.”

UCLA defensive back Adarius Pickett
on the feeling of beating USC
“This feels amazing, I mean, we haven’t won since my freshman year when I was redshirting. So, to beat SC my senior year and have a game like that. The Rose Bowl was rocking. Darnay made a hell of a play. Nate made a hell of a play. We gave up some but at the end of the day we stuck together and like I said this is an amazing feeling.

on UCLA’s final defensive play
“I knew I had number one in the slot, he was on the ball. I thought he was going to run the vertical route, so I just played him for the slot fade really and I was able to break it up. Glory be to God for that.”

on how happy he was for Nate Meadors
“I was extremely happy for him. Nate has had some ups and downs throughout the year, and he has stayed level headed. He kept pushing through, so to see him go out there and make a play like that when the receiver gave up on the ball, he didn’t. He kept fighting through the play and went out there and finished it. Like I said, seeing him I was really excited for him and for myself.”

on the significance of keeping USC from having a field goal attempt
“I know it was big it was very big that whole sequence of plays. Darnay did a really good job of reacting to the receiver and making sure he made that tackle even though it was a holding call. If it wasn’t a holding call, we would have had a chance to block the field goal but that was a big play.”

on UCLA going up versus USC’s receivers
“I feel like we have been playing against pretty good receivers throughout the whole season. They have talented players for sure, it’s just they’re going to make some plays, and we’re going to make some plays. At the end of the day, you just have to keep pushing and that’s what I was telling the team. Just give it your all. You just have to trust yourself out there, sometimes you’re going to get beat and that’s part of being a DB. I feel like people don’t understand that you can’t break up every pass or every ball. You’re going to give up some catches, but you have to keep playing. That was my message to them throughout the whole game. As long as you leave everything you have on the field, you’re going to go in that locker room with no regrets. Win or lose.”

on what it feels like with so many players contributing to such a meaningful win
“It means everything. We stuck together throughout the season. We are 3-8 or whatever, but we stuck together. We have a great coaching staff that tells us to keep pushing. We come back every week with the mindset of just getting better. The fact that we came together as a defense and came up with big stops, it meant everything. You can see the passion come out the players and that’s what I love to see. The passion comes out of me for sure, Darnay, and the DB group. I think that’s a good sign moving forward.”

UCLA defensive back Darnay Holmes
on the feeling of beating USC
“Honestly it’s just a blessing for me to be able to sit right here with my man [Pickett] and for him to finally get one and for us to finally get one. It shows that hard work pays off and just being patient throughout the process, that’s the main thing.”

on his view of the interception
“I was just locked in, honestly. The view was just myself the ball and that was the only thing I was focused on. My main thing was to make sure I catch it. I would probably be the worst person ever if I dropped that pass.”

USC safety Ajene Harris
on UCLA defeating USC
“Coming in here, you definitely want the win but sometimes things just don’t go your way. It is, what it is. We just have to look forward to Notre Dame next week and try to upset them because they got a really good team.”

on how motivated he was to finish his career at USC in a bowl game
“We definitely want to finish out with a bowl game. Definitely want to get a win next week, so it’s very motivating to seniors.”

on talks of his head coach’s status
“We’re not really paying attention to what is going on outside of our program. We’re focused on coming out here and executing, and trying to do our assignment the best way possible.”

on how tough it is to lose in a close game
“It’s pretty tough. We come out, we workout hard every week to practice and give our all in the games and to coming up short is hard. It’s heartbreaking, but it’s one of those things. You win some, you lose some.”

on if it will be a problem to get ready for Notre Dame
“No, I don’t think so. I think we’re all motivated to come out her and try to get a win every week. Notre Dame is a big time opponent. A lot of us want to win, we want to try to get to a bowl game. It’s good competition, why shy down from it.”

USC linebacker Christian Rector
on what went wrong in this game
“I say we lost the turnover battle, and not being able to get off the field on third downs.”

on not being able to stop the run
“We game planned for them. We knew Chip [Kelly] was going to bring something new, like he does every week, and we weren’t able to adjust.”

on what was tough in the second half
“I would say turnovers and stopping the ball in the red zone.”

USC wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown
on his first experience with this crosstown rivalry
“I’m a freshman and I don’t really know what happened last year. I wasn’t there. All I can speak on is this year and just the outcome is just what it is. I can’t change it.”

on feeling any pressure to win for his head coach
“We’re going to go in, and we’re going to win it for the seniors and they’re going to do it for us. But like I said, this is the seniors’ last home game so we’re doing it for them.”

on not being bowl eligible
“It’s something to think of, but we do one game at a time. Next week is Notre Dame. I tip my hat off to UCLA. They played a great game. But we’re working for Notre Dame, and they’re a great team. So we have to see what they do and execute.”

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Postgame Quotes - UCLA vs. USC

University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics

Postgame Quotes - UCLA vs. USC