Postgame Quotes – UCLA vs. Colorado
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 31, Colorado 14
Pasadena, Calif. (Rose Bowl)
November 2, 2019
Audio files available here: https://soundcloud.com/ucla-athletics
UCLA head coach Chip Kelly
opening remarks
“I just think that, as a group, those guys collectively are playing with great effort. And I think that is part of it. Usually the team that plays the hardest and is the most physical has an opportunity to win in this league, and I think that our players have adopted that. It starts with our group upfront, and I think those guys are doing a really good job. We can generate a pass rush. But I also think that our back end is doing a good job in coverage. We were very concerned with the passing attack of this team. [Steven] Montez has been a really good quarterback in this league. They arguably have the best receiver in this league in [Laviska] Shenault. I thought overall that our defense did a good job, and it’s a group effort. I’m really happy with how they played tonight.”
on quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson
“Again, Dorian is a kid who just grows every week. He was 21 of 28, and how many drops? You know what I mean? I think that his accuracy and putting the ball on people and his ability to keep plays alive with his legs, you know, the neat thing about Dorian is that you just keep seeing him grow each week. He keeps putting a better performance on top of a better performance. And that is what you want. As a team, we talk about being obsessed with improvement and not being satisfied with everything. We’re pleased with what happened tonight, but we’re not satisfied. We need to continue to improve as a group. And I think, you know, Dorian is a prime example of that. So, I’m really happy with the decisions he made.”
on how UCLA’s defensive was able to contain wide receiver Laviska Shenault
“It’s a group effort when you have something like that. We had to be conscious of where he was at all times. We knew where he was at all times. We did a lot of in and out on him and top-down coverage on him. I thought that Darnay did a nice job when he was iso’d on him one-on-one. But also, when you can get to the quarterback and force the ball out a little bit quicker, that helps. But it was a team effort, and not one person shuts him down.”
on generating some momentum with three straight wins after having been 1-5
“We just want to be 1-0 every week, and I think that’s what our goal is. And really, to be 1-0 every week, it starts with winning Monday. When I thought that our guys put together their best week of training leading up to it, you always will sink to your level of training. And when we train well, which we did, it allows us to be 1-0. But every week in college football is a season, so to speak, and you aren’t concerned with what happened in September. You aren’t really concerned with what happened in October. We are fortunate enough to be 1-0 on Saturday night, and that’s kind of our goal. That is the mantra that we are sticking to.”
on how Dorian has improved, and if the improvement has been greater in one area
“I don’t know that there is one that I could specifically say. But I just think that his command and his understanding of what’s going on, I think that there is a calmness to Dorian. He has always been a really cool customer, even the first time that he went in the game. It wasn’t too big for him, which is neat to see. But now, he’s got a better understanding and we’ve got a better understanding of him, and there is some reciprocation there. He’s extremely talented in terms of how he throws the football and how he can run with the football. I think that the growth of Dorian is just a by-product of at-bats. He only had 330 pass attempts in high school because he was not the starting quarterback until he was a senior. Some kids come out, you know, Trevor Lawrence had something like 1,300 pass attempts in high school. There’s just a difference between how many times he had a chance. I think the more that Dorian gets experience and the more often he plays, the better off he is. And obviously, we saw that tonight, and hopefully the next game is better than the last game. That is what we strive for as a team.”
on UCLA’s Krys Barnes and how he has been able to control the middle of the field
“We are a very young team with 87 freshmen and sophomores. But there is a core group of seniors on this team. Krys, K.L.S. [Keisean Lucier-South], Josh Woods, Lokeni [Toailoa] that have set the tone for us. I’m really happy with them. Now Krys is a guy who has battled through some injuries this year, but he practices at full speed all the time. He really sets the tone for our defensive guys. I think that everybody on our defensive side of the ball and even on our team has rallied around Krys as a leader. When you have that young of a team, you’re always worried about who leads this team. Krys has really fallen into that role. He’s done a great job. It’s just unfortunate that we had a penalty on that play, on the return. But, hopefully we can get a couple more of those this year.”
on how much this team has matured since the first game of the season
“I just think that every day is a learning experience for these guys. That is what we are striving for as a group. The great part about the game of football is that it teaches you life’s principles. You learn how to persevere, how to be resilient and how to block out distractions and to really focus on the task that’s at hand. That is what these guys are doing. And part of that is, when you’re a young team, it’s that maturity level. They’re starting to become more mature as a group, and you are starting to see that. Hopefully, we can continue to build upon that.”
on Darnay Holmes’ role in the defensive secondary
“You know, Darnay is on that same warp that most of the kids of this team are on, it’s just a gradual progression. They keep getting better from one week to the next week. He’s a kid who was a little bit snake-bit, as he got hurt in preseason. He did not play early. I think that he’s starting to round into form. Josh Kelley in the same situation there as Darnay. These guys are just starting to hit their stride, which is a positive for us as we continue to move into these games that we’ll play in November. We are starting to see what we all knew Darnay was capable of. But there is not a harder worker on our team, in terms of everything, and not just the physical part, but the mental part and his cognitive ability to diagnose what is going on, his ability to put himself in the position to make plays. That is what you’re seeing right now. It’s what we really expected out of Darnay.”
on whether there was a change in the approach, in terms of aggressiveness, on defense
“No. That’s the great part. We have called the same things that we called earlier in the year. I think that we’re executing and our players are really doing it. But it isn’t like we changed the name, or the base, or the calls. You look at the percentage of blitzes that we had in the beginning of the year and the percentage of blitzes that we have had now. They’re probably similar from a numbers standpoint. I just think that we’re just executing at this point in time.”
UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson
on the Bruins having won three consecutive games
“It’s really good. I think that our guys are noticing that the fans are coming out more, and they’re more engaged, stuff like that. Guys are enjoying it. I am definitely happy to be a part of it.”
on a strong span where he had completed 14 of 16 passes midway through the first half
“Yeah, that was all Coach Kelly and him putting me in the best position to make those throws. My receivers did a great job, and our o-line did a great job blocking. I just did my job and handed off the ball.”
on whether he feels more confident at this point in the season
“Yeah, I think that me and Coach Kelly’s relationship has grown a lot. Just him as a play-caller and stuff like that, he puts me in the best position to win. He has me go out there, and I don’t have to think a whole bunch.”
on what the offensive line has done for this team
“Coach Frye does a great job with those guys, just getting them in the right looks and stuff during the week. Coach Frye has done a really good job with those guys. They’ve grown together throughout the season. That has really shown. Their camaraderie has really shown, too.”
on the ability to seize on the team’s training
“It’s definitely different when you hear it. But it is way different when you can feel it and go through it. When Coach Kelly talks about the importance of practice, it’s kind of hard to see that. But when you see it pay off, guys really have bought into it. This week definitely has been the best week of practice that we’ve had so far. We showed it, out on the field.”
on the improvements with UCLA’s defense
“All the credit goes to Coach Azz [Azzinaro] and the staff for really simplifying it for those guys, too. And you can definitely see that they are playing with more confidence. You can see that guys are making more plays and are being put in a position to make plays. I am really happy for those guys right now.”
on the 45-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Fernea in the first quarter
“Oh yeah, I don’t even think that he was expecting me to throw him the ball. So, we got into a look. All week we had gotten into a look where I was throwing the deep ball. They changed the look up on us, and I just read it out. I gave him a chance and he went and got the ball. That was a great route by him and a great catch.”
on what it feels like, knowing that the Bruins can be in a position to win the Pac-12 South
“I really couldn’t tell you because right now, I’m just focused on the bye week. Coach Kelly gave us a couple of days off. So right now, I’m just focused on resting my body. But it’s definitely a good feeling, to know that you’re in control of your own destiny, and stuff like that, and that you’re able to go and make something out of it. Now we just have to go and put the work in and get it done.”
UCLA linebacker Krys Barnes
on the team’s defensive improvement
“For the defense, we took into account during the bye week that we wanted to change how we were playing – to play faster and more physical. So you’re seeing it translate to the field on gameday now. Every week during practice, we’re out there flying around, making plays. So now when it comes to game time, we’re just relaxed. We’re accountable. We trust each other. We repeat to ourselves, ‘Stay in the moment and tackle.’ That’s all we got to do.”
on schematic changes
“It was the whole unit. I think we all realized we needed to make changes – coaches and players. There are things there that we had to improve on. I think we improved those things. We still have a lot to improve on. As we go into film study this upcoming bye week, we’re going to critique ourselves in a major way and keep building on what we got.”
UCLA defensive back Darnay Holmes
on the team’s defensive improvement
“Exactly what Krys [Barnes] said. Those losses on our record, those were all learning moments. We’re at a point right now where we are staying in the moment and learning from those things. Right now, we’re just enjoying the fruits of our labor. We can’t stop.”
on where this team is in early November
“We’re just a team that’s growing and evolving. We’re just an open-minded team that wants to go out there and play with our brothers. At the end of the day, we can’t be satisfied, you know? We’re going to get a jump on Utah this week and make sure we go out there and compete. It’s going to be a hectic scene, and we’re ready for it.”
Colorado head coach Mel Tucker
opening remarks
“I thought we started off way too slow. Offensively, we weren’t able to get anything done on our first several drives. Once we decided we were going to play, that’s when we were able to move the ball and score. We were unable to finish drives on a consistent basis, missed field goals, things like that. Defensively we started slow. Then we started to get some stops, get off the field on third down. I was overall just very disappointed with the way we started the game. Give UCLA credit, they’ve gotten better and got some things on track, they have players.”
on the offense struggling recently
“It’s been a struggle just to finish drives, things like that. Just be more consistent in what we’re trying to do. We’ve got some really good skill guys, we’ve been able to run the ball. But we didn’t start fast today. What I told the players was we’re not going to roll these other games into this game, we just take it for what we did tonight.”
on quarterback Steven Montez
“We had several drops in the game. I’m sure that he missed a couple throws. We just have to look at the tape and see. We want him in sync, we want him moving the ball on a consistent basis.”
on giving up 17 points early
“Very disappointed in that. There’s no excuse for it.”
on missing injured players
“They are what they are. Football is a game of attrition and injuries. Guys are going to get hurt and the next guy’s got to step up and make plays. There’s no excuse for it. Those guys practiced, they know the game plan. They gotta go out there and make plays.”
on Colorado bouncing back
“We’re gonna stay the course. I’m looking for guys that are going to compete and continue to fight. Both to get better and do what we ask them to do. Lot of film study, lot of corrections that need to be made. Really good week in practice and we’re going to continue to look for guys that have the type of behavior on the consistent basis that we need to get this job done.”
on convincing his team it’s gut check time
“It’s based upon individual guys. Everyone reacts differently, and that’s what we have to do as coaches is find ways to keep our guys going, to get them better. Get the young guys to understand what’s required and keep moving forward. There’s nothing easy about it. You can’t sprinkle dust on it. You can’t wave a magic wand, it’s really difficult, and I expected it to be. Any time you come into a first year in a program – in my experiences and I think this is my eighth time including high school being in the first year of a staff – it’s very, very difficult. There’s ups and there’s downs, and you have to stay the course and make adjustments along the way.”
on adjusting to the poor start
“We just have to start faster. We’ve done that a few times this year where a team goes on to score and then we find our footing and then we start with some stuff, get after the quarterback and stop run, play physical, get some takeaways, things like that. You can’t wait and see how it’s going before you get into it. You got to start fast, get after it right way. It’s the mentality, the confidence to go out and stop people right away. You gotta have it. It’s really a mentality and it’s something that we have to develop.”
Colorado linebacker Nate Landman
on tonight’s game
“I agree what coach said, taking one game at a time, no game is the same. You can see that throughout the league, throughout the country. It doesn’t matter what week it is or who you're playing, it’s who comes out with no excuse that week.”
on bouncing back from tonight’s loss
“Yeah, 100 percent season isn’t over. The next couple weeks are definitely going to fall into leadership, and those young guys are going to be looking at us older guys to give that guidance and reassurance that we’re not out of it.”
Colorado tailback Jaren Mangham
on tonight’s game
“Like coach says, it’s literally a game of inches. We really just need those inches to come our way.”
on whether there had been any carryover from last week’s loss
“We always just take it one game at a time. I don’t think last week carried into this game. We’re really just trying to get ourselves better in any way possible to help be successful out on that field. We just need to get back to work, come back stronger.”
UCLA 31, Colorado 14
Pasadena, Calif. (Rose Bowl)
November 2, 2019
Audio files available here: https://soundcloud.com/ucla-athletics
UCLA head coach Chip Kelly
opening remarks
“I just think that, as a group, those guys collectively are playing with great effort. And I think that is part of it. Usually the team that plays the hardest and is the most physical has an opportunity to win in this league, and I think that our players have adopted that. It starts with our group upfront, and I think those guys are doing a really good job. We can generate a pass rush. But I also think that our back end is doing a good job in coverage. We were very concerned with the passing attack of this team. [Steven] Montez has been a really good quarterback in this league. They arguably have the best receiver in this league in [Laviska] Shenault. I thought overall that our defense did a good job, and it’s a group effort. I’m really happy with how they played tonight.”
on quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson
“Again, Dorian is a kid who just grows every week. He was 21 of 28, and how many drops? You know what I mean? I think that his accuracy and putting the ball on people and his ability to keep plays alive with his legs, you know, the neat thing about Dorian is that you just keep seeing him grow each week. He keeps putting a better performance on top of a better performance. And that is what you want. As a team, we talk about being obsessed with improvement and not being satisfied with everything. We’re pleased with what happened tonight, but we’re not satisfied. We need to continue to improve as a group. And I think, you know, Dorian is a prime example of that. So, I’m really happy with the decisions he made.”
on how UCLA’s defensive was able to contain wide receiver Laviska Shenault
“It’s a group effort when you have something like that. We had to be conscious of where he was at all times. We knew where he was at all times. We did a lot of in and out on him and top-down coverage on him. I thought that Darnay did a nice job when he was iso’d on him one-on-one. But also, when you can get to the quarterback and force the ball out a little bit quicker, that helps. But it was a team effort, and not one person shuts him down.”
on generating some momentum with three straight wins after having been 1-5
“We just want to be 1-0 every week, and I think that’s what our goal is. And really, to be 1-0 every week, it starts with winning Monday. When I thought that our guys put together their best week of training leading up to it, you always will sink to your level of training. And when we train well, which we did, it allows us to be 1-0. But every week in college football is a season, so to speak, and you aren’t concerned with what happened in September. You aren’t really concerned with what happened in October. We are fortunate enough to be 1-0 on Saturday night, and that’s kind of our goal. That is the mantra that we are sticking to.”
on how Dorian has improved, and if the improvement has been greater in one area
“I don’t know that there is one that I could specifically say. But I just think that his command and his understanding of what’s going on, I think that there is a calmness to Dorian. He has always been a really cool customer, even the first time that he went in the game. It wasn’t too big for him, which is neat to see. But now, he’s got a better understanding and we’ve got a better understanding of him, and there is some reciprocation there. He’s extremely talented in terms of how he throws the football and how he can run with the football. I think that the growth of Dorian is just a by-product of at-bats. He only had 330 pass attempts in high school because he was not the starting quarterback until he was a senior. Some kids come out, you know, Trevor Lawrence had something like 1,300 pass attempts in high school. There’s just a difference between how many times he had a chance. I think the more that Dorian gets experience and the more often he plays, the better off he is. And obviously, we saw that tonight, and hopefully the next game is better than the last game. That is what we strive for as a team.”
on UCLA’s Krys Barnes and how he has been able to control the middle of the field
“We are a very young team with 87 freshmen and sophomores. But there is a core group of seniors on this team. Krys, K.L.S. [Keisean Lucier-South], Josh Woods, Lokeni [Toailoa] that have set the tone for us. I’m really happy with them. Now Krys is a guy who has battled through some injuries this year, but he practices at full speed all the time. He really sets the tone for our defensive guys. I think that everybody on our defensive side of the ball and even on our team has rallied around Krys as a leader. When you have that young of a team, you’re always worried about who leads this team. Krys has really fallen into that role. He’s done a great job. It’s just unfortunate that we had a penalty on that play, on the return. But, hopefully we can get a couple more of those this year.”
on how much this team has matured since the first game of the season
“I just think that every day is a learning experience for these guys. That is what we are striving for as a group. The great part about the game of football is that it teaches you life’s principles. You learn how to persevere, how to be resilient and how to block out distractions and to really focus on the task that’s at hand. That is what these guys are doing. And part of that is, when you’re a young team, it’s that maturity level. They’re starting to become more mature as a group, and you are starting to see that. Hopefully, we can continue to build upon that.”
on Darnay Holmes’ role in the defensive secondary
“You know, Darnay is on that same warp that most of the kids of this team are on, it’s just a gradual progression. They keep getting better from one week to the next week. He’s a kid who was a little bit snake-bit, as he got hurt in preseason. He did not play early. I think that he’s starting to round into form. Josh Kelley in the same situation there as Darnay. These guys are just starting to hit their stride, which is a positive for us as we continue to move into these games that we’ll play in November. We are starting to see what we all knew Darnay was capable of. But there is not a harder worker on our team, in terms of everything, and not just the physical part, but the mental part and his cognitive ability to diagnose what is going on, his ability to put himself in the position to make plays. That is what you’re seeing right now. It’s what we really expected out of Darnay.”
on whether there was a change in the approach, in terms of aggressiveness, on defense
“No. That’s the great part. We have called the same things that we called earlier in the year. I think that we’re executing and our players are really doing it. But it isn’t like we changed the name, or the base, or the calls. You look at the percentage of blitzes that we had in the beginning of the year and the percentage of blitzes that we have had now. They’re probably similar from a numbers standpoint. I just think that we’re just executing at this point in time.”
UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson
on the Bruins having won three consecutive games
“It’s really good. I think that our guys are noticing that the fans are coming out more, and they’re more engaged, stuff like that. Guys are enjoying it. I am definitely happy to be a part of it.”
on a strong span where he had completed 14 of 16 passes midway through the first half
“Yeah, that was all Coach Kelly and him putting me in the best position to make those throws. My receivers did a great job, and our o-line did a great job blocking. I just did my job and handed off the ball.”
on whether he feels more confident at this point in the season
“Yeah, I think that me and Coach Kelly’s relationship has grown a lot. Just him as a play-caller and stuff like that, he puts me in the best position to win. He has me go out there, and I don’t have to think a whole bunch.”
on what the offensive line has done for this team
“Coach Frye does a great job with those guys, just getting them in the right looks and stuff during the week. Coach Frye has done a really good job with those guys. They’ve grown together throughout the season. That has really shown. Their camaraderie has really shown, too.”
on the ability to seize on the team’s training
“It’s definitely different when you hear it. But it is way different when you can feel it and go through it. When Coach Kelly talks about the importance of practice, it’s kind of hard to see that. But when you see it pay off, guys really have bought into it. This week definitely has been the best week of practice that we’ve had so far. We showed it, out on the field.”
on the improvements with UCLA’s defense
“All the credit goes to Coach Azz [Azzinaro] and the staff for really simplifying it for those guys, too. And you can definitely see that they are playing with more confidence. You can see that guys are making more plays and are being put in a position to make plays. I am really happy for those guys right now.”
on the 45-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Fernea in the first quarter
“Oh yeah, I don’t even think that he was expecting me to throw him the ball. So, we got into a look. All week we had gotten into a look where I was throwing the deep ball. They changed the look up on us, and I just read it out. I gave him a chance and he went and got the ball. That was a great route by him and a great catch.”
on what it feels like, knowing that the Bruins can be in a position to win the Pac-12 South
“I really couldn’t tell you because right now, I’m just focused on the bye week. Coach Kelly gave us a couple of days off. So right now, I’m just focused on resting my body. But it’s definitely a good feeling, to know that you’re in control of your own destiny, and stuff like that, and that you’re able to go and make something out of it. Now we just have to go and put the work in and get it done.”
UCLA linebacker Krys Barnes
on the team’s defensive improvement
“For the defense, we took into account during the bye week that we wanted to change how we were playing – to play faster and more physical. So you’re seeing it translate to the field on gameday now. Every week during practice, we’re out there flying around, making plays. So now when it comes to game time, we’re just relaxed. We’re accountable. We trust each other. We repeat to ourselves, ‘Stay in the moment and tackle.’ That’s all we got to do.”
on schematic changes
“It was the whole unit. I think we all realized we needed to make changes – coaches and players. There are things there that we had to improve on. I think we improved those things. We still have a lot to improve on. As we go into film study this upcoming bye week, we’re going to critique ourselves in a major way and keep building on what we got.”
UCLA defensive back Darnay Holmes
on the team’s defensive improvement
“Exactly what Krys [Barnes] said. Those losses on our record, those were all learning moments. We’re at a point right now where we are staying in the moment and learning from those things. Right now, we’re just enjoying the fruits of our labor. We can’t stop.”
on where this team is in early November
“We’re just a team that’s growing and evolving. We’re just an open-minded team that wants to go out there and play with our brothers. At the end of the day, we can’t be satisfied, you know? We’re going to get a jump on Utah this week and make sure we go out there and compete. It’s going to be a hectic scene, and we’re ready for it.”
Colorado head coach Mel Tucker
opening remarks
“I thought we started off way too slow. Offensively, we weren’t able to get anything done on our first several drives. Once we decided we were going to play, that’s when we were able to move the ball and score. We were unable to finish drives on a consistent basis, missed field goals, things like that. Defensively we started slow. Then we started to get some stops, get off the field on third down. I was overall just very disappointed with the way we started the game. Give UCLA credit, they’ve gotten better and got some things on track, they have players.”
on the offense struggling recently
“It’s been a struggle just to finish drives, things like that. Just be more consistent in what we’re trying to do. We’ve got some really good skill guys, we’ve been able to run the ball. But we didn’t start fast today. What I told the players was we’re not going to roll these other games into this game, we just take it for what we did tonight.”
on quarterback Steven Montez
“We had several drops in the game. I’m sure that he missed a couple throws. We just have to look at the tape and see. We want him in sync, we want him moving the ball on a consistent basis.”
on giving up 17 points early
“Very disappointed in that. There’s no excuse for it.”
on missing injured players
“They are what they are. Football is a game of attrition and injuries. Guys are going to get hurt and the next guy’s got to step up and make plays. There’s no excuse for it. Those guys practiced, they know the game plan. They gotta go out there and make plays.”
on Colorado bouncing back
“We’re gonna stay the course. I’m looking for guys that are going to compete and continue to fight. Both to get better and do what we ask them to do. Lot of film study, lot of corrections that need to be made. Really good week in practice and we’re going to continue to look for guys that have the type of behavior on the consistent basis that we need to get this job done.”
on convincing his team it’s gut check time
“It’s based upon individual guys. Everyone reacts differently, and that’s what we have to do as coaches is find ways to keep our guys going, to get them better. Get the young guys to understand what’s required and keep moving forward. There’s nothing easy about it. You can’t sprinkle dust on it. You can’t wave a magic wand, it’s really difficult, and I expected it to be. Any time you come into a first year in a program – in my experiences and I think this is my eighth time including high school being in the first year of a staff – it’s very, very difficult. There’s ups and there’s downs, and you have to stay the course and make adjustments along the way.”
on adjusting to the poor start
“We just have to start faster. We’ve done that a few times this year where a team goes on to score and then we find our footing and then we start with some stuff, get after the quarterback and stop run, play physical, get some takeaways, things like that. You can’t wait and see how it’s going before you get into it. You got to start fast, get after it right way. It’s the mentality, the confidence to go out and stop people right away. You gotta have it. It’s really a mentality and it’s something that we have to develop.”
Colorado linebacker Nate Landman
on tonight’s game
“I agree what coach said, taking one game at a time, no game is the same. You can see that throughout the league, throughout the country. It doesn’t matter what week it is or who you're playing, it’s who comes out with no excuse that week.”
on bouncing back from tonight’s loss
“Yeah, 100 percent season isn’t over. The next couple weeks are definitely going to fall into leadership, and those young guys are going to be looking at us older guys to give that guidance and reassurance that we’re not out of it.”
Colorado tailback Jaren Mangham
on tonight’s game
“Like coach says, it’s literally a game of inches. We really just need those inches to come our way.”
on whether there had been any carryover from last week’s loss
“We always just take it one game at a time. I don’t think last week carried into this game. We’re really just trying to get ourselves better in any way possible to help be successful out on that field. We just need to get back to work, come back stronger.”