Postgame Quotes - UCLA at Arizona State
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 25, Arizona State 18
Tempe, Ariz. (Sun Devil Stadium)
Dec. 5, 2020
UCLA head coach Chip Kelly
on pass-heavy play and Dorian Thompson-Robinson's performance
“It was really more dictated by the defense that Arizona State was playing. We felt we had to be a little bit more balanced, and to be able to get Dorian back in the middle of the week was huge for us. I thought Kyle Philips played really well for us. And then Dorian, not only can he beat you throwing the ball, but I thought he was really big for us in the run game tonight."
on the performance of the UCLA defense
“I thought they did a great job and came up huge. Those two turnovers - the fumble down in close and then the other interception coming out of the end zone. I've been really proud of how our defense has played all season long. We have a bunch of kids over there that play football extremely hard. They do a really good job of rallying to the ball and gang tackling, and we talked about playing hard and playing hard for 60 minutes. You can't play hard for 58, you have to play hard for 60, and they did. But I thought our defense really came up huge tonight.”
on the performance of Caleb Johnson
“I was really happy. Caleb is an explosive, physical football player. I'm sure he wants that one back (potential sack late in the game), but that was a great play by Jayden Daniels. We even had two guys hit him, and Jayden spun out over and got an interference call on the play, I think. But then to come back and get another sack was huge, and we got them off track on that last drive, and Caleb was a huge part of that.”
on UCLA's winning record
“Anytime you win a football game it feels great.”
on Delon Hurt's contribution in tonight's game
“We’ve had some guys out and we got a few of them back this week, not all of them, but Delon (Hurt) was one of them. I’m really happy for him, he’s worked really hard and that post route run was a heck of a catch and a heck of a play. We tried to speed up right after it because I didn’t want them to review it, but I saw it on the big board and he caught it clean. It was a heck of a catch by him, but it was good to get Delon back and a couple of other guys who we missed the last couple of weeks. It’s a different year for everybody, you have your fingers crossed and we had our fingers crossed up until this afternoon waiting for testing results to come in. It’s a year unlike any other. We didn’t have any positive results today, but until you get that green light that it’s a go, you are on pins and needles trying make sure you are set because we know what this can do and talk to Herm (Edwards) to see what it’s done to this team (ASU) and what he has had to deal with the last couple of weeks. It’s kind of crazy, I watched Stanford today and they are on the road for the next couple of weeks and aren’t even coming home, so we feel so fortunate to get the guys back because they have worked so hard and they deserve it. But to get Delon back, Q Lake (Quentin Lake) and Dorian (Thompson-Robinson) back was huge for our football team and we needed all three of those guys to help us win tonight.”
UCLA linebacker Caleb Johnson
on his fumble recovery in the third quarter
“I just saw Jayden Daniels drop to the field, and I just had to dive for it real quick. We had just talked about how we needed to get turnovers and jump whenever we see a fumble.”
on long ASU drives and defensive stops
“We just practice what we preach. We just had a mentality to get them off the field.”
on having a winning record for the first time since 2017
“It feels really good. It feels like we’re headed in the right direction, and we’re capable of being a really special team, especially in the upcoming year.”
UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson
on what it feels like to be back on the field
“Obviously I'm very blessed and thankful to (have) a coaching staff where I'm out for two weeks and haven't been around the team but still get to come back and still get to compete on Saturday. So just thankful and blessed to have the opportunity again. I love football and everything about it. Really, I just did what the doctor said, you gotta protect the team, and as coach says, protect our ecosystem, and so that's one of the biggest things right now is making sure everyone is safe.”
on the game plan and coming back after two weeks out
“It's all part of the game plan. We do what Coach Kelly tells us to do. All three backs do what they're supposed to do, Brittain Brown, Demetric Felton, Keegan Jones, really just having a good team around us, a good O-line, and everyone is working as one right now.”
on what it took to regroup and get the game-winning touchdown
“I think a lot of it has to do with just trying to press, just try to finish them right away. Instead of just going through what we've been taught, (we) kind of get out of our technique here and there at some positions and that hurt us, obviously. So we really went into the fourth quarter sticking to our training and going play by play.”
on what it feels like for UCLA to be going in a good direction
“It feels amazing. I think the whole UCLA community has been waiting for this. Like I said and Coach Kelly said all along, we're headed in the right direction and it's all about the process. We're taking it day by day and working very hard, so I’m very proud of this team and where we are headed.”