Postgame Quotes – UCLA vs. Oregon
POSTGAME QUOTES
Oregon 34, UCLA 31
Pasadena, Calif. (Rose Bowl)
October 23, 2021
UCLA head coach Chip Kelly
on the status of quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson
“With our protocol, the trainer just tells me if he’s in or out. I don’t have any information on where he is or what his situation is.”
on if the Bruins changed any play-calling with Ethan Garbers entering the game
“No. I mean, we were in our two-minute offense, obviously. We just worked of the two-minute menu, which Ethan knows the same as Dorian does. We didn’t change anything. We had a really big play on the fourth-down conversion – really proud of that. Didn’t get a good look on the last play, so I’m not going to make a comment on that.”
on penalties and being offsides
“You’ve got to clean those up. Those are self-inflicted wounds. Any administrative penalty that occurs before the snap, whether it be illegal procedure or lining up offsides, delay of game – there’s about seven of them. They actually will comprise during the season about 70 percent of your penalties. You’ve got to clean that stuff up. We had two interceptions that we negated ourselves because we were not lined up the right way. You’ll make the corrections when we get back these guys on Monday.”
on the team’s mindset and not quitting, when down by 17 points
“Yeah, I’ve known this group for a long time and they’re an unbelievably resilient bunch. It’s 34-17, [people] think the game is over, and our players fight until the end. We just came up one play short. It felt like, if we got the ball down in there, have all the confidence in Nick in a field goal situation, we were thinking about getting a score but we had to move the ball down the field. And both Dorian and Ethan did a really good job with that. I thought that [Greg] Dulcich came up big in clutch situations. Kyle made some big plays, Cam Brown made some big catches. [Chase] Cota did. A lot of kids contributed. Zach [Charbonnet] made a huge conversion [with] a pass out of the backfield. Jay [Shaw] coming up with an interception late there, that was a huge play for us. Jordan [Genmark Heath] had a huge pick for us there in the fourth quarter. That was a game in itself in the fourth quarter. We just came up a little bit short.”
on how large of an opportunity this game was for UCLA
“Yeah, it was. I won’t discount that. It was a huge opportunity and we just came up a little short. We still have to take the approach of, you know, we’ll analyze the film. What corrections can we make? Which ones were good plays by them? Which ones can we fix and can we clean up? The self-inflicted wounds as we talked about earlier, the illegal procedures and the lining up offsides, you know, we can fix those things and not hurt ourselves. We have a really good team in Utah that we’ve got to play at Utah. Winning on the road in this league is difficult, as we know. We have been good on the road, but we have a tall task going out to Utah to play a good Utah team. We’ll go through the same process tomorrow as an off-day, and we will get back at it on Monday morning.”
on Oregon linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux and the plan entering the game
“Yeah, we did a lot of things. We slid the protection to him. We kept maxing protection, put the tight end on them, and we tried to give him as many different looks as possible. And he’s a really talented player and you do have to give him credit. I think he’s what everybody thinks he is – a heck of a football player. But we gave him every different look that you could possibly give him, so credit to him.”
on thinking that UCLA could possible get a field goal or touchdown late and coming up short
“We just talked about, ‘What can we do, and what are the solutions that we can come up with to not put ourselves in that situation?’ But the effort that these guys played with, the resiliency that they played with, you have to be proud of that. You’ve got to look at the positives that you can take away from it. But then, what can you correct? Let’s learn from this situation. We talk about our preparation phase during the week, competition phase which this was here, and then the learning phase. We can look at the tape and dissect it. What are things that we can continue to work on to get better as a team? The one thing with this team, you can’t fault them for their effort, their attitude, their resiliency. They are never out of it. They’ll compete and keep playing. That is part of what they have to learn – to handle mistakes. What is our recovery protocol? Football is not a game of perfect, but it is a game of resiliency.”
on Oregon’s defensive plan to shut down the Bruins’ rushing attack
“They put a lot of down guys on the line of scrimmage. They were packing the box. We tried to get the ball, but give their defensive line credit. They made some big plays in there. You know, [Brandon] Dorlus was one of the better kids I’ve seen, number three, he made some big plays. It was some numbers advantage, so we have to spread them out and throw the ball a little bit. But when you spread them out and throw the ball a little bit, then you leave some pass situations, so you’ve got to pick your poison when you are putting together [the] gameplan against someone like that.”
on his confidence level in Ethan Garbers and what this quarterback brings to the team
“We’re very high on Ethan. He is an unbelievable competitor. He’s got all the qualities that you want in a quarterback. But the one thing he lacks, and it’s not his fault, is just experience. He has not played a ton of snaps beause we have a really good one ahead of him. So, it is not a knock on Ethan. But Dorian has been in the trenches as our QB one. If we have to play Ethan, then we will be excited about what we can do. I think that he is a really good football player.”
UCLA offensive lineman Jon Gaines
on what made it difficult to get the running game going
“I think, at the end of the day, we need to execute better. Football is really simple game; it’s blocking and tackling. They’re a good defensive team and we didn’t execute as the offensive line the way we needed to. Getting behind early, you need to start throwing the ball a little bit more, so that kind of factors in, as well. At the end of the day, it’s a matter of execution. We need to look to improve in that.”
on what made Kayvon Thibodeaux so difficult to contain
“He’s a great player, simple as that. We had to prepare and we just didn’t execute the way we needed to. We’re going to come back stronger.”
on if he said anything to Ethan Garbers after the late fourth quarter interception
“I think the biggest thing with our quarterback room on our team in its entirety is the toughness aspect. With him, we understood that he was in the game, and we trusted him to handle his job. Once again, things didn’t end the way we wanted them to, but he’s the type of guy who’s going to respond, simple as that.”
UCLA linebacker Jordan Genmark Heath
on his interception in the fourth quarter
“I was fortunate enough to be in a position to take it away and that all starts with the rush up front, our disguises, and the play-call from up top. Like I said, it’s the production of our defense, and I’m happy I was the person to do that.”
on momentum after defensive stops late in the fourth quarter
“Anytime we can put our offense in to end the game, that’s a great job. We had a lot of mistakes early on. We should have had four turnovers because of those small mistakes that we talk about. We’re extremely close to being a great team. I think that’s on display. You guys see that every single week. Once we take care of those little things, the game won’t even be close. But yeah, every time we can take the ball away, it’s a huge momentum change.”
on not giving up in the fourth quarter
“Coach Kelly and the staff, we talk about once we get into the fourth quarter, we throw those ‘ones’ up. A lot of people throw those fours up – that fourth quarter, we’re attacking it just like it’s the start of the game. That’s kind of what you guys saw out there. We came out there fresh, fast, and physical, and that’s the momentum change that we needed. So when those other teams start getting tired, we’re just getting started. That’s where you’re going to see those ones in the air.”
Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal
opening remarks
“A great college football game. Hard-fought, big plays all over the place. Some really gutsy performances because a lot of guys were getting banged up and going down. Some guys never came back, and guys stepped up in their place and found a way to get it done. All in all, a great team victory against a really good football team. They’re really talented. To go on the road and get this thing done, get us to 6-1, can’t tell you how proud I am of those guys in there.”
on dealing with adversity and injuries
“It wasn’t a lot of fun in pregame when we were getting ready and then Alex Forsyth goes down. We thought we’d have him for today. It’s been the theme of the year, hopefully we’re putting a stop to that after this game. Some guys did come back. This team, its leaders, its players – they’re a special, special bunch. They’re just resilient, they just keep coming, and they truly believe that there’s no play, no circumstance, no bad call, no injury that we can’t overcome.”
on Oregon quarterback Anthony Brown
“Watch the tape, ya know? Watch all the big plays that he made, watch all the right plays he put us in. Watch how much our offense was effective as he was out there just putting it all on the line all the time and having the support and the complete belief of the entire locker room. This industry comes with its ups and downs, highs and lows, its chatter, and its noise. Quite honestly, the only chatter we’re interested in is what we do every single day together as a unit. We want to make our community proud, our university proud and everything else. When it comes down to it, we’re up there at 5 in the morning, getting it done day in and day out until midnight or whatever it takes. Really proud of these guys and really proud of our quarterback.”
on quarterback Anthony Brown’s passing performance
“It sent really set the tone. And then, especially in the middle and in the third quarter where things really changed. We swung the momentum of the game. We were able to hang onto it at the end. Great job by the defense. The defense, in fact in the third quarter allowed only seven yards, 11 yards? I could be off on that stat there by a little bit but it wasn’t by much. They run the ball really well. We controlled the line of scrimmage. Anthony saw and did just a great job dissecting their coverages. The O-Iine held up. We mixed and matched some guys and he just made some unbelievable throws. Guys made some big catches. We put one on the ground that we would like to have back, but beside that there was a lot of positive progress in the passing game and we know because we see them practice everyday how dangerous we can be in the passing game. So, this is a great step in the right direction and we expect to take another step this week in practice.”
on what he envisions the team’s offense can be
“Number one, we want to make sure our best players have the best chance to make plays. Number two is what they play. They are a very complex defense, now. You saw they play trap coverage, a ton of zero, they’ll play some post safety cloud. I mean every single snap is something different and you’ve got to get them to tell you what they’re doing with their shifts, motions and alignments and whatnot. That’s where I think out quarterback today really excelled and took advantage – when I say advantage, it’s making plays that you need to make against tough looks in tough situations. We were really close on some other ones. Real, real close. I think we’re just scratching the surface on the passing game. Hopefully we’ll get healed up front so we can continue progressing both the running game and passing game and take another step as on offense.”
on limiting the UCLA running game
“I really don’t think that there’s – sky is the limit for these guys, this team and this defense. Those guys just rose to the occasion. They knew they were going to have to strike blockers, get off blocks and make plays. And our guys did it again, again and again. I didn’t realize those were the numbers. That’s outstanding. That’s off the charts. It shows the capabilities of our team when our team is on point. Just super proud of that type of performance. That’s awesome.”
on putting together long drives
Well, I mean just intensive film study. They do what they do and they’re very good at it. They’re chaotic. They bring pressure from all over the place. It looks like Star Wars. There’s just stuff everywhere. And you got to block it and you got to beat it. Credit to the quarterback. Credit to the offensive line. Credit to the running backs. Just everyone stepping up. You know, Anthony just did a great job dissecting them. Offensive line did a really good job of not falling for their stems. We got called for, you know when they move our defensive stem, but our offensive line did a really good job of hanging in there and not moving in with all their stems. They handled their twist game really well and kept their quarterback clean for most of the night and when there was a free hitter, Anthony did a great job getting rid of that thing when he had to and running backs did a great job in protection as well.”
on offensive line called upon due to injuries
“We really thought Alex was good to go today, but at the last second, he wasn’t. He had practiced all week and was really good. All of those guys have been getting so many reps. You guys always ask why those guys get multiple reps at different positions. Well, situations like this now validate that. So really proud of those guys.”
Oregon quarterback Anthony Brown
on the chemistry he has developed with his receivers
“I can’t just say being able to trust them during the game. We’ve been working together for a very long time and having things come together today was what we needed. Just the progress alone will help us push this bar forward and continue to progress.”
on where he attributes the overall success in the passing game
“Preparation. We work a lot all week on every look possible that we could get. We knew that some holes would be open for the pass game and we had to take advantage of them. We did it today. It was good to come full-circle.”
on having a challenging week but an impressive performance
“I should have been playing like this for a while, but the fact that it came in a big moment was important. Like you said, I did reach out to a few people and just being myself was a big factor in this – and just staying true to who we are, playing each play. We, ultimately, came out on top. Like you said, I had a couple interceptions. One of them, we should have rum the ball. The second one, we’re going to clean that one up on film.”
Oregon linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux
on what was going on in his mind during that last drive
“We got to keep fighting. There is always one more play, one more opportunity to showcase the work that we put in on Tuesday and Wednesday. Our backs were against the wall. We had to come out and fight, show our grit.”
on the line of scrimmage
“One thing we focused on was for everyone to come up and dominate the line of scrimmage. That was the motto coming in throughout the week.”
on holding Dorian Thompson-Robinson to 35 rushing yards
“He is a great athlete. They have a great scheme and, like I said before, they give him the ability to do what he can. Being able to run what the coaches called and not getting too wild on your rushes. Still playing the pocket and being able to counter back. The linebackers were also running to the ball it was a team effort.”