Postgame Quotes – UCLA vs. LSU
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 38, LSU 27
Pasadena, Calif. (Rose Bowl)
September 4, 2021
UCLA head coach Chip Kelly
opening remarks
“First off, before we start, I just want to make sure that our thoughts and prayers go out to everybody in Louisiana. With what that team went through – they had to relocate to Houston, take a 10-hour bus ride just to get to Houston. When you look at the news, and I don’t watch the news very much, but when you see that, it has been devastating. Just our thoughts and prayers go out to everybody in Louisiana.
on his hair being wet and whether they enjoyed a celebration in the locker room
“Yea, we actually have the same celebration all the time. Our guys actually enjoy throwing water on each other, so it’s good to have wet hair on Saturday night. That means we did something good. The players were excited and they should be, because they’ve worked very hard for it. As we told them, this is just one game. Our goal is to be 1-0 on Saturday night, and so far we have had two opportunities to do it and we’ve done that. We’ll regroup and get back at it on Monday. We have an improvement week coming up because we’re off. But there are still things to continue to do to become a great football team. And our players love that. I think the great thing about this group is that they love everything about football – training, they love practicing, they love playing, so it is a lot of fun to be around them.”
on the Bruins playing in front of a packed Rose Bowl
“Yeah, I thought it was awesome. But I thought last week was awesome. I go back to last year and we didn’t have any fans. And, you know, I don’t think we can be greedy. We’re appreciative of the group that came last week against Hawaii. We are more excited about, you know, we had a bigger crowd today and it was loud, it was fun, and these players deserve it. It’s a really fun team to watch and to support.”
on the team’s passing attack and rushing game
“I think we have the ability right now in the two games that we have played, that’s not projecting as we go forward, but we have the ability right now to run the ball. And if we are running the ball well, we’ll stick with what’s right. But I think that if you look at the playaction passes today, those were huge for us. If you’re going to start to load the box and try and take away the run, and that is part of the cat-and-mouse game, they made some adjustments and we have to make some adjustments to their adjustments. I thought we had one in that last drive, with under four minutes, but Dorian knows in that situation that if it’s not a 100 percent completion, then you have to keep it, and he gained five. I think that he’s going to get better each week, and that is a positive for us.”
on the production between his primary running backs
“I’m an equal opportunity scorer. I could care less how we get across the goal line. We could throw it across 27 times or we could run it across 27 times. It’s just about what the defense is giving us, and we feel like we’ve got the ability to do both. Kyle [Philips] had a big touchdown. Greg [Dulcich] had a big touchdown pass and you know, [Chase] Cota had one. But to have those backs makes us feel better.”
on the first quarter being scoreless and how UCLA was able to respond after LSU’s first touchdown
“What we talk about a lot is that football isn’t a game of perfect. No one plays a perfect game. Football is a game of resiliency. So, you are not going to shut out every team that you play. You won’t score every time that you get the ball. But you have to have a recovery protocol when you have a bad play. How can you flush it, get out of it, and move onto the next play? With this team, it is a sign of maturity that they can do that. So they scored first? Great. You know, then we’ve got to answer, so to speak, and I thought we really did that today.”
on his impression of the team’s defense
“And don’t get this the wrong way and write this as a headline. I’m not impressed with our defense – it’s what I expect from our defense. I think that it’s a really, really good unit. I think that we have depth up front, at linebacker, I think we have depth in the secondary. You saw us changing groupings out there – it was like watching a hockey game with changing lines, but I think it is because our defensive staff did a great job of keeping everybody fresh. Every guy was just so dialed into the gameplan and there is not a drop off when you go from one group to another group. I’ve been impressed with them for a long time. I’ve been really happy with our defense for a while now.”
on what he sees with his team’s maturity
“You know, I think that is a great question. It’s a really disciplined group. When we have a team meeting, I’ll look at my watch and it’s eight minutes early and everyone is in their seat. They understand that if you embrace the process, the process will embrace you back. I think these guys are getting out of it exactly what they’re putting into it. And the cool part, the mature part, is that they’re actually putting more into it. They want more out of it. It’s the greatest game ever invented because you can’t fake football. You can’t half-ass it during a week of prep and then just show up on Saturday and just play. It takes everything. I told them in the locker room after the game, just so that we’re on the same page, you’re not going to beat LSU tonight but you can lose to LSU tonight. It’s how you handle your lifestyle and what you do when you are not in the building. That is the maturity that we see on the field on Saturdays, it’s the maturity that I see everyday from this group.”
on the benefits of a win like this for the program
“As I just said, I think that our players are understanding that if you embrace the process, the process will embrace you back. But the great thing about football is, no one cares tomorrow. Our next opponent does not care. Fresno is a really good football team. But next week is an improvement week for us – it’s not a bye week, it’s not an open date. We’re not going to Cabo and taking five days off and then showing back up to get ready for Fresno. We’ll be back at it Monday. We have a really good plan on how we work on our improvements weeks.
They want to work. That is the fun part for us. We’ll be back at it on Monday, but we have a lot of work to do. And we understand that. But to have this feeling on a Saturday, there may be some people surprised out there, but there wasn’t anybody surprised in our locker room because of the preparation that they put in this week.”
on UCLA putting pressure on LSU quarterback Max Johnson
“He’s a really good player and I’ll tell you what, he’s a tough son-of-a-gun. We hit him and he just kept getting up. He was as impressive of a guy I’ve seen. He just stood in there. I think that one of the qualities of the quarterback that people don’t talk about enough is their toughness. He just stood in there. They even made that play there with four minutes, to [Kayshon] Boutte, that went down the sideline. They fought. It’s fortunate that our offense didn’t give them the ball back. But I believe that if we did give them the ball back, they would have been slinging it again. That is a really good quarterback right now. I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”
on UCLA safety Quentin Lake
“Q is one of our leaders. He’s a special guy and he really leads by example. You talk about a guy who has a work ethic and a guy who loves football. That’s Q-Lake, and what you saw today is what we see everyday in training sessions.”
on trying to rein in his team after an enjoyable victory against LSU
“That’s the fun part of winning. Not this team. This team is really mature and they understand it. But sometimes if you didn’t believe going into the game that you were going to win the game, that’s when you have to rein some guys in. That’s when they start to think they’re a little bit better than they are. But that’s what makes me very proud of this group. It’s an improvement week for us. They earned it.”
LSU head coach Ed Orgeron
on team’s performance
“Obviously, a tough night. We didn’t perform like we’re supposed to at LSU. It’s my responsibility. I told that to the team. Obviously, we’re going to look at it schematically – where we’ve got to get better. There were a lot of areas: physicality, the point of attack, stop the run, eliminate the explosive plays. Those things that we have to address and get better really quickly. One game does not define a season, but we do understand that was a letdown for our fans and I take responsibility for it. We’ve got to get better.”
on reasons for defensive issues tonight
“Crossing routes, missed assignments. Those things continue to haunt us and hurt us – have to get them fixed. I thought we did a pretty good job of capping them and getting them fixed, but, obviously, we’ve got to look at what we’re doing and eliminate those crossing routes and busted coverages, and why we busted them. Also, eliminate having an open gap in the run defense. Whether we got knocked off the ball or there was an open gap, I need to look at on film.”
on not getting much production from the running game
“We need to be more diverse. We need to have multiple runs or multiple sets, which we didn’t do tonight. We need to get that fixed. It needs to get fixed immediately. We need to be more physical at the point of attack. Neither of those things happened tonight as far as what I could see. Again, I need to look at the film before I say anything. With physicality and point of attack, I just need to look at the film.”
on how quarterback Max Johnson handled pressure
“I thought, at times, he handled pressure well. He scrambled and made plays with his feet. At times, he was off. We made some big plays, but we threw some balls in the dirt. We missed some plays. Then again, I think, hot-cold. He made some good plays, but he wasn’t as consistent as we needed from an LSU quarterback.”
UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson
on the feeling after defeating LSU
“I’m proud of this team. We knew we could do it all along. We didn’t listen to the noise, blocked all that out and played for each other tonight.”
on the performance by UCLA’s receiving corps
“This guy [tight end Greg Dulcich] being my roommate, our chemistry is unbelievable. He was getting open all night, as well as the rest of the boys.”
on his emotions at the final whistle
“So happy for this community, for this team. It’s a long time coming. I know the Bruin fans had to wait a little while, but we’ve got things going in the right direction now, and [I’m] happy we could get the win for the Bruin nation.”
on if he feels any difference in his game this season
“I feel like we’re headed in the right direction. We have a lot of senior leaders, a lot of veteran leaders on this team, that are going to keep everyone’s heads on straight. It’s just another game’s in the book, and we’re going to look forward to next week and the weeks after that.”
on if he’s feeling confident
“Definitely, and that comes from the guys around me. I’ve been preaching ‘we, not me’ from the start of this thing. Just using the guys around me, with guys like Greg [Dulcich] and Kyle [Philips] and Chase [Cota] out there, as well as the guys up front and the two-headed monster in the backfield. With all that put together, it makes my job a lot easier.”
on Greg Dulcich’s long touchdown catch
“He was so wide open, I was just making sure I didn’t overthrow the ball. I’m glad I could get it to him.”
on the team’s ground success
“Our running game has been great, it’s always been great. Coach Foster does a great job with that. In big games, big players step up so even though I didn’t have many opportunities, we had to maximize those that we got. Which is the big thing I talked about last week. I felt like we did that tonight, made plays that needed to be made and came out on top.”
on the mindset needed to make a big play
“Just staying in my zone, taking deep breaths, and executing what’s given to me. That’s pretty much the whole thing right there. Going through my reads and making the plays that are presented to me.”
on if the win provides any validation
“I think so. I think everybody in the locker room was very confident going into this game. Everyone expected to win this game. That just proved our expectations, and we’ve got more to come. I still think even though we won this game, there’s a lot to improve on. I still had a turnover, still had sacks going backwards, so still some things to clean up but we’ll definitely enjoy this one while we can.”
on UCLA improving to 2-0
“Starting out the season 2-0 is definitely something special. It’s just a building block to somewhere we want to go. We don’t want to beat LSU, we want to win the Pac-12 Championship, so this is just a step in that direction.”
UCLA tight end Greg Dulcich
on the feeling after defeating LSU
“I mean it’s another game to us, we prepared the same way. I think what we’ve been doing since fall camp is just focusing on winning day-to-day, and we came out and did that today. Excited about what our team put together.”
on his 75-yard touchdown catch
“It opened up exactly how we thought it would. Did a lot of game planning, so, happy that it worked out that way. Coach Sage always says you catch the ball, its first down or touchdown, and I kind of try to think touchdown then first down. I know he’s happy about that. I know he’s happy about the way our tight ends run. All of us bouncing off tackles, can’t tackle Zach [Charbonnet], can’t tackle Brittain [Brown], can’t tackle Kyle [Philips]. So it’s tough to stop that.”
on the Bruins being 2-0
“I think it speaks a lot to the work ethic of this group. Coach Sage always talks about hard work, lunch pail mentality, blue-collar guys coming in, working and making sure we’re doing our job. There’s light at the end of the tunnel because you know that if you win every day, it’s going to be good.”
on playing for his hometown team
“My high school, St. Francis, is like a five-minute drive away. Same atmosphere I’m kind of used to my whole life – same weather, same air I’m breathing, so it means a lot to have all the support I do because I’m so local. A lot of friends and family showing a lot of love, that really propels me so much in my life. Playing in your backyard, there’s no better feeling.”
UCLA linebacker Bo Calvert
on pressuring LSU’s quarterback
“Yeah, I think we always get after quarterbacks for pressure defense. I think we just really executed our game plan. We were talking outside before. It's really just been a long time coming for this team. You know, I've been working hard for a couple of years now. It’s kind of emotional, you know, like these guys have been fighting for this for every day. There's been some tough times, and we just push through that. I'm really proud of our guys. It’s really come to show how much work we put in, how veteran this group is.”
on the pride he and his teammates take from a game such as this
“I think we just execute the game plan really well. Honestly, we had a lot of film study throughout the week. Guys were very locked in. And I keep saying over and over again, this is a veteran group, so they understand how to prepare for a game. They've done it, time again. And I think that just goes to show, you know, what we did out there today was a lot of preparation, through a lot of years, even going in before this week. And we were able to just execute that this week.”
on the energy from a crowd of more than 68,000 fans in the Rose Bowl
“That was awesome. I think that was the most packed that I’ve seen the Rose Bowl, since I've been here. And I loved it, I mean, it was great, great energy from the from the get-go. The defense was on point, you know, really thriving off the home crowd. There were a lot of LSU fans here, too. And I think that was really fun to be a part of, to having a team that travels as big as they did. It was just fun to keep it quiet today.”
UCLA safety Stephan Blaylock
on if the Bruins felt a bit of an advantage having already played a game (and LSU had not)
“Yes, coming off last week, it gave us a lot of confidence, just coming out of a big win like that and heading to a game like this. We knew turnovers were going to be key, playing against a ranked opponent, a team everybody thought we should have been blown out, too. So, yes – turnovers, getting pressure, all that was big in game plan.”
on if there’ve been times in the last couple years where it was tough to see victories such as this
“I would say no. Even in the past year, where we started off 0-1, and we had Oklahoma [as our] second game, we always believe in ourselves. Obviously we didn’t finish [in] those games. But this year, this is different. We worked harder. Coming off last year, we knew that we just have to finish. We just weren't finishing game. The biggest thing we were focused on this year, just finishing games and playing hard, playing fast.”
on his message to UCLA’s fans, encouraging them to attend the Fresno State game on Sept. 18
“Oh, come out. Come out, yeah. You can expect the same thing – us playing hard, us finishing, fighting all four quarters. And feeding off you guys. you guys did a lot for us out there tonight, and I appreciate you guys for that. So yeah, come out in two weeks, we'll see you out there.”
on being from the Los Angeles region and what this type of win means
“Oh, it's big. We know that being in L.A., a lot of people might not come out to the game. So, winning big games, starting out fast is going to bring more fans to the game. It’s big, just to see a lot of people out here, love to get more people out here to the game. It means a lot.”
on being from the area, and seeing the Bruins’ program get this win
Like Blay [Stephan Blaylock] said you know, L.A. is a tough crowd if you're not playing well. Luckily, we’re playing pretty good now. We have got a lot of fans on our side now, and it's fun to be to the Rose Bowl. The Rose Bowl was meant to be played in front of the amount of fans that we had tonight. It’s awesome to have that. I’m so thankful for everybody coming out.”
LSU quarterback Max Johnson
on struggles in the running game
“UCLA did a good job of playing the run and being in the right spots, but we have to correct it as an offense, and that will be done.”
on what UCLA did to combat quick-hitting routes
“I think we ran probably 10 slants that we hit on the game – some that we missed. I think we should just stick with it. I think [offensive coordinator] Coach Peetz did a good job of calling the game. We just have to figure our run game, which will happen. Looking forward to working and getting better with my guys.”
on why he thinks he was missing targets
“I was trying to figure out where they were coming from. We pretty much had it, except I think one time where they got us, where I was completely hot. Other than that, I just have to put it on them and let our guys make plays.”
on the play where he threw the ball over his shoulder to avoid being sacked
“I was trying to throw it away, and I was trying to throw it to our sideline. Being left-handed, I should have just gone down or thrown it away to the left.”
LSU wide receiver Kayshon Boutte
on early success in the game
“I feel like coming into the game we were energized, but kind of started off slow. Throughout the game we started to pick it up as an offense, but I feel like if we had worked harder and faster to get going earlier in the game, it would have been a different ball game.”
on the receivers’ play
“The 50/50 balls – we’ve got to come down with them. We didn’t really make contested catches like we know we should, and we didn’t play to the LSU standard. [We’ve] got to go back next week catching jugs doing it after practice. Have to learn from it.”
on talking with his quarterback in the early quarters
“The conversation was just that we have to speed the routes up. There was a lot of man [coverage] on the outside, so just win your one-on-ones.”
UCLA 38, LSU 27
Pasadena, Calif. (Rose Bowl)
September 4, 2021
UCLA head coach Chip Kelly
opening remarks
“First off, before we start, I just want to make sure that our thoughts and prayers go out to everybody in Louisiana. With what that team went through – they had to relocate to Houston, take a 10-hour bus ride just to get to Houston. When you look at the news, and I don’t watch the news very much, but when you see that, it has been devastating. Just our thoughts and prayers go out to everybody in Louisiana.
on his hair being wet and whether they enjoyed a celebration in the locker room
“Yea, we actually have the same celebration all the time. Our guys actually enjoy throwing water on each other, so it’s good to have wet hair on Saturday night. That means we did something good. The players were excited and they should be, because they’ve worked very hard for it. As we told them, this is just one game. Our goal is to be 1-0 on Saturday night, and so far we have had two opportunities to do it and we’ve done that. We’ll regroup and get back at it on Monday. We have an improvement week coming up because we’re off. But there are still things to continue to do to become a great football team. And our players love that. I think the great thing about this group is that they love everything about football – training, they love practicing, they love playing, so it is a lot of fun to be around them.”
on the Bruins playing in front of a packed Rose Bowl
“Yeah, I thought it was awesome. But I thought last week was awesome. I go back to last year and we didn’t have any fans. And, you know, I don’t think we can be greedy. We’re appreciative of the group that came last week against Hawaii. We are more excited about, you know, we had a bigger crowd today and it was loud, it was fun, and these players deserve it. It’s a really fun team to watch and to support.”
on the team’s passing attack and rushing game
“I think we have the ability right now in the two games that we have played, that’s not projecting as we go forward, but we have the ability right now to run the ball. And if we are running the ball well, we’ll stick with what’s right. But I think that if you look at the playaction passes today, those were huge for us. If you’re going to start to load the box and try and take away the run, and that is part of the cat-and-mouse game, they made some adjustments and we have to make some adjustments to their adjustments. I thought we had one in that last drive, with under four minutes, but Dorian knows in that situation that if it’s not a 100 percent completion, then you have to keep it, and he gained five. I think that he’s going to get better each week, and that is a positive for us.”
on the production between his primary running backs
“I’m an equal opportunity scorer. I could care less how we get across the goal line. We could throw it across 27 times or we could run it across 27 times. It’s just about what the defense is giving us, and we feel like we’ve got the ability to do both. Kyle [Philips] had a big touchdown. Greg [Dulcich] had a big touchdown pass and you know, [Chase] Cota had one. But to have those backs makes us feel better.”
on the first quarter being scoreless and how UCLA was able to respond after LSU’s first touchdown
“What we talk about a lot is that football isn’t a game of perfect. No one plays a perfect game. Football is a game of resiliency. So, you are not going to shut out every team that you play. You won’t score every time that you get the ball. But you have to have a recovery protocol when you have a bad play. How can you flush it, get out of it, and move onto the next play? With this team, it is a sign of maturity that they can do that. So they scored first? Great. You know, then we’ve got to answer, so to speak, and I thought we really did that today.”
on his impression of the team’s defense
“And don’t get this the wrong way and write this as a headline. I’m not impressed with our defense – it’s what I expect from our defense. I think that it’s a really, really good unit. I think that we have depth up front, at linebacker, I think we have depth in the secondary. You saw us changing groupings out there – it was like watching a hockey game with changing lines, but I think it is because our defensive staff did a great job of keeping everybody fresh. Every guy was just so dialed into the gameplan and there is not a drop off when you go from one group to another group. I’ve been impressed with them for a long time. I’ve been really happy with our defense for a while now.”
on what he sees with his team’s maturity
“You know, I think that is a great question. It’s a really disciplined group. When we have a team meeting, I’ll look at my watch and it’s eight minutes early and everyone is in their seat. They understand that if you embrace the process, the process will embrace you back. I think these guys are getting out of it exactly what they’re putting into it. And the cool part, the mature part, is that they’re actually putting more into it. They want more out of it. It’s the greatest game ever invented because you can’t fake football. You can’t half-ass it during a week of prep and then just show up on Saturday and just play. It takes everything. I told them in the locker room after the game, just so that we’re on the same page, you’re not going to beat LSU tonight but you can lose to LSU tonight. It’s how you handle your lifestyle and what you do when you are not in the building. That is the maturity that we see on the field on Saturdays, it’s the maturity that I see everyday from this group.”
on the benefits of a win like this for the program
“As I just said, I think that our players are understanding that if you embrace the process, the process will embrace you back. But the great thing about football is, no one cares tomorrow. Our next opponent does not care. Fresno is a really good football team. But next week is an improvement week for us – it’s not a bye week, it’s not an open date. We’re not going to Cabo and taking five days off and then showing back up to get ready for Fresno. We’ll be back at it Monday. We have a really good plan on how we work on our improvements weeks.
They want to work. That is the fun part for us. We’ll be back at it on Monday, but we have a lot of work to do. And we understand that. But to have this feeling on a Saturday, there may be some people surprised out there, but there wasn’t anybody surprised in our locker room because of the preparation that they put in this week.”
on UCLA putting pressure on LSU quarterback Max Johnson
“He’s a really good player and I’ll tell you what, he’s a tough son-of-a-gun. We hit him and he just kept getting up. He was as impressive of a guy I’ve seen. He just stood in there. I think that one of the qualities of the quarterback that people don’t talk about enough is their toughness. He just stood in there. They even made that play there with four minutes, to [Kayshon] Boutte, that went down the sideline. They fought. It’s fortunate that our offense didn’t give them the ball back. But I believe that if we did give them the ball back, they would have been slinging it again. That is a really good quarterback right now. I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”
on UCLA safety Quentin Lake
“Q is one of our leaders. He’s a special guy and he really leads by example. You talk about a guy who has a work ethic and a guy who loves football. That’s Q-Lake, and what you saw today is what we see everyday in training sessions.”
on trying to rein in his team after an enjoyable victory against LSU
“That’s the fun part of winning. Not this team. This team is really mature and they understand it. But sometimes if you didn’t believe going into the game that you were going to win the game, that’s when you have to rein some guys in. That’s when they start to think they’re a little bit better than they are. But that’s what makes me very proud of this group. It’s an improvement week for us. They earned it.”
LSU head coach Ed Orgeron
on team’s performance
“Obviously, a tough night. We didn’t perform like we’re supposed to at LSU. It’s my responsibility. I told that to the team. Obviously, we’re going to look at it schematically – where we’ve got to get better. There were a lot of areas: physicality, the point of attack, stop the run, eliminate the explosive plays. Those things that we have to address and get better really quickly. One game does not define a season, but we do understand that was a letdown for our fans and I take responsibility for it. We’ve got to get better.”
on reasons for defensive issues tonight
“Crossing routes, missed assignments. Those things continue to haunt us and hurt us – have to get them fixed. I thought we did a pretty good job of capping them and getting them fixed, but, obviously, we’ve got to look at what we’re doing and eliminate those crossing routes and busted coverages, and why we busted them. Also, eliminate having an open gap in the run defense. Whether we got knocked off the ball or there was an open gap, I need to look at on film.”
on not getting much production from the running game
“We need to be more diverse. We need to have multiple runs or multiple sets, which we didn’t do tonight. We need to get that fixed. It needs to get fixed immediately. We need to be more physical at the point of attack. Neither of those things happened tonight as far as what I could see. Again, I need to look at the film before I say anything. With physicality and point of attack, I just need to look at the film.”
on how quarterback Max Johnson handled pressure
“I thought, at times, he handled pressure well. He scrambled and made plays with his feet. At times, he was off. We made some big plays, but we threw some balls in the dirt. We missed some plays. Then again, I think, hot-cold. He made some good plays, but he wasn’t as consistent as we needed from an LSU quarterback.”
UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson
on the feeling after defeating LSU
“I’m proud of this team. We knew we could do it all along. We didn’t listen to the noise, blocked all that out and played for each other tonight.”
on the performance by UCLA’s receiving corps
“This guy [tight end Greg Dulcich] being my roommate, our chemistry is unbelievable. He was getting open all night, as well as the rest of the boys.”
on his emotions at the final whistle
“So happy for this community, for this team. It’s a long time coming. I know the Bruin fans had to wait a little while, but we’ve got things going in the right direction now, and [I’m] happy we could get the win for the Bruin nation.”
on if he feels any difference in his game this season
“I feel like we’re headed in the right direction. We have a lot of senior leaders, a lot of veteran leaders on this team, that are going to keep everyone’s heads on straight. It’s just another game’s in the book, and we’re going to look forward to next week and the weeks after that.”
on if he’s feeling confident
“Definitely, and that comes from the guys around me. I’ve been preaching ‘we, not me’ from the start of this thing. Just using the guys around me, with guys like Greg [Dulcich] and Kyle [Philips] and Chase [Cota] out there, as well as the guys up front and the two-headed monster in the backfield. With all that put together, it makes my job a lot easier.”
on Greg Dulcich’s long touchdown catch
“He was so wide open, I was just making sure I didn’t overthrow the ball. I’m glad I could get it to him.”
on the team’s ground success
“Our running game has been great, it’s always been great. Coach Foster does a great job with that. In big games, big players step up so even though I didn’t have many opportunities, we had to maximize those that we got. Which is the big thing I talked about last week. I felt like we did that tonight, made plays that needed to be made and came out on top.”
on the mindset needed to make a big play
“Just staying in my zone, taking deep breaths, and executing what’s given to me. That’s pretty much the whole thing right there. Going through my reads and making the plays that are presented to me.”
on if the win provides any validation
“I think so. I think everybody in the locker room was very confident going into this game. Everyone expected to win this game. That just proved our expectations, and we’ve got more to come. I still think even though we won this game, there’s a lot to improve on. I still had a turnover, still had sacks going backwards, so still some things to clean up but we’ll definitely enjoy this one while we can.”
on UCLA improving to 2-0
“Starting out the season 2-0 is definitely something special. It’s just a building block to somewhere we want to go. We don’t want to beat LSU, we want to win the Pac-12 Championship, so this is just a step in that direction.”
UCLA tight end Greg Dulcich
on the feeling after defeating LSU
“I mean it’s another game to us, we prepared the same way. I think what we’ve been doing since fall camp is just focusing on winning day-to-day, and we came out and did that today. Excited about what our team put together.”
on his 75-yard touchdown catch
“It opened up exactly how we thought it would. Did a lot of game planning, so, happy that it worked out that way. Coach Sage always says you catch the ball, its first down or touchdown, and I kind of try to think touchdown then first down. I know he’s happy about that. I know he’s happy about the way our tight ends run. All of us bouncing off tackles, can’t tackle Zach [Charbonnet], can’t tackle Brittain [Brown], can’t tackle Kyle [Philips]. So it’s tough to stop that.”
on the Bruins being 2-0
“I think it speaks a lot to the work ethic of this group. Coach Sage always talks about hard work, lunch pail mentality, blue-collar guys coming in, working and making sure we’re doing our job. There’s light at the end of the tunnel because you know that if you win every day, it’s going to be good.”
on playing for his hometown team
“My high school, St. Francis, is like a five-minute drive away. Same atmosphere I’m kind of used to my whole life – same weather, same air I’m breathing, so it means a lot to have all the support I do because I’m so local. A lot of friends and family showing a lot of love, that really propels me so much in my life. Playing in your backyard, there’s no better feeling.”
UCLA linebacker Bo Calvert
on pressuring LSU’s quarterback
“Yeah, I think we always get after quarterbacks for pressure defense. I think we just really executed our game plan. We were talking outside before. It's really just been a long time coming for this team. You know, I've been working hard for a couple of years now. It’s kind of emotional, you know, like these guys have been fighting for this for every day. There's been some tough times, and we just push through that. I'm really proud of our guys. It’s really come to show how much work we put in, how veteran this group is.”
on the pride he and his teammates take from a game such as this
“I think we just execute the game plan really well. Honestly, we had a lot of film study throughout the week. Guys were very locked in. And I keep saying over and over again, this is a veteran group, so they understand how to prepare for a game. They've done it, time again. And I think that just goes to show, you know, what we did out there today was a lot of preparation, through a lot of years, even going in before this week. And we were able to just execute that this week.”
on the energy from a crowd of more than 68,000 fans in the Rose Bowl
“That was awesome. I think that was the most packed that I’ve seen the Rose Bowl, since I've been here. And I loved it, I mean, it was great, great energy from the from the get-go. The defense was on point, you know, really thriving off the home crowd. There were a lot of LSU fans here, too. And I think that was really fun to be a part of, to having a team that travels as big as they did. It was just fun to keep it quiet today.”
UCLA safety Stephan Blaylock
on if the Bruins felt a bit of an advantage having already played a game (and LSU had not)
“Yes, coming off last week, it gave us a lot of confidence, just coming out of a big win like that and heading to a game like this. We knew turnovers were going to be key, playing against a ranked opponent, a team everybody thought we should have been blown out, too. So, yes – turnovers, getting pressure, all that was big in game plan.”
on if there’ve been times in the last couple years where it was tough to see victories such as this
“I would say no. Even in the past year, where we started off 0-1, and we had Oklahoma [as our] second game, we always believe in ourselves. Obviously we didn’t finish [in] those games. But this year, this is different. We worked harder. Coming off last year, we knew that we just have to finish. We just weren't finishing game. The biggest thing we were focused on this year, just finishing games and playing hard, playing fast.”
on his message to UCLA’s fans, encouraging them to attend the Fresno State game on Sept. 18
“Oh, come out. Come out, yeah. You can expect the same thing – us playing hard, us finishing, fighting all four quarters. And feeding off you guys. you guys did a lot for us out there tonight, and I appreciate you guys for that. So yeah, come out in two weeks, we'll see you out there.”
on being from the Los Angeles region and what this type of win means
“Oh, it's big. We know that being in L.A., a lot of people might not come out to the game. So, winning big games, starting out fast is going to bring more fans to the game. It’s big, just to see a lot of people out here, love to get more people out here to the game. It means a lot.”
on being from the area, and seeing the Bruins’ program get this win
Like Blay [Stephan Blaylock] said you know, L.A. is a tough crowd if you're not playing well. Luckily, we’re playing pretty good now. We have got a lot of fans on our side now, and it's fun to be to the Rose Bowl. The Rose Bowl was meant to be played in front of the amount of fans that we had tonight. It’s awesome to have that. I’m so thankful for everybody coming out.”
LSU quarterback Max Johnson
on struggles in the running game
“UCLA did a good job of playing the run and being in the right spots, but we have to correct it as an offense, and that will be done.”
on what UCLA did to combat quick-hitting routes
“I think we ran probably 10 slants that we hit on the game – some that we missed. I think we should just stick with it. I think [offensive coordinator] Coach Peetz did a good job of calling the game. We just have to figure our run game, which will happen. Looking forward to working and getting better with my guys.”
on why he thinks he was missing targets
“I was trying to figure out where they were coming from. We pretty much had it, except I think one time where they got us, where I was completely hot. Other than that, I just have to put it on them and let our guys make plays.”
on the play where he threw the ball over his shoulder to avoid being sacked
“I was trying to throw it away, and I was trying to throw it to our sideline. Being left-handed, I should have just gone down or thrown it away to the left.”
LSU wide receiver Kayshon Boutte
on early success in the game
“I feel like coming into the game we were energized, but kind of started off slow. Throughout the game we started to pick it up as an offense, but I feel like if we had worked harder and faster to get going earlier in the game, it would have been a different ball game.”
on the receivers’ play
“The 50/50 balls – we’ve got to come down with them. We didn’t really make contested catches like we know we should, and we didn’t play to the LSU standard. [We’ve] got to go back next week catching jugs doing it after practice. Have to learn from it.”
on talking with his quarterback in the early quarters
“The conversation was just that we have to speed the routes up. There was a lot of man [coverage] on the outside, so just win your one-on-ones.”