Postgame Quotes – UCLA 20, Iowa 17
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 20, Iowa 17
Pasadena, Calif. (Rose Bowl)
Nov. 8, 2024
UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster
opening remarks
“Played a good game, came out and executed. We wanted to really stop the run, and we did that. Offensively, we were able to run the ball. Had a few turnovers, but we can work on those. But that was a really good team we were playing against. It’s good that we were able to protect home field and get a victory. I just like how resilient my guys are. We always show how resilient we are each week. You see the way they come out and practice hard, and we just came out and truly executed the way that we wanted to.”
on getting the first home win
“It feels good. I don’t want to make too big of a deal about it us being back home. We just treated it like a road game. I think my guys came out and they earned the right to win just in how they practiced this week. As long as we continue to do that, this team can just really take off.”
on the takeaway of this team after the Oregon loss
“Just the way they practice Sundays and Mondays. After those losses, it was tough. But I really think our season turned around after Minnesota. Just the type of loss that was, that bothered them, and they were able to channel it the right way and really come out and start paying attention to detail and sacrificing just a bit more. I always knew we had the talent, and it was baby steps. This is just where we’re at right now.”
on the running game
“More just executing. It’s been getting better each week. It wasn’t just all of a sudden we just came out there and it came together. It’s been getting better each week. I just think we had a little bit of juice, and they were fired up for the challenge. We went up against the No. 2 rushing offense in the country. I think they took pride in wanting to outrush them, and we did that.”
on what he saw from film that helped unlock the running game
“I don’t think it was film. I think it was the continuity of the guys up front, them being together. I know [Niki] Prongos went out but [Jaylan] Jeffers came in and was able to play well. TJ had a lot of big runs. [Jaylen] Berger too. And Keegan Jones. It was a three-headed monster, and they were able to just run and be successful.”
on how it feels to get his first win in the Rose Bowl
“It feels good. I got the game ball. These are way better than when I was playing. It’s way more exciting to get these game balls now. You can’t put it into words. It’s similar to when I got hired. But I’m a Bruin, and it was bothering me when we were losing. I’m not somebody that takes that lightly, and I just continued to push and push, and these guys never fought against me. There was never any turmoil on the team. They all just knew what we had to do, and I’m just glad I have a mature team who accepted the challenge.”
on how he keeps the team believing
”I just think they understand what it takes to win. This is the last part of it, just learning how to finish. We probably wanted to finish this game more consistently than we have. But I’m excited that they’re taking coaching. When you talk to our players, they’re echoing the same thing that I’m saying or that our other coaches are saying. They’re truly locked into the process. They understand that we had to build the foundation first before we could put the house up. I’m just glad that I have players that had the patience. Nobody was coming in here asking to redshirt. They just wanted to play ball. I’m excited I have those types of players.”
on what he’s building at UCLA
“Just exactly what UCLA is. It’s a university that’s not exactly what that man said from the Yankees. This is for life. UCLA has been taking care of me for a long time. People wouldn’t come around, alumni wouldn’t want to be around if they haven’t done the same for them. This is a great university, and we’re lucky that we’re all able to be Bruins, and I’m glad that we’re putting out the kind of product that makes people want to come out and support us.”
UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers
on rebounding from a difficult start to the season
“We really haven’t had our best performances at home this season. I’m not saying we had a great performance tonight either – we did get the victory – but Coach Foster is not a losing guy. Everything he’s done in his life, he’s won. He’s a sore loser and a great winner. I’m just happy we were able to get it done for him tonight.”
on the Iowa defense
“They’re a great defense, very well coached. I didn’t start the game how I wanted, especially with the turnovers. Throughout the game we just kept working. We were moving the ball up the field. We just had to keep trusting each other and keep moving forward. I can’t dwell on the past, just have to keep moving forward.”
on the three-game winning streak
“It feels great honestly. It’s not about how you start, it’s how you finish. We’re on a nice win streak right now and hopefully we keep that going. Coach Foster said to us after the game “We know how to win”. We got the taste in our mouth and then it was up to us to go out there and execute.”
on the mindset going into the last three games of the season
“My mindset hasn’t really changed throughout the whole year. I’m taking it one day at a time – one play at a time. We just want to continue to go to work every single day with my guys. I love waking up in the morning and seeing these guys smile. I think at this point, this team is like a family. I just love all the guys on the team, and I love the whole coaching staff. I think the goal is to win out and become bowl eligible, and I think that’s what we’re going to do.”
on the adjustments made by the offense due to injuries
“We did a great job. Those guys [Logan Loya and T.J. Harden] stepped up and made some big plays. Titus [Mokiao-Atimalala] had a great game, he got in the paint. That game-winning first down was huge for us. Logan – he’s a great receiver. He’s going to keep doing his thing week in and week out. Kwazi [Gilmer], he got started a little later in the game, but he’s a great, young freshman and he’s explosive. I’m so proud of T.J. [Harden]. T.J. ran the rock tonight and he left it all out there on the field. He’s a beast, just like all those guys.”
on Coach Foster’s advice to treat a home game like a road game
“I’ll be honest with you – as players we don’t really think about that too much. We’re just locked in on the game and we don’t really think about the logistics. We’re used to having meetings in the hotel. We’ve spent the last two weeks on the road. We were just in a comfortable state the last two weeks and we didn’t want to change anything up. Whatever he says, we’ll follow.”
UCLA linebacker Carson Schwesinger
on the team’s defensive success against Iowa
“I think that’s a shoutout to the whole defense and the coaching staff that put together a great game plan going into this week. I think we went into this week knowing it was going to be a challenge and we were ready for it.
on the three-game win streak
“I agree with [Ethan Garbers]. Nobody wants the taste of losing in our mouth, so when we keep winning, we want to keep building on that momentum going forward.”
on the defensive gameplan for Iowa’s offense
“I think we just needed to make sure we stayed discipline. Obviously plays are going to be made on both sides of the ball, so when things weren’t going our way at times, we just had to make sure things didn’t get out of hand and stick with what we know.”
on Deshaun Foster growing as a head coach
“I think it all goes back to his pillars. His last one is ‘enthusiasm’ and for me personally, that’s what he’s brought. Obviously, we have the discipline and respect – and he’s instilling that in us. Day in and day out, we’re having fun and loving what we do and that’s good to see.”
UCLA running back T.J. Harden
on the team’s best rushing game of the season
“I think we did a great job of picking up blocks and we opened up our playbook. We did more plays to the outside and more counters. We put ourselves in the best position to make plays. It was also the result of weeks of experience and learning. We put it together this week to stay consistent in the run game.”
on what he saw from the Iowa defense
“Going into this game, I knew I had to have a game like this. We saw a few things from their defense and we the opportunity to run the ball against them.”
on winning despite not being favored
“It feels great. Going into this game, we knew they were pretty good. They have won a good amount of games, but we just have to stick to our standard. Like Coach Foster always says – discipline, respect, enthusiasm. We just have to stick to that every week and we’ll be O.K.”
on being two games away from being bowl eligible
“It’s great. We know what it takes to win, we just have to put it together every week. Obviously, there’s some stuff we can still build on, but we’re heading in the right direction.”
UCLA linebacker Oluwafemi Oladejo
on falling behind early and responding after Mateen Bhaghani’s 57-yard field goal
“Funny enough, I saw Mateen after the game and hold him “We won by three and that was because of your field goal”. We went on a 17-0 run after that, so that was huge.”
on winning despite not being favored
“We knew it was going to be a short week. We had to be fast and physical and play aggressive. We know they’re a powerhouse and their coach has been there a long time. It wasn’t about them, it was about us and playing together. Like T.J. [Harden] said – discipline, respect, enthusiasm.”
on being two games away from being bowl eligible
“We’re two games away, but it’s day-by-day, week-by-week. We just have to focus on what’s ahead of us. It feels good to win, it feels great.”
Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz
opening remarks
“Obviously, it was a disappointing outcome for us. I just got done telling the team that basically, one thing about football is that you typically get what you deserve. We certainly didn’t play well enough to expect a win tonight, basically in any category, so, disappointing. Just nothing really
clicked for us, nothing really looked great. So, we’ll turn the page and all that we’re worried about right now are three next two games. That’s how it works, we’ll try and recoup through the bye week but, yes, it was just a disappointing night.”
on if there one area that was more disappointing than another area
“No. That’s the other thing, I told the team that it’s a team loss, and that it is all the way. To me, in a nutshell, you know, they ran the ball really effectively and we didn’t. I think they [UCLA] played in the way that they want to play. Look at last week’s game, the one thing that jumped out at me right off the bat was that Nebraska had three plays offensively in the first quarter. That means the other team had the ball the majority of the time, and we suffered from that a little bit tonight. They really did a good job controlling the clock, bleeding the clock a little bit, so it makes the importance of every possession a little bit more important. So we didn’t have a lot of opportunities there but yeah, we didn’t do it well enough in any area to expect to win tonight.”
comments on Sullivan’s Injury; even before his injury, there were a couple of turnovers, and what went wrong there
“Both teams did a poor job of protecting the football. That could have been more helpful for us if we had done a better job, needless to say. That’s usually the biggest factor in any game. So, that part isn't good but I think it all goes back to the run game, stopping the run, and not getting our wing game going. Regarding Brendan, he’s got an ankle sprain so hopefully we’ll know more next week, and hopefully it won’t be too bad.”
on how he would characterize if you could have Brendan out there for that last quarter and a half versus Jackson, and how limited is he in terms of the playbook
“He’s done a heck of a job. He got to run the offense back in August, but since the season started, he really has been on the scout team. So a couple weeks ago, what’s been two weeks but feels like a month, but it’s been two weeks where he’s been in the offense and, you have to give him a lot of credit. I thought he did a really nice job and made a beautiful throw, I think it was on a third down conversion. So, he didn’t seem overwhelmed by things, and that’s more credit to him there, but obviously it limits some things we can do.”
on what UCLA did do to bottle up their run game
“They’re pretty active. I saw them blitz a lot, and it got us off rather than negative yardage plays, which we haven’t had many of those, but we had a few tonight. So, they kind of took us off our game, off our spot and we couldn’t counter that. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do the same to them.”
Iowa quarterback Jackson Stratton
on coming into the game
“I mean, everything on the field happens quick. Just one drive we knew about where he got hurt and that he felt not great out there. They were like be ready, stay ready to go in and the next drive there, let me know, they let me know how I'm going in and just had to be ready.”
on being ready
“I mean, the adrenaline is always going when you're about to go play a game, especially the first play. It is always going to get that first play out of the way. ?But I know for two weeks now, I had to stay ready. When you're next man up, you have to be ready to go in. I prepare like you're just starter and you're ready to go in and I thought I did a good job of that. ?I was ready to go in.”
on Jacob Gill
“I mean, yeah, that's just credit to Gill too. He’s a fantastic route runner and knows how to get open. He’s a safety valve out there. He's always a guy you can get the balls to if you need to get the ball out.”
on comfort level
“I felt comfortable the whole time. I've been playing football my whole life. Especially the o-linemen, those guys just encourage, and everyone on the sidelines. I mean, of all the coaches, they were just very encouraging and said we know what you can do, we know you can play, and you have to go out there and be yourself. And I thought that was awesome. I was ready to go.”
Iowa defensive end Deontae Craig
on gameplan
“I mean, we just have to give credit to UCLA. They had a good plan for what we’re trying to do. It just really just came down to, they executed in the tough moments, and we couldn't. We had a lot of third downs when we couldn't get off the field, but, you know, credit goes to them. They did what they had to do. I felt we stepped it up a little bit in that second half, but just fixing the importance and, you know, executing the small details for the full 60, so I say, give credit to them, you know, we got to get back to the drawing board and figure out what we did wrong, and you come back and do a better.”
on unexpected plays
“No, I think that's what's most disappointing. You go through hundreds of hundreds of plays during the week, and when you get out here to the field, it's the same thing that you've been seeing, but like I said, it just comes down to the execution. We didn't do our best to do that tonight.”
on missed tackling
“I don't know, it was just they got good athletes and man. UCLA was in the Pac-12 last year, so we know they should get spread out and move the ball down the field. It is just small details. You got to be in the right position, you can't arm tackle these guys in a big tent. They're gonna run through that, they're going to make yards downfield. It just has to be a better group effort. A guy at 11 has the ball every time and just get the guys on the ground.”
on Jay Higgins
“When you have a guy like that off the field, it's a tough blow, but we trust our guys. We prepared our guys all the same way, and I know that when Harold came out there, everybody had full trust in him, and he did a really good job. Hoping for the best, I would say, but, you know, if he's not able to go, we just keep on going.
Iowa linebacker Nick Jackson
on tough loss tonight
“At the end of the day, they just played better, and hats off to that team. They came out, they executed, and then we just got to defend better, we got to make more plays in the first half, and we need to come out stronger.”
on any surprising looks
“Heavy run versus pass, you know what I mean? There were more pass personnel coming into the game, and they saw some run looks, and they did very well.”
on missed tackles
“We just got to get back to the fundamentals of it, you know what I mean? It's just it kind of it felt similar to [the Michigan game]. ?Uh, we just have to put our heads on it, you know what I mean? It’s a fundamental wrap-up, and at the end of the day, we didn't do it.”
on the key to third down defense
“Third down, you just gotta get off the field. That's the key. It comes down to your keys, your fundamentals, and it comes down just to making the play. I think that we should switch up our coverage. We switch up a lot of stuff, whether we are blitzing or staying in zone coverage. It comes down to executing the game plan and knowing exactly where you're supposed to be, when you're supposed to be there, passing off keys, jamming and routes, all that stuff, and then tackling.
Iowa wide receiver Jacob Gill
on deep reception from Brendan Sullivan
“Yeah, it went well. In our preparation, we practiced those throws all week. We were expecting a different coverage on that play, but it worked out well. I was happy to connect with Brendan on that long throw so it went well.”
on his physical condition in the second half
“I was battling a stomach flu all week. I'm a little dehydrated, just cramping up, but I just wanted to go out there and fight through it. I'm feeling all right now. ?I'll get back on my feet.”
on if he has talked to Brendan Sullivan
“A little bit. I’m just checking on him. I’m just trying to make sure he’s okay. He seems to be fine. He just banged up a little bit. I know he’s a fighter, so I know he’s mentally banged up as well. ?He wants to be out there. I know he'll bounce back from it and get back on his feet physically”
on Brendan Sullivan’s state of mind
“Yeah, he's a tough guy. ?He's a fighter. He wants to be out there competing. he's a competitor at the end of the day, so him being told that he can't go back in because of the injuries that hurts when you're a competitor. So, just feeling the emotions of that, no doubt, but I know he'll be okay.”
UCLA 20, Iowa 17
Pasadena, Calif. (Rose Bowl)
Nov. 8, 2024
UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster
opening remarks
“Played a good game, came out and executed. We wanted to really stop the run, and we did that. Offensively, we were able to run the ball. Had a few turnovers, but we can work on those. But that was a really good team we were playing against. It’s good that we were able to protect home field and get a victory. I just like how resilient my guys are. We always show how resilient we are each week. You see the way they come out and practice hard, and we just came out and truly executed the way that we wanted to.”
on getting the first home win
“It feels good. I don’t want to make too big of a deal about it us being back home. We just treated it like a road game. I think my guys came out and they earned the right to win just in how they practiced this week. As long as we continue to do that, this team can just really take off.”
on the takeaway of this team after the Oregon loss
“Just the way they practice Sundays and Mondays. After those losses, it was tough. But I really think our season turned around after Minnesota. Just the type of loss that was, that bothered them, and they were able to channel it the right way and really come out and start paying attention to detail and sacrificing just a bit more. I always knew we had the talent, and it was baby steps. This is just where we’re at right now.”
on the running game
“More just executing. It’s been getting better each week. It wasn’t just all of a sudden we just came out there and it came together. It’s been getting better each week. I just think we had a little bit of juice, and they were fired up for the challenge. We went up against the No. 2 rushing offense in the country. I think they took pride in wanting to outrush them, and we did that.”
on what he saw from film that helped unlock the running game
“I don’t think it was film. I think it was the continuity of the guys up front, them being together. I know [Niki] Prongos went out but [Jaylan] Jeffers came in and was able to play well. TJ had a lot of big runs. [Jaylen] Berger too. And Keegan Jones. It was a three-headed monster, and they were able to just run and be successful.”
on how it feels to get his first win in the Rose Bowl
“It feels good. I got the game ball. These are way better than when I was playing. It’s way more exciting to get these game balls now. You can’t put it into words. It’s similar to when I got hired. But I’m a Bruin, and it was bothering me when we were losing. I’m not somebody that takes that lightly, and I just continued to push and push, and these guys never fought against me. There was never any turmoil on the team. They all just knew what we had to do, and I’m just glad I have a mature team who accepted the challenge.”
on how he keeps the team believing
”I just think they understand what it takes to win. This is the last part of it, just learning how to finish. We probably wanted to finish this game more consistently than we have. But I’m excited that they’re taking coaching. When you talk to our players, they’re echoing the same thing that I’m saying or that our other coaches are saying. They’re truly locked into the process. They understand that we had to build the foundation first before we could put the house up. I’m just glad that I have players that had the patience. Nobody was coming in here asking to redshirt. They just wanted to play ball. I’m excited I have those types of players.”
on what he’s building at UCLA
“Just exactly what UCLA is. It’s a university that’s not exactly what that man said from the Yankees. This is for life. UCLA has been taking care of me for a long time. People wouldn’t come around, alumni wouldn’t want to be around if they haven’t done the same for them. This is a great university, and we’re lucky that we’re all able to be Bruins, and I’m glad that we’re putting out the kind of product that makes people want to come out and support us.”
UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers
on rebounding from a difficult start to the season
“We really haven’t had our best performances at home this season. I’m not saying we had a great performance tonight either – we did get the victory – but Coach Foster is not a losing guy. Everything he’s done in his life, he’s won. He’s a sore loser and a great winner. I’m just happy we were able to get it done for him tonight.”
on the Iowa defense
“They’re a great defense, very well coached. I didn’t start the game how I wanted, especially with the turnovers. Throughout the game we just kept working. We were moving the ball up the field. We just had to keep trusting each other and keep moving forward. I can’t dwell on the past, just have to keep moving forward.”
on the three-game winning streak
“It feels great honestly. It’s not about how you start, it’s how you finish. We’re on a nice win streak right now and hopefully we keep that going. Coach Foster said to us after the game “We know how to win”. We got the taste in our mouth and then it was up to us to go out there and execute.”
on the mindset going into the last three games of the season
“My mindset hasn’t really changed throughout the whole year. I’m taking it one day at a time – one play at a time. We just want to continue to go to work every single day with my guys. I love waking up in the morning and seeing these guys smile. I think at this point, this team is like a family. I just love all the guys on the team, and I love the whole coaching staff. I think the goal is to win out and become bowl eligible, and I think that’s what we’re going to do.”
on the adjustments made by the offense due to injuries
“We did a great job. Those guys [Logan Loya and T.J. Harden] stepped up and made some big plays. Titus [Mokiao-Atimalala] had a great game, he got in the paint. That game-winning first down was huge for us. Logan – he’s a great receiver. He’s going to keep doing his thing week in and week out. Kwazi [Gilmer], he got started a little later in the game, but he’s a great, young freshman and he’s explosive. I’m so proud of T.J. [Harden]. T.J. ran the rock tonight and he left it all out there on the field. He’s a beast, just like all those guys.”
on Coach Foster’s advice to treat a home game like a road game
“I’ll be honest with you – as players we don’t really think about that too much. We’re just locked in on the game and we don’t really think about the logistics. We’re used to having meetings in the hotel. We’ve spent the last two weeks on the road. We were just in a comfortable state the last two weeks and we didn’t want to change anything up. Whatever he says, we’ll follow.”
UCLA linebacker Carson Schwesinger
on the team’s defensive success against Iowa
“I think that’s a shoutout to the whole defense and the coaching staff that put together a great game plan going into this week. I think we went into this week knowing it was going to be a challenge and we were ready for it.
on the three-game win streak
“I agree with [Ethan Garbers]. Nobody wants the taste of losing in our mouth, so when we keep winning, we want to keep building on that momentum going forward.”
on the defensive gameplan for Iowa’s offense
“I think we just needed to make sure we stayed discipline. Obviously plays are going to be made on both sides of the ball, so when things weren’t going our way at times, we just had to make sure things didn’t get out of hand and stick with what we know.”
on Deshaun Foster growing as a head coach
“I think it all goes back to his pillars. His last one is ‘enthusiasm’ and for me personally, that’s what he’s brought. Obviously, we have the discipline and respect – and he’s instilling that in us. Day in and day out, we’re having fun and loving what we do and that’s good to see.”
UCLA running back T.J. Harden
on the team’s best rushing game of the season
“I think we did a great job of picking up blocks and we opened up our playbook. We did more plays to the outside and more counters. We put ourselves in the best position to make plays. It was also the result of weeks of experience and learning. We put it together this week to stay consistent in the run game.”
on what he saw from the Iowa defense
“Going into this game, I knew I had to have a game like this. We saw a few things from their defense and we the opportunity to run the ball against them.”
on winning despite not being favored
“It feels great. Going into this game, we knew they were pretty good. They have won a good amount of games, but we just have to stick to our standard. Like Coach Foster always says – discipline, respect, enthusiasm. We just have to stick to that every week and we’ll be O.K.”
on being two games away from being bowl eligible
“It’s great. We know what it takes to win, we just have to put it together every week. Obviously, there’s some stuff we can still build on, but we’re heading in the right direction.”
UCLA linebacker Oluwafemi Oladejo
on falling behind early and responding after Mateen Bhaghani’s 57-yard field goal
“Funny enough, I saw Mateen after the game and hold him “We won by three and that was because of your field goal”. We went on a 17-0 run after that, so that was huge.”
on winning despite not being favored
“We knew it was going to be a short week. We had to be fast and physical and play aggressive. We know they’re a powerhouse and their coach has been there a long time. It wasn’t about them, it was about us and playing together. Like T.J. [Harden] said – discipline, respect, enthusiasm.”
on being two games away from being bowl eligible
“We’re two games away, but it’s day-by-day, week-by-week. We just have to focus on what’s ahead of us. It feels good to win, it feels great.”
Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz
opening remarks
“Obviously, it was a disappointing outcome for us. I just got done telling the team that basically, one thing about football is that you typically get what you deserve. We certainly didn’t play well enough to expect a win tonight, basically in any category, so, disappointing. Just nothing really
clicked for us, nothing really looked great. So, we’ll turn the page and all that we’re worried about right now are three next two games. That’s how it works, we’ll try and recoup through the bye week but, yes, it was just a disappointing night.”
on if there one area that was more disappointing than another area
“No. That’s the other thing, I told the team that it’s a team loss, and that it is all the way. To me, in a nutshell, you know, they ran the ball really effectively and we didn’t. I think they [UCLA] played in the way that they want to play. Look at last week’s game, the one thing that jumped out at me right off the bat was that Nebraska had three plays offensively in the first quarter. That means the other team had the ball the majority of the time, and we suffered from that a little bit tonight. They really did a good job controlling the clock, bleeding the clock a little bit, so it makes the importance of every possession a little bit more important. So we didn’t have a lot of opportunities there but yeah, we didn’t do it well enough in any area to expect to win tonight.”
comments on Sullivan’s Injury; even before his injury, there were a couple of turnovers, and what went wrong there
“Both teams did a poor job of protecting the football. That could have been more helpful for us if we had done a better job, needless to say. That’s usually the biggest factor in any game. So, that part isn't good but I think it all goes back to the run game, stopping the run, and not getting our wing game going. Regarding Brendan, he’s got an ankle sprain so hopefully we’ll know more next week, and hopefully it won’t be too bad.”
on how he would characterize if you could have Brendan out there for that last quarter and a half versus Jackson, and how limited is he in terms of the playbook
“He’s done a heck of a job. He got to run the offense back in August, but since the season started, he really has been on the scout team. So a couple weeks ago, what’s been two weeks but feels like a month, but it’s been two weeks where he’s been in the offense and, you have to give him a lot of credit. I thought he did a really nice job and made a beautiful throw, I think it was on a third down conversion. So, he didn’t seem overwhelmed by things, and that’s more credit to him there, but obviously it limits some things we can do.”
on what UCLA did do to bottle up their run game
“They’re pretty active. I saw them blitz a lot, and it got us off rather than negative yardage plays, which we haven’t had many of those, but we had a few tonight. So, they kind of took us off our game, off our spot and we couldn’t counter that. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do the same to them.”
Iowa quarterback Jackson Stratton
on coming into the game
“I mean, everything on the field happens quick. Just one drive we knew about where he got hurt and that he felt not great out there. They were like be ready, stay ready to go in and the next drive there, let me know, they let me know how I'm going in and just had to be ready.”
on being ready
“I mean, the adrenaline is always going when you're about to go play a game, especially the first play. It is always going to get that first play out of the way. ?But I know for two weeks now, I had to stay ready. When you're next man up, you have to be ready to go in. I prepare like you're just starter and you're ready to go in and I thought I did a good job of that. ?I was ready to go in.”
on Jacob Gill
“I mean, yeah, that's just credit to Gill too. He’s a fantastic route runner and knows how to get open. He’s a safety valve out there. He's always a guy you can get the balls to if you need to get the ball out.”
on comfort level
“I felt comfortable the whole time. I've been playing football my whole life. Especially the o-linemen, those guys just encourage, and everyone on the sidelines. I mean, of all the coaches, they were just very encouraging and said we know what you can do, we know you can play, and you have to go out there and be yourself. And I thought that was awesome. I was ready to go.”
Iowa defensive end Deontae Craig
on gameplan
“I mean, we just have to give credit to UCLA. They had a good plan for what we’re trying to do. It just really just came down to, they executed in the tough moments, and we couldn't. We had a lot of third downs when we couldn't get off the field, but, you know, credit goes to them. They did what they had to do. I felt we stepped it up a little bit in that second half, but just fixing the importance and, you know, executing the small details for the full 60, so I say, give credit to them, you know, we got to get back to the drawing board and figure out what we did wrong, and you come back and do a better.”
on unexpected plays
“No, I think that's what's most disappointing. You go through hundreds of hundreds of plays during the week, and when you get out here to the field, it's the same thing that you've been seeing, but like I said, it just comes down to the execution. We didn't do our best to do that tonight.”
on missed tackling
“I don't know, it was just they got good athletes and man. UCLA was in the Pac-12 last year, so we know they should get spread out and move the ball down the field. It is just small details. You got to be in the right position, you can't arm tackle these guys in a big tent. They're gonna run through that, they're going to make yards downfield. It just has to be a better group effort. A guy at 11 has the ball every time and just get the guys on the ground.”
on Jay Higgins
“When you have a guy like that off the field, it's a tough blow, but we trust our guys. We prepared our guys all the same way, and I know that when Harold came out there, everybody had full trust in him, and he did a really good job. Hoping for the best, I would say, but, you know, if he's not able to go, we just keep on going.
Iowa linebacker Nick Jackson
on tough loss tonight
“At the end of the day, they just played better, and hats off to that team. They came out, they executed, and then we just got to defend better, we got to make more plays in the first half, and we need to come out stronger.”
on any surprising looks
“Heavy run versus pass, you know what I mean? There were more pass personnel coming into the game, and they saw some run looks, and they did very well.”
on missed tackles
“We just got to get back to the fundamentals of it, you know what I mean? It's just it kind of it felt similar to [the Michigan game]. ?Uh, we just have to put our heads on it, you know what I mean? It’s a fundamental wrap-up, and at the end of the day, we didn't do it.”
on the key to third down defense
“Third down, you just gotta get off the field. That's the key. It comes down to your keys, your fundamentals, and it comes down just to making the play. I think that we should switch up our coverage. We switch up a lot of stuff, whether we are blitzing or staying in zone coverage. It comes down to executing the game plan and knowing exactly where you're supposed to be, when you're supposed to be there, passing off keys, jamming and routes, all that stuff, and then tackling.
Iowa wide receiver Jacob Gill
on deep reception from Brendan Sullivan
“Yeah, it went well. In our preparation, we practiced those throws all week. We were expecting a different coverage on that play, but it worked out well. I was happy to connect with Brendan on that long throw so it went well.”
on his physical condition in the second half
“I was battling a stomach flu all week. I'm a little dehydrated, just cramping up, but I just wanted to go out there and fight through it. I'm feeling all right now. ?I'll get back on my feet.”
on if he has talked to Brendan Sullivan
“A little bit. I’m just checking on him. I’m just trying to make sure he’s okay. He seems to be fine. He just banged up a little bit. I know he’s a fighter, so I know he’s mentally banged up as well. ?He wants to be out there. I know he'll bounce back from it and get back on his feet physically”
on Brendan Sullivan’s state of mind
“Yeah, he's a tough guy. ?He's a fighter. He wants to be out there competing. he's a competitor at the end of the day, so him being told that he can't go back in because of the injuries that hurts when you're a competitor. So, just feeling the emotions of that, no doubt, but I know he'll be okay.”