Sept. 30, 2012
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery 1 | Photo Gallery 2
HEAD COACH Todd Graham
General Comments:
"I'm just really, really proud of our players. This was a really, really hard Cal team. This was one of the hardest weeks of preparation. You watched the game you'd see a multitude of formations; I mean they ran a lot of formations, a lot of looks. I'm really proud of our players. I'm just really lucky to get to coach these kids. You look at the magnitude of what they learned in a short period of time and to go out there and have two penalties, a 100 percent ball security, to face the adversity that they faced and how they play, I'm really proud of them. That was a huge win for us and for our program and a great step forward to our goal of being champions."
On How He Likes His Team's First Five Games:
"I'd like it better if we could've made a foot against Missouri. Really proud of our guys. I was worried about that part of the season because you get so much new schematically and there's such a fine line between doing so much and not doing enough. I've been so impressed with how smart these guys have been, and we needed that success. We needed that success for these guys to believe in this crazy stuff we're doing and get them to believe in what we're doing. Things have been such a radical change for them just in their day-to-day lives that we needed this success. We needed to be sitting where we're at. We haven't accomplished anything yet, but I know that we're going to get better and better and better.
On How His Team Responded When Cal Cut the Deficit to Three Points:
"The drive that they had that they scored on, we had two critical errors. We had miscommunication, and it was our fault. We tried to do too much, and they broke one on us. Those things happen sometimes. Our guys didn't panic. I liked that they did things with class and character. There was a point there when there was some extracurricular stuff after the play that we had to say, `Hey, hey, hey now. We don't do that. We don't look at the other team. That's what we do.' So we had to reel them in for the first time. But I'm proud of how they responded because it wasn't us reeling them back in. It was them reeling each other back in. We're getting better"
On QB Taylor Kelly's First Pac-12 Road Game as a Starter:
"I have total belief and trust in him. If you're on the sideline and could look him in the face when things are tough, boy that's what give me confidence. He's poised, man. He's a person who you have no doubt that you can depend on. Is he the best physical person in the world? Probably not. But he makes all the right throws, all the right decisions. He executes the system, the system was designed for him and it's working for him."
On His Receivers:
"I thought our receiving corps, they met the challenge and they've gotten better each week. Rashad [Ross] was someone who stuck out to me. Kevin [Ozier] is someone who was a walk on, we gave a scholarship to, who sacrificed a lot to be a part of our program and is quietly having a great year."
On His Defense:
"I thought we played really good. We probably didn't have our best game. Coach [Tedford] does a lot of stuff. He's a hard guy to defend. This is the hardest schematic team that we've gone against. There were more big plays due to alignment errors. You've got to give them a lot of credit. There were things that are difficult. They run like 67 different formations. They're got some really, really good players and some good receivers."
Taylor Kelly, QB
On the team's thought process during their scoring drives:
"We just needed to execute on third down, play smart and everyone do their job. We had to go down and get a score because it was a crucial part of the game. So everybody kind of clicked and stepped up."
On the TD connection with WR Kevin Ozier:
"I read the backside safety, he stayed and I came up and stepped up into the pocket and drew the Mike [linebacker]. I saw Kevin running wide open and I just dumped it on him and he took it in."
On the team's mind set after five games into the season:
"We've got great momentum going into this bye week and preparing for Colorado. We need to stay on focus; remain humble with everything. We've got to go to work this next week."
Brandon Magee, LB
On the defense's emotions throughout the game:
"I was very confident. I knew that our offense would put up some points and I knew that the defense would go out there and get a stop. When times like this happen, we need a stop - we stop them. Our defense is way different. We're always positive and we're looking to make plays when the time is needed, and that's exactly what happened. The offense made plays, we made some stops and we're fine."
On the team's demeanor this year when they're trailing:
"The difference is that nobody hangs their heads. In close games, we always encourage the offense, they encourage us. They tell us to make a play, we tell them to make a play. Our heads are always up making plays just ready to go. We always feel that we're going to win no matter what happens."
On the team's mind set after five games into the season:
"I think that it's outstanding to start off like that, especially going into a bye week. It keeps us positive and wanting more. It keeps us hungry and ready to go out there against Colorado on a Thursday game. So we've just got to maintain the focus and, like Taylor said, stay humble and always look to improve yourself. If we do that, we can be a scary team out there."
Kevin Ozier, WR
On the last scoring drive:
"On that last scoring drive we just had to finish. A lot of times we come up short, and we just have to change that - turn it around. We can't come up short. We have to finish the game in all four quarters. We needed to score so that the defense could make a stop and we could win the game."
Keelan Johnson, FS
On ASU's first win at Cal since 1997:
"It's a great win coming here and beating that team. It was a difficult team to prepare for. Their record may indicate 1-4, but they play as if they're 4-1 when they're at home. To come in here and dominate them like we did is a great feeling and it's going to carry over to our bye week, so I think that a lot of guys are going to build their confidence from there.