Arizona State Head Coach Herm Edwards
Opening Statement
“We had an opportunity to close it out and we just couldn’t do it. It’s a shame because we did some things that were pretty good, especially in the passing game. A really big thing for me is when you get into the red zone and turn the ball over and the fouls. We were very sloppy and that’s not a good football team when you get that many fouls. It stopped drives, it prevented big plays, and the turnovers were big; down in the red zone we were only two for four. When you play a team like this that averages 34 points a game, going into the fourth quarter we had slowed that offense down somewhat. Their quarterback hurt us in the first half with his legs with his couple runs. The passing game we felt like we had in control, but in the second half I told the guys at halftime we’ll need to be more explosive in the passing game. If we want to run the ball, we’ll need to make some plays in the passing game. They’ll have to play some softer coverage where we could hit some seams and some balls, and we were able to do that but we just fell a little short.”
On ineligible downfield calls:
“I don’t know if a guy is leaving or blocking a guy and went too far, if Jayden (Daniels) runs around a little bit then all of the sudden the play gets extended and it looks like that. There were numerous of those calls, and what can you say, it’s a foul and they called it.”
On turnovers and momentum:
“[In regard to Jayden’s fumble] I don’t know if Jayden pulled out too fast or not, I’m not quite sure, but it was a bobbled snap right from the start. On the interception I think Jayden was trying to hit a seam down the middle and I don’t know if the receiver adjusted; I don’t even think he saw the ball. The safety made a good play, he came over and made a play on the ball. Those were two big plays on the 1-yard line, and that’s big when you don’t get points there.”
On defensive line pressure:
“We came in knowing they wanted to run the football. The quarterback had two big runs, one was designed and the other one he left the pocket on a pass. The runner broke one run on us when we missed some tackles on the left side of the defense. Other than that, we thought we had them in the position where we slowed the run down. We felt like we could matchup with some of the things they were doing in the passing game and for the most part did that. We had an opportunity to intercept the ball and their receiver came up with it and ended up scoring on that drive. If we would’ve knocked it down, worst case scenario they have to punt. You’ve got to give them credit, they made their plays. We were in a position to make a few of them but we did not.”
On offensive rust due to being out a month:
“It doesn’t help. I think that contributed to the penalties more than anything else. I told them earlier when the game started, we are going to need to get into game-speed mode because the game is going to be really fast in the first quarter. I watched it unfold, the guys were out of competition for about a month. I thought in the second quarter we were able to build something back up and by halftime we got a game plan about what we needed to do to get back in the game. For the most part we were able to get back in the game and actually take the lead. We had a little bit of a lead, but we couldn’t hold on to it.”
On how much COVID affected preparation:
“When this thing first started for us and players and coaches were getting tested, you always hope for a thumbs up that everyone will make it through, so that’s constantly on your mind. That’s just part of the environment we live in right now, but after that you can’t worry about it. You continue to press on and hope that it doesn’t get you like it got us, and it got us. But we recovered from it for the most part. I think we were rusty as a football team and I had a sense that would happen, not playing in a month. We had to figure out the speed of the game, but I thought we got into it and we were just playing football. We had some chances, but the turnovers and the penalties are what really get you in the end.”
On the mood after a loss:
“It’s kind of ironic because when we got our first loss, it was sitting in our stomach for a month. It’s even worse because we lost and only played one game. We held onto that and we wanted to play to get it out of our system and it hasn’t left our system yet. The good part is that we have a short week and get to play again, and hopefully the next week play again so we can get into the rhythm of playing football again.”
On successful blocking in run game but troubles with quarterback protection:
“Blocking did an excellent job with creating some holes for us. The passing thing was their willingness to bring pressure. Going into the game, they were the No. 1 team in our conference with sacks, I believe 12, and 32 quarterback hits. At times receivers and Jayden weren’t timed up, Jayden had to hold the ball a little longer than he wanted to and that made up for some of it. Some of it was that we weren’t picking up our blocks when they brought pressure, and they’re going to bring five, six man pressure at times, especially when they get you on long downs. They feel like if you don’t pick it up and hold onto the ball we’re going to sack you and if not you have to get rid of the ball and tackle the guy short of the first down.”
On D.J. Taylor and field goal kicker situation:
“D.J. did a marvelous job, I don’t think he knows it yet but he’s our kick returner. Another little freshman guy went out there and he showed off. I don’t know if you all have interviewed this young man, but do it one day and see the delight he has and his personality, it’s radiant. He’s always smiling. One day I looked at him and said, ‘This is your first time returning kicks right?’ And he said yes, and said he’s going to return one back for me. I tell you, if they didn’t get him back on the one, he might’ve ran one back. He is a special guy with the ball in his hand.
(Jack) Luckhurst comes in and makes two kicks for us. He’s been the guy that’s been kicking the ball and never getting an opportunity, and he kicked a long one too. He has a leg, you can’t argue with his leg strength, just sometimes it doesn’t always go through the pipes. But in a pressure moment when we needed points, he put some points on the board for us and gave us momentum and came back and made another big one.”
On when team began to settle in:
“I owe it to our ability to complete some passes. They are going to play man-to-man coverage and they don’t want us to run the ball. We can loosen that up if we make some plays in the passing game, so we have to throw the ball a little bit and we’re going to have to catch it now. If we do that, we’ll be able to run the football and that took place.”
On how team held up physically after month off:
“I thought they did pretty good, I think their stamina kicked in in the third quarter. When we came out of halftime, we had a surge of energy and that was good to see because that is something you’re always concerned about after being a month off. This was like our first game again, to be honest. We haven’t played in such a long time. I thought in the third quarter we adjusted offensively and defensively and held a team that has been scoring pretty good, averaging 34 points a game. At the end it was a close game. It didn’t work out, we got stalled a little bit after we crossed the forty and the big sacks got us and that’s how the game ended for us.”
On Zak Hill settling in:
“This is the second game for Zak that he has actually been on the sideline. This is still a work in progress, obviously. It’s a shame because we were competitive enough there the second half. We could’ve done some things defensively and maybe put another touchdown on the board. This is the game that we had an opportunity to win.”
Arizona State QB Jayden Daniels
On difficulty coming back after a month without games:
"You could [during] the first half see [that] we were rusty. As a team, being off for a month is hard, [we had to] come back and play a team that has been rolling. It was hard, but we still had a chance to win the game. We just have to finish."
On if the film of UCLA was different compared to the UCLA performance tonight:
"No. Going into it, we knew what they wanted to accomplish. They came out [during the] first couple of drives running [man-to-man coverage] across the board. They started loosening up [and] getting back to the regular defense, but what I watched on film is what they did."
On what changed to make the run game more successful in the second half:
"UCLA started getting tired. I'd say what really killed us was just the costly turnovers. The fumbled snap at the one-yard line, the [interception], we just can't turn over the ball, but the running game keeps going."
On the team's stamina:
"I feel like the team felt fresh. I didn't see anybody get too tired. It's hard coming back off of missing a month and playing a game, but that's no excuse.”
Takeaway from this game:
“You can't take stuff for granted, really. Your football season or games might be canceled, and I can't turn over the ball. We just have to play better.”
Arizona State DL Tyler Johnson
On what he saw that made his night successful:
“I think the one thing that I focused on for the past two weeks since games kept getting canceled was that the quarterback was a runner. So I was very aware of that. And I was mindful and just making sure we weren't giving them the perimeter, because he is fast. Trying to run down the D-lineman against quarterbacks, it’s kind of kind of tough to keep up. But being able to communicate with the D-line, coming back to the sideline, talking to Coach Rod (Robert Rodriguez), telling them what we’re seeing and telling them we're doing what we're trying to do, what we can do. I think it just all works together and it just panned out for us.”
On changes from the first half to the second half:
“It's game planning, switching up what we were doing. That's what halftime is for. We come in, we discuss things, go over our mistakes, what we should have done, what we can do. And Coach (Marvin) Lewis came in and he gave us something else that we can try to put together. And it just started working for us.”
On the last drive:
“We were just trying to contain the quarterback, and just letting our DBs work with what they had. And while we were still trying to maintain a good rush and close the pocket in on him, unfortunately they were getting away with some things and time got away from us. So stuff just kept happening, small little penalties that were really big. So that's really what it boils down to.”
On Johnson’s mindset:
“I’m trying to get places in life. So, it starts with my mentality. And when I took that little break at the beginning of the year and I was able to hone in on my emotions and what I was trying to get out of life and stuff like that. So I came back, I had a great group of guys with me, guys that have been here since I was a freshman, guys in my class. And they've always been in my corner, and they've been with me every step of the way, motivating me, even in practice, we hold each other accountable, we make each other better. So, I can't let them down. So that’s been a big drive is just not trying to let my teammates down.”
On playing the first time in a month:
“Yeah, coming off of tomorrow will be a month since we played a game and to be able to perform like that shows a lot about who we are. We practice and so there is some more rust we have to knock off, but that's no excuse. We've been practicing, so we should have been able to perform as well, or even better.”
UCLA Head Coach Chip Kelly
On pass-heavy play and Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s performance:
"It was really more dictated by the defense that Arizona State was playing. We felt we had to be a little bit more balanced, and to be able to get Dorian back in the middle of the week was huge for us. I thought Kyle Philips played really well for us. And then Dorian, not only can he beat you throwing the ball, but I thought he was really really big for us in the run game tonight.”
Performance by UCLA defense:
"I thought they did a great job and came up huge. Those two turnovers - the fumble down in close and then the other interception coming out of the end zone. I've been really proud of how our defense has played all season long. We had a bunch of kids over there that play football extremely hard. They do a really good job of rallying to the ball and gang tackling, and we talked about playing hard and playing hard for 60 minutes. You can't play hard for 58, you have to play hard for 60, and they did. But I thought our defense really came up huge tonight.”
Caleb Johnson's performance:
"I was really happy. Caleb is an explosive, physical football player. I'm sure he wants that one back (potential sack late in the game), but that was a great play by Jayden Daniels. We even had two guys hit him, and Jayden spun out over and got an interference call on the play, I think. But then to come back and get another sack was huge, and we got them off track on that last drive, and Caleb was a huge part of that.”
On UCLA’s winning record:
“Anytime you win a football game it feels great.”
On Delon Hurtz contributions in tonight’s game:
“We’ve had some guys out and we got a few of them back this week, not all of them, but Delon (Hurtz) was one of them. I’m really happy for him, he’s worked really hard and that post route run was a heck of a catch and a heck of a play. We tried to speed up right after it because I didn’t want them to review it, but I saw it on the big board and he caught it clean. It was a heck of a catch by him, but it was good to get Delon back and a couple of other guys who we missed the last couple of weeks. It’s a different year for everybody, you have your fingers crossed and we had our fingers crossed up until this afternoon waiting for testing results to come in. It’s a year unlike any other. We didn’t have any positive results today, but until you get that green light that it’s a go, you are on pins and needles trying make sure you are set because we know what this can do and talk to Herm to see what it’s done to this team (ASU) and what he has had to deal with the last couple of weeks. It’s kind of crazy, I watched Stanford today and they are on the road for the next couple of weeks and aren’t even coming home, so we feel so fortunate to get the guys back because they have worked so hard and they deserve it. But to get Delon back, Q Lake (Quentin Lake) and Dorian (Thompson-Robinson) back was huge for our football team and we needed all three of those guys to help us win today.”
UCLA LB Caleb Johnson
On his fumble recovery:
“I just saw Jayden Daniels drop to the field, and I just had to dive for it real quick. We had just talked about how we needed to get turnovers and jump whenever we see a fumble.”
On long ASU drives and defensive stops:
“We just practice what we preach. We just had a mentality to get them off the field.”
On having a winning record for the first time since 2017:
“It feels really good. It feels like we’re headed in the right direction, and we’re capable of being a really special team, especially in the upcoming year.”
UCLA QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson
On what it feels like to be back:
“Obviously I'm very blessed and thankful to (have) a coaching staff where I'm out for two weeks and haven't been around the team but still get to come back and still get to compete on Saturday. So just thankful and blessed to have the opportunity again. I love football and everything about it. Really, I just do what the doctor said, you gotta protect the team, and as coach says, protect our ecosystem, and so that's one of the biggest things right now is making sure everyone is safe.”
On the game plan and coming back after two weeks out:
“It's all part of the game plan. We do what Coach Kelly tells us to. All three backs do what they're supposed to do, Brittain Brown, Demetric Felton, Keegan Jones, really just having a good team around us, a good O-line, and everyone is working as one right now.”
On what it took to regroup and get the game-winning touchdown:
“I think a lot of it has to do with just trying to press, just try to finish them right away. Instead of just going through what we've been taught, (we) kind of get out of our technique here and there at some positions and that hurt us, obviously. So we really went into the fourth quarter sticking to our training and going play by play.”
On what it feels like for UCLA to be going in a good direction:
“It feels amazing. I think the whole UCLA community has been waiting for this. Like I said and Coach Kelly said all along, we're headed in the right direction and it's all about the process. Like I said, we're taking it day by day and working very hard, so I’m very proud of this team and where we are headed.”
Opening Statement
“We had an opportunity to close it out and we just couldn’t do it. It’s a shame because we did some things that were pretty good, especially in the passing game. A really big thing for me is when you get into the red zone and turn the ball over and the fouls. We were very sloppy and that’s not a good football team when you get that many fouls. It stopped drives, it prevented big plays, and the turnovers were big; down in the red zone we were only two for four. When you play a team like this that averages 34 points a game, going into the fourth quarter we had slowed that offense down somewhat. Their quarterback hurt us in the first half with his legs with his couple runs. The passing game we felt like we had in control, but in the second half I told the guys at halftime we’ll need to be more explosive in the passing game. If we want to run the ball, we’ll need to make some plays in the passing game. They’ll have to play some softer coverage where we could hit some seams and some balls, and we were able to do that but we just fell a little short.”
On ineligible downfield calls:
“I don’t know if a guy is leaving or blocking a guy and went too far, if Jayden (Daniels) runs around a little bit then all of the sudden the play gets extended and it looks like that. There were numerous of those calls, and what can you say, it’s a foul and they called it.”
On turnovers and momentum:
“[In regard to Jayden’s fumble] I don’t know if Jayden pulled out too fast or not, I’m not quite sure, but it was a bobbled snap right from the start. On the interception I think Jayden was trying to hit a seam down the middle and I don’t know if the receiver adjusted; I don’t even think he saw the ball. The safety made a good play, he came over and made a play on the ball. Those were two big plays on the 1-yard line, and that’s big when you don’t get points there.”
On defensive line pressure:
“We came in knowing they wanted to run the football. The quarterback had two big runs, one was designed and the other one he left the pocket on a pass. The runner broke one run on us when we missed some tackles on the left side of the defense. Other than that, we thought we had them in the position where we slowed the run down. We felt like we could matchup with some of the things they were doing in the passing game and for the most part did that. We had an opportunity to intercept the ball and their receiver came up with it and ended up scoring on that drive. If we would’ve knocked it down, worst case scenario they have to punt. You’ve got to give them credit, they made their plays. We were in a position to make a few of them but we did not.”
On offensive rust due to being out a month:
“It doesn’t help. I think that contributed to the penalties more than anything else. I told them earlier when the game started, we are going to need to get into game-speed mode because the game is going to be really fast in the first quarter. I watched it unfold, the guys were out of competition for about a month. I thought in the second quarter we were able to build something back up and by halftime we got a game plan about what we needed to do to get back in the game. For the most part we were able to get back in the game and actually take the lead. We had a little bit of a lead, but we couldn’t hold on to it.”
On how much COVID affected preparation:
“When this thing first started for us and players and coaches were getting tested, you always hope for a thumbs up that everyone will make it through, so that’s constantly on your mind. That’s just part of the environment we live in right now, but after that you can’t worry about it. You continue to press on and hope that it doesn’t get you like it got us, and it got us. But we recovered from it for the most part. I think we were rusty as a football team and I had a sense that would happen, not playing in a month. We had to figure out the speed of the game, but I thought we got into it and we were just playing football. We had some chances, but the turnovers and the penalties are what really get you in the end.”
On the mood after a loss:
“It’s kind of ironic because when we got our first loss, it was sitting in our stomach for a month. It’s even worse because we lost and only played one game. We held onto that and we wanted to play to get it out of our system and it hasn’t left our system yet. The good part is that we have a short week and get to play again, and hopefully the next week play again so we can get into the rhythm of playing football again.”
On successful blocking in run game but troubles with quarterback protection:
“Blocking did an excellent job with creating some holes for us. The passing thing was their willingness to bring pressure. Going into the game, they were the No. 1 team in our conference with sacks, I believe 12, and 32 quarterback hits. At times receivers and Jayden weren’t timed up, Jayden had to hold the ball a little longer than he wanted to and that made up for some of it. Some of it was that we weren’t picking up our blocks when they brought pressure, and they’re going to bring five, six man pressure at times, especially when they get you on long downs. They feel like if you don’t pick it up and hold onto the ball we’re going to sack you and if not you have to get rid of the ball and tackle the guy short of the first down.”
On D.J. Taylor and field goal kicker situation:
“D.J. did a marvelous job, I don’t think he knows it yet but he’s our kick returner. Another little freshman guy went out there and he showed off. I don’t know if you all have interviewed this young man, but do it one day and see the delight he has and his personality, it’s radiant. He’s always smiling. One day I looked at him and said, ‘This is your first time returning kicks right?’ And he said yes, and said he’s going to return one back for me. I tell you, if they didn’t get him back on the one, he might’ve ran one back. He is a special guy with the ball in his hand.
(Jack) Luckhurst comes in and makes two kicks for us. He’s been the guy that’s been kicking the ball and never getting an opportunity, and he kicked a long one too. He has a leg, you can’t argue with his leg strength, just sometimes it doesn’t always go through the pipes. But in a pressure moment when we needed points, he put some points on the board for us and gave us momentum and came back and made another big one.”
On when team began to settle in:
“I owe it to our ability to complete some passes. They are going to play man-to-man coverage and they don’t want us to run the ball. We can loosen that up if we make some plays in the passing game, so we have to throw the ball a little bit and we’re going to have to catch it now. If we do that, we’ll be able to run the football and that took place.”
On how team held up physically after month off:
“I thought they did pretty good, I think their stamina kicked in in the third quarter. When we came out of halftime, we had a surge of energy and that was good to see because that is something you’re always concerned about after being a month off. This was like our first game again, to be honest. We haven’t played in such a long time. I thought in the third quarter we adjusted offensively and defensively and held a team that has been scoring pretty good, averaging 34 points a game. At the end it was a close game. It didn’t work out, we got stalled a little bit after we crossed the forty and the big sacks got us and that’s how the game ended for us.”
On Zak Hill settling in:
“This is the second game for Zak that he has actually been on the sideline. This is still a work in progress, obviously. It’s a shame because we were competitive enough there the second half. We could’ve done some things defensively and maybe put another touchdown on the board. This is the game that we had an opportunity to win.”
Arizona State QB Jayden Daniels
On difficulty coming back after a month without games:
"You could [during] the first half see [that] we were rusty. As a team, being off for a month is hard, [we had to] come back and play a team that has been rolling. It was hard, but we still had a chance to win the game. We just have to finish."
On if the film of UCLA was different compared to the UCLA performance tonight:
"No. Going into it, we knew what they wanted to accomplish. They came out [during the] first couple of drives running [man-to-man coverage] across the board. They started loosening up [and] getting back to the regular defense, but what I watched on film is what they did."
On what changed to make the run game more successful in the second half:
"UCLA started getting tired. I'd say what really killed us was just the costly turnovers. The fumbled snap at the one-yard line, the [interception], we just can't turn over the ball, but the running game keeps going."
On the team's stamina:
"I feel like the team felt fresh. I didn't see anybody get too tired. It's hard coming back off of missing a month and playing a game, but that's no excuse.”
Takeaway from this game:
“You can't take stuff for granted, really. Your football season or games might be canceled, and I can't turn over the ball. We just have to play better.”
Arizona State DL Tyler Johnson
On what he saw that made his night successful:
“I think the one thing that I focused on for the past two weeks since games kept getting canceled was that the quarterback was a runner. So I was very aware of that. And I was mindful and just making sure we weren't giving them the perimeter, because he is fast. Trying to run down the D-lineman against quarterbacks, it’s kind of kind of tough to keep up. But being able to communicate with the D-line, coming back to the sideline, talking to Coach Rod (Robert Rodriguez), telling them what we’re seeing and telling them we're doing what we're trying to do, what we can do. I think it just all works together and it just panned out for us.”
On changes from the first half to the second half:
“It's game planning, switching up what we were doing. That's what halftime is for. We come in, we discuss things, go over our mistakes, what we should have done, what we can do. And Coach (Marvin) Lewis came in and he gave us something else that we can try to put together. And it just started working for us.”
On the last drive:
“We were just trying to contain the quarterback, and just letting our DBs work with what they had. And while we were still trying to maintain a good rush and close the pocket in on him, unfortunately they were getting away with some things and time got away from us. So stuff just kept happening, small little penalties that were really big. So that's really what it boils down to.”
On Johnson’s mindset:
“I’m trying to get places in life. So, it starts with my mentality. And when I took that little break at the beginning of the year and I was able to hone in on my emotions and what I was trying to get out of life and stuff like that. So I came back, I had a great group of guys with me, guys that have been here since I was a freshman, guys in my class. And they've always been in my corner, and they've been with me every step of the way, motivating me, even in practice, we hold each other accountable, we make each other better. So, I can't let them down. So that’s been a big drive is just not trying to let my teammates down.”
On playing the first time in a month:
“Yeah, coming off of tomorrow will be a month since we played a game and to be able to perform like that shows a lot about who we are. We practice and so there is some more rust we have to knock off, but that's no excuse. We've been practicing, so we should have been able to perform as well, or even better.”
UCLA Head Coach Chip Kelly
On pass-heavy play and Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s performance:
"It was really more dictated by the defense that Arizona State was playing. We felt we had to be a little bit more balanced, and to be able to get Dorian back in the middle of the week was huge for us. I thought Kyle Philips played really well for us. And then Dorian, not only can he beat you throwing the ball, but I thought he was really really big for us in the run game tonight.”
Performance by UCLA defense:
"I thought they did a great job and came up huge. Those two turnovers - the fumble down in close and then the other interception coming out of the end zone. I've been really proud of how our defense has played all season long. We had a bunch of kids over there that play football extremely hard. They do a really good job of rallying to the ball and gang tackling, and we talked about playing hard and playing hard for 60 minutes. You can't play hard for 58, you have to play hard for 60, and they did. But I thought our defense really came up huge tonight.”
Caleb Johnson's performance:
"I was really happy. Caleb is an explosive, physical football player. I'm sure he wants that one back (potential sack late in the game), but that was a great play by Jayden Daniels. We even had two guys hit him, and Jayden spun out over and got an interference call on the play, I think. But then to come back and get another sack was huge, and we got them off track on that last drive, and Caleb was a huge part of that.”
On UCLA’s winning record:
“Anytime you win a football game it feels great.”
On Delon Hurtz contributions in tonight’s game:
“We’ve had some guys out and we got a few of them back this week, not all of them, but Delon (Hurtz) was one of them. I’m really happy for him, he’s worked really hard and that post route run was a heck of a catch and a heck of a play. We tried to speed up right after it because I didn’t want them to review it, but I saw it on the big board and he caught it clean. It was a heck of a catch by him, but it was good to get Delon back and a couple of other guys who we missed the last couple of weeks. It’s a different year for everybody, you have your fingers crossed and we had our fingers crossed up until this afternoon waiting for testing results to come in. It’s a year unlike any other. We didn’t have any positive results today, but until you get that green light that it’s a go, you are on pins and needles trying make sure you are set because we know what this can do and talk to Herm to see what it’s done to this team (ASU) and what he has had to deal with the last couple of weeks. It’s kind of crazy, I watched Stanford today and they are on the road for the next couple of weeks and aren’t even coming home, so we feel so fortunate to get the guys back because they have worked so hard and they deserve it. But to get Delon back, Q Lake (Quentin Lake) and Dorian (Thompson-Robinson) back was huge for our football team and we needed all three of those guys to help us win today.”
UCLA LB Caleb Johnson
On his fumble recovery:
“I just saw Jayden Daniels drop to the field, and I just had to dive for it real quick. We had just talked about how we needed to get turnovers and jump whenever we see a fumble.”
On long ASU drives and defensive stops:
“We just practice what we preach. We just had a mentality to get them off the field.”
On having a winning record for the first time since 2017:
“It feels really good. It feels like we’re headed in the right direction, and we’re capable of being a really special team, especially in the upcoming year.”
UCLA QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson
On what it feels like to be back:
“Obviously I'm very blessed and thankful to (have) a coaching staff where I'm out for two weeks and haven't been around the team but still get to come back and still get to compete on Saturday. So just thankful and blessed to have the opportunity again. I love football and everything about it. Really, I just do what the doctor said, you gotta protect the team, and as coach says, protect our ecosystem, and so that's one of the biggest things right now is making sure everyone is safe.”
On the game plan and coming back after two weeks out:
“It's all part of the game plan. We do what Coach Kelly tells us to. All three backs do what they're supposed to do, Brittain Brown, Demetric Felton, Keegan Jones, really just having a good team around us, a good O-line, and everyone is working as one right now.”
On what it took to regroup and get the game-winning touchdown:
“I think a lot of it has to do with just trying to press, just try to finish them right away. Instead of just going through what we've been taught, (we) kind of get out of our technique here and there at some positions and that hurt us, obviously. So we really went into the fourth quarter sticking to our training and going play by play.”
On what it feels like for UCLA to be going in a good direction:
“It feels amazing. I think the whole UCLA community has been waiting for this. Like I said and Coach Kelly said all along, we're headed in the right direction and it's all about the process. Like I said, we're taking it day by day and working very hard, so I’m very proud of this team and where we are headed.”