Arizona State head coach Todd Graham
Opening statement:
"Thank you to Sun Devil Nation, it was a great crowd. We did a poor job preparing them, obviously. Our tackling was atrocious."
On the kickoff coverage:
"The kickoff cover did an outstanding job but twice we broke down 15-yards from the guy instead of going and closing the play. I give a lot of credit to their returner. I do not know how he got out, he just refused to go down."
On the defense:
"Like I said, tackling was atrocious. Very, very poor tackling. Fundamentally we looked bad and looked inexperienced. I am lost for words. I think we got worn down. I do not think our conditioning was very good."
On the factors that led to the loss:
"Pathetic tackling, big play after big play. Obviously, we did not do a very good job of preparing them. We did not respond very well. We look inexperienced and made too many mistakes. Big plays were a big factor. Tackling was atrocious and we need to do a better job coaching and preparing them."
On Mike Bercovici:
"I think Mike did some great things but you cannot make turnovers. That was the story of the night. He did make some great plays and overcame adversity. For his first time starting, he really showed some promise. I am really proud of him. He made some mistakes and he came back from it. But you cannot turn the ball over and win a football game."
On the offense:
"We had over 100 offensive plays and over 600 yards. But we only scored 27 points. You cannot make turnovers and expect to win a football game."
More on the overall game:
"We did not meet our standards and you find out what you are made of. I am very proud of our guys but we did not represent Sun Devil Nation the way our standards are set and that is to be a championship team. You cannot turn the football over like that and expect to win a football game. You cannot tackle like that and expect to win a football game. You cannot give up kickoff returns and expect to win a football game. We are going to work and get it corrected."
On how the team will handle the loss:
"We have players on this team with great character. We have great leaders on this team. I love how Taylor Kelly was coaching Mike on the sideline and I love how Mike responded. How you respond is you focus on your character and our kids have great character. We will bounce back. We just have to keep working hard. No one will go in this league undefeated and our guys will respond like champions."
ASU Redshirt Junior QB Mike Bercovici
On his pick-six to end the first half:
“Absolutely unacceptable on my behalf. 100-percent on me. I have to understand the situation. We have three points there. We have a great field goal kicker. We can’t put the ball in jeopardy. It’s a learning experience. I’ll never do it again.”
On his first career start:
“Obviously you can see it that way, but at the end of the day, it’s what the score is and we weren’t one point ahead or more. It’s disappointing and obviously I take a lot of (responsibility) turning the ball over, something we don’t do here at school. Like I said, learning experience and moving on forward to next week, it won’t happen again. Either way, positives are wins to me.”
On the mood going into halftime and Coach Todd Graham’s message:
“Nothing changed. Obviously, the end of the half didn’t go our way with the interception, but we’re a second half team. That’s what we train for. We’re confident every single time we go into the second half no matter what the score is–if we’re up 20 or down 20. We know that this program breeds championships to win in the second half and that’s what we’re going to do the rest of the season.”
On how he stayed motivated throughout the second half:
“We have some great leaders on our team. We have a leadership unit: Jordan (Simone), Jamil (Douglas), Jaelen (Strong)–all these guys pick me up, pick us all up. We have one identity on this team and that’s to keep going no matter what the score is. Obviously, things didn’t go our way with the kickoff return and the fumble. Obviously we can only blame ourselves for those because they’re so self-inflicted wounds and UCLA did such a great job on defense and special teams. Like I said, Sun Devil brotherhood is what we pride ourselves on and we’re not going to quit no matter what the score. The line did a great job throughout the whole game I think and gave me some time and kept going down the field.”
ASU Redshirt Junior DB Jordan Simone
On defense:
“UCLA just did a lot of good things. They played better than us tonight. We have some things that we have to clean up. We have to tackle better obviously, and we'll get that corrected. We just got to get back to doing what we do.”
On defensive struggles:
“I'm really confident in our defense. Sometimes, things just don't go your way. “The way you react to adversity is ultimately how the team is going to be, not just in this game but in the future as well. Like I said, we just have to tackle better. When things start to go bad, we have to pick it up.”
On UCLA QB Brett Hundley:
“Things didn't go our way in a lot of aspects of the game. We just have to get back in practice. UCLA did a good job. Brett did some good things getting out of the pocket. We have to give him all the credit.”
On feelings going into halftime:
“We expected to win going into halftime. That's our mentality every play.”
On handling UCLA offense:
“We just made some simple mistakes that cost us big time. Mental errors are critical errors and stuff that we can't have. We just have to get back to playing Sun Devil defense, playing smart and playing with character and class.”
On giving up big plays:
“We made a couple mental errors. UCLA did some good things. They just played better than us tonight.”
UCLA head coach Jim Mora
Opening Statement:
“Good win on the road, against what I think is a really good team that we have a lot of respect for. I think that game showed that we have grit to us. Falling behind early in this environment, I have been around team before that would have folded, but we don’t do that. This is our third game out of four away from the Rose Bowl, and I don’t know many teams that have started with three games out of four at Virginia, at Texas, at Arizona State, and won them all. So I think that says a lot about the young men in that locker room right there, their toughness, their grit, I am really proud of them.”
On Brett Hundley:
“The first series he seemed tight to me, just reading his body language and his face, I know him so well, just his eyes, the way they looked, and then he just relaxed. He played very well and he played fearless, that’s what I was looking for. I think we were looking for that, and I am sure that’s what he was looking for. Not worrying about his elbow just playing. And he moved really quickly towards that, so I was very happy to see that.”
On Big Plays:
“The two Jordan Payton plays and the Eldrige Massington plays are the ones that stick out to me because of the second effort, and in Eldrige’s case the third and the fourth effort to get out of that. But, with JP’s. when they (the Sun Devils) had the holding or the PI, you see a lot of wide receivers that will throw their hands up and stop, but JP put his hand down and he kept going and he caught it. The one toward the end of the game, a lot of guys would allow themselves to be pushed out of bounds, but he didn’t he just kept running. Eldrige wasn’t satisfied with the first down he so stayed with it. That’s what as a coach you like to see, it has an impact on the rest of your team.”
On Ishamel Adams’ Pick Six:
“It was a huge play in the game. They (the Sun Devils) had momentum, at least they’re probably going to get a field goal because they have a great field goal kicker, if they score a touchdown now they’re up, and Ish comes up with that play. I don’t know if there’s a better guy to have the ball in his hands other than Ish. He’s a great open field runner. Initially, when he caught it, I thought: he needs to get down so we have a chance to run a play or two’, and then all of a sudden when, he cut back and I’m like ‘we’re ok’. It’s Ish and that was a huge, huge, play in the game, and then you back that up with coming out in the second half and hitting the first play all of a sudden you put a little distance between yourself and a really good team.”
UCLA QB Brett Hundley
When did you know that you were paying?
“I always knew, I just kept it a secret.”
How did it feel to be back home?
“It was really nice. Having all my family and friends watching and having us pull out the performance we did tonight was really amazing.”
Did the elbow brace give you trouble?
“Not much, there were a couple throws. You really have to get use to the brace. It messes with your weight distribution and things like that, but I think I managed to pick it up pretty quickly.”
How'd did you feel about your receivers tonight?
“I give all the credit to my receivers tonight. They really stepped it up knowing that I was coming back from an injury. They stepped up for me, and they made plays. Everybody on the receiving side did great for us tonight.”
What made you so pumped up besides being home?
“There is a lot of talking, but at the end of the day we play football, it just excites me to come back home and play ball and come back and play in front of my family, because they can't come out every week. We came out with a big win and that felt great, not just for my team, but for the people that came out to support me.”
Why are you guys so much better now than you were at the opening?
“We really executed this game, and Virginia was our first game. There is a lot of rustiness you have to shake off. You learn the most from the first game. We continued our training and it paid off.”
How satisfying is it to win after the last season ASU kicking you out of the Pac-12 South last year?
“Very satisfying, you don't even know. They are a great team and have a bright future ahead of them.”
How close are you guys to your potential?
“Very close. We had a lot of penalties, so there is a lot we can clean up, but I am very proud. We just keep getting better.”
How much did your confidence get boosted after your hurdle?
“I need to stop doing hurdles, but I am just playing football. I will learn eventually. It did boost my confidence, but I didn't want to limit myself because of my elbow.”
The offense put up 42 points; do you think you guys can get better?
“We can get better. Going into that first half, we had all those penalties and small mistakes and I think we can be a better team if we can play a complete game. “
What do you think you guys can improve on?
“Studying and trusting the next man.”
What does that brace feel like, almost bionic?
“Yeah, it is. Really. It’s customized. It is just an elbow brace, but there are limitations to it. There is a lot of limit in movement, but we got the job done.”
When you scored that touchdown and you tapped you arm what did that symbolize?
“Just that I wasn't going to limit myself. To show that sometimes you have to play through pain. My team let me come out and play my game.”