Highlights from our best quotes following USC's loss to Stanford.
OC TEE MARTIN
--on what was giving the offense its biggest problems
“The lack of execution sometimes, at really bad moments.”
--on not finishing drives
“Today we only got down there [in the red zone] twice. They did a good job of keeping us out of the tight red. One time, missed touchdown where the receiver got pushed out of bounds on the catch, and the other time was an interception. We got to get down there more and put the ball in the end zone.”
--on what he would like to see improvement in
“Overall execution. It starts up front with protections. We gave up four sacks today, a couple of them we got to get the ball out too. Young quarterback, can't blame him. Tough lessons for him to learn. And then, just executing, at the end of the day. It was one person here, one person there, so out of character. I think it took a moment to settle down and see how we were going to play. I’m really proud of the guys for fighting hard. We’re banged up front, a lot or the guys were hustling as best as they could with the injuries they have. Just came up short. Young fella, he’ll learn from this, the mistakes that we made.”
--on if there was anything he liked from Daniels
“He just kept fighting, he got knocked out [on] the first drive. He got a really serious hand injury. That’s why you saw Fink come in fro a drive, We didn’t know if we were going to get JT back or not. So we switched to an offense running what Matt Fink does, and he did a really good job. … Then we called own and JT said he was fine to go so JT finished the game. But he ought through that. As a quarterback when you get your throwing hand hit and its swollen, you don’t know how it could affect you or if it did at all. I don’t know. The whole hand was swollen.”
--on if he liked the play call on the fourth-and-two late in the first half and was execution the problem
“It didn’t happen. There were opportunities there for that play to happen, it just didn’t happen. I’m not going to blame anybody.”
--on how he expects Daniels to respond to this game given that he’s had few of them in his career
"We had a long talk in the locker room, his eyes were good, his response was good. He’s a fighter, he’s a competitor. We just talked about when you’re a young quarterback that there are going to be some tough lessons like this to learn from. You’re going to watch the film and see the obvious lessons to learn from. But I told him to keep his head up. He should be in high school still, and not on the road playing Stanford."
--on what those lessons might be
"We’ll see the tape and we’ll learn from it."
--on if he could foresee this much struggle on offense given all they accomplished last week
"Me going into every game, I'm always thinking about what could possibly go wrong. You got to be prepared for the worst. What if a lineman goes down? What if a back or a quarterback [does]? I'm always thinking of those things anyway. But I thought we had a good game plan. We ran the ball really, really well, we exploited some things in the passing game, guys were getting open. We got to protect a little bit better and we got to execute a little bit better when those opportunities are there to be made."
--on why the O-line play is so consistent from week to week
"I'm not going to comment on just blaming anyone right now. I got to watch the tape and really look at where the breakdowns happened. I know we did have some breakdowns, that was obvious. But I cant say exactly what it was at this moment because I haven't seen it yet. Bottom line."
--on if USC is too talented to score three points
"I don't care how much talent you have, you got to execute. The NFL is full of talent. Sometimes you don't execute, you don't score points. I don't care if you're in Little League or where you are, you got to execute. And we just didn't do that tonight."
WR TYLER VAUGHNS
--on him and Daniels talking on the sideline after every possession
"Just talking about the drive and what we saw, just trying to get on the same page."
--on if there was anything that kept coming up
"Not really. Everything that they threw at us we already knew about. It was just that we had to execute."
--on why it was so difficult to execute
"I don't know. It's on us. Its our fault We just have to pick it up."
--on if he even imagined Stanford could hold them without a touchdown
"No, we never think any team could hold us to three. That's just outrageous for us to even think about. We think we can execute on any team."
--on if there was a point in the game where he realized it would be particularly difficult to move the ball
"Playing Stanford is always going to be hard. That's just an NFL-caliber team. They're respected just how were respected."
--on averaging 36 points in two meetings vs Stanford just last year
"Like I said, it was execution not being made in the red zone."
--on why the offense will begin to drive down the field and then stall
"We just get on a roll, not slowing down. Once we let them set up, it just messes up everything up for us."
TB STEPHEN CARR
--on if he could have handled a bigger load or if health is still a hindrance
“I’m always fine taking more of those, but I’m here to do whatever the coaches need me to do. I’m 100 percent.”
--on if he was frustrated by the offense not scoring and him not being able to make more of a difference
“It can always be frustrating not getting in the end zone. But we just go on to the next drive.”
--on if there’s something he needs to show the coaches to be the feature back
“I think the way that the coaches distributed is fine. But personally. I still think I need to improve on my pass blocking.”
--on if that’s why he might not be playing more
“Not at all.”
--on if there’s anything they can take into Texas week that was positive on offense
“There’s nothing in particular, I just know we got to go back to the drawing board and go harder.”
--on if he was able to get into a rhythm
“Yeah I get into my rhythm. The way I look at it is, you just have to get into your rhythm once you step off that sideline, regardless.”
--on the team not putting its bets foot forward against a quality opponent
"That’s always frustrating but if we do so them again we’ll have a great game."
--on how much pressure losing puts on the Texas game
"None. I don’t believe in pressure. At all. When opportunity meets preparation, we just prepare."
--on if anyone spoke up in the locker room
"Coach Helton. Besides that, we all said we love each other. That’s it. It’s family. On to the next week. Back to the drawing board."
--on if he thought Stanford could stop USC’s offense to this degree
“No, sir. They’re an amazing team. But, no, sir. I don’t ever think we can get shut down entering a game, ever.”
QB JT DANIELS
--on the main takeaway from the loss
"The main takeaway is we've just got to execute. There's things we missed, things we left on the board. You can see there's a lot of potential with the offense to execute. I've got to do my part as a quarterback, everyone's got to do their part and I think we can move the ball."
--on returning from the hand injury that cost him a series in the first quarter
"It hurts. It's pretty swollen. It's something I've got to adjust to, though. It's not about excuses."
--on how it happened
"It was a helmet to the hand first drive."
--on whether it affected his throws
"I had the hold the ball a little differently, just grip strength and what not, but you know, it's not a game changer."
--on what he expects to learn from a game like this
"There's a lot. We've just got to break down the film, see where things went wrong on certain plays. And you've just got to move on and learn from there."
--on the failed fourth-and-2 at the end of the first half
"I don't think that was a big turning point. We didn't play well the whole game. We left a lot of things on the board. There were plays that we should have made that we didn't make, and a lot on my part. It's just something we've got to improve on."
--on what adjustments need to be made
"That's for the film to decide. We've got to see what went wrong and where it went wrong, just kind of correct what needs to be corrected and come out against a strong opponent like Texas."
--on his mood after a game like this
"We're always trying to go back to normal. Obviously we didn't do what we hoped to do, but that's the name of the game. You have your nights and sometimes you don't. That's kind of how it works."
--on Stanford
"We prepared for them. Coach put in a game plan, we did our best to execute and we just didn't execute."
--on what was the biggest trouble with the offense
"The biggest trouble for the offense, it was a collective non-execution. I didn't do my part, and I think the biggest blame goes on me. Age is not an excuse and neither is experience. If Coach puts me as the starter than I've got to get the job done, and I didn't get it done tonight."
