Question about what they could have done differently
First we did a lot of good things as a team and we put ourselves in position there late in the fourth to win the game, and so obviously kind of like the Michigan game, frustrated that road football is difficult to win as we saw across the country this last week, and you got to put yourself in position and then you got to go capitalize. We've put ourselves in position, but you got to go capitalize there at the end and we're disappointed that we didn't get that done Saturday obviously. I think looking at the game as a whole, I mean to me there was a few things. I think the first thing you look at is the turnovers, right? We lose the turnover battle three to one, and I know we had to be pretty aggressive there at the end with the clock running down, but in all three turnovers we're in the offenses plus territory where you're down there in scoring position, you've got good drives going on all three. So those were massive. I think we did not do as good a job defensively against the run as we've done this entire year up to this point, and I think our inability to either to not stop the run and certainly even just the field position game and how that played out was really critical because even when we did stop them, typically the offense had the ball backed up quite a bit and so you've got to drive it a long way against a good defense as opposed to get some of those stops earlier. Now it's shorter fields or maybe you get a chance to return some punts. So I didn't think we played very well in sync there and I think those were, to me, the two biggest factors in the game. We didn't stop the run. Well then we had three turnovers in the plus zone and I mean that wiped out all the other advantages that we did have in the game. We dominated third downs, we dominated explosive plays. We still did a lot of good things as a team, but those are big, big things there that are going to equalize it. Then all of a sudden the game comes down to one play or one call or whatever it is and anything, I'm like, sometimes those are going to go your way and sometimes they're not. Then typically on the road they find a way not to, but that's part of playing on the road. We all know what it is. It is what it is and you got to be able to overcome it. We put ourselves damn close, but we didn't get it done.
What's your message to the team and how to close out those games where you have leads in the fourth quarter and how do we offensively and defensively do the right things to make those Ws?
Yeah, we need to do what we did against LSU because it was really the same scenario and we got it done. We had the scores, we got the stops. You've got in those critical moments at the end of the game, that's where you've got to be laser focused. You can't get caught up on the emotions of the game or the excitement, the end of the game and it's coming down to it. I mean, that's where you've got to hone in on your craft, on your technique, on the calls, on the communication even more. And so yeah, I mean I think it's a learning experience for us. I mean I think the one, we will look back I think on this first early stretch of games and we know we've put ourselves in position to win every one of 'em. It's been a tough stretch. It's been good competition, not many games at home, all that, but at the end of the day, we need to learn from it and we need to be better in the second half because of it. There's that battle tested feel. Our team is very battle tested. I would argue I'd be a little surprised if there's another team in the country right now that's more battle tested than we are, and so we got to make that our advantage going forward and if we'll handle it the right way, we'll continue to stay positive, continue to have competitive upbeat practices continue to improve, develop our roster. It's a long year and as you see across the country, the parity's, different. Things have shifted a little bit and it's affecting some of the on the field too, and so the teams that stay steady through it and persevere on the back end of it could be really good football teams and we have a chance to be one of those teams. We have a good football team right now. We have a good football team. We have a chance to be a very good football team if we'll handle this the correct way.
How would you evaluate your quarterback's performance now that you've got to watch the tape back?
Yeah, I thought he played pretty good. I did. I thought he was pretty steady for us again. He had a lot of really, really good plays, a lot of good decisions. He had a couple of loose throws that he misses that he missed, that he doesn't normally miss. And then I think, listen, the decision there at the end is one that you're going to have to be aggressive at some point. You got a couple of plays left probably, and I'm never going to curve a quarterback from being aggressive in those moments. You got a score touchdown. I mean, you know what it is. And so that to me is all different situation together. But no, I thought he moved us well. I mean the offense moved the ball well, the entire game. Again, the turnovers were the biggest thing that just without the turnovers it was there was a lot of good stuff on tape offensively and honestly, there was a lot of things that we did better in that game offensively than we did against some of the previous opponents.
Are you guys still in an information gathering phase and trying to figure out how to master this whole thing of going cross country and winning games? Where do you stand on that?
I think there's one, there's a lot of good teams in this league, so you go on the road and you're not just going on the road, you're going on the road to play a pretty good team most likely. So I think that's a big part of it. Yeah, I think is everybody learning about the travel and the effects on the guys and all that because this is the NFL player. He does football and then he goes home with his family or his buddies or whatever. These guys' schedules are jam packed. They're probably more jam packed than they've ever been before. These guys are going, these guys are full-time students on top of trying to play high level college football. So some of that I think remains to be seen, and I think we're all going to learn a lot going forward. I mean teams on both coasts and everybody obviously is involved a bit in it now. So yeah, I think we're certainly trying to be very attentive to our travel procedures, the amount of rest, these guys are getting, effects on the body, obviously trying to optimize performance and recovery, so we're definitely trying to pay attention to those things. I don't know that I could sit here and say, well, that traveling really made it a lot harder for us to beat Michigan or a lot harder for us to beat Minnesota. I don't necessarily feel that way right now, but we're certainly not going to leave any stone unturned and obviously we want to continue to be better in all phases. when we travel.
What have you seen from Zachariah Branch? How do you get him to maybe unlock that next level of the player?
Yeah, I think he's trying really hard. He's practicing really hard. I do think he would probably admit he's probably guilty sometimes of maybe just pressing a little bit, but that's a little bit of the evolution from a role player to a starter, and I think Zach is going to make, he's had a lot of really good plays for us. He had a lot of really good plays other night he had a bunch of great blocks. He had a couple of really big plays and I think he's just been right on the cusp of a few more. So we have a lot of confidence in him. The player he is now and the player he's going to become. He's got to stay the course. We're certainly going to stay the course with him and keep giving that guy opportunities because a heck of a player and he's just going to get and better from this.
How much confidence does that give you as a play caller going forward when you have that type of success on the ground?
That was important. That's a good defense. They had an experienced front. The two interior guys were really good players, so it is been a big emphasis point, and we did do a lot of good things in the run game that was exciting and honestly, we ran it well, but we were agonizingly close to having just a crazy day running the ball. I mean, it was some of the times that we got down, it wasn't by much, and so no, we were really, really excited about what we did in the run game. Thought the guys played well, prepared hard. I thought Alani Noa had his best game as a Trojan, which was great to see. I thought Elijah took some really good steps. Murphy was really good in the run game. We did some really good things that we absolutely can build on.
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