Opening comments:
"In watching the film, it was like I felt last night coming off the field. There was not one particular play or person that lost that game -- it was a collection of errors that cost us down the stretch in a close game against Cal. The execution that was there offensively in the first half to stay ahead of the chains and create third-and-manageable situations did not carry over to the second half, where we had multiple times behind the sticks and had third-and-longs. Whether it was dropped balls, penalties, poor snap or turnovers, the execution in the second half ended up costing us the game. Those mistakes are my responsibility, just like I said last night -- I own it. I will continue and this staff will continue tirelessly to continue to groom, educate and develop our younger players while we all collectively prepare, work to compete for our seniors in the upcoming game against UCLA. The Victory Bell has been something very, very special to our seniors, and we will all work like heck in our attempt to keep it."
On injuries ...
"Greg Johnson did not dress last night due to a shoulder injury. We'll see where he is at Tuesday. Iman Marshall was able to go for us on an ankle and foot sprain. We will see where he is at on Tuesday. Vae [Malepeai] suffered an ankle sprain during the game -- he was able to finish. We will see where he's at on Tuesday. Ced [Ware] suffered an AC or shoulder sprain. We'll see where he's at on Tuesday. Mike Pittman did not participate in the game due to shoulder injury. We'll see where he's at on Tuesday. Chuma Edoga did not participate due to a knee. We'll see where he's at on Tuesday. And Toa Lobendahn suffered an ankle sprain in the game he was able to finish on. We'll see where he's at on Tuesday."
On the verbal sparring among the players Saturday night ...
"We have highly competitive kids, and I know Cal does too. There was chatter last night. It's something you address as a team and point out to make sure that ... competition and competing at the highest level is OK, but make sure that decision making also goes with that and we don't cost our team with any unnecessary penalties. We address it as a team and address it team meetings. We'll do it again and obviously try to groom all our players to understand that it's OK to compete at the highest level, but don't let emotion cause you to make a decision that could hurt your team."
On whether that line was crossed in this game ...
"I thought it was a very competitive game on both sides. Even coming out of the locker room, you knew that it was a very competitive game for both sides and you knew how important the game was. Cal competed just as hard as we did. During the game there is some natural jawing back and forth, you try to eliminate it as much as you can as a coach and we'll continue to do that and continue to educate them. But there was some talking during the game, some competitiveness, but even if that's sometimes a natural thing that happens in games, make sure that you keep your emotions in check."
On his comment that Toa is 'one of the loves of my life' and what that has to do with him playing center ...
"Toa has been a tremendous football player for us and is one of our top offensive linemen in our front 5. He's also our best center that we're trying to adapt and trying to get better every week with the snaps. I know that we had two poor snaps last night. He's a captain of this football team that has led our football team, and just like any player on our team if a young man makes a mistake we try to coach him out of that mistake. And we'll continue to. Toa is somebody that helps us win football games and has helped us win football games -- not only at the center position but the guard position and tackle position -- and currently right now he's our center and a captain of our football team. And is somebody that I dearly love, yes. And as such, as being the guy that is the best center on our team right now, he's our center until further notice. So I don't know what other explanation I can give."
On not having a conference title to play for anymore ...
"I think we have tremendous leadership at the top of guys like Cam Smith and Iman Marshall and Marvell Tell, Toa Lobendahn, who I just talked about, Porter Gustin, who leads our team even though he's injured. And we all know how important these next two games are for our seniors. When you talk about rivalry games like UCLA, Notre Dame, they're special. And as a competitor, you compete as hard as you can to be able to win those football games and compete at the highest level. This is special for us because these seniors have done so much for us. They've provided us some unbelievable memories, and like I said earlier that Victory Bell is something that has been so special to them. They've been able to retain it over the last three years of their career, this is their fourth year. So there's a lot to play for. Between myself, the staff, our entire team, we will compete like heck like I said earlier, to try to keep it. That's motivation alone to try to play for our brothers and play for them to have the opportunity to keep the Victory Bell."
On whether he'll try to get more of a look at some younger players ...
"Well, a lot of them are playing. You saw the other night, there's a bunch of rookies out there that are learning on the run and are making good plays and making some mistakes. And when I talk about grooming them and educating and developing them, your job as a coach is to be able to take talent and be able to educate them how to become a professional player and somebody that can play at the highest level of college football. You understand that with young players, you're going to have some mistakes and you coach them out of it. That's why they put coach in front of your name. We're playing a lot that are already in there, and they're making some good plays and they're making some plays that we'll coach them to get better."
On what Alijah Vera-Tucker did to earn some snaps in place of Andrew Vorhees ...
"We did it based on rotation. Alijah, the light has really come on for him and he's really, he reminds me right now of where we were, if you remember, with Jordan Simmons -- kind of that sixth man that can come in and do a nice job. He's doing that for us right now. He's going into his second year, and I talked about that group -- that group of five that I think is going to be a really dynamic offensive line -- he's one of those guys that's got a very, very bright future and has earned and garnered reps to be in the game. So I'm proud for him. He's doing a nice job, played well last night."
On how tough it is to look back and realize one play here or there cost wins and swung the season ...
"That's usually how it is. You and I have been in it for a long time. In my 24-year experience, you can count four or five games each year that can go either way -- it's about a handful of plays in each game that determine it and determine whether you're 10-3 and in a Rose Bowl or 11-3 and winning a Pac-12 title or you're sitting here at 5-5. It's one of those years you hate as a coach, but you hope you come out of it with lessons being learned by your younger players. You hope you can finish strong, to be honest with you, for our seniors these last two games and provide some great memories for them. But that's usually in my experience, that's how it's gone -- you look up and those are the difference in great years and those that you wish the ball would have bounced the other way for you."
"In watching the film, it was like I felt last night coming off the field. There was not one particular play or person that lost that game -- it was a collection of errors that cost us down the stretch in a close game against Cal. The execution that was there offensively in the first half to stay ahead of the chains and create third-and-manageable situations did not carry over to the second half, where we had multiple times behind the sticks and had third-and-longs. Whether it was dropped balls, penalties, poor snap or turnovers, the execution in the second half ended up costing us the game. Those mistakes are my responsibility, just like I said last night -- I own it. I will continue and this staff will continue tirelessly to continue to groom, educate and develop our younger players while we all collectively prepare, work to compete for our seniors in the upcoming game against UCLA. The Victory Bell has been something very, very special to our seniors, and we will all work like heck in our attempt to keep it."
On injuries ...
"Greg Johnson did not dress last night due to a shoulder injury. We'll see where he is at Tuesday. Iman Marshall was able to go for us on an ankle and foot sprain. We will see where he is at on Tuesday. Vae [Malepeai] suffered an ankle sprain during the game -- he was able to finish. We will see where he's at on Tuesday. Ced [Ware] suffered an AC or shoulder sprain. We'll see where he's at on Tuesday. Mike Pittman did not participate in the game due to shoulder injury. We'll see where he's at on Tuesday. Chuma Edoga did not participate due to a knee. We'll see where he's at on Tuesday. And Toa Lobendahn suffered an ankle sprain in the game he was able to finish on. We'll see where he's at on Tuesday."
On the verbal sparring among the players Saturday night ...
"We have highly competitive kids, and I know Cal does too. There was chatter last night. It's something you address as a team and point out to make sure that ... competition and competing at the highest level is OK, but make sure that decision making also goes with that and we don't cost our team with any unnecessary penalties. We address it as a team and address it team meetings. We'll do it again and obviously try to groom all our players to understand that it's OK to compete at the highest level, but don't let emotion cause you to make a decision that could hurt your team."
On whether that line was crossed in this game ...
"I thought it was a very competitive game on both sides. Even coming out of the locker room, you knew that it was a very competitive game for both sides and you knew how important the game was. Cal competed just as hard as we did. During the game there is some natural jawing back and forth, you try to eliminate it as much as you can as a coach and we'll continue to do that and continue to educate them. But there was some talking during the game, some competitiveness, but even if that's sometimes a natural thing that happens in games, make sure that you keep your emotions in check."
On his comment that Toa is 'one of the loves of my life' and what that has to do with him playing center ...
"Toa has been a tremendous football player for us and is one of our top offensive linemen in our front 5. He's also our best center that we're trying to adapt and trying to get better every week with the snaps. I know that we had two poor snaps last night. He's a captain of this football team that has led our football team, and just like any player on our team if a young man makes a mistake we try to coach him out of that mistake. And we'll continue to. Toa is somebody that helps us win football games and has helped us win football games -- not only at the center position but the guard position and tackle position -- and currently right now he's our center and a captain of our football team. And is somebody that I dearly love, yes. And as such, as being the guy that is the best center on our team right now, he's our center until further notice. So I don't know what other explanation I can give."
On not having a conference title to play for anymore ...
"I think we have tremendous leadership at the top of guys like Cam Smith and Iman Marshall and Marvell Tell, Toa Lobendahn, who I just talked about, Porter Gustin, who leads our team even though he's injured. And we all know how important these next two games are for our seniors. When you talk about rivalry games like UCLA, Notre Dame, they're special. And as a competitor, you compete as hard as you can to be able to win those football games and compete at the highest level. This is special for us because these seniors have done so much for us. They've provided us some unbelievable memories, and like I said earlier that Victory Bell is something that has been so special to them. They've been able to retain it over the last three years of their career, this is their fourth year. So there's a lot to play for. Between myself, the staff, our entire team, we will compete like heck like I said earlier, to try to keep it. That's motivation alone to try to play for our brothers and play for them to have the opportunity to keep the Victory Bell."
On whether he'll try to get more of a look at some younger players ...
"Well, a lot of them are playing. You saw the other night, there's a bunch of rookies out there that are learning on the run and are making good plays and making some mistakes. And when I talk about grooming them and educating and developing them, your job as a coach is to be able to take talent and be able to educate them how to become a professional player and somebody that can play at the highest level of college football. You understand that with young players, you're going to have some mistakes and you coach them out of it. That's why they put coach in front of your name. We're playing a lot that are already in there, and they're making some good plays and they're making some plays that we'll coach them to get better."
On what Alijah Vera-Tucker did to earn some snaps in place of Andrew Vorhees ...
"We did it based on rotation. Alijah, the light has really come on for him and he's really, he reminds me right now of where we were, if you remember, with Jordan Simmons -- kind of that sixth man that can come in and do a nice job. He's doing that for us right now. He's going into his second year, and I talked about that group -- that group of five that I think is going to be a really dynamic offensive line -- he's one of those guys that's got a very, very bright future and has earned and garnered reps to be in the game. So I'm proud for him. He's doing a nice job, played well last night."
On how tough it is to look back and realize one play here or there cost wins and swung the season ...
"That's usually how it is. You and I have been in it for a long time. In my 24-year experience, you can count four or five games each year that can go either way -- it's about a handful of plays in each game that determine it and determine whether you're 10-3 and in a Rose Bowl or 11-3 and winning a Pac-12 title or you're sitting here at 5-5. It's one of those years you hate as a coach, but you hope you come out of it with lessons being learned by your younger players. You hope you can finish strong, to be honest with you, for our seniors these last two games and provide some great memories for them. But that's usually in my experience, that's how it's gone -- you look up and those are the difference in great years and those that you wish the ball would have bounced the other way for you."
