Su'a Cravens had a lot to say following USC's win vs. Utah. Enjoy.
What does it say about this team that it’s back in position to win the Pac-12 South?
SC: “I think we have a lot of heart. I think we played with a lot of emotion. Last week hurt. I think we took that pain that we suffered last week and put it into this game. We were really physical at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. We were breaking tackles and getting them down on the first guy.”
How much of the game plan was centered on taking away the run?
SC: “We knew they were going to run the ball. They got a great running back. This week in team run and 7-on-7, we worked a lot on tackling. We tackled live, even on 7-on-7. I think we were prepared for this game.”
What has Coach Helton done to keep the belief?
SC: “There’s not much he had to say. We don’t like losing. We don’t lose at USC. We’re supposed to be one of those top colleges that’s in the top 10 every year. If you don’t have that fire in your stomach without anybody saying it to you, then there’s something wrong with you.”
What are some of the little things you guys did well tonight?
SC: “We really didn’t break on any of the quarterback’s pump fakes. We were really disciplined in our pass coverage. We didn’t have our eyes in the backfield in man, and in zones we didn’t bite for the short routes. We let them have the short routes and we knew they couldn’t beat us passing. Once we got them in passing situations we knew we had the game.”
They didn’t run the ball as often or as well as they usually do. What did you guys do to take that away?
SC: “I just think we have a fast defense and they couldn’t get the edge on us. When we stopped the inside run, they had to pass the ball.”
Stopping the inside run has been an issue. What did you do to stop it?
SC: “I’m telling you, it’s nothing new. We’ve seen inside zone, we’ve seen power every practice. Our own offense runs it. We know how to stop it. It’s just a matter of executing it. Today we did our job, we played physical at the line, and that’s the result that should happen.”
What can you say about Cam Smith that people might not know?
SC: “He’s very athletic. He’s big but he’s smart. Cam is going to b a great player. He’s going to be the next Butkus Award winner coming out of USC. He’s going to be that guy next year, he should be a captain next year. He’s going to be a veteran. He’s a veteran now, just by how he’s playing. He carries himself like a professional and he’s playing like one.”
What does it mean to you guys to dominate an undefeated team after what you've been through in recent weeks?
SC: “We’ve been through this before. This is nothing new. We don’t like losing. I think that’s the reason why we came out and played like this. Losing is not acceptable. I mean, we’re USC. We’re supposed to win. We’re not supposed to be 3-3 in the middle of the season. I think most of the guys on the team took that personal. When that happens, everybody has a fire, we come out and play fast and got the win.”
What has Helton done to keep you guys together?
SC: “He’s just a players’ coach. He shows that he cares and shows that he loves us. Once you gain our trust, we’ll play our hearts out for you, as you see.”
What similarities do you see between this win and the win over Stanford two years ago under Ed Orgeron?
SC: “It’s just playing with heart. When you get a game like this, where you got a top team coming into your own home and we’ve already lost twice at home, it's cooking up something that the away team doesn’t really understand. We knew we had to win this game and we were taking it personal. Nobody’s going to come in here and beat us like that. So everybody played physical.”
Was that game a talking point?
SC: “Physicality — that was the talking point. Physicality. As long as we do that, we’ll be all right.”
Given everything that’s happened, did it feel like you guys were about to explode?
SC: “I think we were tired of hearing how soft we were and how we don’t get the job done in the fourth quarter. You only can kick a person while he’s down so many times before he makes a stand. Coach Helton stressed that: one of these points, you’re going to have to make a stand and play ball, and that’s what we did.”
Not everybody is as confident as you are. How important was it for a lot of these players to get this win and not fall under .500?
SC: “It’s not even about that. I think it’s just the losing aspect of it. Losing to Stanford got us mad. We came out and beat Arizona State. Losing to Washington, that was bad, then we go out and lose at Notre Dame, that was tough. We have a really tough team. We play with a lot of heart and pride. I just think whenever the odds are against us, that’s when we play at our best.”
Is this game a launch point for the team for playing physical?
SC: “Well, if they want to keep running the ball against our defense, they’ll see. I know Cal’s going to throw the ball, we’ll get ready for that. But if you want to run the ball against our defense, you’ll see how physical we are.”
How does the physicality need to show up in pass coverage?
SC: “We just got to be disciplined. I think Iman got called on a couple of PIs today, I thought it was great coverage. He’s going to be great. He’s learning, he’s had his bumps and bruises, but I like the way he bounces back and he’s confident. We’re going to get Adoree’ back on defense for Cal and we should be ready for that passing attack. They got a great quarterback in Jared Goff.”
What did you make of being favored to win this game?
SC: “I mean, we should be. The 3-3 record is misleading. We played a tough Stanford team that people didn’t know about when we played them early. They’re a really good team. We let a game get away from us with Washington. And then Notre Dame, they’re a top-10 team as well. That 3-3 record doesn’t say much for us. We know we should have won more games than we have. We know that we’re a great team. People can keep thinking USC’s down, USC is this and that. We’re going to continue to play and show that we are ready, and we’re ready to play anybody.”
Is winning the Pac-12 South still the goal?
SC: “Of course. That’s all it can be right now. At this point we got to win the Pac-12 South. We’ll see where it goes from there.”
Was this a turning point for that goal?
SC: “I think we just played with, we can’t lose. At this point there’s nothing to lose, a 3-3 record. Everybody had us down, they forgot about USC. I don’t think we even cared about what anybody else was saying. It was more of pride thing. We’re not going to lose another game at home, especially to Utah, who’s new to the conference. Not to say they’re a bad team, they’re a great team. But we all played with a chip on our shoulder that we’re ‘SC and we’re going to show it.”
Helton said he mentioned to you guys on the bus today the importance of being physical. What did he say?
SC: “He just said if you’re physical you’re going to win this game. You show them who’s more physical. He actually pulled up clippings of what people wrote about us saying Utah’s the more physical team, they’re going to run the ball. We knew they were going to run the ball, but we knew they weren’t the more physical team and we showed it.”
Do you actually gain anything from reading what people write?
SC: “I guess that’s that chip on our shoulder. It doesn’t affect how the game goes, but we like seeing people doubt us. I think we like that, when we’re the underdog. A lot of people look at USC as if we’re the spoiled team. They get a certain ranking every year just because they’re USC. But we have a lot of great guys on this team. And have the attitude to be the best because we should be the best. We’re going to come out every week and play like we are, and we’re going to have that confidence. When we’re having fun and have that confidence behind us, I think we’re one of the best teams in the nation.”
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said he couldn’t explain how you guys were 3-3. How would you explain it?
SC: “Tough teams. The Pac-12 is tough. I said it at Pac-12 media day, you can lose t any point in the Pac-12. That 3-3 record is misleading. But if teams want to look at our record and base our talent and skill level off that, they’ll be sadly mistaken.”
Did this win save the season?
SC: “I wouldn’t say save the season. I just think it was a point where we decided to be physical. I just think it was turning point where we just had to put our foot down and show no more lolly-gagging, get your head out of the clouds and play ball. All those distractions, people say USC’s not the same team, all this stuff with our head coaches, it doesn’t matter. I think this game was more of a point we wanted to prove.”
Are you fed up with everything you’ve had to deal with here the past three years?
SC: “I just don’t care. I just want to play ball. I couldn’t care less what people are saying, I couldn’t care less if were on ESPN about how bad we are. People are around the university interviewing students saying how bad a football team, it doesn’t matter to me. At the end of the day, I got me and my brothers. We’re going to go out and play ball every Saturday, and that’s all I want to do.”
Have you had any contact with Steve Sarkisian?
SC: “I haven’t. I’m praying for Coach Sark. It’s an unfortunate situation, but we still love him. We hope that he gets better.”
What’s the change with Helton?
SC: “It’s just a different guy running the team. We happen to love the guy that’s running the team. We loved Sark, but we’ve known Helton a while. I just think we’re playing ball at this point.”
What did you make of the fans not rushing the field?
SC: “Nobody needs to rush the field. We’re USC. We’re supposed to win. I don’t want anybody to rush the field.”
What does it say about this team that it’s back in position to win the Pac-12 South?
SC: “I think we have a lot of heart. I think we played with a lot of emotion. Last week hurt. I think we took that pain that we suffered last week and put it into this game. We were really physical at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. We were breaking tackles and getting them down on the first guy.”
How much of the game plan was centered on taking away the run?
SC: “We knew they were going to run the ball. They got a great running back. This week in team run and 7-on-7, we worked a lot on tackling. We tackled live, even on 7-on-7. I think we were prepared for this game.”
What has Coach Helton done to keep the belief?
SC: “There’s not much he had to say. We don’t like losing. We don’t lose at USC. We’re supposed to be one of those top colleges that’s in the top 10 every year. If you don’t have that fire in your stomach without anybody saying it to you, then there’s something wrong with you.”
What are some of the little things you guys did well tonight?
SC: “We really didn’t break on any of the quarterback’s pump fakes. We were really disciplined in our pass coverage. We didn’t have our eyes in the backfield in man, and in zones we didn’t bite for the short routes. We let them have the short routes and we knew they couldn’t beat us passing. Once we got them in passing situations we knew we had the game.”
They didn’t run the ball as often or as well as they usually do. What did you guys do to take that away?
SC: “I just think we have a fast defense and they couldn’t get the edge on us. When we stopped the inside run, they had to pass the ball.”
Stopping the inside run has been an issue. What did you do to stop it?
SC: “I’m telling you, it’s nothing new. We’ve seen inside zone, we’ve seen power every practice. Our own offense runs it. We know how to stop it. It’s just a matter of executing it. Today we did our job, we played physical at the line, and that’s the result that should happen.”
What can you say about Cam Smith that people might not know?
SC: “He’s very athletic. He’s big but he’s smart. Cam is going to b a great player. He’s going to be the next Butkus Award winner coming out of USC. He’s going to be that guy next year, he should be a captain next year. He’s going to be a veteran. He’s a veteran now, just by how he’s playing. He carries himself like a professional and he’s playing like one.”
What does it mean to you guys to dominate an undefeated team after what you've been through in recent weeks?
SC: “We’ve been through this before. This is nothing new. We don’t like losing. I think that’s the reason why we came out and played like this. Losing is not acceptable. I mean, we’re USC. We’re supposed to win. We’re not supposed to be 3-3 in the middle of the season. I think most of the guys on the team took that personal. When that happens, everybody has a fire, we come out and play fast and got the win.”
What has Helton done to keep you guys together?
SC: “He’s just a players’ coach. He shows that he cares and shows that he loves us. Once you gain our trust, we’ll play our hearts out for you, as you see.”
What similarities do you see between this win and the win over Stanford two years ago under Ed Orgeron?
SC: “It’s just playing with heart. When you get a game like this, where you got a top team coming into your own home and we’ve already lost twice at home, it's cooking up something that the away team doesn’t really understand. We knew we had to win this game and we were taking it personal. Nobody’s going to come in here and beat us like that. So everybody played physical.”
Was that game a talking point?
SC: “Physicality — that was the talking point. Physicality. As long as we do that, we’ll be all right.”
Given everything that’s happened, did it feel like you guys were about to explode?
SC: “I think we were tired of hearing how soft we were and how we don’t get the job done in the fourth quarter. You only can kick a person while he’s down so many times before he makes a stand. Coach Helton stressed that: one of these points, you’re going to have to make a stand and play ball, and that’s what we did.”
Not everybody is as confident as you are. How important was it for a lot of these players to get this win and not fall under .500?
SC: “It’s not even about that. I think it’s just the losing aspect of it. Losing to Stanford got us mad. We came out and beat Arizona State. Losing to Washington, that was bad, then we go out and lose at Notre Dame, that was tough. We have a really tough team. We play with a lot of heart and pride. I just think whenever the odds are against us, that’s when we play at our best.”
Is this game a launch point for the team for playing physical?
SC: “Well, if they want to keep running the ball against our defense, they’ll see. I know Cal’s going to throw the ball, we’ll get ready for that. But if you want to run the ball against our defense, you’ll see how physical we are.”
How does the physicality need to show up in pass coverage?
SC: “We just got to be disciplined. I think Iman got called on a couple of PIs today, I thought it was great coverage. He’s going to be great. He’s learning, he’s had his bumps and bruises, but I like the way he bounces back and he’s confident. We’re going to get Adoree’ back on defense for Cal and we should be ready for that passing attack. They got a great quarterback in Jared Goff.”
What did you make of being favored to win this game?
SC: “I mean, we should be. The 3-3 record is misleading. We played a tough Stanford team that people didn’t know about when we played them early. They’re a really good team. We let a game get away from us with Washington. And then Notre Dame, they’re a top-10 team as well. That 3-3 record doesn’t say much for us. We know we should have won more games than we have. We know that we’re a great team. People can keep thinking USC’s down, USC is this and that. We’re going to continue to play and show that we are ready, and we’re ready to play anybody.”
Is winning the Pac-12 South still the goal?
SC: “Of course. That’s all it can be right now. At this point we got to win the Pac-12 South. We’ll see where it goes from there.”
Was this a turning point for that goal?
SC: “I think we just played with, we can’t lose. At this point there’s nothing to lose, a 3-3 record. Everybody had us down, they forgot about USC. I don’t think we even cared about what anybody else was saying. It was more of pride thing. We’re not going to lose another game at home, especially to Utah, who’s new to the conference. Not to say they’re a bad team, they’re a great team. But we all played with a chip on our shoulder that we’re ‘SC and we’re going to show it.”
Helton said he mentioned to you guys on the bus today the importance of being physical. What did he say?
SC: “He just said if you’re physical you’re going to win this game. You show them who’s more physical. He actually pulled up clippings of what people wrote about us saying Utah’s the more physical team, they’re going to run the ball. We knew they were going to run the ball, but we knew they weren’t the more physical team and we showed it.”
Do you actually gain anything from reading what people write?
SC: “I guess that’s that chip on our shoulder. It doesn’t affect how the game goes, but we like seeing people doubt us. I think we like that, when we’re the underdog. A lot of people look at USC as if we’re the spoiled team. They get a certain ranking every year just because they’re USC. But we have a lot of great guys on this team. And have the attitude to be the best because we should be the best. We’re going to come out every week and play like we are, and we’re going to have that confidence. When we’re having fun and have that confidence behind us, I think we’re one of the best teams in the nation.”
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said he couldn’t explain how you guys were 3-3. How would you explain it?
SC: “Tough teams. The Pac-12 is tough. I said it at Pac-12 media day, you can lose t any point in the Pac-12. That 3-3 record is misleading. But if teams want to look at our record and base our talent and skill level off that, they’ll be sadly mistaken.”
Did this win save the season?
SC: “I wouldn’t say save the season. I just think it was a point where we decided to be physical. I just think it was turning point where we just had to put our foot down and show no more lolly-gagging, get your head out of the clouds and play ball. All those distractions, people say USC’s not the same team, all this stuff with our head coaches, it doesn’t matter. I think this game was more of a point we wanted to prove.”
Are you fed up with everything you’ve had to deal with here the past three years?
SC: “I just don’t care. I just want to play ball. I couldn’t care less what people are saying, I couldn’t care less if were on ESPN about how bad we are. People are around the university interviewing students saying how bad a football team, it doesn’t matter to me. At the end of the day, I got me and my brothers. We’re going to go out and play ball every Saturday, and that’s all I want to do.”
Have you had any contact with Steve Sarkisian?
SC: “I haven’t. I’m praying for Coach Sark. It’s an unfortunate situation, but we still love him. We hope that he gets better.”
What’s the change with Helton?
SC: “It’s just a different guy running the team. We happen to love the guy that’s running the team. We loved Sark, but we’ve known Helton a while. I just think we’re playing ball at this point.”
What did you make of the fans not rushing the field?
SC: “Nobody needs to rush the field. We’re USC. We’re supposed to win. I don’t want anybody to rush the field.”
