Opening Statement
Clay Helton: “Another big Pac-12 win for our football team. I really appreciate the championship game mentality that this team is taking. Obviously not a great first quarter for us, especially offensively, whether it was a penalty, a missed assignment in protection, dropped balls or a turnover going into the red zone, really held us up in the first quarter. But one of the things that I really appreciated and one of the things that I think’s really happening to our football team is I think this team is really developing a mental toughness. I really appreciate their poise and their maturity and that mental toughness, to be down 14-0 in the first quarter and really not see anybody phased by it, just basically say, you know what, lets get the corrections, we know we’re going to get back in this game. And then to go out and outscore their opponent 38-16 the rest of the way, I thought was very, very important for our team, responding.
Again, you know that mental toughness also goes to the latter half of the game. For the second week in a row, I thought finishing the game on offense was very important. It was a 31-23 game with 7:51 on the clock and we go on an eight play, five minute drive. The three big third down conversions, the two by a quarterback making two great throws under duress and staying in the pocket and making two clutch throws for us. And then, you know, running the same dang play three times in a row down in the red zone, same formation, same play and really putting a great run game together and finishing off a great run game for us in the fourth. We’re sticking to our formula, of which I was very proud of, of out rushing our opponent, 60 yards to 231. We did not lose the turnover battles, it was one to one, and really with the stop on fourth down, I thought, at the 50 yard line, might as well been a turnover for us. It created a huge momentum swing. We got a touchdown off that stop and actually went on a 21-0 score run after that.
The last part that was really important that we talked about during the week, which was third downs. I thought it was critical. Four of 15 for Arizona and 10 of 18 for us, staying on the field and winning the time of the possession battle. The last thing I’m extremely proud of again, I think our staff is making really good in game adjustments, especially at halftime, offensively. I loved how our staff did a nice job, I thought we were struggling a little bit in the first quarter, you know being traditional, base 21 personal, two back run game, really with a very, very, loaded box. And then that second half, went to more three wide run game, really spreading out the 3-3-5 and it opened up some running lanes for two really good runners. I also love what Justin Wilcox did mixing in the 3-4 and then going to the four down to get pressure on the quarterback. Six sacks, 10 tackles for loss, this front is really, the third week in a row, really buying into the physicality of playing big time defense, stopping the run and getting to the quarterback.”
What happened with the offense early in the game?
CH: “I think, twofold, one, they came in and did a nice job to come in and stop the run every time we went to 21 personnel which is basically our two back run game. It was an extremely loaded box and they had been a team that had played some quarters coverage, two high, were you like to run the ball and then also some one high coverage and they were about 50-50 in that category. In this game they decided to try to go stop the run. We initially went out trying to run our two back run game, they did a nice job stopping it, credit to them. And then, like a good staff does, you’re supposed to make an in game adjustment and we thought going to our three wide run game would open up some running lanes, and obviously it did in the second half. The other part of it is, we were just sloppy in the first quarter. I don’t know how else to put it. Whether, we had a penalty, missed assignment in protection, a dropped ball, a turnover going in on the 29 yard line. You know, you don’t even want that in an entire game, let alone a quarter, so we have to be able to not have that slow start like we did, but I do appreciate how the guys responded to it. They showed tremendous poise, came back and outscored their opponent 38-16 down the stretch. So a slow start for us, but you look up and put 38 points on the board, 474 yards and outrush your opponent.”
Clay Helton: “Another big Pac-12 win for our football team. I really appreciate the championship game mentality that this team is taking. Obviously not a great first quarter for us, especially offensively, whether it was a penalty, a missed assignment in protection, dropped balls or a turnover going into the red zone, really held us up in the first quarter. But one of the things that I really appreciated and one of the things that I think’s really happening to our football team is I think this team is really developing a mental toughness. I really appreciate their poise and their maturity and that mental toughness, to be down 14-0 in the first quarter and really not see anybody phased by it, just basically say, you know what, lets get the corrections, we know we’re going to get back in this game. And then to go out and outscore their opponent 38-16 the rest of the way, I thought was very, very important for our team, responding.
Again, you know that mental toughness also goes to the latter half of the game. For the second week in a row, I thought finishing the game on offense was very important. It was a 31-23 game with 7:51 on the clock and we go on an eight play, five minute drive. The three big third down conversions, the two by a quarterback making two great throws under duress and staying in the pocket and making two clutch throws for us. And then, you know, running the same dang play three times in a row down in the red zone, same formation, same play and really putting a great run game together and finishing off a great run game for us in the fourth. We’re sticking to our formula, of which I was very proud of, of out rushing our opponent, 60 yards to 231. We did not lose the turnover battles, it was one to one, and really with the stop on fourth down, I thought, at the 50 yard line, might as well been a turnover for us. It created a huge momentum swing. We got a touchdown off that stop and actually went on a 21-0 score run after that.
The last part that was really important that we talked about during the week, which was third downs. I thought it was critical. Four of 15 for Arizona and 10 of 18 for us, staying on the field and winning the time of the possession battle. The last thing I’m extremely proud of again, I think our staff is making really good in game adjustments, especially at halftime, offensively. I loved how our staff did a nice job, I thought we were struggling a little bit in the first quarter, you know being traditional, base 21 personal, two back run game, really with a very, very, loaded box. And then that second half, went to more three wide run game, really spreading out the 3-3-5 and it opened up some running lanes for two really good runners. I also love what Justin Wilcox did mixing in the 3-4 and then going to the four down to get pressure on the quarterback. Six sacks, 10 tackles for loss, this front is really, the third week in a row, really buying into the physicality of playing big time defense, stopping the run and getting to the quarterback.”
What happened with the offense early in the game?
CH: “I think, twofold, one, they came in and did a nice job to come in and stop the run every time we went to 21 personnel which is basically our two back run game. It was an extremely loaded box and they had been a team that had played some quarters coverage, two high, were you like to run the ball and then also some one high coverage and they were about 50-50 in that category. In this game they decided to try to go stop the run. We initially went out trying to run our two back run game, they did a nice job stopping it, credit to them. And then, like a good staff does, you’re supposed to make an in game adjustment and we thought going to our three wide run game would open up some running lanes, and obviously it did in the second half. The other part of it is, we were just sloppy in the first quarter. I don’t know how else to put it. Whether, we had a penalty, missed assignment in protection, a dropped ball, a turnover going in on the 29 yard line. You know, you don’t even want that in an entire game, let alone a quarter, so we have to be able to not have that slow start like we did, but I do appreciate how the guys responded to it. They showed tremendous poise, came back and outscored their opponent 38-16 down the stretch. So a slow start for us, but you look up and put 38 points on the board, 474 yards and outrush your opponent.”
