Clay Helton
Opening comments ...
"I couldn't be any more proud of every man that is in that room. To walk into halftime one score down and say, 'Guys, all we've got to do is do our job, keep fighting, take a deep breath, be poised and you'll walk away winners.' And literally those kids just fought and fought and fought all the way to the last second."
On significance of first road win ...
"Very. For our future. They kept on saying it in there, this is our opportunity at a championship and we needed this game to be able to still control our own destiny, on the road in a tough environment tonight with a team that was playing really good football. So to walk out of here still on top of the Pac-12 South, it's special."
On not losing a late fumble ...
"Sometimes the ball bounces your way, and sometimes it hasn't done that for us this year. Tonight it did. The good Lord was watching out for the Trojans tonight. There was so many other positive plays that were made. That was one of them that we needed and luck was on our side tonight."
On overcoming injuries ...
"I tell you, just the amount of people we had down and for these kids to step up and find a way to win, there's a lot of folks back at home -- Vavae Malepeai, Stephen Carr, EA, Christian Rector doesn't play tonight, Drake Jackson's not here with us. Man after man after man, but the men that were in that locker room went and played and found a way. And that's all you can ask for as a coach -- that type of effort, that type of resiliency. I love those kids and it was just neat to see them celebrate in there -- special bunch."
On turning point ...
"We having some issues really keeping Steven [Montez] contained. He was breaking the pocket. We knew how dangerous he was once he got outside the pocket. I thought we did a little bit better job in the second half, not only keeping him back there and forcing the throw to come out on time, but also slowing down the run game that was really rolling in the first half. You look at, I think the biggest thing, the biggest factor, I really think the third-down efficiency in the second half especially, on third downs we found ways to get stops and get off the field."
On maintaining control of Pac-12 destiny ...
"College football is hard and the road is hard -- Pac-12 road games are hard. With it being a Friday night with that type of electricity, that type of environment, we had a bunch of fun out there, I know that. And this is something that builds teams and builds families and makes you stronger, to be able to overcome those situations. We may be on that same situation later on in the season and these guys have the confidence now to get the job done."
On Colorado punting on fourth-and-4 from the USC 38 before Trojans' game-winning drive ...
"Mel's a defensive guy, trusts his defense and to pin us deep and say, hey, you've got to go the entire way, great call. Because I thought our offense was moving and you've got to make a decision right there -- are you going to punt it from the 50 or give it to us on the 50 with only down 3 so I think it's the right decision."
On what Slovis showed him in the fourth quarter ...
"I think it defines him. You'll go back and you'll look at one play and it's the definition of who he is. They bring all-out pressure on a third down on that last drive and he's got to believe in [Pittman] on the sideline, and he lets it go while he's getting hit, steps right into it and gets ear-holed and delivers a ball on time, accurately, with unbelievable poise. I'm not trying to blow his head up, but even me and Graham are sitting there going, 'Wow, that's a big-time play.' That's who he is. I think in the brightest moments when it's time to show immense poise in a situation, he's [done] that."
On going with empty sets early ...
"The first drive was all five-wides all the way down the field and we were using Amon-Ra as the back, as an extra back. He's a tremendous runner. It's a wrinkle that I thought was really intuitive by Graham to put in this week. It was something I thought the kids fed off of and was looking forward to, and then you walk in there and you go right down the field on the first one. It was a successful package for us tonight. Anytime you put those five horses on the field, that's a dangerous things and Kedon did a nice job with it, kids did a nice job of executing that."
On Slovis' development and moving past early mistakes ...
"I tell you what, reps and experience matter. Anytime you get to play in a game and you get those reps and you get those number of plays, you just get better and better and better. You could tell, he wasn't even fazed and came right back."
QB Kedon Slovis
On the go-ahead touchdown to Michael Pittman ...
"I just wanted to see the pressure they brought, just with everything we do, go through reads -- it doesn't matter what coverage they play -- and Pitt got open and made a hell of a play."
On whether the last drive felt like a redemption after his up-and-down game ...
"I think looking back at BYU, I had an opportunity to win the game in overtime and losing, I think that more so was redemption in terms of that."
On maintaining confidence ...
"We knew we could do what we wanted offensively as long as we just executed. You saw at times we didn't execute and went three-and-out or didn't complete drives, but you saw at the end there what happens when we execute."
WR Michael Pittman
On mindset heading into fourth quarter ...
"Win, that's it. I was just focused on winning the game."
On the final touchdown ...
"Honestly, the line just held up and Kedon just threw a great ball and it just kept me in stride and I just kind of ran around the defense."
On Kedon Slovis' poise ...
"I would just say for him being so young and just like making those big plays is huge. I think Kedon's a great player and I think that he has a great future."
OC Graham Harrell
On Slovis' proving something in the fourth quarter Friday ...
"You ask me that every week. He's the same kid. That's what I expect him to do, and he does his job and he does it well. To be a true freshman and play as well as he did in the second half especially at Notre Dame and do what he did here, like I said since the spring, he's a special player. Like I said, he did what I expect him to do."
On what he was thinking as Trojans recovered their own fumble on that final drive ...
"Not a whole lot, it happened so quick. I saw our guy jump on it so I felt pretty excited. You know, you're in a hole at that point, but you've still got a shot and that's all you can ask for, to have a chance. I think that was the next play, we threw a big play to Drake right down the middle -- that was a heck of a throw -- and again, we just kept playing and the guys battled. To me, that's what it came down to -- just keep believing, keep competing. We feel like we can score a lot of points in a hurry at any time, so that's the key is you're always in the game."
On going five-wide ...
"When all your running backs go down, we just thought it would be fun to go out there and play empty for a little bit. That's what we did and had a lot of success with it. We try to put our best players on the field. We like the running backs we have -- 23 I think had decent yards, I thought 27 did a really nice job in protection, got a big third-and-1 right there on that last drive. So we got a room full of guys we believe in, but we've also got a room full of receivers we believe in. But no, the five-wide package was something we worked on all week and something we think could be really good for us. And again, it just puts really talented players on the football field and that's a good situation for us."
On Amon-Ra St. Brown getting carries ...
"So that we could be in five-wide and find a way to run it. We were just messing around and said, what if we bring him into the backfield and hand it to him and it worked. So again, we like the five-wide package -- we think we've got a lot of good players. You want to get your best players touches. … If you can just put the ball in your best players' hands, you give yourself a chance and that was just an easy way to get Amon-Ra a touch and a way to stay I that five-wide package and not be completely one-dimensional where we were going to pass it every down. We did have the threat of bringing Amon-Ra back in there and handing it to him. It keeps them honest a little bit when we have five wide receivers on the field. … Heck, he looked like a running back back there. Maybe I should do it more, I don't know, but we'll figure that out moving forward."
Opening comments ...
"I couldn't be any more proud of every man that is in that room. To walk into halftime one score down and say, 'Guys, all we've got to do is do our job, keep fighting, take a deep breath, be poised and you'll walk away winners.' And literally those kids just fought and fought and fought all the way to the last second."
On significance of first road win ...
"Very. For our future. They kept on saying it in there, this is our opportunity at a championship and we needed this game to be able to still control our own destiny, on the road in a tough environment tonight with a team that was playing really good football. So to walk out of here still on top of the Pac-12 South, it's special."
On not losing a late fumble ...
"Sometimes the ball bounces your way, and sometimes it hasn't done that for us this year. Tonight it did. The good Lord was watching out for the Trojans tonight. There was so many other positive plays that were made. That was one of them that we needed and luck was on our side tonight."
On overcoming injuries ...
"I tell you, just the amount of people we had down and for these kids to step up and find a way to win, there's a lot of folks back at home -- Vavae Malepeai, Stephen Carr, EA, Christian Rector doesn't play tonight, Drake Jackson's not here with us. Man after man after man, but the men that were in that locker room went and played and found a way. And that's all you can ask for as a coach -- that type of effort, that type of resiliency. I love those kids and it was just neat to see them celebrate in there -- special bunch."
On turning point ...
"We having some issues really keeping Steven [Montez] contained. He was breaking the pocket. We knew how dangerous he was once he got outside the pocket. I thought we did a little bit better job in the second half, not only keeping him back there and forcing the throw to come out on time, but also slowing down the run game that was really rolling in the first half. You look at, I think the biggest thing, the biggest factor, I really think the third-down efficiency in the second half especially, on third downs we found ways to get stops and get off the field."
On maintaining control of Pac-12 destiny ...
"College football is hard and the road is hard -- Pac-12 road games are hard. With it being a Friday night with that type of electricity, that type of environment, we had a bunch of fun out there, I know that. And this is something that builds teams and builds families and makes you stronger, to be able to overcome those situations. We may be on that same situation later on in the season and these guys have the confidence now to get the job done."
On Colorado punting on fourth-and-4 from the USC 38 before Trojans' game-winning drive ...
"Mel's a defensive guy, trusts his defense and to pin us deep and say, hey, you've got to go the entire way, great call. Because I thought our offense was moving and you've got to make a decision right there -- are you going to punt it from the 50 or give it to us on the 50 with only down 3 so I think it's the right decision."
On what Slovis showed him in the fourth quarter ...
"I think it defines him. You'll go back and you'll look at one play and it's the definition of who he is. They bring all-out pressure on a third down on that last drive and he's got to believe in [Pittman] on the sideline, and he lets it go while he's getting hit, steps right into it and gets ear-holed and delivers a ball on time, accurately, with unbelievable poise. I'm not trying to blow his head up, but even me and Graham are sitting there going, 'Wow, that's a big-time play.' That's who he is. I think in the brightest moments when it's time to show immense poise in a situation, he's [done] that."
On going with empty sets early ...
"The first drive was all five-wides all the way down the field and we were using Amon-Ra as the back, as an extra back. He's a tremendous runner. It's a wrinkle that I thought was really intuitive by Graham to put in this week. It was something I thought the kids fed off of and was looking forward to, and then you walk in there and you go right down the field on the first one. It was a successful package for us tonight. Anytime you put those five horses on the field, that's a dangerous things and Kedon did a nice job with it, kids did a nice job of executing that."
On Slovis' development and moving past early mistakes ...
"I tell you what, reps and experience matter. Anytime you get to play in a game and you get those reps and you get those number of plays, you just get better and better and better. You could tell, he wasn't even fazed and came right back."
QB Kedon Slovis
On the go-ahead touchdown to Michael Pittman ...
"I just wanted to see the pressure they brought, just with everything we do, go through reads -- it doesn't matter what coverage they play -- and Pitt got open and made a hell of a play."
On whether the last drive felt like a redemption after his up-and-down game ...
"I think looking back at BYU, I had an opportunity to win the game in overtime and losing, I think that more so was redemption in terms of that."
On maintaining confidence ...
"We knew we could do what we wanted offensively as long as we just executed. You saw at times we didn't execute and went three-and-out or didn't complete drives, but you saw at the end there what happens when we execute."
WR Michael Pittman
On mindset heading into fourth quarter ...
"Win, that's it. I was just focused on winning the game."
On the final touchdown ...
"Honestly, the line just held up and Kedon just threw a great ball and it just kept me in stride and I just kind of ran around the defense."
On Kedon Slovis' poise ...
"I would just say for him being so young and just like making those big plays is huge. I think Kedon's a great player and I think that he has a great future."
OC Graham Harrell
On Slovis' proving something in the fourth quarter Friday ...
"You ask me that every week. He's the same kid. That's what I expect him to do, and he does his job and he does it well. To be a true freshman and play as well as he did in the second half especially at Notre Dame and do what he did here, like I said since the spring, he's a special player. Like I said, he did what I expect him to do."
On what he was thinking as Trojans recovered their own fumble on that final drive ...
"Not a whole lot, it happened so quick. I saw our guy jump on it so I felt pretty excited. You know, you're in a hole at that point, but you've still got a shot and that's all you can ask for, to have a chance. I think that was the next play, we threw a big play to Drake right down the middle -- that was a heck of a throw -- and again, we just kept playing and the guys battled. To me, that's what it came down to -- just keep believing, keep competing. We feel like we can score a lot of points in a hurry at any time, so that's the key is you're always in the game."
On going five-wide ...
"When all your running backs go down, we just thought it would be fun to go out there and play empty for a little bit. That's what we did and had a lot of success with it. We try to put our best players on the field. We like the running backs we have -- 23 I think had decent yards, I thought 27 did a really nice job in protection, got a big third-and-1 right there on that last drive. So we got a room full of guys we believe in, but we've also got a room full of receivers we believe in. But no, the five-wide package was something we worked on all week and something we think could be really good for us. And again, it just puts really talented players on the football field and that's a good situation for us."
On Amon-Ra St. Brown getting carries ...
"So that we could be in five-wide and find a way to run it. We were just messing around and said, what if we bring him into the backfield and hand it to him and it worked. So again, we like the five-wide package -- we think we've got a lot of good players. You want to get your best players touches. … If you can just put the ball in your best players' hands, you give yourself a chance and that was just an easy way to get Amon-Ra a touch and a way to stay I that five-wide package and not be completely one-dimensional where we were going to pass it every down. We did have the threat of bringing Amon-Ra back in there and handing it to him. It keeps them honest a little bit when we have five wide receivers on the field. … Heck, he looked like a running back back there. Maybe I should do it more, I don't know, but we'll figure that out moving forward."
