The first round of highlights from our postgame interviews ...
Su’a Cravens
--Creating turnovers has always been a point of emphasis.
SC: “It’s always been in the back of our minds. It’s just a matter of executing. Every mistake we make, it’s not like we’re just out of our spot, it’s just we make mistakes, we make mental errors. This week we focused and tuned into what he was coaching and took it to heart. We wanted to show that we can be disciplined and we can be aggressive at the same time. … We were especially aggressive in trying to force turnovers. We wanted to prove a point as a defense that we could be aggressive and do our job."
--The players were well aware of what people were saying about Steve Sarkisian and defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox
SC: “We don’t care what anyone says. We love our coach and we’re going to rock with him. We came out tonight and we played for him and nobody else."
--The turning point was Chris Hawkins’ fumble return for a TD.
SC: “That was big. That was a 14-point swing right before the half. I think that was the dagger into the heart. You could see the life just leave form the team and energy out the stadium once they happened. That was pretty much game from there."
--There was no panic in the locker room following the Stanford loss.
SC: “People lose the fact of the matter that in football you’re going to win and lose games. People act like, if you lose a game, the sky is falling. No, you lost a game of football. That’s what happens sometimes. We came in and got back to the drawing board like, let’s get back to work, like we had won the game. It wasn’t something we were down in the dumps about. We just got to adjust and do our job."
--USC can’t make too much of this win.
SC: “When you come into somebody’s else’s house and win like this it feels good. But we can’t lose perspective. It’s the first South game and every South game from here on out is going to be tough. We just got to look at it the same way. I’m not surprised. We came out prepared and we came out focused. We can do this every game if we do our job."
--Cravens said he learned something about his team Saturday night.
SC: “We got heart. We got heart and we got fight. No matter how people look at the program, no matter what people are saying, we’re going to play for our coach and we’re going to play for our teammates. We’re going to play for each other."
--A week after saying the team needed to “grow up,” he felt like the ASU game was a step in that direction as well.
SC: “You come into this atmosphere and you put up points like that and you hold them to only 14 points, that shows maturity as a defense and a great performance by our offense."
--He expected for USC to win, but not by 28 points.
SC: “We’re human. You’re going to give yourself a little projection on how you think the game should go, but you don’t quite know until the game gets rolling. I thought we would win. I didn’t know it was going to be like this but I thought we would win."
--Adoree’ Jackson is “special.”
SC: “He’s really special. He’s special. He’s really special. He should be on everybody’s Heisman list and it’s going to be scary what he does in the future. You see what he’s doing now. Adoree’s a monster. He’s good. He’s really good. When you say somebody’s special, you look at Adoree’. He’s playing the game like you’re supposed to and he’s doing a little bit more.”
John Plattenburg
--He recorded his first career interception, thanks in part to a disguised Cover 2. Plattenburg figured ASU would look to beat Isaiah Langley over the top with a post.
JP: “Just how it happened in my dream.”
--The players took the criticism of their coaches pretty hard.
JP: “Of course it affects us. We take everything to heart. We hear all the talk we talk about it in meetings. But the thing about us, we play for each other. We’re all a family, so that means we play for our coaches to. It wasn’t a good feeling at all, what happened last week. To us, it was a fluke. We knew that wasn’t supposed to happen. We had to come out here, business trip, and send a message.”
--The key to maintaining their edge in the following game is preparation.
JP: “Just reflecting on how focused we were for this game is how we need to be for the next game. Details, details, details. That’s what it’s about. Continuously, almost annoying yourself with the playbook, annoying yourself with the schemes and the tendencies of the other players and the other team. At the end of the days it’s about trusting in our scheme and our coaches and players. Just being one.”
--USC set a “standard” for how it should perform every week.
JP: “We’re humble. Like I said, we came here for a business trip and this is what we expect. We expect to win. We practice hard, we works our butts off against one of the best offenses in the country. For us it’s not a surprise. It’s what we expect. What we did out there, we set our standard. That’s what it’s supposed to be every single week, no matter who the competition is.”
--He has a new nickname for Adoree’ Jackson.
JP: “Baby Jesus. Playing beside him is truly a blessing. He’s a great teammate, amazing athlete, and he works hard every day. He’s not a guy who takes off and plays off his natural ability. He really works at it. He really works hard to get to the next level and those little details of wanting to be great. I’m really not surprised. I practice with him every day, amazing stuff happens. That’s Adoree’. That’s what he’s supposed to do. That’s his standard. He’s supposed to make big plays for us.”
Chris Hawkins
--There wasn’t much going on in Hawkins’ mind during his 94-yard touchdown return.
CH: “I was tired because of the long drive we were on. So I really want thinking at the time. I was just running, hoping nobody caught me.”
--It was obvious that his fumble return demoralized ASU.
CH: “That’s kind of a heartbreaker. I feel like it broke their spirit a little bit. In the second half it didn’t really seem like they wanted to play a lot. And then they tried to turn it on at the end. A play like that is really a heartbreaker.”
--A 30-minute salvo from Sarkisian solely dedicated to creating turnovers resonated with the team.
CH: “It had a big impact. Our team meeting (Friday) night was all about getting the ball out, fumbles, strips, scoop and scores. I feel like the defense really took that to heart because we didn’t have any turnovers the last two games. We came out here with a vengeance to get the ball out.”
--USC’s solid defensive showing started up front with the defensive line.
CH: “I give all the credit to them. They played a heck of a game today. Besides the first run by No. 4, where they caught us in the wrong scheme, the run game was kind of still. When the D-line’s working, the linebackers work, and when the linebackers work, we work. And then when all three of us work together and we’re playing like that, it’s going to be hard to beat us.”
He has one word to describe Adoree’ Jackson.
CH: “Savage. He’s a savage. That’s all I got to say, he’s a savage. He’s amazing.”
Su’a Cravens
--Creating turnovers has always been a point of emphasis.
SC: “It’s always been in the back of our minds. It’s just a matter of executing. Every mistake we make, it’s not like we’re just out of our spot, it’s just we make mistakes, we make mental errors. This week we focused and tuned into what he was coaching and took it to heart. We wanted to show that we can be disciplined and we can be aggressive at the same time. … We were especially aggressive in trying to force turnovers. We wanted to prove a point as a defense that we could be aggressive and do our job."
--The players were well aware of what people were saying about Steve Sarkisian and defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox
SC: “We don’t care what anyone says. We love our coach and we’re going to rock with him. We came out tonight and we played for him and nobody else."
--The turning point was Chris Hawkins’ fumble return for a TD.
SC: “That was big. That was a 14-point swing right before the half. I think that was the dagger into the heart. You could see the life just leave form the team and energy out the stadium once they happened. That was pretty much game from there."
--There was no panic in the locker room following the Stanford loss.
SC: “People lose the fact of the matter that in football you’re going to win and lose games. People act like, if you lose a game, the sky is falling. No, you lost a game of football. That’s what happens sometimes. We came in and got back to the drawing board like, let’s get back to work, like we had won the game. It wasn’t something we were down in the dumps about. We just got to adjust and do our job."
--USC can’t make too much of this win.
SC: “When you come into somebody’s else’s house and win like this it feels good. But we can’t lose perspective. It’s the first South game and every South game from here on out is going to be tough. We just got to look at it the same way. I’m not surprised. We came out prepared and we came out focused. We can do this every game if we do our job."
--Cravens said he learned something about his team Saturday night.
SC: “We got heart. We got heart and we got fight. No matter how people look at the program, no matter what people are saying, we’re going to play for our coach and we’re going to play for our teammates. We’re going to play for each other."
--A week after saying the team needed to “grow up,” he felt like the ASU game was a step in that direction as well.
SC: “You come into this atmosphere and you put up points like that and you hold them to only 14 points, that shows maturity as a defense and a great performance by our offense."
--He expected for USC to win, but not by 28 points.
SC: “We’re human. You’re going to give yourself a little projection on how you think the game should go, but you don’t quite know until the game gets rolling. I thought we would win. I didn’t know it was going to be like this but I thought we would win."
--Adoree’ Jackson is “special.”
SC: “He’s really special. He’s special. He’s really special. He should be on everybody’s Heisman list and it’s going to be scary what he does in the future. You see what he’s doing now. Adoree’s a monster. He’s good. He’s really good. When you say somebody’s special, you look at Adoree’. He’s playing the game like you’re supposed to and he’s doing a little bit more.”
John Plattenburg
--He recorded his first career interception, thanks in part to a disguised Cover 2. Plattenburg figured ASU would look to beat Isaiah Langley over the top with a post.
JP: “Just how it happened in my dream.”
--The players took the criticism of their coaches pretty hard.
JP: “Of course it affects us. We take everything to heart. We hear all the talk we talk about it in meetings. But the thing about us, we play for each other. We’re all a family, so that means we play for our coaches to. It wasn’t a good feeling at all, what happened last week. To us, it was a fluke. We knew that wasn’t supposed to happen. We had to come out here, business trip, and send a message.”
--The key to maintaining their edge in the following game is preparation.
JP: “Just reflecting on how focused we were for this game is how we need to be for the next game. Details, details, details. That’s what it’s about. Continuously, almost annoying yourself with the playbook, annoying yourself with the schemes and the tendencies of the other players and the other team. At the end of the days it’s about trusting in our scheme and our coaches and players. Just being one.”
--USC set a “standard” for how it should perform every week.
JP: “We’re humble. Like I said, we came here for a business trip and this is what we expect. We expect to win. We practice hard, we works our butts off against one of the best offenses in the country. For us it’s not a surprise. It’s what we expect. What we did out there, we set our standard. That’s what it’s supposed to be every single week, no matter who the competition is.”
--He has a new nickname for Adoree’ Jackson.
JP: “Baby Jesus. Playing beside him is truly a blessing. He’s a great teammate, amazing athlete, and he works hard every day. He’s not a guy who takes off and plays off his natural ability. He really works at it. He really works hard to get to the next level and those little details of wanting to be great. I’m really not surprised. I practice with him every day, amazing stuff happens. That’s Adoree’. That’s what he’s supposed to do. That’s his standard. He’s supposed to make big plays for us.”
Chris Hawkins
--There wasn’t much going on in Hawkins’ mind during his 94-yard touchdown return.
CH: “I was tired because of the long drive we were on. So I really want thinking at the time. I was just running, hoping nobody caught me.”
--It was obvious that his fumble return demoralized ASU.
CH: “That’s kind of a heartbreaker. I feel like it broke their spirit a little bit. In the second half it didn’t really seem like they wanted to play a lot. And then they tried to turn it on at the end. A play like that is really a heartbreaker.”
--A 30-minute salvo from Sarkisian solely dedicated to creating turnovers resonated with the team.
CH: “It had a big impact. Our team meeting (Friday) night was all about getting the ball out, fumbles, strips, scoop and scores. I feel like the defense really took that to heart because we didn’t have any turnovers the last two games. We came out here with a vengeance to get the ball out.”
--USC’s solid defensive showing started up front with the defensive line.
CH: “I give all the credit to them. They played a heck of a game today. Besides the first run by No. 4, where they caught us in the wrong scheme, the run game was kind of still. When the D-line’s working, the linebackers work, and when the linebackers work, we work. And then when all three of us work together and we’re playing like that, it’s going to be hard to beat us.”
He has one word to describe Adoree’ Jackson.
CH: “Savage. He’s a savage. That’s all I got to say, he’s a savage. He’s amazing.”
