Highlights from our interviews following USC's 27-10 loss to Stanford...
COACH CLAY HELTON
--on losing to a pair of top-10 teams
"We hope to face that team again. I really do. I told the kids they got to continue to work. They took a giant leap in my mind, the way they competed today, the adjustments they made at halftime. This is going to become a good football team. We played two really good football teams in Alabama and Stanford, in our losses. We’ve got to learn how to win those games. We will."
--on why Christian McCaffrey was wide open on the TD reception
"If you look at the wheel route, you got a kid’s (Marvell Tell) eyes in the backfield, sees a play-action, he’s responsible for the flat zone and he’s got his eyes in the backfield and a very fast person ran down the sideline in Christian and made a great play."
--on why USC punted on fourth-and-6 while trailing by 17 with 9:13 remaining in the fourth
"I think we were on the 50-yard line, towards midfield, with an offense that has a very dangerous weapon. I thought it was good to go ahead and pin them deep, which we did. We got them inside the 10-yard line."
--on why it’s been a challenge to get JuJu the ball
"I’ve been discredited before by only throwing to one guy and now you get the ball to spread around to different guys, tight ends tonight, Darreus continues to play well, Steven Mitchell played really well, so the ball’s being spread around. You’re never going to be right. You can either try to throw it to one guy or you can try to throw it to the guy that’s open. Right now we’re trying to throw it to the guy that’s open."
QB MAX BROWNE
--on the false starts
"I think that’s probably a question for Zack (Banner). They were saying at times their defensive tackle was saying things, miming my cadence. I’m not totally sure, to be honest. That’s why you saw us move to the silent cadence in the second half and end of the second quarter."
NT STEVIE TU’IKOLOVATU
--on why Stanford’s offense was able to control the game
"I think they had a good change in their game plan and they found some spots that were kind of weak in our defense (where) we weren’t keeping our gap discipline. That killed us."
QB SAM DARNOLD
--on why JuJu isn't getting more receptions
"I think that just falls on us quarterbacks going through our reads. This year is more of a pure progression thing. We’re going through a progression, whoever’s open, whoever we got to read, we’re going to read and make that throw to that player. It doesn’t matter who it is because we got to bunch of guys that can make those plays."
--on finding a balance between targeting who’s open and getting him the ball
"I think that is a struggle sometimes. But not really, we’ve got a bunch of guys. When he’s matched up 1-on-1 with a guy and he’s pressed, it's hard not to throw it out there. You’ll watch film and you throw it to JuJu and it’ll be a big play, he’ll catch the ball. But there will also be a guy on the backside wide open. You’ve just got to take risks and be OK with that and not struggle with that within your mind."
--on what defenses Stanford was playing
"They were playing a bunch of defenses. They love to play Cover 2, they were rotating safeties a lot, Cover 1, Cover 3, just like we game-planned for. It’s just about execution and doing our job."
Video Interviews with DC Clancy Pendergast, OC Tee Martin, S Chris Hawkins, NT Stevie Tu'ikolovatu, CB Adoree' Jackson, CB Biggie Marshall, QB Sam Darnold, TE Tyler Petiite, TB Justin Davis and TE Daniel Imatorbhebhe.
COACH CLAY HELTON
--on losing to a pair of top-10 teams
"We hope to face that team again. I really do. I told the kids they got to continue to work. They took a giant leap in my mind, the way they competed today, the adjustments they made at halftime. This is going to become a good football team. We played two really good football teams in Alabama and Stanford, in our losses. We’ve got to learn how to win those games. We will."
--on why Christian McCaffrey was wide open on the TD reception
"If you look at the wheel route, you got a kid’s (Marvell Tell) eyes in the backfield, sees a play-action, he’s responsible for the flat zone and he’s got his eyes in the backfield and a very fast person ran down the sideline in Christian and made a great play."
--on why USC punted on fourth-and-6 while trailing by 17 with 9:13 remaining in the fourth
"I think we were on the 50-yard line, towards midfield, with an offense that has a very dangerous weapon. I thought it was good to go ahead and pin them deep, which we did. We got them inside the 10-yard line."
--on why it’s been a challenge to get JuJu the ball
"I’ve been discredited before by only throwing to one guy and now you get the ball to spread around to different guys, tight ends tonight, Darreus continues to play well, Steven Mitchell played really well, so the ball’s being spread around. You’re never going to be right. You can either try to throw it to one guy or you can try to throw it to the guy that’s open. Right now we’re trying to throw it to the guy that’s open."
QB MAX BROWNE
--on the false starts
"I think that’s probably a question for Zack (Banner). They were saying at times their defensive tackle was saying things, miming my cadence. I’m not totally sure, to be honest. That’s why you saw us move to the silent cadence in the second half and end of the second quarter."
NT STEVIE TU’IKOLOVATU
--on why Stanford’s offense was able to control the game
"I think they had a good change in their game plan and they found some spots that were kind of weak in our defense (where) we weren’t keeping our gap discipline. That killed us."
QB SAM DARNOLD
--on why JuJu isn't getting more receptions
"I think that just falls on us quarterbacks going through our reads. This year is more of a pure progression thing. We’re going through a progression, whoever’s open, whoever we got to read, we’re going to read and make that throw to that player. It doesn’t matter who it is because we got to bunch of guys that can make those plays."
--on finding a balance between targeting who’s open and getting him the ball
"I think that is a struggle sometimes. But not really, we’ve got a bunch of guys. When he’s matched up 1-on-1 with a guy and he’s pressed, it's hard not to throw it out there. You’ll watch film and you throw it to JuJu and it’ll be a big play, he’ll catch the ball. But there will also be a guy on the backside wide open. You’ve just got to take risks and be OK with that and not struggle with that within your mind."
--on what defenses Stanford was playing
"They were playing a bunch of defenses. They love to play Cover 2, they were rotating safeties a lot, Cover 1, Cover 3, just like we game-planned for. It’s just about execution and doing our job."
Video Interviews with DC Clancy Pendergast, OC Tee Martin, S Chris Hawkins, NT Stevie Tu'ikolovatu, CB Adoree' Jackson, CB Biggie Marshall, QB Sam Darnold, TE Tyler Petiite, TB Justin Davis and TE Daniel Imatorbhebhe.
