Here's our final round of player interviews from the 2015 season:
JuJu Smith-Schuster
--on whether he was a couple inches from a potential touchdown
"Yeah. It’s tough. I’m going to have to deal with it."
--on there being a few balls he nearly caught
"Some of the balls were out of reach, a little bit overthrown. But if I can touch it I can catch it. That’s what we speak about and tonight I lost two balls and it probably changes the game a lot."
--on what he did on the final play
"I was just running straight. Apparently it was a Hail Mary. Cody decided to check left. … What Cody decides, that was on him. As a team we stick together as brothers. What he did was what h did and we all agreed to it."
Justin Davis
--on whether this loss will linger in offseason
"We wanted this one really bad. Coming off the loss to Stanford and with this group of seniors, they’ve been though so much, all the ups and downs with the coaches and how the team has been in a sense of disarray. We really wanted this one. But we can only look at the positive. We got a great future ahead of us, we got a great coaching staff, we got talent and it’s just a matter of executing. I can’t wait for this challenging schedule we got next year. We’re going to really see what our team is about."
--on not finishing final drives of several games (Stanford I, Washington, Notre Dame, Wisconsin)
"To a degree this comes down to the mental part of the game. The talent is there, no question. We got all the right players in the right spots. Its just a matter of executing, just knowing your assignments. I think our team could have gotten in our playbook a little more this year, so we actually know what we’re doing. Not just playing off strictly athletic ability. We have talent, we just have to refine it. Going forward, that’s going to be a main point in us succeeding."
--on starting out slow, especially on offense, under Helton
"It’s so weird how that happens every time. Going forward we got to fix that. We’re playing too many good teams next year for us to fall behind. It might be hard to get back. We got to focus on coming out strong and staying strong until the end of the game."
--on why it was often the opposite under Sark
"Sark’s philosophy was a little different than Helton’s. That may have caused us falling behind early. … I think its just a matter of … I honestly don’t know. It just baffles me. It’s very weird. I try to think about what possibly could we do right to come out strong and fast. I know we got to fix that and correct that as soon as possible. We can’t have that."
--on the schedule being harder next year
"We can say that but I know our team is more than capable to succeed against that schedule. We got the talent, everybody knows that. Its just a matter of getting your assignments right and executing them. We can match up player for player with any of those teams on our schedule, in my honest opinion. It’s just a matter of knowing our playbook and having a great game plan going forward."
Steven Mitchell Jr.
--on the upcoming QB battle
"Brownie, he’s a great quarterback. He’s progressed extremely. We’ve all seen that. Its definitely going to be a battle. I can tell you right now, Sam Darnold’s not going to give it up easy. Him being a freshman and he way he practices is amazing. I’m really excited to see who’s going to win that battle and take that position."
--on his plans for the offseason
"My body’s kind of beat up right now. I need to take some time off, a week or two. I have to go on a diet, get my body right. Cutting out all the fatty foods, the sodas. Coming into January with a new mindset. I got to step up and be a leader. Im more like a queiet leader. But im going to attempt to take on a new role."
--areas he wants to improve in
"Reading the defense and (making) difficult catches. I have great teammates that are going to be working with me n the offseason and great coaches, outside of USC that I’ve worked with my whole life. I’m going to improve those aspects of my game. I’m going to come back way faster than what I am. …
"I feel I’m not how I used to be. But I’m faster than normal. I definitely have some more gear I need to kick into. It’s tricky with knee surgery. I don’t now why but its tricky."
Su’a Cravens
--on the loss to Wisconsin
"I've been telling y’all for the last couple weeks, I’m a competitor. I don’t like losing. It's my last game, so I feel helpless because I can’t do anything about it for USC."
--on how he felt about USC’s chances after stopping Wisconsin late in the fourth quarter
"I’m a realist about things. When we got the ball back I had all the hope in the world that our offense was going to come down and score but I know it’s football, things don’t turn out the way you want to sometimes. I wasn’t going to celebrate or feel some type of way until we got the ball in the end zone."
--on Kessler saying USC has moved past the dark times and has a bright future
"It’s left in great hands with Coach Helton. We have a lot of great young guys a lot of young talent, a lot of talent that should be coming in over the next few years. It’s nowhere but u from here. Everybody just needs to stay together and compete and get back how USC used to be. I’m glad they don’t have to deal with what me and Cody dealt with."
--on repeated slow starts under Helton
"I just think at the end of the day it’s not any certain game plan that’s going to win the game. It's not any certain play call, it’s the players that need to step up and make plays and execute. USC needs to get back to competing. They need to get back to, when the game’s on the line, who’s going to step up and make a play? I think we’ve kind of gotten away from that. Now with Coach Helton in charge, he’s going to stress the idea of competing no matter what. You’re going to see that in the spring and in the summer. Hopefully that translates to the games. We got to play Alabama."
JuJu Smith-Schuster
--on whether he was a couple inches from a potential touchdown
"Yeah. It’s tough. I’m going to have to deal with it."
--on there being a few balls he nearly caught
"Some of the balls were out of reach, a little bit overthrown. But if I can touch it I can catch it. That’s what we speak about and tonight I lost two balls and it probably changes the game a lot."
--on what he did on the final play
"I was just running straight. Apparently it was a Hail Mary. Cody decided to check left. … What Cody decides, that was on him. As a team we stick together as brothers. What he did was what h did and we all agreed to it."
Justin Davis
--on whether this loss will linger in offseason
"We wanted this one really bad. Coming off the loss to Stanford and with this group of seniors, they’ve been though so much, all the ups and downs with the coaches and how the team has been in a sense of disarray. We really wanted this one. But we can only look at the positive. We got a great future ahead of us, we got a great coaching staff, we got talent and it’s just a matter of executing. I can’t wait for this challenging schedule we got next year. We’re going to really see what our team is about."
--on not finishing final drives of several games (Stanford I, Washington, Notre Dame, Wisconsin)
"To a degree this comes down to the mental part of the game. The talent is there, no question. We got all the right players in the right spots. Its just a matter of executing, just knowing your assignments. I think our team could have gotten in our playbook a little more this year, so we actually know what we’re doing. Not just playing off strictly athletic ability. We have talent, we just have to refine it. Going forward, that’s going to be a main point in us succeeding."
--on starting out slow, especially on offense, under Helton
"It’s so weird how that happens every time. Going forward we got to fix that. We’re playing too many good teams next year for us to fall behind. It might be hard to get back. We got to focus on coming out strong and staying strong until the end of the game."
--on why it was often the opposite under Sark
"Sark’s philosophy was a little different than Helton’s. That may have caused us falling behind early. … I think its just a matter of … I honestly don’t know. It just baffles me. It’s very weird. I try to think about what possibly could we do right to come out strong and fast. I know we got to fix that and correct that as soon as possible. We can’t have that."
--on the schedule being harder next year
"We can say that but I know our team is more than capable to succeed against that schedule. We got the talent, everybody knows that. Its just a matter of getting your assignments right and executing them. We can match up player for player with any of those teams on our schedule, in my honest opinion. It’s just a matter of knowing our playbook and having a great game plan going forward."
Steven Mitchell Jr.
--on the upcoming QB battle
"Brownie, he’s a great quarterback. He’s progressed extremely. We’ve all seen that. Its definitely going to be a battle. I can tell you right now, Sam Darnold’s not going to give it up easy. Him being a freshman and he way he practices is amazing. I’m really excited to see who’s going to win that battle and take that position."
--on his plans for the offseason
"My body’s kind of beat up right now. I need to take some time off, a week or two. I have to go on a diet, get my body right. Cutting out all the fatty foods, the sodas. Coming into January with a new mindset. I got to step up and be a leader. Im more like a queiet leader. But im going to attempt to take on a new role."
--areas he wants to improve in
"Reading the defense and (making) difficult catches. I have great teammates that are going to be working with me n the offseason and great coaches, outside of USC that I’ve worked with my whole life. I’m going to improve those aspects of my game. I’m going to come back way faster than what I am. …
"I feel I’m not how I used to be. But I’m faster than normal. I definitely have some more gear I need to kick into. It’s tricky with knee surgery. I don’t now why but its tricky."
Su’a Cravens
--on the loss to Wisconsin
"I've been telling y’all for the last couple weeks, I’m a competitor. I don’t like losing. It's my last game, so I feel helpless because I can’t do anything about it for USC."
--on how he felt about USC’s chances after stopping Wisconsin late in the fourth quarter
"I’m a realist about things. When we got the ball back I had all the hope in the world that our offense was going to come down and score but I know it’s football, things don’t turn out the way you want to sometimes. I wasn’t going to celebrate or feel some type of way until we got the ball in the end zone."
--on Kessler saying USC has moved past the dark times and has a bright future
"It’s left in great hands with Coach Helton. We have a lot of great young guys a lot of young talent, a lot of talent that should be coming in over the next few years. It’s nowhere but u from here. Everybody just needs to stay together and compete and get back how USC used to be. I’m glad they don’t have to deal with what me and Cody dealt with."
--on repeated slow starts under Helton
"I just think at the end of the day it’s not any certain game plan that’s going to win the game. It's not any certain play call, it’s the players that need to step up and make plays and execute. USC needs to get back to competing. They need to get back to, when the game’s on the line, who’s going to step up and make a play? I think we’ve kind of gotten away from that. Now with Coach Helton in charge, he’s going to stress the idea of competing no matter what. You’re going to see that in the spring and in the summer. Hopefully that translates to the games. We got to play Alabama."
