Postgame Quotes – UCLA vs. Washington State
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 25, Washington State 17
Pasadena, Calif. (Rose Bowl)
October 7, 2023
UCLA head coach Chip Kelly
on the Bruins’ defense against Washington State
“I think Cam Ward is one of the really special quarterbacks. I think that he was 19 of 39 and he hadn’t thrown a pick on the season. To pick them twice, we knew that was going to be a challenge. But I think it was both – the coverage on the back end and that was a question earlier in the week with how those guys would hold up, and then the pressure that our front provided and our linebackers provided. There were a bunch of them. That was the cool part about today that there were so many guys that contributed, specifically on that side. And it was impressive to see. You know, they play hard and for each other, and that was really impressive. I think that was really the story, in terms of shutting them down. I think that it was a total team defense that shut them down.
on UCLA defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s role in the win
“They did an outstanding job – that whole group, I think our entire defensive staff led by him, they did an unbelievable job. That was against the number two-ranked passing offense in the country. To hold them to that and not really allow them to rush it was outstanding. And really, we gave them one score on the offensive side of the ball. The whole coaching staff and players were outstanding on defense.”
on Keegan Jones and what led to his usage at the running back position today
“Just a package, I think that he had a carry earlier in the year though, you might want to check on that. He’s versatile. He can do a couple different things. We threw out of it and there was a pass we had missed to Carsen [Ryan]. We missed him and they did a review with it. But then we came back with a couple runs and felt like we had something there. That’s Keegan, and he’s got some versatility. He had a pretty good kickoff return, also. They had kicked it away from our one returner and kicked it to the other side and he did a really good job getting it up the field. Again, there were a lot of guys who contributed on the offensive side of the ball. I think our tight ends, I thought that Mo [Moliki Matavao] was huge, and Carson Steele was really big for us today. In a game like this against a really good football team, that’s the 13th-ranked team in the country, it took everybody.
on UCLA’s tight ends to combine for six catches
“It all helps. I think that we got contributions from our wideouts. I thought that J.Mike did some really nice things today. Obviously, Logan did some really good things today, and then when you’ve got the tight ends contributing the way that they’re contributing and then you have the backs between T.J. and Carson, and then Colson and Keegan did some nice things in there – I think that it was a really good team victory.”
on UCLA’s offense navigating some issues in the red zone and a pair of pass plays ruled incomplete
“Yeah, we are not allowed to comment on that stuff. So I can’t comment on that, unfortunately. I’d love to, but I can’t. We knew that they were a good football team, coming in, and we knew that it was not going to be an easy deal. Jake [Dickert] is a defensive guy, and that is a very well-coached defense. We knew that we’d have a challenge. We did not think that we’d come in here and blow them out of the stadium. We moved the ball, but at times we hurt ourselves, offensively. But we will continue to grow and get better.”
on the composure of this team
“We talk about that kind of stuff all the time. I think that in games, three things happen – momentum swings, adversity and just random acts. The key to the whole thing is if you are a competitor, you’ll respond to it. And if you are a non-competitor, you will react to it. I think we found out what we’ve known all along, that we have a bunch of competitors, and they responded. We knew that was going to be a good football team. We knew that wasn’t going to be a game where it would be over at the end of the first half. We were just going to have to keep banging away and fortunately we did. I think that we ran, I don’t know, 97 plays – what was the final tally for plays on offense? How many? Yeah, we were trying to match the temperature. It was 97, we were going to run 97. Unfortunately, our guys followed that because when we played Coastal [Carolina], it was 60 degrees out and we only ran 60 plays, so we’ve got to try and get that formula changed, especially when we go to Corvallis because I don’t think that it’s going to be 90 in Corvallis next Saturday.”
on how he helps get Dante Moore poised after a pick-six in the second half
“Yeah, you don’t get Dante poised – he’s poised to begin with. I think he’s got a really good view of things. He understands that if he makes a mistake, we just talk about – you win and you learn, so if it doesn’t go the way you want it, what was the reason that it didn’t go you wanted? He doesn’t make many mistakes twice. The only issue is that he hasn’t had a lot of snaps. You know, he’s a true freshman, so there’s some on-the-job training there, and we will learn from that, but he’s an amazing kid to coach because he wants to be coached. He will go back in, and I’m sure he’ll watch the game tonight. He’ll make adjustments. We will meet with him tomorrow, because we’re back on Sunday. But with that poise, you don’t have to get him to be poised because he’s poised before he got here.”
on the team’s stout defense against Utah and that UCLA could perform well against Washington State
“We just talk about the process, and I’m really proud of them. But I think that they have played really well in every game that we’ve played. I thought that they played really well on defense against Coastal Carolina. We had two huge picks for us in the second half in that game. I thought they played really well on defense against San Diego State. Obviously, in that North Carolina Central game, they scored late against, really, our young kids in the game. I thought they played good there and played good against Utah and then played good again this week. We are not comparing or contrasting. I understand the question. You have to write stories, but we aren’t writing a story. We are just trying to get better every day. We are part of the process. But there are a bunch of guys, the cool part for us that we see getting better, and it’s like, ‘Wow,’ that kid is getting better and better and better. We are an ascending team. We are working on that. So we will pick our head up in December and figure out where we are with this whole thing. But our mindset is we played a lot of snaps today. Our guys have to rest up, and we’ll make sure that we are ready for tomorrow, because we have another really good team that is a ranked team in Oregon State and Jonathan does a really good job. This game two weeks ago was 38-35 between Oregon State and Washington State, and it was a heck of a football game. I anticipate that next week will be a heck of a football game, too.”
on trying to adjust to help Dante Moore with some rollouts or quick passes
“No. No. Again, everything that we do is based upon what the defense does. So you could say, ‘Hey man, we’ve got to roll out.’ Well if they’ve got six guys blitzing off the outside on the right, rolling out into that is not a great play. So they ran a lot of internal pressures. They got us early in the game with some internal pressure. We had it in our game plan that we had to get the ball on the perimeter, so it’s really based upon what the defense is doing and what we determine during the week that they’re going to do, based off the games that they’ve played. Going into this game, our game plan was to move the pocket a little bit and get him to move. They’re really stout and they can do a lot of things inside, so that was kind of part of the game plan.”
on UCLA’s pass defense
“Yeah, that was a question that Ben asked earlier in the week, with how the back end would hold up. I don’t think anybody knew, but I thought they held up pretty good. And I’ve talked to those guys in the locker room, but that whole back end, there weren’t a whole lot of guys running clean through things. I think that whole group, the group of safeties that play and the group of corners that played did a really, really good job. That is where we’re playing really good defense. It’s not just the front, but the back end can hold up too. There were some times where Cam kept some plays around for a long time, and he just kept on scrambling. He’s such a difficult player, and he always scrambles to throw. He’s not really scrambling to run. So that means you have to stay in coverage for a really long time. And if he is continuing to run around and scramble, that means our guys are doing a good job on the back end. I was really happy for them.”
on Carson Steele and how each of UCLA’s running backs can step into that role
“That kid is as beast. We do have some depth and I think that’s a strength of our team. I think that’s a really good point, that we do have depth there. You watch and you start to get rolling and running through tackles, and if I’m a defense coach, I don’t know what to do because we schemed it up and we have an unblocked guy that should make the tackle for a gain of three, and then he runs through the guy. Even that last play, we had to get one first down to finish the game. And on the first play, he just ran through like three guys and kept going. He’s a downhill, physical football player. But the fact that TJ [Harden] can play and Anthony Adkins can play and Keegan [Jones] can play and Colson [Yankoff] can play, that depth will be tested at some point in the year. But knock on wood, we have been extremely healthy as a team. A lot of that is from our strength and conditioning program and what we do. But we know that we’re going to get tested, and the fact that we have some depth there is a real big positive for us.”
UCLA defensive back Alex Johnson
on the defense forcing turnovers
“It starts with our effort, it starts with the guys up front – Carl [Jones, Jr.] leading that group, hunting after the quarterback and making life uncomfortable for him, and everybody else doing their 1/11th and doing their job. Things fall into place.”
on UCLA’s adjustments to stop rushing quarterbacks
“Secondary-wise, there’s been a bigger emphasis on plastering routes when the play breaks down. I mean, the Pac-12 is riddled with athletic quarterbacks who can extend plays, get loose, so having that bigger emphasis just makes our job a lot easier. We’re also just prepared to – maybe the play goes for 16 seconds, not four, so we’re always ready for whatever offenses bring to us.”
on what UCLA defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn has brought
“Coach Lynn, he just brings a whole new energy to this team, to this defense. He also lets us be free within our positions, within our groups. We’re always able to ask questions or give feedback, give comments, so that open communication has allowed us to play more freely – I think that’s been showing on Sundays. And then also just creating a bond as a defense, being a family. Every time 11 guys go out there, you can tell that those guys are playing for each other. That’s their brother, they’ll lay down their life if they have to for their teammate, and that’s been huge for us.”
UCLA quarterback Dante Moore
on getting the victory
“It’s always great to have a team win. Throughout the game there can be many plays that can cause adversity to happen, but at the end of the day, as long as the team wins we’re for sure going to feel the most happy. There are a lot of mistakes that we have to correct for sure, but just getting the team win is the biggest thing. That team is a really good football team, from just watching film and especially, quarterback to quarterback, the way that Cam [Cameron Ward] was really in the pocket, how he makes plays. Our great defense held it down. The offense, we’ve got to keep getting better. Personally, with myself, I have to keep getting better. But a team win is a great thing.”
on throwing a pick-six at the end of the first half
“Every time you get down in the red zone, especially being that close, at least you want to score some points. But truthfully, on that play, Number 4, who caught the pick, he was like a flying squirrel. He jumped in the air, wings out. I threw the ball, and he picked it. For me, one thing I’m learning for sure, and one thing I did see from that, is sometimes it’s move or do my sidearm angles and get the ball to the running back because he was open. But with football, especially at the collegiate level - and I’m still learning - everybody is good. If you keep making mistakes, a lot of people are going to capitalize off your mistakes, and that’s when teams start to win. In the red zone you have to score.”
on how much confidence the defense gives the offense
“When you have one hell of a defense that just does things like that – it can be turnovers, fumbles, picks, pressure on the quarterback – on the sideline you’re like alright we’re going to get the ball back. As a quarterback especially, you’ve got to score every time you’ve got the ball. Of course you can’t score every try, but the defense just keeps doing what they’re doing. I always give them the shout-out. Defense wins football games. I really believe that because the defense are the ones who can really hold it down and make sure the offensive side doesn’t score. Our defense is doing really great. Darius [Muasau] really keeps that defense together. Coach [D’Anton] Lynn is doing one hell of a job. I really appreciate him for sure.”
on the level of play increasing during conference season
“The Pac-12 Conference, everybody’s good. We just played the 13th ranked team. These last games, especially Utah, these environments, these conference teams, these quarterback … I’m just watching them keep making these plays and just learning from the things they’re doing. This conference is for sure a competitive conference. Coach Kelly is getting us ready for each week, and bettering ourselves is for sure one thing we’re going to keep doing. This conference is difficult.”
on the connection with Carsen Ryan
“With Carsen Ryan, just him and our tight ends, the way they block and catch passes. The way that he communicates, he’s for sure the person that if we keep calling run plays, he’s going to put the hard work in. The hard work you put in is for sure going to be rewarded. He can fake run block, pop open and catch these passes.”
UCLA defensive lineman Carl Jones, Jr.
on the Bruin defensive game plan
“Cam Ward, everyone knows he is a good, top five quarterback. Our game plan was literally to get after him, let our front seven go. I was the spy this week, so my job was to make sure I had Cam Ward in front. Within that, my boys […] were able to get loose in our three-man rush and I could just protect them. For the most part, we did our job. He got frustrated a lot, and we came out with the victory.”
UCLA running back Carson Steele
on quarterback Dante Moore bouncing back
“Everybody makes mistakes, offense made mistakes but we have this mindset, ‘So what, now what.’ Being a kid that’s 18 years old, he makes a lot less mistakes than people think he’s going to make. But being able to have him come back out there and throw the touchdown that he did, it just helps the team win.”
on senior running back Keegan Jones
“Having Keegan being able to go back and forth … being able to run the offense from a wide receiver position and a running back, it’s hard enough for me to remember all the plays. I couldn’t imagine him trying to remember all the wide receiver positions and stuff. Him being able to come in and execute, it’s how we win games.”
Washington State head coach Jake Dickert
opening remarks
“I just want to start out by giving credit to UCLA. We knew coming into this game it was going to be a real challenge, obviously playing the elements, playing the heat, and it was just a gritty game out there. I thought their front seven controlled us and kept us off balance. We really couldn’t catch a rhythm on offense. I think defense made just enough plays to keep us in it, but we ended up falling short, and that’s accredit to them. We win as a team, we lose as a team, that’s what hurts. But I know our guys left it all out there and I’m proud of them.”
on what UCLA’s defense gave them the most trouble
“I think it was everything. It wasn’t just the top front 7. I mean they just had waves of these guys coming in at you. I mean their creatures, and I don’t say that in a bad way, these (guys) are big, long, they can rush the passer, they have aggressive schemes, and they kept us off balance and we couldn’t offset it enough to stay ahead of the change and when you know you got a pass, I thought that's when they pinned your ears back. Credit to them. I just talked to Cameron (Ward) about this and you can’t get out of every sack. You can’t make every big play or with some tough seven in there. He’ll own that he can probably do a lot of things with the ball out, but credit to UCLA and their defense.”
on what was the thinking behind the quarterback keeper on fourth down
“You know, we called the timeout and we said best play. We thought we could get them enough balance to where they were normally pretty basic defense, and they stayed their pressure situation, and they won that play.”
on the interception by Washington State just before halftime
“It’s one of those plays that kind of gave us a spark, and I mean, I feel like we played offensively our worst half of football. We took a lead into the half, gave a little bit of juice and momentum to know that we come out there and get the first stop out of the half. I thought it was a huge play and really kept us in it, even though we weren’t moving the football.”
on WSU’s defensive strategy against UCLA quarterback Dante Moore
“For the most part, I thought we came in and we wanted to affect him a little bit. He's a hell of a player. I mean, he’s just a few games into his career and you see the talent. They hit us on a couple key things, and I think we defend them well for the most part. But I think they're just kids scratching the surface.”
Washington State quarterback Cam Ward
on his first two interceptions of the season
“Just bad decisions, I would say. Not necessarily on the first one. The second one was all on me and my decision, so I take that on the chest. So those were two reasons, for sure, why we didn’t win this game.”
on having a chance to tie the game
“Play one play at a time, to be honest. Our defense normally does the job. We have one of the best defenses in the Pac-12 and country, for sure. They’re always going to put us in a situation to win, we just didn’t help them out us much as we needed to today. We’ll go back to the lab.”
on heading into the locker room with the lead after the defense’s pick six
“It gave us a big lift. … [The offense] wasn’t playing well at the time. We can depend on our defense making the big time stop for us, getting the pick six. It got us more energized and ready to get out for the third quarter. Anytime as an offense you have four turnovers, you’re not going to put yourself in a situation to win.”
on balancing his ability to scramble with throwing the ball
“You have to take what the defense gives you. I’ve done that a lot this season. I didn’t put the offense in the best situation to be successful today. I didn’t help the o-line out at all. I didn’t help the receivers put the ball in their hands to make them make plays. You’ll see a different quarterback from this point forward. You’ll see a different offense from this point forward. Going back Monday to watch the film. We’re going to take this one on the chin.”
on how he mentally approaches moving forward after the loss
“Really, just flush it. Especially in a loss like this where you didn’t play to the potential that you set for yourself and your team. We’re going to give our defense all the praise. They put us in a situation to win the game. Me not getting that fourth down conversion, I feel like that was the tale of the game. I had a couple protections that I missed.”
on how UCLA’s defense compares to previous teams they’ve faced
“They’re for sure the best defense we’ve faced so far this year. The thing about them is their d-line and linebackers. They have one of the best front sevens in the country.”
Washington State defensive back Kapena Gushiken
on his interception and return for a touchdown at the end of the second quarter
“I really just got the blitz call. So originally, I was supposed to be blitzing off the edge and came in untouched and all I see is the quarterback, eyeing the flat. So I jumped and he threw it straight to me, and I just took off.”
on how that second-quarter pick six helped to energize his team
“I think it helped our offense realize we have a chance. It gave them some momentum coming out.”
on how much time the defense spent on the field
“Yeah, definitely. Every time we get put in those situations as a defense, we push hard to overcome adversity.”
on how the defense mentally handles the offense’s turnovers
“We just talk to each other and make sure we are focusing on the things we can control. We wanted to take it into our own hands if the offense couldn’t help us out. We’re trying to help them out.”
UCLA 25, Washington State 17
Pasadena, Calif. (Rose Bowl)
October 7, 2023
UCLA head coach Chip Kelly
on the Bruins’ defense against Washington State
“I think Cam Ward is one of the really special quarterbacks. I think that he was 19 of 39 and he hadn’t thrown a pick on the season. To pick them twice, we knew that was going to be a challenge. But I think it was both – the coverage on the back end and that was a question earlier in the week with how those guys would hold up, and then the pressure that our front provided and our linebackers provided. There were a bunch of them. That was the cool part about today that there were so many guys that contributed, specifically on that side. And it was impressive to see. You know, they play hard and for each other, and that was really impressive. I think that was really the story, in terms of shutting them down. I think that it was a total team defense that shut them down.
on UCLA defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s role in the win
“They did an outstanding job – that whole group, I think our entire defensive staff led by him, they did an unbelievable job. That was against the number two-ranked passing offense in the country. To hold them to that and not really allow them to rush it was outstanding. And really, we gave them one score on the offensive side of the ball. The whole coaching staff and players were outstanding on defense.”
on Keegan Jones and what led to his usage at the running back position today
“Just a package, I think that he had a carry earlier in the year though, you might want to check on that. He’s versatile. He can do a couple different things. We threw out of it and there was a pass we had missed to Carsen [Ryan]. We missed him and they did a review with it. But then we came back with a couple runs and felt like we had something there. That’s Keegan, and he’s got some versatility. He had a pretty good kickoff return, also. They had kicked it away from our one returner and kicked it to the other side and he did a really good job getting it up the field. Again, there were a lot of guys who contributed on the offensive side of the ball. I think our tight ends, I thought that Mo [Moliki Matavao] was huge, and Carson Steele was really big for us today. In a game like this against a really good football team, that’s the 13th-ranked team in the country, it took everybody.
on UCLA’s tight ends to combine for six catches
“It all helps. I think that we got contributions from our wideouts. I thought that J.Mike did some really nice things today. Obviously, Logan did some really good things today, and then when you’ve got the tight ends contributing the way that they’re contributing and then you have the backs between T.J. and Carson, and then Colson and Keegan did some nice things in there – I think that it was a really good team victory.”
on UCLA’s offense navigating some issues in the red zone and a pair of pass plays ruled incomplete
“Yeah, we are not allowed to comment on that stuff. So I can’t comment on that, unfortunately. I’d love to, but I can’t. We knew that they were a good football team, coming in, and we knew that it was not going to be an easy deal. Jake [Dickert] is a defensive guy, and that is a very well-coached defense. We knew that we’d have a challenge. We did not think that we’d come in here and blow them out of the stadium. We moved the ball, but at times we hurt ourselves, offensively. But we will continue to grow and get better.”
on the composure of this team
“We talk about that kind of stuff all the time. I think that in games, three things happen – momentum swings, adversity and just random acts. The key to the whole thing is if you are a competitor, you’ll respond to it. And if you are a non-competitor, you will react to it. I think we found out what we’ve known all along, that we have a bunch of competitors, and they responded. We knew that was going to be a good football team. We knew that wasn’t going to be a game where it would be over at the end of the first half. We were just going to have to keep banging away and fortunately we did. I think that we ran, I don’t know, 97 plays – what was the final tally for plays on offense? How many? Yeah, we were trying to match the temperature. It was 97, we were going to run 97. Unfortunately, our guys followed that because when we played Coastal [Carolina], it was 60 degrees out and we only ran 60 plays, so we’ve got to try and get that formula changed, especially when we go to Corvallis because I don’t think that it’s going to be 90 in Corvallis next Saturday.”
on how he helps get Dante Moore poised after a pick-six in the second half
“Yeah, you don’t get Dante poised – he’s poised to begin with. I think he’s got a really good view of things. He understands that if he makes a mistake, we just talk about – you win and you learn, so if it doesn’t go the way you want it, what was the reason that it didn’t go you wanted? He doesn’t make many mistakes twice. The only issue is that he hasn’t had a lot of snaps. You know, he’s a true freshman, so there’s some on-the-job training there, and we will learn from that, but he’s an amazing kid to coach because he wants to be coached. He will go back in, and I’m sure he’ll watch the game tonight. He’ll make adjustments. We will meet with him tomorrow, because we’re back on Sunday. But with that poise, you don’t have to get him to be poised because he’s poised before he got here.”
on the team’s stout defense against Utah and that UCLA could perform well against Washington State
“We just talk about the process, and I’m really proud of them. But I think that they have played really well in every game that we’ve played. I thought that they played really well on defense against Coastal Carolina. We had two huge picks for us in the second half in that game. I thought they played really well on defense against San Diego State. Obviously, in that North Carolina Central game, they scored late against, really, our young kids in the game. I thought they played good there and played good against Utah and then played good again this week. We are not comparing or contrasting. I understand the question. You have to write stories, but we aren’t writing a story. We are just trying to get better every day. We are part of the process. But there are a bunch of guys, the cool part for us that we see getting better, and it’s like, ‘Wow,’ that kid is getting better and better and better. We are an ascending team. We are working on that. So we will pick our head up in December and figure out where we are with this whole thing. But our mindset is we played a lot of snaps today. Our guys have to rest up, and we’ll make sure that we are ready for tomorrow, because we have another really good team that is a ranked team in Oregon State and Jonathan does a really good job. This game two weeks ago was 38-35 between Oregon State and Washington State, and it was a heck of a football game. I anticipate that next week will be a heck of a football game, too.”
on trying to adjust to help Dante Moore with some rollouts or quick passes
“No. No. Again, everything that we do is based upon what the defense does. So you could say, ‘Hey man, we’ve got to roll out.’ Well if they’ve got six guys blitzing off the outside on the right, rolling out into that is not a great play. So they ran a lot of internal pressures. They got us early in the game with some internal pressure. We had it in our game plan that we had to get the ball on the perimeter, so it’s really based upon what the defense is doing and what we determine during the week that they’re going to do, based off the games that they’ve played. Going into this game, our game plan was to move the pocket a little bit and get him to move. They’re really stout and they can do a lot of things inside, so that was kind of part of the game plan.”
on UCLA’s pass defense
“Yeah, that was a question that Ben asked earlier in the week, with how the back end would hold up. I don’t think anybody knew, but I thought they held up pretty good. And I’ve talked to those guys in the locker room, but that whole back end, there weren’t a whole lot of guys running clean through things. I think that whole group, the group of safeties that play and the group of corners that played did a really, really good job. That is where we’re playing really good defense. It’s not just the front, but the back end can hold up too. There were some times where Cam kept some plays around for a long time, and he just kept on scrambling. He’s such a difficult player, and he always scrambles to throw. He’s not really scrambling to run. So that means you have to stay in coverage for a really long time. And if he is continuing to run around and scramble, that means our guys are doing a good job on the back end. I was really happy for them.”
on Carson Steele and how each of UCLA’s running backs can step into that role
“That kid is as beast. We do have some depth and I think that’s a strength of our team. I think that’s a really good point, that we do have depth there. You watch and you start to get rolling and running through tackles, and if I’m a defense coach, I don’t know what to do because we schemed it up and we have an unblocked guy that should make the tackle for a gain of three, and then he runs through the guy. Even that last play, we had to get one first down to finish the game. And on the first play, he just ran through like three guys and kept going. He’s a downhill, physical football player. But the fact that TJ [Harden] can play and Anthony Adkins can play and Keegan [Jones] can play and Colson [Yankoff] can play, that depth will be tested at some point in the year. But knock on wood, we have been extremely healthy as a team. A lot of that is from our strength and conditioning program and what we do. But we know that we’re going to get tested, and the fact that we have some depth there is a real big positive for us.”
UCLA defensive back Alex Johnson
on the defense forcing turnovers
“It starts with our effort, it starts with the guys up front – Carl [Jones, Jr.] leading that group, hunting after the quarterback and making life uncomfortable for him, and everybody else doing their 1/11th and doing their job. Things fall into place.”
on UCLA’s adjustments to stop rushing quarterbacks
“Secondary-wise, there’s been a bigger emphasis on plastering routes when the play breaks down. I mean, the Pac-12 is riddled with athletic quarterbacks who can extend plays, get loose, so having that bigger emphasis just makes our job a lot easier. We’re also just prepared to – maybe the play goes for 16 seconds, not four, so we’re always ready for whatever offenses bring to us.”
on what UCLA defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn has brought
“Coach Lynn, he just brings a whole new energy to this team, to this defense. He also lets us be free within our positions, within our groups. We’re always able to ask questions or give feedback, give comments, so that open communication has allowed us to play more freely – I think that’s been showing on Sundays. And then also just creating a bond as a defense, being a family. Every time 11 guys go out there, you can tell that those guys are playing for each other. That’s their brother, they’ll lay down their life if they have to for their teammate, and that’s been huge for us.”
UCLA quarterback Dante Moore
on getting the victory
“It’s always great to have a team win. Throughout the game there can be many plays that can cause adversity to happen, but at the end of the day, as long as the team wins we’re for sure going to feel the most happy. There are a lot of mistakes that we have to correct for sure, but just getting the team win is the biggest thing. That team is a really good football team, from just watching film and especially, quarterback to quarterback, the way that Cam [Cameron Ward] was really in the pocket, how he makes plays. Our great defense held it down. The offense, we’ve got to keep getting better. Personally, with myself, I have to keep getting better. But a team win is a great thing.”
on throwing a pick-six at the end of the first half
“Every time you get down in the red zone, especially being that close, at least you want to score some points. But truthfully, on that play, Number 4, who caught the pick, he was like a flying squirrel. He jumped in the air, wings out. I threw the ball, and he picked it. For me, one thing I’m learning for sure, and one thing I did see from that, is sometimes it’s move or do my sidearm angles and get the ball to the running back because he was open. But with football, especially at the collegiate level - and I’m still learning - everybody is good. If you keep making mistakes, a lot of people are going to capitalize off your mistakes, and that’s when teams start to win. In the red zone you have to score.”
on how much confidence the defense gives the offense
“When you have one hell of a defense that just does things like that – it can be turnovers, fumbles, picks, pressure on the quarterback – on the sideline you’re like alright we’re going to get the ball back. As a quarterback especially, you’ve got to score every time you’ve got the ball. Of course you can’t score every try, but the defense just keeps doing what they’re doing. I always give them the shout-out. Defense wins football games. I really believe that because the defense are the ones who can really hold it down and make sure the offensive side doesn’t score. Our defense is doing really great. Darius [Muasau] really keeps that defense together. Coach [D’Anton] Lynn is doing one hell of a job. I really appreciate him for sure.”
on the level of play increasing during conference season
“The Pac-12 Conference, everybody’s good. We just played the 13th ranked team. These last games, especially Utah, these environments, these conference teams, these quarterback … I’m just watching them keep making these plays and just learning from the things they’re doing. This conference is for sure a competitive conference. Coach Kelly is getting us ready for each week, and bettering ourselves is for sure one thing we’re going to keep doing. This conference is difficult.”
on the connection with Carsen Ryan
“With Carsen Ryan, just him and our tight ends, the way they block and catch passes. The way that he communicates, he’s for sure the person that if we keep calling run plays, he’s going to put the hard work in. The hard work you put in is for sure going to be rewarded. He can fake run block, pop open and catch these passes.”
UCLA defensive lineman Carl Jones, Jr.
on the Bruin defensive game plan
“Cam Ward, everyone knows he is a good, top five quarterback. Our game plan was literally to get after him, let our front seven go. I was the spy this week, so my job was to make sure I had Cam Ward in front. Within that, my boys […] were able to get loose in our three-man rush and I could just protect them. For the most part, we did our job. He got frustrated a lot, and we came out with the victory.”
UCLA running back Carson Steele
on quarterback Dante Moore bouncing back
“Everybody makes mistakes, offense made mistakes but we have this mindset, ‘So what, now what.’ Being a kid that’s 18 years old, he makes a lot less mistakes than people think he’s going to make. But being able to have him come back out there and throw the touchdown that he did, it just helps the team win.”
on senior running back Keegan Jones
“Having Keegan being able to go back and forth … being able to run the offense from a wide receiver position and a running back, it’s hard enough for me to remember all the plays. I couldn’t imagine him trying to remember all the wide receiver positions and stuff. Him being able to come in and execute, it’s how we win games.”
Washington State head coach Jake Dickert
opening remarks
“I just want to start out by giving credit to UCLA. We knew coming into this game it was going to be a real challenge, obviously playing the elements, playing the heat, and it was just a gritty game out there. I thought their front seven controlled us and kept us off balance. We really couldn’t catch a rhythm on offense. I think defense made just enough plays to keep us in it, but we ended up falling short, and that’s accredit to them. We win as a team, we lose as a team, that’s what hurts. But I know our guys left it all out there and I’m proud of them.”
on what UCLA’s defense gave them the most trouble
“I think it was everything. It wasn’t just the top front 7. I mean they just had waves of these guys coming in at you. I mean their creatures, and I don’t say that in a bad way, these (guys) are big, long, they can rush the passer, they have aggressive schemes, and they kept us off balance and we couldn’t offset it enough to stay ahead of the change and when you know you got a pass, I thought that's when they pinned your ears back. Credit to them. I just talked to Cameron (Ward) about this and you can’t get out of every sack. You can’t make every big play or with some tough seven in there. He’ll own that he can probably do a lot of things with the ball out, but credit to UCLA and their defense.”
on what was the thinking behind the quarterback keeper on fourth down
“You know, we called the timeout and we said best play. We thought we could get them enough balance to where they were normally pretty basic defense, and they stayed their pressure situation, and they won that play.”
on the interception by Washington State just before halftime
“It’s one of those plays that kind of gave us a spark, and I mean, I feel like we played offensively our worst half of football. We took a lead into the half, gave a little bit of juice and momentum to know that we come out there and get the first stop out of the half. I thought it was a huge play and really kept us in it, even though we weren’t moving the football.”
on WSU’s defensive strategy against UCLA quarterback Dante Moore
“For the most part, I thought we came in and we wanted to affect him a little bit. He's a hell of a player. I mean, he’s just a few games into his career and you see the talent. They hit us on a couple key things, and I think we defend them well for the most part. But I think they're just kids scratching the surface.”
Washington State quarterback Cam Ward
on his first two interceptions of the season
“Just bad decisions, I would say. Not necessarily on the first one. The second one was all on me and my decision, so I take that on the chest. So those were two reasons, for sure, why we didn’t win this game.”
on having a chance to tie the game
“Play one play at a time, to be honest. Our defense normally does the job. We have one of the best defenses in the Pac-12 and country, for sure. They’re always going to put us in a situation to win, we just didn’t help them out us much as we needed to today. We’ll go back to the lab.”
on heading into the locker room with the lead after the defense’s pick six
“It gave us a big lift. … [The offense] wasn’t playing well at the time. We can depend on our defense making the big time stop for us, getting the pick six. It got us more energized and ready to get out for the third quarter. Anytime as an offense you have four turnovers, you’re not going to put yourself in a situation to win.”
on balancing his ability to scramble with throwing the ball
“You have to take what the defense gives you. I’ve done that a lot this season. I didn’t put the offense in the best situation to be successful today. I didn’t help the o-line out at all. I didn’t help the receivers put the ball in their hands to make them make plays. You’ll see a different quarterback from this point forward. You’ll see a different offense from this point forward. Going back Monday to watch the film. We’re going to take this one on the chin.”
on how he mentally approaches moving forward after the loss
“Really, just flush it. Especially in a loss like this where you didn’t play to the potential that you set for yourself and your team. We’re going to give our defense all the praise. They put us in a situation to win the game. Me not getting that fourth down conversion, I feel like that was the tale of the game. I had a couple protections that I missed.”
on how UCLA’s defense compares to previous teams they’ve faced
“They’re for sure the best defense we’ve faced so far this year. The thing about them is their d-line and linebackers. They have one of the best front sevens in the country.”
Washington State defensive back Kapena Gushiken
on his interception and return for a touchdown at the end of the second quarter
“I really just got the blitz call. So originally, I was supposed to be blitzing off the edge and came in untouched and all I see is the quarterback, eyeing the flat. So I jumped and he threw it straight to me, and I just took off.”
on how that second-quarter pick six helped to energize his team
“I think it helped our offense realize we have a chance. It gave them some momentum coming out.”
on how much time the defense spent on the field
“Yeah, definitely. Every time we get put in those situations as a defense, we push hard to overcome adversity.”
on how the defense mentally handles the offense’s turnovers
“We just talk to each other and make sure we are focusing on the things we can control. We wanted to take it into our own hands if the offense couldn’t help us out. We’re trying to help them out.”