Postgame Quotes – UCLA vs. California
California 33, UCLA 7
Pasadena, Calif. (Rose Bowl)
November 25, 2023
UCLA head coach Chip Kelly
on how much of a challenge it is to lose quarterback Ethan Garbers to an injury
“Ethan is a really, really good football player and a tremendous competitor. I thought on the first drive we moved the ball really well, and then when Garbs went down, we’ve got to move on. That’s football. You cannot make an excuse because we lost a player. It’s just the way the game goes sometimes, and you have to have next-man-up mentality. That is what we’ve done. We lost some players at other positions tonight, and the other guys have to got to go in the game.”
on if he considered making a switch away from quarterback Dante Moore when UCLA was trailing
“Yeah, I thought of a lot of things. But we didn’t do it. I just didn’t think it was the right thing to do.”
on what he says to fans who are frustrated with another loss and what’s perceived as a tough season
“It was a tough season. I think we’ve got one more opportunity, as I told the players in the locker room, they’ve got one more opportunity to get this taste out of their mouths. We do not know when we are going to play or where we’re going to play [in a bowl game]. We’ll find that out a week from tomorrow. But this group’s got one more chance to send our seniors out the right way. And we knew going into this we had one more bowl game, but that wasn’t out plan. Our plan was to do it tonight. We didn’t. Give Cal credit. They did a really good job tonight. But it has been a tough season. We have one more chance to show what we can do.”
on a snowball of errors, including special teams and struggles in short-yardage situations
“Yeah, we obviously didn’t – special teams tonight had a kickoff return for a touchdown. We fumbled a kickoff. They had a good hit, but we’ve got to hold onto the football. From a special teams standpoint and an offensive standpoint, again, we moved the ball but we didn’t convert that into points. I think that we wasted a really good effort from our defense.”
on an update on quarterback Ethan Garbers
“I don’t have any. I just know that he was unavailable and was not dressed for the second half. I don’t have any updates.”
on how he felt the team competed on defense
“Again, I thought that those guys competed and played hard, snap in and snap out. There’s a veteran leadership over there with Darius and Latu and that group. I thought that they did some really good things. We put them in some situations, offensively turning the ball over, that was not advantageous to them and we have to play three phases to win a football game. We can’t play one phase and not be great at the other two. That’s what happened tonight.”
on UCLA’s defense surrendering 124 rushing yards
“I think that we left him [running back Jaydn Ott] on the field too much. I thought our guys, again, our defense played well. But we can’t leave him out there for as long as we did. That’s what happens when you turn the ball over.”
on how special of a player Laiatu Latu is
“He’s truly a special player that can do so many things. You saw the interception that he made today, I think that it’s his second of the year. He had one earlier in the year against North Carolina Central. He can drop into coverage. He can obviously rush the passer. He’s very tough to block at the point of attack. He’s got an amazing skillset. He’s going to play football on Sundays, moving forward, and to see where he came from because of the injury, having to sit out, and having football taken away from him – to see how hard he’s worked to come back, and put himself in a situation where he is. I know that he’s a finalist for the Lombardi Award and the Lott Award and things like that. It’s very well deserved. He is truly a special player and I hope he gets a shot at winning it.”
on support from the athletics administration
“I don’t worry about that. I don’t worry about the dynamic. I know that this team has gone 24-13 in the last three years, and they’ve competed every single day. I am proud of every single kid in that locker room, and I think they represent this school the right way. We understand where we are. We understand that we have to win games. I get that and that’s part of the deal. But I don’t think about those things. I don’t worry about those things. That has never been my M.O.”
on how he evaluates the job he did this season
“We didn’t do what we needed to do. It’s disappointing. Because in phases, we have played really well. But we’ve got to put it together. And in five games, we didn’t put it together.”
on going one for five in the red zone, and UCLA’s struggles there
“Today, we weren’t good in the red zone. If there was one thing [to fix], it would be easy. But it’s different every single time … sometimes it’s a protections issue, sometimes it’s a route, the quarterback isn’t putting the ball where it needs to be put – it’s a combination of things. And to be in rhythm is what we really need to do a better job of, offensively. We were in rhythm last week, offensively, and did a really good job. This week, we weren’t in a rhythm in the red zone, and that is the reason that we weren’t successful in the red zone.”
on how he prepares for an upcoming bowl game and keeps the team focused
“Yeah, they’re going to get a little time off. It’s been a long season. We have played 12 games. They’ll get some time off this week. We will get together toward the end of the week. We’ll get back out on the field, and then we won’t find out again until next Sunday about where we are going or when we’re playing. But we have schedules built out, based upon what game it is. We know the dates of those games. And then we also have to factor in finals, so those are coming up.”
UCLA freshman quarterback Dante Moore
on if he felt the game snowballing away as he was trying to lead a comeback
“First thing is first. Prayers up to Ethan [Garbers]. I know he got hurt. That’s something as an athlete we hate and pray for every day that doesn’t happen to our bodies. Of course, as a quarterback, when you get hit whether it’s a sack or anywhere on the field, you’re always going to look up at the sidelines to see if you’re O.K. or not. When he got up slow and saw his arm was like that they were going to call my name and I was going to come in. At the beginning of the season I played and took a lot of snaps in college football. Of course, I’m learning still. A lot of things to learn from. When my chance got called and I had to go out there and make my opportunities. I made my mistakes. These are all learning points in my life.”
on how difficult it is to be called in off the bench
“All my life I’ve never not taken the first snap of a football game. Little League, high school – I always took the first snap. … You got to get your rhythm going. Of course, I hadn’t played since the Oregon State game [and got] that amount of reps. I still had to go in and do what I have to do and complete the passes and not make the mistakes I made in the past. There’s a lot of things that as a quarterback you got to get yourself back in rhythm. It’s been a while. ... It’s me just far from home and doing these type of things can be tough sometimes. I’ve got coaches I can lean back on. At the end of the day, I’m just blessed to be where I’m at right now.”
on the biggest thing he’s learned about himself as a person and quarterback this year
“Something I stand on is that God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers. I know as of right now I’m going through a storm. Right now I’m going through a tough battle. I know my faith and believe in the man upstairs and God and really my faith. A storm is going on, but at the end of the day I’m going to get through it. Things aren’t going my way. It kind of reminds me of my freshman year of high school. I had a lot of mistakes. I had a lot of picks, actually. My picks went down, lower and lower and lower, because I just learned the speed coming from Little League to high school, and of course going through the same thing in college. I just have to adapt and adjust to things, but really my faith and belief in God and understanding that he’s always going to be in my corner at all times in life. I understand that if nobody is with me, he his.”
on areas he feels like he needs to grow in during the offseason
“Some areas I know I need to grow in is adjusting to the speed of the game and how athletes move. Just look at Alex Johnson here. He’s running 22 miles per hour around the field. There’s many athletes like that. At practice they challenge me to make sure I’m getting better every day. In college football everybody is fast. Everybody is strong. D-ends runs 4.3 or 4.4’s. More of it is just adjusting to the speed of the game and getting the ball out faster. More arm angles or just getting the ball out. And the best way I can protect the football. That’s probably the biggest thing.”
on blocking out early miscues
“If you look at the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. [Tom] Brady and, a person I’m close with, being [Patrick] Mahomes, they’ve all been through mistakes and issues they’ve had to fix. That could be turning the ball over. Quarterbacks don’t want it to happen, but that’s football. As a quarterback, when things happen, sometimes they could be phenomenal plays. A linebacker might run and jump up and catch the pick or get tipped like it did today and dive for the pick. Things happen that you can’t control.”
UCLA redshirt senior defensive back Alex Johnson
on what he says to the younger guys after a loss and have to prepare for another game
“It’s hard, especially after a loss like that. It’s tough. One thing that this guy to my right has taught me [points to Dante Moore] that I have learned over this season is this guy just bounces back, and that’s what we have to do as a team. No matter what obstacles are thrown at us and what challenges we have to overcome, we just band together as brothers and rely on that friendship and brotherhood and bounce back as a team and unit.”
on his last game at the Rose Bowl and the disappointment of tonight’s loss
“Even with the way things went, I honestly wouldn’t take away anything that happened. Going out to play that game with my brothers, with Dante, it’s always a blessing. It’s special for me looking at where I’ve come from personally to where I am now. I tried to not get too emotional about it, but obviously it was a big thing and it’s something I’ll always cherish with me no matter the outcome. Just being able to be out on the field cheering my guys on, being excited, it was one for the memories.”
California head coach Justin Wilcox
on being on the right side of every play tonight
“You got to make your own breaks. It feels good to answer your question. It feels much better than the alternative.”
on if he has seen his team play this dominant in all three phases of the game
“What I do know is these guys played with guts and they competed, and I just got so much respect for the guys in that locker room, the players and the coaches, finishing the season the way we have. You have a lot of pride in seeing those guys enjoy that moment, because they put so much into it. It was a month ago it was tough sledding. There wasn’t a lot of positivity around the program. Really, really proud of everyone in there.”
on how he was able to turn around the season
“I think it just speaks to the character of the guys in the room. The players, first and foremost, because in times like that where things aren’t going well after coming off a bad loss, it’s human nature for a lot of folks to seek shelter in the storm. I didn’t see anybody doing that. They came in and we met and we did walkthroughs and the intensity, mental intensity was there. The physical intensity was there. We continued to coach them and hold them accountable and work on the things we felt like we needed to improve in order to win. They took that. It wasn’t finger pointing. It wasn’t ‘Woe is me.’ The guys just played through it. It’s simple in concept, but it’s pretty hard to do sometimes. That’s why I’ve got some much respect for all those guys just because they didn’t seek shelter. They looked in the mirror, each and every one of them, and said what do I got to do to help us win. We found a way to do that to finish the season.”
on California being the last team to win a Pac-12 regular-season game
“I think this should fall into that category of the meeting we’re going to have after the season where we can talk to the end of the Pac-12 for now. I didn’t pick the time of the game. I would have been fine if we kicked off at 10, 11, noon or 3, whatever. They put it at 7:30, and we’re glad to play at 7:30 as well. Maybe someday, I can put a little more thought into answering that.”
on Jaydn Ott’s kickoff return
“We know that he’s an explosive player. He’s shown that. And in a game like this, where we thought there would be fewer possessions potentially and the strength of their run defense and some of the style of play, we just wanted to find different ways to get him the ball. That’s a good start and he’s an explosive guy. Give a lot of credit to our special teams staff as well getting that thing schemed up. You have to believe in it and get your block and get them covered up. When you got a guy back there that can do that – the grease board carrying over into the field is pretty good.”
California freshman linebacker Cade Uluave
on his big game
“First off I want to say I’m blessed. I’m blessed to be given the opportunity that I have. Like I’ve said in the past when your name is called you just have to go ball. That’s what I’ve been trying to do. Like you said I was day-to-day this week, but with this week being a holiday I pretty much had the week off. So, instead of class we were in the film room and everyone was watching film and it paid off. It’s been a blessing and I’m fortunate to be here.”
on choosing Cal over UCLA
“For sure, for sure. It shows. We beat them and it shows this is where I want to be and where I want to play and I made the right decision.”
on the fourth and one stop
“That was a play that we practiced all week. They came out with that three running back set and we knew the plays they ran out of it. I instantly saw the offensive line move fast, I hit the gap, ended up right there and made the play. For me that’s coaching. That’s on the coaches for putting us in the right position to make the right play.”
on earning a three-game win streak and becoming bowl eligible
“We had to believe. We had to be persistent, and we knew it was not going to be easy getting those three wins. But we knew it was possible. Coach Wilcox really hits on that. After the loss at Oregon in the locker room after that day he said we’re going to bounce back, get these three wins, and we’re going to go to a bowl game. That’s what he said the entire time and we believed him. We trust him and it’s worked out for us.”
on playing in the final regular season Pac-12 game:
“I watched Pac-12 after dark since I was a kid. Growing up for years and years and years. Those were some of the most fun games I’ve watched and I never would have thought that one day I would be playing in it, and playing in the last one. I’m really fortunate, really blessed to be here. There’s no better way to go out than with a win. It was an awesome experience, a team win, and couldn’t do it without everybody.”
California redshirt senior linebacker David Reese
on what this game means to you
“We work hard throughout the week, every day, day in and day out. I just keep believing. Every day I try to do the best I can and do what I have to do in order to help the team win.”
on forcing the Dante Moore fumble
“It felt good, honestly. I didn’t know he was a five star [recruit]. It felt good. We got points out of that drive right before halftime, and that gave us a bigger lead. Just being able to make plays and do whatever it takes to help the team win is always exciting.”
on what it means to have such a defining moment as a senior
“That moment was exciting. If anyone knows my history you know that I’ve battled with injuries a lot in the earlier part of my career. If just being able to persevere and keep believing can help inspire someone or somebody on the team, that’s what I’m here for. At the end of the day if we come out with a win that’s all that matters.”
on earning a three-game win streak and getting bowl eligible
“I feel like when you play the game, that is what it’s about. We grind 12 months a year and it’s not always guaranteed, you don’t always get the outcome you want. At the end of the day you are either going to turn around and walk away or walk towards the fight… We all just hunkered down and believed, I feel like that is the biggest thing. Everyone believed, everyone bought in. It was like one game at a time, I feel like that’s been our mindset these past few weeks. ”
on the Cal fans showing up
“I’m just glad they didn’t waste their gas. It was UCLA’s senior night, and I would have hated if they had come on senior night and we lost. We got to come out and perform for them and get a win for Bear nation. I feel like it was a win-win.”
on playing in the final regular season Pac-12 game
“I’m from the east coast, so it was already legendary getting to play in the Rose Bowl … This is a game that will be talked about for a long time to come because it was one of the last games. I’m just grateful to be a part of history. ”
on what the locker room was like after the game
“A little bit of excitement, some water spraying. We always do the chant after we win the game. We’ve come a long way as a team, coaches, players, staff, everyone put their head down each week, nobody gave up. We are grateful for each win, so to be able to celebrate this win is a blessing.”
Pasadena, Calif. (Rose Bowl)
November 25, 2023
UCLA head coach Chip Kelly
on how much of a challenge it is to lose quarterback Ethan Garbers to an injury
“Ethan is a really, really good football player and a tremendous competitor. I thought on the first drive we moved the ball really well, and then when Garbs went down, we’ve got to move on. That’s football. You cannot make an excuse because we lost a player. It’s just the way the game goes sometimes, and you have to have next-man-up mentality. That is what we’ve done. We lost some players at other positions tonight, and the other guys have to got to go in the game.”
on if he considered making a switch away from quarterback Dante Moore when UCLA was trailing
“Yeah, I thought of a lot of things. But we didn’t do it. I just didn’t think it was the right thing to do.”
on what he says to fans who are frustrated with another loss and what’s perceived as a tough season
“It was a tough season. I think we’ve got one more opportunity, as I told the players in the locker room, they’ve got one more opportunity to get this taste out of their mouths. We do not know when we are going to play or where we’re going to play [in a bowl game]. We’ll find that out a week from tomorrow. But this group’s got one more chance to send our seniors out the right way. And we knew going into this we had one more bowl game, but that wasn’t out plan. Our plan was to do it tonight. We didn’t. Give Cal credit. They did a really good job tonight. But it has been a tough season. We have one more chance to show what we can do.”
on a snowball of errors, including special teams and struggles in short-yardage situations
“Yeah, we obviously didn’t – special teams tonight had a kickoff return for a touchdown. We fumbled a kickoff. They had a good hit, but we’ve got to hold onto the football. From a special teams standpoint and an offensive standpoint, again, we moved the ball but we didn’t convert that into points. I think that we wasted a really good effort from our defense.”
on an update on quarterback Ethan Garbers
“I don’t have any. I just know that he was unavailable and was not dressed for the second half. I don’t have any updates.”
on how he felt the team competed on defense
“Again, I thought that those guys competed and played hard, snap in and snap out. There’s a veteran leadership over there with Darius and Latu and that group. I thought that they did some really good things. We put them in some situations, offensively turning the ball over, that was not advantageous to them and we have to play three phases to win a football game. We can’t play one phase and not be great at the other two. That’s what happened tonight.”
on UCLA’s defense surrendering 124 rushing yards
“I think that we left him [running back Jaydn Ott] on the field too much. I thought our guys, again, our defense played well. But we can’t leave him out there for as long as we did. That’s what happens when you turn the ball over.”
on how special of a player Laiatu Latu is
“He’s truly a special player that can do so many things. You saw the interception that he made today, I think that it’s his second of the year. He had one earlier in the year against North Carolina Central. He can drop into coverage. He can obviously rush the passer. He’s very tough to block at the point of attack. He’s got an amazing skillset. He’s going to play football on Sundays, moving forward, and to see where he came from because of the injury, having to sit out, and having football taken away from him – to see how hard he’s worked to come back, and put himself in a situation where he is. I know that he’s a finalist for the Lombardi Award and the Lott Award and things like that. It’s very well deserved. He is truly a special player and I hope he gets a shot at winning it.”
on support from the athletics administration
“I don’t worry about that. I don’t worry about the dynamic. I know that this team has gone 24-13 in the last three years, and they’ve competed every single day. I am proud of every single kid in that locker room, and I think they represent this school the right way. We understand where we are. We understand that we have to win games. I get that and that’s part of the deal. But I don’t think about those things. I don’t worry about those things. That has never been my M.O.”
on how he evaluates the job he did this season
“We didn’t do what we needed to do. It’s disappointing. Because in phases, we have played really well. But we’ve got to put it together. And in five games, we didn’t put it together.”
on going one for five in the red zone, and UCLA’s struggles there
“Today, we weren’t good in the red zone. If there was one thing [to fix], it would be easy. But it’s different every single time … sometimes it’s a protections issue, sometimes it’s a route, the quarterback isn’t putting the ball where it needs to be put – it’s a combination of things. And to be in rhythm is what we really need to do a better job of, offensively. We were in rhythm last week, offensively, and did a really good job. This week, we weren’t in a rhythm in the red zone, and that is the reason that we weren’t successful in the red zone.”
on how he prepares for an upcoming bowl game and keeps the team focused
“Yeah, they’re going to get a little time off. It’s been a long season. We have played 12 games. They’ll get some time off this week. We will get together toward the end of the week. We’ll get back out on the field, and then we won’t find out again until next Sunday about where we are going or when we’re playing. But we have schedules built out, based upon what game it is. We know the dates of those games. And then we also have to factor in finals, so those are coming up.”
UCLA freshman quarterback Dante Moore
on if he felt the game snowballing away as he was trying to lead a comeback
“First thing is first. Prayers up to Ethan [Garbers]. I know he got hurt. That’s something as an athlete we hate and pray for every day that doesn’t happen to our bodies. Of course, as a quarterback, when you get hit whether it’s a sack or anywhere on the field, you’re always going to look up at the sidelines to see if you’re O.K. or not. When he got up slow and saw his arm was like that they were going to call my name and I was going to come in. At the beginning of the season I played and took a lot of snaps in college football. Of course, I’m learning still. A lot of things to learn from. When my chance got called and I had to go out there and make my opportunities. I made my mistakes. These are all learning points in my life.”
on how difficult it is to be called in off the bench
“All my life I’ve never not taken the first snap of a football game. Little League, high school – I always took the first snap. … You got to get your rhythm going. Of course, I hadn’t played since the Oregon State game [and got] that amount of reps. I still had to go in and do what I have to do and complete the passes and not make the mistakes I made in the past. There’s a lot of things that as a quarterback you got to get yourself back in rhythm. It’s been a while. ... It’s me just far from home and doing these type of things can be tough sometimes. I’ve got coaches I can lean back on. At the end of the day, I’m just blessed to be where I’m at right now.”
on the biggest thing he’s learned about himself as a person and quarterback this year
“Something I stand on is that God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers. I know as of right now I’m going through a storm. Right now I’m going through a tough battle. I know my faith and believe in the man upstairs and God and really my faith. A storm is going on, but at the end of the day I’m going to get through it. Things aren’t going my way. It kind of reminds me of my freshman year of high school. I had a lot of mistakes. I had a lot of picks, actually. My picks went down, lower and lower and lower, because I just learned the speed coming from Little League to high school, and of course going through the same thing in college. I just have to adapt and adjust to things, but really my faith and belief in God and understanding that he’s always going to be in my corner at all times in life. I understand that if nobody is with me, he his.”
on areas he feels like he needs to grow in during the offseason
“Some areas I know I need to grow in is adjusting to the speed of the game and how athletes move. Just look at Alex Johnson here. He’s running 22 miles per hour around the field. There’s many athletes like that. At practice they challenge me to make sure I’m getting better every day. In college football everybody is fast. Everybody is strong. D-ends runs 4.3 or 4.4’s. More of it is just adjusting to the speed of the game and getting the ball out faster. More arm angles or just getting the ball out. And the best way I can protect the football. That’s probably the biggest thing.”
on blocking out early miscues
“If you look at the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. [Tom] Brady and, a person I’m close with, being [Patrick] Mahomes, they’ve all been through mistakes and issues they’ve had to fix. That could be turning the ball over. Quarterbacks don’t want it to happen, but that’s football. As a quarterback, when things happen, sometimes they could be phenomenal plays. A linebacker might run and jump up and catch the pick or get tipped like it did today and dive for the pick. Things happen that you can’t control.”
UCLA redshirt senior defensive back Alex Johnson
on what he says to the younger guys after a loss and have to prepare for another game
“It’s hard, especially after a loss like that. It’s tough. One thing that this guy to my right has taught me [points to Dante Moore] that I have learned over this season is this guy just bounces back, and that’s what we have to do as a team. No matter what obstacles are thrown at us and what challenges we have to overcome, we just band together as brothers and rely on that friendship and brotherhood and bounce back as a team and unit.”
on his last game at the Rose Bowl and the disappointment of tonight’s loss
“Even with the way things went, I honestly wouldn’t take away anything that happened. Going out to play that game with my brothers, with Dante, it’s always a blessing. It’s special for me looking at where I’ve come from personally to where I am now. I tried to not get too emotional about it, but obviously it was a big thing and it’s something I’ll always cherish with me no matter the outcome. Just being able to be out on the field cheering my guys on, being excited, it was one for the memories.”
California head coach Justin Wilcox
on being on the right side of every play tonight
“You got to make your own breaks. It feels good to answer your question. It feels much better than the alternative.”
on if he has seen his team play this dominant in all three phases of the game
“What I do know is these guys played with guts and they competed, and I just got so much respect for the guys in that locker room, the players and the coaches, finishing the season the way we have. You have a lot of pride in seeing those guys enjoy that moment, because they put so much into it. It was a month ago it was tough sledding. There wasn’t a lot of positivity around the program. Really, really proud of everyone in there.”
on how he was able to turn around the season
“I think it just speaks to the character of the guys in the room. The players, first and foremost, because in times like that where things aren’t going well after coming off a bad loss, it’s human nature for a lot of folks to seek shelter in the storm. I didn’t see anybody doing that. They came in and we met and we did walkthroughs and the intensity, mental intensity was there. The physical intensity was there. We continued to coach them and hold them accountable and work on the things we felt like we needed to improve in order to win. They took that. It wasn’t finger pointing. It wasn’t ‘Woe is me.’ The guys just played through it. It’s simple in concept, but it’s pretty hard to do sometimes. That’s why I’ve got some much respect for all those guys just because they didn’t seek shelter. They looked in the mirror, each and every one of them, and said what do I got to do to help us win. We found a way to do that to finish the season.”
on California being the last team to win a Pac-12 regular-season game
“I think this should fall into that category of the meeting we’re going to have after the season where we can talk to the end of the Pac-12 for now. I didn’t pick the time of the game. I would have been fine if we kicked off at 10, 11, noon or 3, whatever. They put it at 7:30, and we’re glad to play at 7:30 as well. Maybe someday, I can put a little more thought into answering that.”
on Jaydn Ott’s kickoff return
“We know that he’s an explosive player. He’s shown that. And in a game like this, where we thought there would be fewer possessions potentially and the strength of their run defense and some of the style of play, we just wanted to find different ways to get him the ball. That’s a good start and he’s an explosive guy. Give a lot of credit to our special teams staff as well getting that thing schemed up. You have to believe in it and get your block and get them covered up. When you got a guy back there that can do that – the grease board carrying over into the field is pretty good.”
California freshman linebacker Cade Uluave
on his big game
“First off I want to say I’m blessed. I’m blessed to be given the opportunity that I have. Like I’ve said in the past when your name is called you just have to go ball. That’s what I’ve been trying to do. Like you said I was day-to-day this week, but with this week being a holiday I pretty much had the week off. So, instead of class we were in the film room and everyone was watching film and it paid off. It’s been a blessing and I’m fortunate to be here.”
on choosing Cal over UCLA
“For sure, for sure. It shows. We beat them and it shows this is where I want to be and where I want to play and I made the right decision.”
on the fourth and one stop
“That was a play that we practiced all week. They came out with that three running back set and we knew the plays they ran out of it. I instantly saw the offensive line move fast, I hit the gap, ended up right there and made the play. For me that’s coaching. That’s on the coaches for putting us in the right position to make the right play.”
on earning a three-game win streak and becoming bowl eligible
“We had to believe. We had to be persistent, and we knew it was not going to be easy getting those three wins. But we knew it was possible. Coach Wilcox really hits on that. After the loss at Oregon in the locker room after that day he said we’re going to bounce back, get these three wins, and we’re going to go to a bowl game. That’s what he said the entire time and we believed him. We trust him and it’s worked out for us.”
on playing in the final regular season Pac-12 game:
“I watched Pac-12 after dark since I was a kid. Growing up for years and years and years. Those were some of the most fun games I’ve watched and I never would have thought that one day I would be playing in it, and playing in the last one. I’m really fortunate, really blessed to be here. There’s no better way to go out than with a win. It was an awesome experience, a team win, and couldn’t do it without everybody.”
California redshirt senior linebacker David Reese
on what this game means to you
“We work hard throughout the week, every day, day in and day out. I just keep believing. Every day I try to do the best I can and do what I have to do in order to help the team win.”
on forcing the Dante Moore fumble
“It felt good, honestly. I didn’t know he was a five star [recruit]. It felt good. We got points out of that drive right before halftime, and that gave us a bigger lead. Just being able to make plays and do whatever it takes to help the team win is always exciting.”
on what it means to have such a defining moment as a senior
“That moment was exciting. If anyone knows my history you know that I’ve battled with injuries a lot in the earlier part of my career. If just being able to persevere and keep believing can help inspire someone or somebody on the team, that’s what I’m here for. At the end of the day if we come out with a win that’s all that matters.”
on earning a three-game win streak and getting bowl eligible
“I feel like when you play the game, that is what it’s about. We grind 12 months a year and it’s not always guaranteed, you don’t always get the outcome you want. At the end of the day you are either going to turn around and walk away or walk towards the fight… We all just hunkered down and believed, I feel like that is the biggest thing. Everyone believed, everyone bought in. It was like one game at a time, I feel like that’s been our mindset these past few weeks. ”
on the Cal fans showing up
“I’m just glad they didn’t waste their gas. It was UCLA’s senior night, and I would have hated if they had come on senior night and we lost. We got to come out and perform for them and get a win for Bear nation. I feel like it was a win-win.”
on playing in the final regular season Pac-12 game
“I’m from the east coast, so it was already legendary getting to play in the Rose Bowl … This is a game that will be talked about for a long time to come because it was one of the last games. I’m just grateful to be a part of history. ”
on what the locker room was like after the game
“A little bit of excitement, some water spraying. We always do the chant after we win the game. We’ve come a long way as a team, coaches, players, staff, everyone put their head down each week, nobody gave up. We are grateful for each win, so to be able to celebrate this win is a blessing.”