Postgame Quotes – Washington 31, UCLA 19
POSTGAME QUOTES
Washington 31, UCLA 19
Seattle, Wash. (Husky Stadium)
Nov. 15, 2024
Head Coach DeShaun Foster
opening remarks
“Tale of two halves. We didn’t come out in the second half and execute. I always tell these guys ‘you have to be at your best when your best is needed’ and that wasn’t the case for us in the second half. We didn’t really execute the way that we wanted to. We just continue to shoot ourselves in the foot and when you are playing teams like this at home, and they have that win streak that they have, you can’t give them opportunities to continue to come out and make some plays on us. We are still working on finishing. We played an ok first half, but that second half just wasn’t our ball. Just not our brand of football so that’s how the game got away from us.”
on not capitalizing after getting two interceptions on the Washington side of the field
“Those are huge opportunities. That’s what I’m talking about. When you’re not at your best when your best is needed. We wanted to finish in the paint. We changed our wording a couple weeks ago to not ‘get points.’ We want to ‘finish in the paint.’ We wanted touchdowns and the score kind of showed that we didn’t get that and those field goals ended up catching up to us."
on some of the first-half errors the team made that led to Washington scores
“Roughing the passer, I won’t get into that call but that extended the drive for them. And then giving them a short field on that punt was another situation because our defense had been doing a really good job up until that point. We gave them a short field and they were able to score some points. That was the difference – field goals to touchdowns.”
on the performance of quarterback Ethan Garbers
“From what I saw, Ethan was trying to make plays for the offense. We ended up losing another tackle so that was unfortunate. When you are down to your third left tackle, it’s tough. But we aren’t going to make any excuses. We are going to keep coming out there and keep playing ball. Our guys all prepare for this opportunity to get in there and play. Yutaka (Mahe) was excited to be able to get to play. We will break the film down and see how well he did.”
on giving up six sacks, many on third downs in key situations
“We are not going to make any excuses. They played a good game. Had a good D-line. Coach (Jason) Kaufusi does a good job over there. I’ve coached with him before so I knew he was going to have his guys ready.”
on UCLA’s success on third down
“Guys just finding a way to execute. Digging deep. Ethan running around, trying to make plays. We just weren’t at our best. I’m not going to make any excuses for us. We just weren’t at our best and it just hurts when you know you can come out and play a little better than you did. You know you can come out and execute better. We did it all week and came into this game and you know, the second half just got away from us.”
on getting the team motivated to win its final two games to become bowl eligible
“Well this next game (USC) there is not much you need to tell them. They understand what kind of game we have coming up. They should be a little upset and eager to get out on the field. And then the next one is another home game with another California team (Fresno State) so they should be excited for that one also. If you want to extend your season and play in bowl games you know you got to take it one week at a time and we have two opportunities to get to six (wins) so we are going to put our best foot forward and get out there and hopefully we get that.”
UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers
on the pressure from the defense
“We just weren’t doing things on offense like we needed to do, you know? We weren’t executing at the level we need to to be successful and win a game. That’s on everybody. We just got to come back to work on Sunday and figure where this next week is headed.”
on only coming up with three points after the defense forced two second-half turnovers
“Yeah, disappointing. Like I said, we’ve got to be better and that starts with me getting these guys going, getting them in and out of the huddle. Just focusing on how every play is the most important. It just comes down to me making those throws and moving those chains.”
on the pressure he saw from Washington’s defense on third downs
“We knew what they were going to do. They like to get in those five up fronts and have twist games and create movement at the line of scrimmage. We just got to do a better job of communicating before the snap and getting the protection dialed in. I’ve got to do a better job, also, of getting rid of the football faster and having that mental clock in my head and finding guys that are open.”
on what he saw from the running game
“At the end of the day, it just comes down that we weren’t executing out there, you know? Like I said before, it starts with me and it ends with me. I’ve got to do a better job of getting them motivated. We got to get the run game going for sure.”
on how much he wants to finish on a strong note
“I’m sure Carson (Schwesinger) will agree with this. We’re going to watch the film. We’re going to learn from it, flush it, and we got a big week next week, so we’re excited about that and we’re excited for the last two opportunities to go play.”
UCLA linebacker Carson Schwesinger
on what he saw from Washington backup quarterback Demond Williams Jr.
“He opened their offense a little just in terms of being able to run the ball, but for us as a defense, that’s something we knew coming into the game and we planned for it. We just weren’t executing how we wanted to when he came in the game.”
Washington 31, UCLA 19
Seattle, Wash. (Husky Stadium)
Nov. 15, 2024
Head Coach DeShaun Foster
opening remarks
“Tale of two halves. We didn’t come out in the second half and execute. I always tell these guys ‘you have to be at your best when your best is needed’ and that wasn’t the case for us in the second half. We didn’t really execute the way that we wanted to. We just continue to shoot ourselves in the foot and when you are playing teams like this at home, and they have that win streak that they have, you can’t give them opportunities to continue to come out and make some plays on us. We are still working on finishing. We played an ok first half, but that second half just wasn’t our ball. Just not our brand of football so that’s how the game got away from us.”
on not capitalizing after getting two interceptions on the Washington side of the field
“Those are huge opportunities. That’s what I’m talking about. When you’re not at your best when your best is needed. We wanted to finish in the paint. We changed our wording a couple weeks ago to not ‘get points.’ We want to ‘finish in the paint.’ We wanted touchdowns and the score kind of showed that we didn’t get that and those field goals ended up catching up to us."
on some of the first-half errors the team made that led to Washington scores
“Roughing the passer, I won’t get into that call but that extended the drive for them. And then giving them a short field on that punt was another situation because our defense had been doing a really good job up until that point. We gave them a short field and they were able to score some points. That was the difference – field goals to touchdowns.”
on the performance of quarterback Ethan Garbers
“From what I saw, Ethan was trying to make plays for the offense. We ended up losing another tackle so that was unfortunate. When you are down to your third left tackle, it’s tough. But we aren’t going to make any excuses. We are going to keep coming out there and keep playing ball. Our guys all prepare for this opportunity to get in there and play. Yutaka (Mahe) was excited to be able to get to play. We will break the film down and see how well he did.”
on giving up six sacks, many on third downs in key situations
“We are not going to make any excuses. They played a good game. Had a good D-line. Coach (Jason) Kaufusi does a good job over there. I’ve coached with him before so I knew he was going to have his guys ready.”
on UCLA’s success on third down
“Guys just finding a way to execute. Digging deep. Ethan running around, trying to make plays. We just weren’t at our best. I’m not going to make any excuses for us. We just weren’t at our best and it just hurts when you know you can come out and play a little better than you did. You know you can come out and execute better. We did it all week and came into this game and you know, the second half just got away from us.”
on getting the team motivated to win its final two games to become bowl eligible
“Well this next game (USC) there is not much you need to tell them. They understand what kind of game we have coming up. They should be a little upset and eager to get out on the field. And then the next one is another home game with another California team (Fresno State) so they should be excited for that one also. If you want to extend your season and play in bowl games you know you got to take it one week at a time and we have two opportunities to get to six (wins) so we are going to put our best foot forward and get out there and hopefully we get that.”
UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers
on the pressure from the defense
“We just weren’t doing things on offense like we needed to do, you know? We weren’t executing at the level we need to to be successful and win a game. That’s on everybody. We just got to come back to work on Sunday and figure where this next week is headed.”
on only coming up with three points after the defense forced two second-half turnovers
“Yeah, disappointing. Like I said, we’ve got to be better and that starts with me getting these guys going, getting them in and out of the huddle. Just focusing on how every play is the most important. It just comes down to me making those throws and moving those chains.”
on the pressure he saw from Washington’s defense on third downs
“We knew what they were going to do. They like to get in those five up fronts and have twist games and create movement at the line of scrimmage. We just got to do a better job of communicating before the snap and getting the protection dialed in. I’ve got to do a better job, also, of getting rid of the football faster and having that mental clock in my head and finding guys that are open.”
on what he saw from the running game
“At the end of the day, it just comes down that we weren’t executing out there, you know? Like I said before, it starts with me and it ends with me. I’ve got to do a better job of getting them motivated. We got to get the run game going for sure.”
on how much he wants to finish on a strong note
“I’m sure Carson (Schwesinger) will agree with this. We’re going to watch the film. We’re going to learn from it, flush it, and we got a big week next week, so we’re excited about that and we’re excited for the last two opportunities to go play.”
UCLA linebacker Carson Schwesinger
on what he saw from Washington backup quarterback Demond Williams Jr.
“He opened their offense a little just in terms of being able to run the ball, but for us as a defense, that’s something we knew coming into the game and we planned for it. We just weren’t executing how we wanted to when he came in the game.”