Oregon-Stanford Postgame Quotes
11/08/08 | Football
Oregon vs. Stanford | Postgame Quotes | Nov. 8, 2008
Oregon HC Mike Bellotti
Opening Statement:
“We made enough mistakes in this game to go beyond the whole season. But we came back and played hard the entire game on both sides of the ball. We were not always efficient and effective, but the keys were trust and belief.”
On the weather playing a factor in the game:
“The water is always a factor, and we haven't had many opportunities to practice in it. But I think a lot of the time the ball was just knocked away, not due to the rain. The wetness of the ball wasn't a huge factor to me; it wasn't the reason we fumbled the ball.”
On the fumble for a touchdown that put Stanford ahead:
“Three things can occur on a fumble and the worst one occurred for us. But, we rallied, stopped the two point conversion, and marched right down the field. That is the poise and attitude of a veteran team.”
On the goal of the final drive:
“We thought we could score a touchdown rather than leave time on the clock. The touchdown made up for the earlier safety.”
On the status of Jeremiah Johnson:
“[In the last few minutes of the game] Jeremiah was completely fine. He was confident and comfortable. He came up to me after the game and said ?Coach, that was a lot of fun.'”
On his team with the season winding down:
“We are growing. We are rotating people on offense and keeping people healthy on defense. We are going to continue to build on the confidence of this team.”
On what to improve this week in practice:
“We need to handle the football better, catch the ball more, we can't fumble on the kickoff, and can't snap the football over the quarterback's head. These are mistakes we are going to address.”
On the Ducks' red zone defense:
“The ability of the defense to keep them out of the end zone and keep them to a field goal was huge. It is not acknowledged how important that is to the outcome.”
On Blount and Johnson:
“The are getting better every time they carry the football. I am so pleased with Johnson's performance and Blount can go through people and over people.”
On Morgan Flint taking over at place kicker:
“He is probably accurate up to 50 yards. It is going to continue to be a competitive situation, but he did a nice job today.”
On Arizona next weekend:
“Arizona is a great team and they have great speed. It will be a big challenge for us.”
Oregon RB Jeremiah Johnson
On the team pulling out the victory:
We had five turnovers, but we focused and still won the game. I feel really good, I am ecstatic.
On the blocking up front:
The whole line played great, I just followed them and ran the ball.
On the Ducks' heart in the game:
At every point of the game we went hard today. This game really showed what kind of a team we have.
Oregon RB LeGarrette Blount
On the final drive:
“We definitely kept our heads up. The first thing I thought on the field was to get the ball and take it to the end zone.
On overcoming the Cal loss by beating Stanford:
“We wanted to get field goals and touchdowns and just score as much as possible. I wasn't thinking of last week's game at all. I always focus on the game ahead of me, and that's what is on my mind when I got on the field today.”
Oregon S T.J. Ward
On the end of the game:
“”It was hard to be standing on the sideline for that last drive, but we have a good offense and I knew they would come up with something. The game today reminded me of the Cal game last year. We were really close too. I looked at the clock and I knew the time was running, but I have confidence in our offense.”
Oregon QB Jeremiah Masoli
On the team's performance:
“There were some mistakes on our side, but we have a great offense and experience played an important role in today's game.
On pulling out a gutsy win:
“Games like this one define our character as a team, and are a valuable lesson to all of us.”
Stanford HC Jim Harbaugh
Opening statement:
“I'm very proud of our guys. They overcame a lot of adversity and showed great effort all day long. They played physical and hard.”
On Oregon:
“UO is an excellent team. We knew it'd be a heck of a game.”
On the Stanford defense:
“Our guys held on, they were sound and took advantage of UO's miscues. We won the turnover battle, but not the game.”
On RB Anthony Kimble filling in for Toby Gerhart:
“Kimble has had a very good year. Toby (Gerhart) as well, but he was limited by a groin strain today.”
On the Cardinal comeback in the first half:
“When it was 17-3, we knew we had a lot more football to be played. For the most part we played sound football.”
Stanford QB Tavita Pritchard
His first thoughts on the game:
“We were able to move the ball well. Our guys stepped up and made plays, but give them credit for finishing the game. They're a good football team.”
On the Cardinal offense:
“We were efficient on offense, but I felt like there were some yards and plays we left on the field and we can get better at.”
On losing at the end of the game once again:
“We were close. We've been close a lot. We just have to get over the hump.”
On what went wrong at the end:
“There was a time when I felt like we had the game won. I was confident in our defense's ability to stop them, but it wasn't our defense's fault. We could have been better in all three aspects of the game.”
Stanford S Bo McNally
On Oregon's winning touchdown drive:
“We've been practicing our two minute defense, especially after the UCLA game. We tried to run some stuff to contain them, but they made a couple of big plays that really hurt us. The quarterback scramble really hurt. It's a big letdown. We feel like we kind of let the team down.”
On the Oregon offense:
“They've got an incredible offense. They have two great running backs, and then almost a third one in their quarterback.”
On running in the fake field goal:
“We've been running that play all week. We saw an opening in their scheme.”
On what is next for the Cardinal:
“This might be the most painful loss we've had yet, but we've got to move on quickly with USC and California coming up.”
