UCLA vs. Oregon – October 10,
2009 @ Rose Bowl
Oregon 24 – UCLA 10
UCLA Postgame Quotes
UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel
(opening remarks) “Congratulations
to Oregon. That little flurry in the beginning of the third quarter was
decisive. There was a great kickoff return. There was a breakoff on a ball that
results on another touchdown and a subsequent drive to make it 21-3 that was too
much to overcome. I was very disappointed in the first half, coming in at 3-0
and we couldn't punch it in at the one-yard line. You should be able to
knock it in there. We've got to keep looking inside ourselves to be a
better offense. Defensively, I thought the effort was terrific. Give
Oregon's defense credit, too.”
(on quarterback Kevin Prince) “I
have to look at it. Obviously, he was rusty. There were a couple early balls on
the second and third plays of the game where guys were wide open, but
he's a freshman. We have high hopes for him. We certainly believe that he
is going to be a great player. And while you're believing that,
you're in the midst of trying to win games. When he struggled into the
third quarter, I thought it might be time to give Richard [Brehaut] a chance.
He did some good things, and it was a great learning experience for him, too.
That's what took place today.”
(on the Bruins' quarterback situation) “We
will review it. There are too many guys on this team dying to have a successful
season. We are 3-2, and we've got to right the ship. We can be a very
good football team. We've got to determine which quarterback gives us the
best chance to do that.”
(on the offense) “Oregon's
defense took away some of the things we like to do. So you have to counter-punch,
and you have to be able to successfully counter-punch. We have to look at how
to spread the field and create some space. We need to get some explosive plays.
It was too bad to lose Jonathan Franklin to the ankle – we'll
evaluate and see where he is. Oregon forced us to try to do it, and we just
weren't good enough to get that done today. We've got another week
of practice before facing California, and we have to improve on that.
(on dealing with adversity)
“We have dealt with disappointment since I've been back here. This
is all part of the growing, as you try to take a program from a place where it
resides currently to a place where we'd all like to be and have been
before. You have to keep pounding the rock, so to speak, and chiseling yourself
to be both physically and mentally stronger. It's a tough sequence when
your offense isn't going to make up three touchdowns in the rest of the
game. Psychologically, that is difficult. I will credit our defense enormously
for getting us back in the game – the play by Akeem [Ayers] and the punt
return by Terrence [Austin]. We wanted to make it 24-17 and get back in the
game.”
(on the decision to start quarterback Kevin
Prince) “I don't second guess these decisions. Kevin
Prince was our starting quarterback. He was running and throwing during the
week, and he did some good things in practice. No matter how rusty he was or
wasn't, he only has two games of experience. This was the No. 13 team in
the country. For the future of our program, we believe we have to get these
young quarterbacks to come of age. We have to make sure they are ready to learn
from these mistakes instead of just suffering through them. That will take some
more evaluation. We'll look at it and see where we are.”
(on any specific play that was most
frustrating) “The entire performance today was
frustrating. We had chances to make big plays, and we didn't make them.
We had the chance to punch it in on the one-yard line and we didn't do
it. We got the ball several times in the second half and didn't make the
necessary plays. Those are very, very tough pills to swallow. It isn't as
if the coaches on the offensive side of the ball don't know how to do
this, but it's about finding the right combinations to have some magic.
They are working their tails off, and we have to keep searching. Hopefully, we
will find it.”
Oregon Postgame Quotes
Redshirt freshman Kenjon Barner
(on kickoff return to open second half)
“It always feels good to get loose. My team opened up holes and I was
able to make some cuts. Fortunately I was able to score. It was just a great
victory for our team. We were a little slow in the first half but we picked it
up in the second and looked like normal Oregon.”
Head coach Chip Kelly
(opening statement) “To
be great in this league, you have to win on the road. A lot of different guys
stepped up and played big today. That's why this is a team victory. The
way our defense and special teams are scoring points is huge for us right now.
We felt like we could run the ball and we did a great job of that. We are 5-1
and we will try to get healthy this week.”
(on Kenjon Barner's kick return to
start the second half) “It was just a great play. It was
a huge jumpstart for all of us coming out in the second half.”
(on two quick scores to start second half) “That's
what our team does. They feed off of each other. Kenjon got us started. We get
one big play and the next thing you know we're in the end zone.”
