Postgame Quotes
11/20/11 | Football
Oregon Head Coach Chip Kelly
Opening comments...
"You can't make the mistakes we made, especially against a good football team. In this league when you're playing the upper echelon teams [turnovers are] something you can't do, especially turnovers in the red zone. The credit goes to the other team. I think they played very well and they're a good football team. They lost in triple overtime to Stanford and they played well down in the desert against Arizona State, which I thought was a good team so I would like to give them credit. I think Matt Barkley is the best quarterback we faced this year, I will say that after playing against him tonight. The game comes and the game goes. It's about making plays. You still have to go out and make plays and execute and we didn't at the end."
On Matt Barkley...
"I thought Matt (Barkley) was outstanding. A couple of those deep balls were right on target. He always seemed like he had the answer. Every time we came back and scored he came back with an answer."
On preparing for OSU next weekend...
"Whether we win or lose, we have to put it behind us. The players have treatment tomorrow at 11 and we will be back at practice on Monday."
On Oregon's final drive of the game...
"They were very good at coverage. We had some routes that got to the end zone, but they were covered and they did a good job. What you don't want to do in that situation is force it. We would settle for three. We would have liked a touchdown a lot better. I thought we had a shot [at winning] up until the last tick of that clock. But that's what that team does, they don't get down and I will give them a ton of credit. They feel like if they just keep playing something is going to happen. When our defense needed to make plays today, they did."
On what he told the players after the game...
"I told our guys I was proud of their effort, but against a good football team we can't make the mistakes that we made. We have to clean that up and the great thing about this game is that we have another shot. We have to come back. Our plan and what has made us so successful in the last couple of years doesn't change. We're not going to throw that out and say that because we lost one game. We're going to try and do something radical."
On the noise and crowd at Autzen...
"I thought our crowd was awesome all night long. The sound on the field in that last quarter was pretty good."
USC Head Coach Lane Kiffin
Opening remarks...
"Obviously [Oregon] is a great team. Especially at home... it's the hardest place to play against that team in the country. So, a lot of credit to them. They're going to have a great year with a great team, led by De'Anthony (Thomas). He was obviously awesome. As far as the game, we're just really excited first of all by our fans. They've been through so much. So much has been taken away from them. And second of all for our players. They're a lot of young guys. There are very few seniors on the roster. I think half our roster has never played college football before this year. For these guys to come together like they have over the last five or six weeks has been great to see...We're very excited for our fans and for our players."
On how to beat Oregon...
"People have come really close, like we did last year. You just got to find a way to do it the whole game and tackle really well. For the most part, we did that. Obviously they made their plays so we didn't completely shut them down. You better score, as we did, early. And then we screwed up in the second half. We didn't finish off our drives in the second half. That's why it became so close. We had the multiple turnovers in there. After the blocked punt, and only getting three points. We let them hang around too much and it almost cost us."
On game play...
"It wasn't fun seeing the score go in the wrong direction. I was trying, obviously, to still move the ball as we were. We tried to run the play clock down so it was shortened. Fortunately, we were doing that, but then we were screwing up. We get a miscommunication on the third down to force us to have to punt. We get an interception down there, a 'bang-bang' play, and then missed the handoff between a fifth-year senior and a Heisman trophy candidate. Those things usually don't happen, but unfortunately we did those and gave them a chance."
On what USC changed from last year...
"I don't think we changed a whole lot, schematically. I think we've improved as a second year in the system. Probably one of the most exciting things in the day was to see that we came up here and we were fortunate to beat Oregon with three freshman linebackers. That's saying a lot versus probably the best offense in the country."
On USC offense...
"I thought the second and third quarters they did a great job. And then we were screwing up some plays. We convert a third down to big momentum third down and the lineman had just barely gone down before the motion so that came back when we didn't make the third down after that. So, we did some really good things throughout the game for an inexperienced group."
On if this is the biggest USC victory of his tenure...
"To break the longest home winning streak in the country says a lot about this team and how far they have come."
Oregon Player Quotes
On the loss...
"It's crucial to put this one behind us. We need to move on and put this behind us. We shot ourselves in the foot when we shouldn't have, it stings a lot."
On the last drive of the game...
"We were moving the ball great, but then we came up a little short."
On USC...
"They came in and played great football tonight."
On first loss at home in a few years...
"We're not accustomed to losing at home, but we have to put this one behind us."
On the loss...
"I feel like our team fought till the end, but we'll just have to get back to work on Monday."
On how to move on...
"We just have to get better. Mistakes happen and we'll just have to fix them in practice."
On his kick return for a touchdown...
"I just wanted to get the team back into the game, and we did, but then we came up short."
WR Josh Huff
On the loss...
"I don't know how to explain how we feel right now, this hurts. We have to come back on Monday and get back to work. We just thought we were going to come in and run over them, but they came out hard and we lost."
On the last drive of the game...
"We knew we had the momentum, but it came a little too late."
USC Player Quotes
QB Matt Barkley
On the game...
"The fact that we finished and pulled the big win was huge. We needed it. Last year the big games didn't really go our way in the end. On all parts we played lights out, special teams, offense and defense. We came in expecting to win and we are happy that we can celebrate like this. We have been the underdog for a while now, but maybe that has shifted. We don't really take that in to account though, we just go out and play Trojan football. We played awesome tonight. There was only one time that you could tell that the noise got the O line, but they still played well. At the beginning our O line was a mismatched group, but now they are good and playing well together."
About next year...
"This season will really help for recruits for next year. Next year is going to be really special."
WR Marqise Lee
On the game...
"I was just focused on making plays for our offense. Robert not playing was a big deal. We had the opportunity to step up."
On Oregon...
"They are a fast team. De'Anthony Thomas played well and will continue to. He is fast!"
LB Hayes Pullard
On the game...
"We played our scheme and slowed them down. Our strength is field goal blocks. That might have played a part in Alejandro missing the field goal. We couldn't let LaMichael run all over the field, but we contained him for the most part. We wanted to show everyone that this is what is coming next year. Deep inside we know that we are not underdogs, we just want to go out and play Trojan football."
On the field goal...
"I thought that he made it because it went right over my head, but then I looked at the sideline and that's when I knew and I got that feeling."
On De'Anthony Thomas...
"After the game we talked and he said to just keep balling and no matter if we win or lose, we are still brothers and we love each other regardless."
