University of Oregon
3-3 , 1-2
Washington State
3-2 , 1-1
Oregon vs. WSU Post Game Quotes
10/11/15 | Football
Mark Helfrich - Head Coach
On tonight's loss....
"We had some opportunities in every phase to close it out and didn't get it done. I thought we played hard. We didn't get off to a great start or a great finish in the first half defensively, but in between we did some good things."
On Oregon's defense...
"They played really well, and again created turnovers that we needed to capitalize on offensively. They created enough positions for us to win, and that is what was frustrating."
On what he told his team...
"I thought we played hard, we played well enough in each phase to win, and we played well enough to not win, at times. That's just a product of consistency, of effort, of concentrating through the end of finishing. If you have the chance to put somebody away, you put them away, and don't let them hang around to come back and bite you."
On who shows leadership in the locker room...
"A bunch of guys. The character of this team will be tested and I anticipate a great response. The naysayer will come back out again and that's where you have to get back to fix-it mode, get back to cohesive mode, come together and forge ahead."
On who is struggling...
"It's a team deal. We win as a team, we lose as a team. It's not one guy, one position, ever. Those guys are working their tails off to improve."
Charles Nelson, Safety & Wide Receiver, Sophomore
On Griffin and Freeman…
“They were spectacular out there. They did a good job making plays happen,”
On playing both defense and offense…
“It was different at first. It took a little bit to get used to, but it was good to get out there and make plays. The defense played well. There are a lot of things that we can work on, but that is what practice is for. I think my position will be up in the air each week. I don't know what the coaches have planned, but it doesn't matter to me. I think I played well. I just need to do what I've been practicing and make things happen. Going out there at first, I didn't know how I was going to play, but as the game went on I got more comfortable.”
On the defense…
“I don't think we were tired. We were out there making plays. Their offense just came out stronger than we anticipated.”
Royce Freeman, Running Back, Sophomore
On offense…
“The offensive line did a great job opening things up. We need to work on running the ball on the ground. I was just trying to make plays and not trying to go down. We are trying to get better every week, putting my best foot forward and trying to make that happen.”
On the loss and refocusing…
“You have two choices, you can go downhill from now and give up or we can get things together and get focused. We will see what the teams identity is when we get back to work on Monday, but I can't speak for the future right now.”
On giving up the lead…
“Very solemn. The offense is as much to blame as the defense. You have to be aggressive out there, you can't pitter patter. It has to be a physical game.”
On the style of play…
“I think everyone is aware that we need to throw the ball more. Considering the amount of times we run the ball and how we are trying to throw the ball, it's something to work on. I feel when we go out there we do what we need to do.”
Taylor Alie – Quarterback, RS Sophomore
On the quarterback rotation…
“Anytime you have a rotation it is a pretty interesting system for both quarterbacks, but Jeff and I both bring different aspects to the game. We both just need to finish drives and get our offense moving.”
On the loss…
“I mean pretty much every loss is the same. This late in the season we just need to rally together and finish strong.”
Mike Leach - Washington State Head Coach
Opening statement…
“We've been playing everybody so close, it's about time we figured out a way to come out on top. I'm proud of our guys and I thought they were tough and hung in there and we out-punched them in the end.”
“I don't think we played a complete game, but I thought we played extremely hard the whole time. I thought we were tough until the end. We could have made it easier than we did, but all sides of the ball played. I thought we rose up in offense, defense and special teams.”
On being down 10 with 10 minutes to play…
“I was kind of concerned. I thought we should have been 10 up. We had to just keep battling away.”
On his defense's play against a tough running game from Oregon…
“I thought they played real well. I thought defensively that we did a good job. We got some turnovers and we got some pressure on them. They've got a really good running game with obviously some really good players and talented guys. I mean there's nobody on that team over there that 15 teams weren't recruiting so they're good players. But I thought our defense, yeah they gave up the occasion big one, but not in streaks or plays in a row.”
On the game winning play…
“I couldn't see it real well. You know the deflection thing. Just from where I was standing, it looked like Rivers scored right away. It looked like Rivers scored and end of the story, but then of course the ball never touched the ground and then Lewis got it. But I didn't have the best angle to see it.”
On getting the ball back with two minutes to go and being down seven points…
“I knew we had enough time. I didn't think that the time was as big of a deal as we moved the ball pretty much the whole game, we just hadn't done it consistently. All of a sudden there would be a mishap, so the bigger concern was that we finish the drive and that we didn't' stop ourselves.”
On this game being a season-turning point…
“I think this kind of a win that you can think about for about 15 hours and then you forget about it until you tell your grandchildren and you start focusing a whole lot on Oregon State. That's the kind of win I think this is.”
Luke Falk - Quarterback, Sophomore
On his emotions after the win…
“Just pure excitement. I kind of wish I was (in the locker room) celebrating with my teammates right now. It's a fun energy in there.”
On the offense's overall performance…
“I thought we played pretty well towards the end of the game. I thought we played all 60 minutes. I thought we were inconsistent at times, but we moved the ball pretty well. We just need to find a better way to get points. We're moving it all over the field, but we just need to finish drives. Towards the end of the game, we really focused on finishing and we did a heck of a job.”
On how tough it was to rein himself back in after the touchdown at the end of regulation and get ready for overtime…
“Not really, because we were just tying it up. We made the PAT, so you just had to get back to work and do your job because we had a few more drives to handle. I thought everybody did a nice job forgetting (the touchdown). Coach always talked about playing the next play, whether it be positive or negative. I thought our team did a nice job of playing the next play.”
On how confident he was heading into overtime…
“We had the momentum on our side. We expect to win, to keep doing good things, to keep doing positive things. Everybody did a nice job: offense, defense, special teams.”
Gabe Marks – Wide Receiver, Junior
On how it feels to finally have a game break WSU's way…
“I wouldn't call it 'breaking our way'. It was just good to see that we played up to our potential the whole way through. That's the most important thing to take from this game. When we played against Rutgers, we played a full game and we won. We played a full game tonight and we won. If we do that every game, I think we're going to be a tough team to beat.”
On how confident the team was down 10 with eight minutes left…
“That's a lot of time. That's one touchdown and a field goal. That's a lot of time for 10 points. We knew that we just had to put one together. They had a really good scheme the whole night. It got us in a rut at times, and we just had to find a way to fight through that. We needed to put a couple of drives together and we did it when it counted.”
On what the team can take from this win…
“We know what kind of team we are. I guess it just validates what we've all been preaching since the start of the season. This is a different team and we're really trying to do something different than what's been done over the last decade or whatever it's been here. I guess this is just saying that we're here to play and you've got to show up every week when you play us.”
Team Stats
WSU 7, ORE 0
WSU - Marks, Gabe 7 yd pass from Falk, Luke (Powell, Erik kick) 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:18
WSU 7, ORE 3
ORE - Schneider, A. 26 yd field goal 9 plays, 63 yards, TOP 3:20
WSU 7, ORE 10
ORE - Alie, Taylor 8 yd run (Schneider, A. kick), 4 plays, 53 yards, TOP 1:30
WSU 7, ORE 17
ORE - Freeman, Royce 2 yd run (Schneider, A. kick), 7 plays, 71 yards, TOP 2:22
WSU 14, ORE 17
WSU - Marks, Gabe 4 yd pass from Falk, Luke (Powell, Erik kick) 10 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:35
WSU 21, ORE 17
WSU - Martin Jr., Tav 27 yd pass from Falk, Luke (Powell, Erik kick) 4 plays, 55 yards, TOP 1:30
WSU 21, ORE 24
ORE - Freeman, Royce 17 yd pass from Lockie, Jeff (Schneider, A. kick) 4 plays, 56 yards, TOP 1:09
WSU 21, ORE 31
ORE - Freeman, Royce 1 yd run (Schneider, A. kick), 6 plays, 77 yards, TOP 2:42
WSU 24, ORE 31
WSU - Powell, Erik 22 yd field goal 8 plays, 55 yards, TOP 2:01
WSU 31, ORE 31
WSU - Williams, Dom 8 yd pass from Falk, Luke (Powell, Erik kick) 12 plays, 70 yards, TOP 1:57
WSU 31, ORE 38
ORE - Addison, Bralon 9 yd pass from Lockie, Jeff (Schneider, A. kick) 2 plays, 25 yards, TOP 0:00
WSU 38, ORE 38
WSU - Falk, Luke 1 yd run (Powell, Erik kick), 7 plays, 25 yards, TOP 0:00
WSU 45, ORE 38
WSU - Lewis, Robert 4 yd pass from Falk, Luke (Powell, Erik kick) 4 plays, 25 yards, TOP 0:00
