Oregon vs. USC Post Game Quotes
11/22/15 | Football
Mark Helfrich - Head Coach
On the victory...
"They (USC) are just so talented. A couple times we got lucky, but we responded. We always respond the right way. We learned what happens when you line drive it down the middle to Adoree Jackson, who is a phenomenal player. Just a huge win. We've got a quick turn around and we have to get ready for Oregon State."
On the offense...
"Getting it stared with that run to Royce (Freeman) was huge. We got right back on the ball. Any time you can put your foot on the gas and have that kind of mentality, you just always want to keep the pressure on them."
On the defense...
"They did a nice job. I thought we got lucky a couple times, but we continued to fight and made them really earn it there at the end, and take the long route for getting a touchdown. The sack was huge. They need to keep going up and keep coming back to improve."
On working under pressure...
"I thought our reactions to big plays, the turnover we had early, the return, some of the big plays they had offensively, we reacted well. Very few times did we not react well immediately. That's a good sign."
On Oregon's confidence...
"I like our vibes. I like our attitude, but now we have to handle success. The same people who were telling us how cruddy we were are the same people who are going to tell us how great we are."
On getting ready for Oregon State...
"Sunday we won't practice per se, but we will have a debrief in every phase of offense, defense and special teams. We will get treatment. We will flip the page and evaluate this. By 3:30 tomorrow, it will all point toward Oregon State.
Vernon Adams- Quarterback, Senior
On being a fan and the game…
“I was a big USC fan growing up, being from that area. It is an awesome feeling. I'm so happy for the guys in that locker room and the rest of the seniors. It is a great feeling.”
On a touchdown pass at Stanford…
“It was the one I threw to Charles at the sideline. I got so excited because I thought initially the safety was going to pick it off and Charles came out of nowhere and just snatched it. I was just so happy. Happy for Charles and O-line.”
On having 6 receivers catch a touchdown…
“I was trying to get everybody today. I'm so blessed. I'm so happy and thankful that we are on this winning streak and that God blessed me with this opportunity.”
On being with his son…
“It is a great feeling, having my son be here. I think I play my best games with my family here. It is awesome having my family get out here and enjoy this experience with me. I'm so excited about being able to tell my son about this later on in life. He was just in shock looking at everybody.”
On having friends on USC…
“They didn't really talk trash. They told me to stay still so they could get to me. They are friends that I grew up with. After they game we were able to talk and take pictures, so it was fun.”
On being a senior…
“I'm happy with what I've done. I'm happy with what my team has done, at Eastern and here. I'm happy, I'm blessed. I do wish I came here earlier and got more years, but I'm happy.”
On being able to talk to Marcus…
“This weekend I was able to talk to him the most I have ever been able to. I met him on my visit during spring ball. We have been able to text a little bit, but this weekend we talked a lot more. He told me to have fun out there, stay confident, play your game. Let loose out there.”
On having so many receivers…
“We have weapons everywhere. Our two deep, our three deep. So if anyone goes down, we have guys that will step up. I didn't even know I threw six touchdowns. I'm just happy we got this win.”
On exploiting USC secondary…
“We just thought if we still to our techniques, our training, and listen to our coaches, we knew we would be good. I say it every week, I got to take care of the ball. That first quarter interception makes me so upset.”
On Oregon State…
“I'm very excited. For a few reasons, it is my last home game as a senior playing here for the Ducks and I know it is a big rivalry game and it is at home. It is always great being able to play in front of your home fans and with the seniors. I don't know too much yet, but we will come back tomorrow, watch the films, and get ready for Oregon State.”
Darren Carrington, Wide Receiver, Redshirt Sophomore
On connection with Vernon…
“It has been an ongoing processes. Vernon has built confidence in all of us, no matter who it is. When we are out there we know Vernon is going to put it in our vicinity, we just have to make plays.”
On facing USC…
“I was a USC fan growing up. I'm from San Diego. We came to Oregon and we got it done. I was really hyped to play against USC. They didn't recruit me and I was sad about that. I had some drive this week to show them it doesn't matter where you go.”
On growing with Vernon…
“It's been game to game. Everybody is getting used to it. Vernon is always going to make something happen out of nothing.”
Chris Seisay, Cornerback Redshirt Sophomore
On going against Carrington in practice…
“We all know Darren is a special player. Whatever he wants to do, he can do it on the field. We all know he will perform well out there.”
On getting back onto the field…
“ It felt good, it was just really happy to get back out there and help my team achieve this great team win.”
On performance by secondary…
“They played great. We were excited to be out there in a big game.”
On having Ifo on the sideline…
“Having a great player like that on the sideline is great. He motivated us to go out there and play great like we know we can. He just gave us some confidence.”
DeForest Buckner – Defensive End, Senior
On defending USC…
“ Coach was talking about stopping the run early, forcing them to pass, and getting pressure on Kessler. We did a pretty good job with that in the first half. In the second half they made some adjustments, so we had to make some adjustments on the fly. We did a pretty good job with that.”
On how the offenses success effects the defense…
“It's energy and we feed off of it. When we do good they fuel off of that, so it's really good when the offense is playing like that, and it motivates us to play lights out too.”
On his fumble recovery…
“It was a really big play. Right after the ball was snapped I saw Cody Kessler drop the ball, pick it back up and I was trying to get off my block. When I saw Arrion pump him down, and the ball popped out, it was like a parting of the Red Sea. The ball came right to me.
On last home game coming up against OSU…
“Everyone knows the rivalry, and that it's a big game. The past couple years, every time Oregon State gives us their best. We have to come out and treat it like another big game… Time flies, I'm going to be playing my last game with all the other seniors and the rest of my team. It means a lot to me. After halftime today actually Joe came up to me and said 'man we have to make the most of it', because it is almost the end.”
Charles Nelson – Safety, Sophomore
On his performance…
“I just have to give the coaches the credit. They do a lot with me, take a lot of time out of their day to help me out with whatever I need, learning the offense, learning the defense.”
On the defense…
“Defensively I think we did a lot of great things, but we made a lot of mistakes. We were able to stop the run, that was one of the main things we needed to focus on.”
On Vernon Adams…
“Vernon is a great player. With the ball in his hands, he does a lot of special things. The play can never go wrong with him.”
Clay Helton - USC Head Coach
Opening statement…
“The guys played with tremendous effort and that's all I can ask of them. We have an opportunity to go against a great rivalry opponent next week with a lot on the line. We've got to get a lot corrected in a short amount of time.”
On Oregon's first-half offense…
“They've got a really good talent in the back field and we had the opportunity to get Vernon down a couple times and just didn't get him on the ground. There's only so long you can stay in man coverage and, you know, stay on those types of athletes for that long. We were in position to make some plays I thought, and we just didn't make our plays and that's something we'll have to clean up this week before UCLA.”
On Vernon Adams' performance…
“We knew coming in that we needed to contain him because he has the unique ability to keep his eye down field rather than running. I think that he scrambled one time and ran and then the rest of the time he threw explosive routes down field. He's a tremendous football player and we knew that we would have to get him on the ground and we just didn't do that enough that's a credit to him. I have a lot of respect for that young man.”
On deciding to punt in the fourth quarter with ten minutes left and being down 17 points…
“It was right about at the 40 yard line and I thought that the game was still in position for us to win. The one that I'm really disappointed in was when we had a fourth-and-one and then we got the 15-yard penalty. I thought that that was a really critical part of the game and we just need to play more disciplined football. In that (the punt) situation, I thought we could pin them deep, which we did, and then get the ball back. I did think about going for it a little bit, but in that period, I wasn't ready to make that call.”
Cody Kessler – Quarterback, RS Senior
On the play with the low snap that resulted in a strip sack…
“It was a great call. We had the look we wanted. Unfortunately, the snap wasn't there. I picked it up and tried to scramble. I didn't want to put us in a deeper position for third down. I was trying to get outside the pocket so I could throw it away and get us to the next play and I obviously didn't see the guy coming from behind. It's unfortunate. There are so many plays and so many opportunities we had today, whether it was a penalty, or a missed assignment, or that we just didn't make our play. We had that all day. We just need to execute better. These guys are going to come back and get prepared for this week, so I know we're going to clean that up.”
On still being in position to win the Pac-12 South with a win next week…
“Obviously, it's still there for us. That was our ultimate goal at the end of the season, but that doesn't mean that we're okay with today at all. This hurts just as bad as any other loss. That's a very good football team, but so are we. I believe that. We've got to make our plays and we've got to play better. This one's going to hurt today andtomorrow, but we've got to have a mindset to come in Monday and be ready to go. We're playing to win the South. Guys are going to be excited about that and it's going to be a great week of preparation, but it definitely hurts with any loss.”
On the Oregon coverage in the secondary…
“They like to move around a lot. We expected a lot of two-high. They moved through a lot of different coverages. They mixed it up very well. That's a great secondary and that's a great front seven. They were getting pressure on me, but at the end of the day we have to make our plays. That comes to me scrambling around and making a play, or a guy running a route a little bit better. It's on all of us. That's the best part about this team. These guys don't point fingers. We all take credit when we mess up. The other guys are there to pick them back up. We've got to watch film this week, correct some of that stuff and get ready to go this week.”
Su'a Cravens – Linebacker, Junior
On the defensive performance in the first half…
“We let Vernon (Adams) scramble a lot in the pocket. We knew all week that he was going to make plays on the fly. We let him get out of contain and he just threw the ball down the field. He made a lot of great throws. We were jumping in and out of gaps, and weren't very disciplined in the run game. They got whatever they wanted in the first half.”
