Oregon vs. Utah Post Game Quotes
09/27/15 | Football
Mark Helfrich - Head Coach
On tonight's game...
"There is not a ton to be said. Utah played great, and I give them a ton of credit. They are a very talented team and a very deep team, a veteran team and we did not play well enough to win. That starts and ends with me. We have a bunch of guys hurting in the locker room that will bounce back and get ready for who is next. There were too many mistakes in every face."
On playing against Utah's defense...
"We defensively held them to field goals, and the punt return came in big for us at that point, and then the wrong way a little bit later. We did not complement each other well when we did get things going on offense, and stops on defense. Everything that could go wrong went wrong."
On Jeff Lockie's initial performance...
"That was huge and obviously pivotal as the game went on. But again, they hurt us, and it was ugly."
On Utah's performance...
"That is a very good and very experienced team, and we need to learn from them in terms of taking advantage of situations. They were definitely attacking some of our youngsters. When there is four consecutive one-man breakdowns, that is when you have to take a step back and take a collection of what went wrong."
On the decision to remove Vernon Adams...
"It was more or less that there were some things there in those first few drives, and you never know what is going through a guy's mind in those situations. There were plays that he would normally make, and you have to get in their head."
On how the loss felt...
"Like I said before, you have to give Utah credit for how they played, and then our reaction to this is what matters, how we come together, the voices that we listen to that really matter in terms of how you respond to a situation like this. We had a few guys where one mistake turned to six."
On preparing for the next game...
"When we play like we played, it's on me. That offense, defense, special teams, blame me. And now, how does every single individual do the same thing in recognizing what they could have, would have, should have done differently."
On if this outcome was expected...
"Well, no, of course not in terms of a lot of the bizarre things that happened in that game that are very unforeseen. Again, that's a very good football team, a very confident and hot football team, and give them credit for that part of it."
Jeff Lockie - Quarterback, RS Junior
On the game…
“It is never good at this point, this early. We have been in this position before, two losses, but it's our first Pac-12 game, so we have a lot of work to do.”
Moving forward…
“We have to take it one week at a time now. Right now the Pac-12 it is early and we are not sure what is going to go on with the rest of the country, so we just have to take it one week and fight for one victory.”
Improving as an offense…
“We have to do a better job offensively, getting the ball in the end zone and trying to help out the defense. We cant put them in those situations and force them to be on the field that long.”
On the first drive…
“We were hitting them where we wanted and getting some good looks. We were playing good football and then the second half we weren't hitting it and obviously you could tell.”
Royce Freeman- Running Back, Sophomore
On locker room after the game…
“It was what you would imagine after a loss like that, it was very quiet as far as enthusiasm goes and guys questioning a lot of things that went on tonight and where we went wrong and what we need to correct.”
On reaction…
“It just started snowballing after the fake punt, I was really in shock and we started to figure out that they were going up by a big number and we should have stopped that.”
On leadership at QB…
“It isn't hurting the team at all. We practice with both of them all the time and we play with both of them all the time and we should be ready to get in the groove no matter who is back there.”
On stopping a losing pattern…
“We need to look at ourselves in the mirror tonight. We can't dwell on it and we can't let us hurt us in the future.”
Tyler Johnstone- Offensive Line, Senior
On the locker room…
“Guys are cleaning up as we speak. The whole attitude right now is to kind of regroup and rebuild. There is going to be a lot of film watching going on tomorrow. I don't think anyone is happy with the way they played tonight but we are going to have to move on from it, learn what we can and move forward.
On effort…
“We are out there trying to repair what has gone wrong in previous series. For us we couldn't really get on the same page. When it was first and ten we very rarely had a positive play. I don't think the effort was an issue, it comes down to lack of communication, lack of technique and lack of focus overall.”
On moving forward…
“We need to get back to the culture of Oregon football. A group of us leaders have already been talking about what we are going to do to fix things. Obviously nobody is happy with that outcome, how they played individually or as a group, nobody is pleased with anything right now.”
On QBs…
“That doesn't matter to the rest of the team. Whoever has that spot is expected to perform at the exact same level as anyone else who is playing that spot. The rest of the team is going to do our jobs no matter who is back there. I'm not just going to blow my technique because of who is back there.”
On Utah…
“They are a great team, that is to be said. I don't want to take anything away from their win, they played on all cylinderstonight and they are a very good, physical, and well coached team. We just didn't show up in any phase. They are probably a little but underrated right now. We have the tools to beat them, we just didn't use them.”
On losing some leaders…
“It is 100% true that we are not the same team we were. Those guys moved on and guys stepped up. We have the tools to be the team we always have been, but we just didn't really show up tonight. There is a lot of things we can learn.”
Rodney Hardrick -SR. Linebacker
On moving on from the game…
“There is a 24 hour period where we think about it, watch it, dwell on a few plays, what could have happened, and then we are going to take the good stuff from it and have a good practice on Monday”
On changes in the defensive backfield…
“We have to get better at all positions, not just back there, we're not setting edges, we're not capitalizing on opportunities, and those guys have to grow up fast. I think we will be fine”
On how the defense has to adjust for Pac-12 play…
“The Pac 12 is such a great conference, all these great athletes, multiple quarterbacks, multiple running backs, we just have to have a great week of practice”
On how the defense felt coming into the game…
“I felt like we were really prepared, had a great scheme, a great plan, I was confident, I knew what we were doing, we just gave up too many plays at the wrong times”
On people who say this isn't the same team as last year…
“Its not the same team, its not going to be the same team, we lose those guys, we make up for it, it's constantly changing every year so we just want to be the best that we can be, fix those small things and limit those plays from happening”
On this game being a turning point, depending on how they react…
“I'm excited to see how the guys react… we will get together watch the film early, watch it again tomorrow, and be prepared for next week”
Vernon Adams- SR. Quarterback
On reaction to being benched for Lockie…
“I wasn't surprised, I wasn't doing anything, why would they keep me in? Next man up, he came in did what he had to do. He drove it down and did a good job”
On where he is physically…
“I'm fine, I should just be making plays I usually make”
Kyle Whittingham - Utah Head Coach
Opening Statement…
“This was a nice road win by our team. We played well in all three phases. Everybody showed up tonight and it was a great job by our coaches putting the game plans in place and having a great week of preparation. We talked about being tough and physical which is our brand of football anyways, but when preparation meets toughness and physicality, the result was what happened tonight. Oregon is a quality program and they have a lot of good players and I couldn't be more proud of our guys and how they responded. This is great momentum for us going into the bye week. We have a tough game in two weeks that we have to be ready for. For right now, we're right where we want to be. Travis Wilson was outstanding tonight. Devonte Booker and the offensive line, the receivers, the defense as a whole were all great. Special teams made some plays. The run defense wasn't as good tonight as it has been in the past, but it was a good win for us and a good start to Pac-12 play.”
How the win stacks up against other wins…
“It's up there. I don't know if it's Sugar Bowl caliber or one of two of the other ones, but it's a great road win for our team. They really controlled the game from start to finish. It really speaks well to how our guys prepared and the type of personnel we've been able to assemble. We have good players.”
On attacking the Oregon secondary…
“Well we're trying to be balanced on offense with running and throwing. I thought we did a good job of achieving that. Travis (Wilson) was on his game tonight. For the receivers, I don't know if we had a drop. I can't think of one. I guess Booker's screen pass would have been a tough catch. But we were hitting on all cylinders tonight. On special teams, Hackett punted the ball extremely well. The fake punt was executed to perfection except for the high snap. The punt return that we had dialed up and the decoy and all of those things were executed very well.”
On the fake punt…
“We had it lined up out of that formation this week. We lined up in that formation on the snap before when the punt hit the wire and they didn't line up properly to it. They didn't cover it right. So we dialed it up and we have a way to check out of it if they give us a different look, but based on the look we saw the snap before, it was there.”
On the mindset of the team following the win…
“This should definitely give us some confidence and buy-in. Not that we have any trouble with the buy-in, but this helps everyone believe in what we're doing and what we're preaching and the way we practice. We practice hard and we lift hard. This program is not easy. It's a tough program to be a part of, but if you do it the right way then you're going to have good results and tonight is one of those nights.”
Travis Wilson - Quarterback, Senior
On how the win felt…
"It felt amazing. It's a great win for this program and a great step for this offense. To put that many points on a team like Oregon is unheard of. I'm really happy with our performance and it's definitely a good start to conference (play), but we've still got some things to fix and we've still got some challenges ahead of us.”
On what led to the offensive outburst…
“The biggest thing was just that I made smart decisions, made accurate throws. Our wide receivers did a great job of getting open. We had a great game plan going into this game, so I'm really happy with the overall performance and how well our offensive line did in blocking for me.”
On the game plan going into tonight's game…
“In the passing game, we have some bigger receivers on the outside, so we thought we could take advantage of their corners. (Kenneth Scott) made some great plays, and Caleb Repp made some great plays as well. Coming into the game, we really wanted to establish a good passing game, and that would ultimately help (Devontae) Booker out a lot, so we were really happy with the consistency on offense.”
Gionni Paul – Linebacker, Senior
On tonight's win…
“I want to yell, but I'd be out of line right now. It feels good. I feel like we finally came together as a team because we love one another and we're playing hard.”
On if he saw anything in the defense that needed corrections…
“We made some mistakes. We're still going to come in Monday and watch film, go over our mistakes and move on to our next opponent. Altogether, I think we played well enough to beat a good team.”
On what the difference has been on the defense this year as opposed to last year…
“I believe we have more players that bought in in the offseason. Each position group took it upon themselves to really work on their craft, and I thought it carried over into the season.”
