Nov. 13, 2010

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CALIFORNIA HEAD COACH Jeff Tedford

On Cal's defense:

"(The defense) played their hearts out. There is no question about it. To give up one touchdown against that offense; they played great. The defensive coaches had a great plan; the kids executed it. All week long they sold out in the preparation. The belief and intensity going into the game was awesome. It is a shame, it's a shame. I feel sick for the kids."

On Cal's offense:
"They have a good defense. We need to make more plays. In the passing game, we didn't make enough plays. We converted some third downs to take that drive down; to get in position to score. But we just aren't consistent. We have to make some plays in the passing game. We can't be so one dimensional."

On Cal QB Brock Mansion:
"He is inexperienced; he was rushing some things. The speed of the game was something you could tell (was getting to him). He is an inexperienced guy with a lot of things moving at him."

On Oregon's speed:
"We prepared for it; our scout team did a lot. The organization and speed that we practiced with this week made our guys were ready for it. The tempo of what they do, and the speed, and the way they spread the field is obviously a challenge; but I thought our guys matched the challenge. We had two corners go down, Marc Anthony and Darian Hagan in the first half; so we couldn't sub there. I thought the guys did a great job. They worked really well all week practicing at a fast pace. The conditioning showed today, I don't think they were gassed at all. I can't say enough about the defensive performance to hold that offense to seven points."

CALIFORNIA PLAYERS

Chris Conte, S

On the Cal defense:
"It's disappointing. It's reminiscent of the Arizona game. We came out, executed our plan, really played well on defense and then somehow didn't come out with the victory."

On if they thought they would pull off the upset going into the game:
"I had no doubt that we were going to win this game. I knew that our defense would come out and execute the game plan. We had a great week of practice and everybody was fired up. It was ripe for the upset. We knew that if we came out and executed, this team was very beatable. Watching film, we saw their people making mistakes. We knew if we held them to no big plays, we'd be right in this game. We should have won. "

Shane Vereen, RB
On the passing game:
"You have to give credit to their defense. Oregon's defense is very fast, and they play fast the whole game long. We knew they were talented in the secondary, as well as their backers. We couldn't really get this going, just some things here and there."

On the feeling in the locker room:
"Disappointment. We really felt like we should have won this game. We had opportunities to win this game, but for whatever reason, it didn't happen. The good news is that we'll learn from this and we have the Big Game next week."

On the defense:
"This is really frustrating because we wanted to have their back, just like they've always had our back game in and game out this season. We were unable to put points on the board, and that's frustrating and disheartening. If we just could have put a couple more points on the board, who knows what would have happened."

Giorgio Tavecchio, PK
On the missed field goal:
"My heart was beating fast, but I was breathing deeply, trying to control it and visualize the ball coming off my foot. I just pulled it a little bit, but I'll have to see it again on film to see exactly what happened. It felt like a great kick. It came off my foot well, but it obviously didn't go through the pipes. I'm very, very disappointed."

OREGON HEAD COACH CHIP KELLY

General comments:

"They're a very good football team. Very good on defense. We expected a battle coming down here."

"A win's a win. We're happy. We're 10-0. We have this week to improve in practice - we'll practice a couple days this week - and get ready for a really good Arizona team. That's what this league is all about, and I've said it from day one: winning on the road in this conference is very difficult, and we've been fortunate four times. We're going to see if we can regroup, get ready to go and play Arizona."

On Oregon's last drive:
"We pride ourselves on finishing, and that's what I told our guys even before that last drive. We can control this ourselves offensively. We need to go down and score and extend the lead. We didn't plan on it going that long. But that's what this football team is all about - we find a way no matter what it is to win. I thought our defense played outstanding today. We got a big boost from our special teams. And then our offense went ahead and finished, and we finished."

On Cal's defensive front:
"They were physical and they were tough, and they did a good job. They were ranked 12th, I think, in the country defensively, and we knew coming in that it was going to be a challenge."

On if his team tightened up:
"No, our team didn't get tight, not at all. We were up at half, and we talked about it. They got close, and our offense put us in a little bit of a hole there. I thought our defense played outstanding all game long. We felt confident the whole time. That's a confident group of guys in that locker room."

On the play of Darron Thomas:
"I thought Darron did a decent job. I have to watch the tape. He missed a couple that we would probably want back. There were some fumbled snaps and some [bad] exchanges, but he played well enough for us to win. He's a gamer. I thought he managed the clock really well on that last drive."

On Cal's punting and Oregon punt returner Cliff Harris:
"Their kicker is outstanding, too, and does a great job. He caught one that was a little bit lower than the other (punts). We set up the blocking really well, and he's such a dynamic returner, one of the best in the country. He's such a weapon."

OREGON PLAYERS

Rob Beard, K

On missing two field goals:
"It's whatever. I missed two kicks. I thought one might have made it. But it only matters what the referee says. Right now I'm just flushing it. We have another game next week, Arizona, that's going to be a really important game. I'm not too worried about it. I've made millions of kicks in my life. This whole past week I did really good. I felt really good today. I didn't think I was going to miss any. It's unfortunate. You can't always get what you want. I'm just looking forward to the next game."

Jeff Maehl, WR
On the game:
"Man, that was a battle for sure. They came with a game plan and they stuck to it. You have to give them a lot of credit. Their interior line and linebackers played really well."

"It was amazing. It just shows how much we work and how much we condition and what we stand for. We stand for finishing and that's what we did."

On the reviewed pass:
"You know, I wasn't sure. I landed on top of him and that probably gave me the benefit of the doubt. When I got up I was out of bounds so I wasn't sure."

On the touchdown pass:
"Just a great play call by Chip [Kelly], scheming it up coming out of halftime. They were playing man the whole game. It was just a crossing route to try and get a pick and Darron [Thomas] put it on me."

Brandon Bair, DT
On the game:
"It's a Pac-10 game on the road. Cal has been really tough here. We knew that this season isn't going to be all blowouts. We're going to have to have a character-building game where we're going to come out and it's really going to test who we are."

"A W is a W, right? That was the biggest thing for us, especially that final drive from our offense. It's great to know that a good team is going to win the game no matter what it takes and no matter what the circumstances. Things don't always go your way. In a situation like this, we just pulled it off. It was a good thing for us."

On the road ahead:
"It's a bye week. We're going to fine tune things we need to, but that biggest thing will be to get everybody back healthy."

Darron Thomas, QB
On the game:
"Their defense came out and showed us a lot of different looks that we hadn't really seen. So we had to adjust some things on the fly. But I'll give it up to their defense; they did a good job."

"We were never worried. We just had to come out and do our job. They stopped us and did a good job, but we never thought about losing."

On the final drive:
"Coach Kelly told us in the huddle before we went out there that this was going to be the drive of the year. This was going to be the drive we were going to remember. Go out there and put it away."