Nov. 27, 2010

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CALIFORNIA HEAD COACH JEFF TEDFORD

On the 2010 season:

"Obviously, we worked long and hard; the players endured a lot. Time, energy and effort dates all the way back to January. We had goals going in, and obviously today is the first time we have been here in nine years. It is very disappointing. The players had a good week of practice, and were very motivated to go compete today. It is very unfortunate. I feel bad for the seniors; they have given a lot to the program. This is no doubt a disappointment."

On the final play of the game:
"(In that situation) it is going to be a quarterback sneak or they are going to run the ball straight ahead. I wouldn't expect them to run sideways in that situation. It is unfortunate it came down to that because the defense played great. It was a two play game, the long ball they threw in the third quarter that we had very well defended; it got batted and the guy got it and ran for a touchdown. And of course the last play. The defense played excellent, and it is unfortunate it came down to that at the end. You have got to give credit to [Jermaine] Kearse; he made a great catch down the stretch. A diving catch, you have to give him credit. I thought our defense played incredible."

On the offense focusing on the run game:
"It is more that we had more confidence in the run game. We knew we would have to be patient. They would make their plays and move a lot. We did get positive yards quite a bit of the time; I don't think it is any surprise that with Shane [Vereen] and those guys that the run game is our strength. We didn't make enough plays in the passing game and we got caught in too many long yardage situations."

On evaluating the team going forward:
"[Preparing for next year] will start immediately. ]Evaluating our team] is something we do throughout the year. We evaluate every week and as we move forward there will be a great deal of evaluation. It starts with recruiting, which we will be doing on Monday. That is something you do every single year no matter how many games you win. We haven't had a season like this, so there are a lot of things that need to improve."

On preparing for next season:
"Like I told the team in the locker room, we are very disappointed, but I've enjoyed coming to work every single day. We have some good young players, and we will have a veteran squad next year. I have a lot of confidence in what our kids are all about. I know they will come back with a lot of focus in the offseason program."

On this year's results:
"We averaged eight and a half or something wins every year [since Jeff Tedford became the coach beginning in 2002], and made a bowl game every year. This is a disappointment. You experience something like this, and it doesn't feel good. I feel bad for the kids first and foremost, the people that support us, the university, and the alumni. I have a great deal of pride in this program; I have a great deal of love for this program. Obviously we want to get some things done. There were a lot of good football games. I have said in the past that whether you win eight games or nine games, there is a very fine line between 5-7 and 7-5. That being said this isn't acceptable to the coaches, and this isn't acceptable to the players."

CALIFORNIA PLAYERS

WR MARVIN JONES
On ending the season and what he will do in the offseason to prepare for next year:
"Nobody wants to finish a season like this. I'm going to be one of those guys encouraging and who leads the team."

On if ending with a losing record is a wakeup call for Cal's program:
"I wouldn't say `wakeup call.' There are going to be seasons where you don't do what you're expected to do. That's fine. But we seniors have to train hard in the offseason and come back and have a better season than we had this year."

On if Cal had a lack of confidence in the passing game:
"Not really. We were on point in practice."

PK GIORGIO TAVECCHIO
On his 53-yard field goal:
"I felt pretty good. I was pretty confident. I was very focused, and my focus was only on just the kick, nothing else. It was a great snap, great hold as always, great protection. Got a little lucky and I hit it through."

"It is bittersweet. I like to make every field goal, and today I felt I did a good job on my field goals. But there is a bitter taste in my mouth."

DL CAMERON JORDAN
On scoring a TD in his last home game in front of his family:
"I'm happy I scored a touchdown. I'm happy that my family saw me score this touchdown. My whole family was out this time."

On the last Washington scoring drive to end the game:
"I definitely thought we were going to stuff them. I thought [Washington quarterback Jake] Locker was going to keep it, and then they hit the perimeter."

S SEAN CATTOUSE
On preparing for next season:
"Most definitely. I'm ready to put it all on my shoulders, if you ask me. I know there are a lot of guys who feel the same way, but that's definitely my focus."

On defending the pass today and then the tipped ball for an 80-yard Washington TD:
"I thought we played the pass well pretty much all game. They got a tipped ball. It's one of those crazy plays. "

WASHINGTON HEAD COACH STEVE SARKISIAN
General comments:
"My first thought, right when the [winning] touchdown was scored was what amazing memories our seniors are getting for their senior season. I go back to the SC field goal. I go back to the Oregon State two-point play. And then for this play to happen like that, for the game to end the way it did, I'm just happy for our seniors. I'm really happy for those guys because they've been through so much. They've been the real catalyst to this thing and really changing the culture and believing in what we're doing, and buying into what we're doing. We may not always be the most talented team on Saturday afternoons, but we're extremely resilient, and it starts with those guys. I could be happy for and proud of them."

On how long he spent debating what to do on the final fourth down:
"None, really. I was surprised we didn't score on the very first sneak. So we came back with it again out of a formation that I was hopefully going to get an idea of what it would look like. So when we sneaked it on the second one, they were really piled in the A-gaps and the four-point stances so we knew exactly what we were going to do. We wanted to run the power play to the strong side out of the same formation but then while tucked inside."

On what he told the team in the final timeout:
"I just told them, `We've been preaching now for three weeks about you got to finish. There's no better way to finish than on the last play of the game. Here we go. This is what we do.' We're aggressive. We've been aggressive since day one since I got here, and we're not going to change. We're maybe a little smarter at times, but we're not going to change. I just wanted to make sure that we were all on the same page with what we were going to do."

On quarterback Jake Locker's performance on the final drive and overall:
"I thought Jake showed a lot of guts in the second half. I don't know if he was great in the first half. We kind of got together and said, `Let's just go play the game the way we know how to play. I thought he showed a lot of guts, a lot of courage. There were some real courageous plays there, especially in the fourth quarter. "

On the 45-yard pass to wide receiver Jermaine Kearse on the final drive:
"The pass to Kearse was a one-on-one match-up on a go route. It was a nice alert by Jake to see it. I thought Jermaine really showed a nice burst."

WASHINGTON PLAYERS

QB JAKE LOCKER

On the quarterback runs and how they worked late:
"Their safeties were triggering whenever I kept the ball. There were a few times I did keep it and thought I had pretty green grass to be able to run and those guys were right there. I thought they had a really good game plan for that. Those couple plays we had at the end were well designed and well executed."

On the final play:
"[Coach Steve Sarkesian] felt the energy that we had throughout that drive and the confidence that we had. I think everybody in the huddle before the play would have said, `Yeah, we want to go for it.' We've been playing for Sark for two years now. We understand who he is and how he operates. I would have been shocked if we kicked the field goal there. I felt like we had a lot of momentum. I felt like we were kind of pissed off, each guy at themselves for not getting in on first, second or third down. So, I think that just the passion and excitement that we had at that point, and with how well we were executing, I thought that every guy in the huddle expected him to call that, and was ready for it and wasn't surprised by it. That's the call that they wanted."

On the offensive troubles in the first half:
"I thought that we were able to establish some drives, but then we shot ourselves in the foot once we started to move the ball. We had a couple turnovers, and then a few penalties stalled our drives out. In the second half, we were able to capitalize more on some big play opportunities and then put together the final drive to win the game."

On the feeling after the final touchdown:
"I just felt proud to be on this football team. To play with these guys, it wasn't perfect, but they kept fighting, they kept playing. They didn't give up and that's why the result was like it was."

WR JERMAINE KEARSE
On the big pass on the final drive:
"I believe it was a Z-Spear. We had a deep over, and I have a post, which I converted to a go route. Jake threw the ball and I just tried to get there and make the play. I just try to go out there and make the best of my opportunity. Jake gave me the opportunity, and I just went to go make the play."

On what this game means to him:
"It was just a big game. We really needed to win the last three to get to a bowl game. We're just taking it one step at a time. This was the second step. We're just trying to come out and play hard and get this win."

SS NATE WILLIAMS
On the final play from the sideline:
"I wasn't worried at all. I have a ton of confidence in our entire offensive line, our running backs and our receivers and even Coach Sark. Whatever play he wanted to call, I knew that he had enough confidence in it to call it and to not kick it. I wasn't worried at all."

On Cal's offense and their ability to stop it:
"I think we played really tough and really well. One of the things that we pride ourselves on is that when the offense gets into the red zone, we want to hold them to at least three. We did that today. We played really hard and we fought all the way to the end. Even when they got up on us we never quit. We kept on pushing. We kept on running and hitting like [defensive coordinator Nick] Coach Holt tells us to. It obviously worked out for us. When you prepare well you can play fast, and we played out of our minds today."