Cal-Southern Utah Postgame Quotes

Cal-Southern Utah Postgame Quotes

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CALIFORNIA HEAD COACH Jeff Tedford

On Cal's Offensive Errors:


"Penalties, too many penalties. We cannot continue to do that, shoot ourselves in the foot and expect to win close football games. We broke it open in the second half with a lot of big plays, but we are really hurting ourselves a lot. We have to clean that up for sure. We are making positive plays, but shooting ourselves in the foot with penalties. The touchdown got called back, we had a low block. We had a couple holding calls. For the most part, we are making positive plays, but we can't shoot ourselves in the foot like that. There is quite a bit of improvement to be made. The improvement needs to come with what we are doing."

On the Offside Calls on Kicking Plays:
"Our kicker was tip-toeing as our guys tried to get off; we need to address that. It was a timing issue. When you are only five yards away, once you get any momentum going, you have to make sure you aren't across the line early. You'd rather be late than early."

On the Combination of Good and Bad Plays:
"(The errors) bring you back to Earth. The mistakes that are made, you need to improve. Most of it had to do with the penalties. So this game is another lesson, as each game is. There are things in every game that you learn. The biggest thing in this game was the penalties."

On the Team's Attitude:
"I was encouraged by the way everybody hung in there and kept playing hard. I thought the defense did a nice job in the first half. (Bill) Tyndall played his first game at left tackle. Isi (Sofele) played well. There is still a lot to improve on."

On Southern Utah's Offense:
"The first drive they did (march down the field). There were a lot of dinks and dunks and short passes. We rallied to make tackles, but they kept the sticks moving and converting. That is something you don't want to happen, but they executed well. Their quarterback has a quick release and made some good throws. He back shouldered a guy that Steve (Williams) had covered right in his pocket."

On Cal QB Zach Maynard:
"He missed a couple easy ones. He missed (Eric) Stevens. We had a swing pass to the left that probably would have went a long way. Being sharp is really important."

On Cal WR Chris Harper:
"He is doing really well. He made one play that I was really impressed with. He put his shoulder down and bounced off somebody to spin down the line. He felt terrible about the fumble, but with young guys like that you need to learn how you get hit from the side. You need to expect that. He didn't have the ball out, he wasn't carrying it loosely, but he took a big hit and the ball came out. He felt terrible about it, but it is learning for a young guy."

CALIFORNIA PLAYERS

Zach Maynard, QB


On the team's performance in the first half, earning yards but not points:
"It was very frustrating at first to try to create a good drive for the offense. The defense did a great job getting us the ball back. We have to put ourselves in better situations and get first downs and not turn the ball over. We need to stay in the game the whole time."

On how they must play at Ohio State next week:
"I would say that we have to play more consistently. I put myself in a lot of long third down situations this week. We need to do a good job on first and second down and put ourselves in better field position so that even if we can't score a touchdown, we can get a field goal."

On the no-huddle offense:
"We adjusted early on in the week. We were playing against a different team so it was going to be a different type of game plan. Coach Tedford talked about it early in the week. We talked about how we were going to adjust to the certain coverages they bring and what they like to do with blitzes and how we were going to manage the ball. We wanted to get the run game going well. Our guys did a great job today running the ball. It was all in the game plan."

On Chris Harper:
"He is doing a great job for us. Mentally, he's doing a great job for us as a freshman and learning all the plays and signals that we put on. Bryce [Treggs] is doing a nice job too. Those guys are doing a huge job for us and it's great that it's starting early in the season. Keenan [Allen] is doing a great job with them communicating with them and helping them out when they need it."

On Keenan Allen's punt return touchdown:
"That play was amazing. It was a great punt actually. He hung it up with great hang time and Keenan just sat under it. He saw where the defenders were at the last minute and dropped the ball, but it bounced right into his hands, then he made a huge play turning back around. He made one guy miss and then he was gone to the end zone. He's a great player on special teams. Having the ability to score on special teams is huge for us."

Isi Sofele, RB
On the penalties:
"We went out there and tried to make plays. We killed ourselves by getting penalties, which set us back. We got moving as the game went on. We eliminated some of those penalties."

On his play:
"I felt really good. I think that the running game was getting up field and getting positive yards. It put the offense in a good situation. I feel that the run game helped out a lot to open up the receivers as well."

Chris Harper, WR
On his mentality during the game:
"I take it play by play. When it was close, I was just thinking that we needed to get the ball back and we have to put points on the board however we can."

On playing at Ohio State next week:
"We just need to execute. We need to come to practice and run every play hard. We have no time to slack off. We need to get our assignments right. It's definitely exciting. The fan-base is going to be larger. It's going to be a good game. We have to come out and play hard."

SOUTHERN UTAH HEAD COACH ED LAMB

General Comments:


"They may have worn us down mentally and had more confidence late in those situations. The thing that turned the game was the interception return for a touchdown, the punt return for a touchdown and then we turned the ball over deep in our own territory. Those three things led to 17 points in the first four or five minutes of the fourth quarter."

On Whether Cal Did Anything to Surprise SUU:
"No. I think they stuck to their game plan. I'm sure they're sticking on doing with what they believe in, and they did a good job of playing hard."

On Comparing SUU's Performance Today to the Last Game:
"I think we're a much-improved a team. I think we continue to find ourselves. Our guys have battled for two games straight. We're going to find out about our toughness. The ultimate answer to that will play out in the next couple of weeks."

On Whether or Not the Game Plan Changed in the Second Half:
"The game plan for us in these early games, when we're playing up out of our division, has been to try to establish a running game, run the ball a little bit and build an overall team around that, helping out our defense by running the clock. And then we wanted to come out in the second half and let it happen. The quarterback and the offense are very adept at that. We're going to move the ball on a lot of teams and score a lot of points this year."

On Whether Big Plays Turned the Tide in the Fourth Quarter:
"Yes. The big plays, and then I think our defense wore down a little bit after those big plays. It's really disappointing on defense to play so hard and see points be put up on the board without playing defense. Our offense watched a touchdown go by them on the interception return. Our special teams saw a touchdown go by them on the punt return, and our defense went out on a short field after a turnover, held them to a field goal attempt and it bounces off the dang cross bar and in. That's very disheartening for a defense, play so hard, keep it close all day and then have three scores go in like that in a matter of five minutes."

On the Positives from This Game:
"I love our players. I'm positively confident in our players, but we came here to win, and we're very disappointed."

SOUTHERN UTAH PLAYERS

Brad Sorensen, QB


On the Misplay that Ended in an Interception:
"I think that [Cal's defense] just had the right coverage called for that. The corner came off and made a good play."

On Adjusting to Cal's Pass Rush:
"Our offensive line played well. They're a very talented [defensive line]. The offensive line did a good job. They gave me plenty of time and protection, and we were able to complete some balls at the same time."

On the Teams' Offensive Execution Compared to Last Weekend:
"I don't think the offense performed as well as it should have last week, and so to come out here to play football and put points on the board is obviously positive. We're going to get back to work and try and clean up some of the sacks and interceptions that happened.

Miles Killebrew, SS
On the Team's Defensive Plan Toward Cal's WRs:
"We knew that they were a very talented receiving corps, and we were going to try to play aggressive to their receivers. We knew that they have a lot of deep threats, so we game planned accordingly."

On Containing Cal's Receivers:
"We knew that they had fast receivers, so we tried to adjust to that - to the speed - and we felt that we worked very hard preparing for that.

On his Impression of Cal's Receiving Corps:
"I was impressed with all of their offense. They are a very hard working team, and I [also] felt like they were a good opponent for us to play early in the season."

On Regrouping for the Next Game:
I love my guys on defense and I think that we're building toughness in a loss like this. I'm looking forward to working hard with them next week and keep improving. I feel, if there is one positive, is that we're going to get tougher and closer together as a defense."

Crawford Harris, RB
On the Team's Game Mentality:
"Like coach [Ed Lamb] said `we came here to win.' But we definitely fought our way through the game. We thought the game was out of reach, and we still came out and put up points. I think that shows a lot of heart in us to come out and do our thing."

On Coming Home to Play in the Bay Area:
"I was excited, I was very excited. I might have little hard feelings, but it was good. It was good to play Cal and to see what they were all about."

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