California Head Coach Sonny Dykes

General comments:
"It was a tough game today and a tough way to lose down the stretch. I am proud of our team for the way we battled in the second half. I didn't think we competed as well in the first half. I challenged them at halftime, and I thought we needed to play harder and tougher. To their credit, they really did that in the second half and gave us a chance to win. In the end, we did some good things. We got some stops when we needed to, we moved to ball offensively – it just wasn't as crisp as we would like it to be. We struggled at times to get into a rhythm, but I think the defense did a great job of creating turnovers that gave us a chance to win the ballgame. There are some things we have to get better at as we move forward. It is a tough way to lose. We have got to give our guys credit for putting ourselves in a position to win it. We just came up a little bit short down the stretch."

On Trevor Davis:
"Trevor was moving his extremities, both his arms and legs, and was talking. He said that he felt okay. He is going to the hospital, and I am sure he will get a series of tests run and we will know more. Certainly, the signs from the field looked good."

On interception at the end of the game:
"We had a TV timeout, so we had the opportunity to talk about what our strategy was. We felt that we needed to get to ball to about the 25-yard line. We didn't feel that time was that big of an issue because we still had one timeout remaining. The biggest advantage we had coming into the game was when they pressed outside, when their corners pressed our outside receivers, we made a lot of really big plays with Kenny [Lawler] and throwing some fade routes, so we liked that matchup. In a perfect world, we would throw the ball to one of the inside verticals, which would probably get us down to that part of the field. Jared looked out there and saw press coverage, and saw the matchup he wanted. He snapped the ball, the guy bailed and we didn't make a very good play on the football. That is what happens sometimes. We got a little bit fooled and their guy made a play on the football. I didn't see the replay."

On Jared Goff:
"We gave up some pressure, and I thought Jared handled it pretty well most of the game. I thought, once we got settled in, we passed pretty well. Obviously, we have got to get better, but I thought he did a pretty good job extending some plays with his feet, moving around in the pocket and getting the ball down the field."

On running game:
"We had a hard time running the ball. When you can't run it and they are playing with two safeties, it makes it hard on you. That's two weeks in a row where teams have sat back there with two safeties and have given us the numbers in the run game where we haven't been able to take advantage of it much."

On tackling:
"I thought our tackling was poor, especially in the first half. I was not happy at halftime, but I talked to the guys and I thought we did better in the second half. I am still not pleased with our tackling at all. I thought we gave up leverage too many times. For us to play as poorly as we played and still have a chance to win the game, you have got to give our guys credit for playing really hard in the second half and battling hard enough to where we had a shot." 

California Players

Jared Goff, QB

On the team's mood after having to go on the field after the injury to Trevor Davis:
“That was kind of scary to see there for a second. From what I've heard though he seems to be doing alright and is going to be ok. Everything I've heard about that is positive so far, but it was tough having to see that and then go out and try to put a drive together. We stayed focused and almost finished it off there.”

On the interception late in the fourth quarter:
“It was just not a very smart play by me. It was a similar play that I had thrown a touchdown to Kenny [Lawler] earlier, so I thought I'd get it again. I kind of forced it a little bit, and it was probably not the best play in that situation. The defensive back made a great play on it and picked it off. It was a play we had just scored a touchdown on, so I was feeling pretty good with it. Again, it was a very similar look with the defense; similar to the play we scored on. The only difference when we scored, the defensive back stopped running and this time he ran right underneath it and made a good play.”

Hardy Nickerson, LB

On his reaction to the injury to Trevor Davis:
“You hate to see a friend go down like that; a teammate, a good dude. I wish the best for him, I'm praying for him and I wish him a speedy recovery. Right after he went down, we all got together and said, 'Let's do it for Trev.' I don't think there was a lack of momentum after he went down and we tried to do it for him.”

On the defense's play today:
“There are no moral victories. Bottom line is that we lost the game and the bottom line is that we left some plays out there like the screen play right before halftime. There were guys just being out of their gaps, guys missing tackles and we have a lot of work to do. We are going to go back to practice tomorrow, go back to basics and work on the technique.”

Michael Barton, LB

On his feelings about the injury to Trevor Davis:
“We were going over some defensive adjustments and it got really silent. I saw Trevor on the ground and just prayed to God that he'd be alright. I think a lot of assurance was back when he put the thumbs up and I think a lot of guys were feeling a lot better about that. We are just glad that he is doing OK.”

On the missed tackles by the defense:
“That is something that is very unacceptable by us, and something we have to work on right away. If some tackles are made, this game might change. That's what we need to focus on next week,  making tackles, wrapping up and rallying to the ball.” 

UCLA Head Coach Jim Mora 

General Comments:

“We overcame three turnovers on the road to win a game in a place where UCLA hasn't won since 1998. That's a heck of a team. I think Goff is a big-time player. He's got everything you want in a big-time player. They've got tremendous skill position players, and we just came out with a win. They'll be those that say we only beat them by two, but to overcome the disappointment we've suffered the last two weeks, losses. To come into an environment where UCLA has struggled, overcome three turnovers and the back-and-forth to get a win, that's something that you build on. When you are trying to build a program and trying to create a culture, it's never going to be smooth sailing, especially when you are trying to do it as drastic as we are. This is a young team. There are six scholarship seniors on this team. Every time we get in a game like this and we win it, it just adds to what we're going to be in the future.” 

On Trevor Davis:

“Before I talk about the game I just want to say that UCLA's prayers are with Trevor Davis and hopefully the young man is OK. I saw him moving his feet and he gave a thumbs up. There's nothing better than seeing that. You just hate to see someone go down and when they bring the cart out it just puts everything in perspective. These are kids playing the game that they love and hopefully that young man is OK. UCLA is thinking about him.”

On the offense:

“We had 567 yards, that's pretty good. I felt like we had things going pretty well on offense and then we would turn it over. It's kind of uncharacteristic for us to turn it over the way we have. We've been a pretty decent team taking care of the football and all three of the turnovers gave them the ball in plus territory and they resulted in touchdowns. So, once again, you don't see it very often where you overcome three turnovers on the road and still get a win. To me, it just speaks to what these guys have become. We are far from perfect but there is grit that is building and when you get that, that's the culture you want, a toughness, never quit, never say die, never give in, never give up. This is a long-term deal.”

UCLA Players

Brett Hundley, QB

On if it was a must-win game:
“We just had to come out with a win, basically. That's what we did today. It was a hard-fought battle, but we had to. Everything that happened – we had to win. We don't put excess pressure on ourselves, but the harsh reality is we are 5-2. That's good, but we still had stuff in front of us that we could get to. If we win out and do what we're supposed to do, we can still get to the Pac-12 Championship. As long as we're winning games, everything will be fine.”

On the need to continue to play until the last down:
“The team will always know that. Every game for us is something that we prepare for and understand that we have to win. Next week is Colorado. We'll get started on that. That's another must-win. We're going on the road again and we have to come out with a victory.”

On the interception:
 “We ran that play a few times, but I think I just put it behind him a bit, and the corner made a great play. The window of opportunity was there. Obviously it just got a little bit behind him.”

On California:
“They're a great team. They were battling a lot of injuries in their secondary. They were playing off the whole night and didn't try to give up anything deep. They did a great job of that. They made us take underneath routes and quick-hitters. At the same time, we put points on the board. They played a great game.”

Marcus Rios, DB

On the game-winning interception:
“The last play I knew they were coming at me because I haven't played that much this season. I saw double wide receivers out there, so I just decided to go for the fade because I knew they would try me on the fade. I saw the ball in the air and just caught it.”

On his thoughts during the review:
“I knew I had two feet inbounds. I had ball control. I knew it and believed it.”

Owamagbe Odighizuwa, DL

On getting a victory:
“There was a definite sense of urgency for us to get a win. That was all that mattered in this game. It wasn't pretty, but we got the job done.”

Eric Kendricks, LB

On the win:
“That was a hard-fought win. We'll take what we can get. We worked hard and had fun. Things happen on the football field, but we prevailed and we stuck together.”