Here's a transcript of UCLA's head coach during his conference call Sunday evening:
On the tape, what stood out defensively:
"It was all of the above. We missed an inordinate amount of tackles. We need to do a better job as a staff of adjusting. We need to play things with more exactness. So it's really a combination of those things."
On how the team has dealt with injuries:
"We don’t talk about it to be perfectly frank. We don’t address injuries with each other. I don’t pull the old stand up in front of them and go, 'OK, this guy is down so someone has to step up and play better.' That’s assumed. These are competitive young men that don’t need to be reminded of those things. I've really honestly never addressed it. I haven't addressed it once."
On what injured guys' roles have been:
"They haven't had a role. They're all just kind of fresh off surgery so right now it's just recovery from the surgery. We haven't had them do anything in terms of being in meetings or on the field. This is all so fresh for all of them. It kind of just happened."
On defensive guys trying to redefine their roles:
"No, it's a matter of we need to give them a chance with some positioning and having them play better. Obviously I'm concerned about it, but I know it will get fixed. No. 1, I have tremendous confidence in our players and I think they'll respond to the coaching that they get this year. No. 2, we played the run really well this year. So this was a different run scheme that they went to when Soloman went down and we obviously didn't practice against it very much because it wasn’t something they did a lot … But like I said, I'm concerned, but I'm not in a panic mode or anything. I know we'll get it fixed. If we were going on four weeks of not being able to stop the run at all, then I might be a little more shook up about it. But we have stopped the run and we've done a nice job, so I'm not going to panic."
On Jayon Brown and Bolu Olorunfunmi's injuries:
"Good. Both are doing better."
How defending a running quarterback differed than defending a thrower:
"It changes everything in terms of how you have to approach defense. When you don’t have to account for the quarterback as a runner … you can do a lot more in terms of your coverage and pressures and things like that. When you face a quarterback that’s a run-first guy … there's a tendency to sometimes get a little on your heels on defense because as a player he's got you either or, which isn't a fun place to be. But like I said, we've done well against the run this year, we have good schemes, we have players that care a lot and I'm concerned but I'm not anywhere close to panicked. I believe well get it fixed and move on in a real impressive fashion."
On UCLA's success on the road:
"We've won 12 in a row now away from the Rose Bowl. To me it's all about preparation, mental toughness, composure, discipline, maturity, trust, believing you can get it done. A bunch of guys that aren't ever intimidated by what's supposed to be hostile environments. It's guys that are able to focus on things that matter and that's the things that are going on on the field. To me that's what I've seen in those 12 contests.
"That’s the plan to continue to do it. It all really goes to our mindset which is it really doesn't matter where we're playing or what the conditions are. We're trying to play to a certain standard. That’s how we look at the world we're living in here, this football world. We're going to do our best to not be affected by things we can't control … The goal is to see what time kickoff is and get ourselves mentally and physically and emotionally prepared to go out and play our best whenever and wherever and against whomever it is. Everybody says that but I think our guys have really truly embraced it."
On why there are more injuries this year:
"I don't know because I don’t know what to compare it to. I can only compare it to what it's been like here … This is a sport where it's physical and there's a level of violence and there's going to be injuries. It always has been and it always will be … I think it's a byproduct of the sport and I think everybody understands it. I think one of the things that makes it feel at least that there's more than normal is there's so much coverage of everything we do now. It's just changed so much. Everybody knows everything about everything every day. So when you shine a bright light on something, even though it's no different than it's ever been, it might look a little different."
On the tape, what stood out defensively:
"It was all of the above. We missed an inordinate amount of tackles. We need to do a better job as a staff of adjusting. We need to play things with more exactness. So it's really a combination of those things."
On how the team has dealt with injuries:
"We don’t talk about it to be perfectly frank. We don’t address injuries with each other. I don’t pull the old stand up in front of them and go, 'OK, this guy is down so someone has to step up and play better.' That’s assumed. These are competitive young men that don’t need to be reminded of those things. I've really honestly never addressed it. I haven't addressed it once."
On what injured guys' roles have been:
"They haven't had a role. They're all just kind of fresh off surgery so right now it's just recovery from the surgery. We haven't had them do anything in terms of being in meetings or on the field. This is all so fresh for all of them. It kind of just happened."
On defensive guys trying to redefine their roles:
"No, it's a matter of we need to give them a chance with some positioning and having them play better. Obviously I'm concerned about it, but I know it will get fixed. No. 1, I have tremendous confidence in our players and I think they'll respond to the coaching that they get this year. No. 2, we played the run really well this year. So this was a different run scheme that they went to when Soloman went down and we obviously didn't practice against it very much because it wasn’t something they did a lot … But like I said, I'm concerned, but I'm not in a panic mode or anything. I know we'll get it fixed. If we were going on four weeks of not being able to stop the run at all, then I might be a little more shook up about it. But we have stopped the run and we've done a nice job, so I'm not going to panic."
On Jayon Brown and Bolu Olorunfunmi's injuries:
"Good. Both are doing better."
How defending a running quarterback differed than defending a thrower:
"It changes everything in terms of how you have to approach defense. When you don’t have to account for the quarterback as a runner … you can do a lot more in terms of your coverage and pressures and things like that. When you face a quarterback that’s a run-first guy … there's a tendency to sometimes get a little on your heels on defense because as a player he's got you either or, which isn't a fun place to be. But like I said, we've done well against the run this year, we have good schemes, we have players that care a lot and I'm concerned but I'm not anywhere close to panicked. I believe well get it fixed and move on in a real impressive fashion."
On UCLA's success on the road:
"We've won 12 in a row now away from the Rose Bowl. To me it's all about preparation, mental toughness, composure, discipline, maturity, trust, believing you can get it done. A bunch of guys that aren't ever intimidated by what's supposed to be hostile environments. It's guys that are able to focus on things that matter and that's the things that are going on on the field. To me that's what I've seen in those 12 contests.
"That’s the plan to continue to do it. It all really goes to our mindset which is it really doesn't matter where we're playing or what the conditions are. We're trying to play to a certain standard. That’s how we look at the world we're living in here, this football world. We're going to do our best to not be affected by things we can't control … The goal is to see what time kickoff is and get ourselves mentally and physically and emotionally prepared to go out and play our best whenever and wherever and against whomever it is. Everybody says that but I think our guys have really truly embraced it."
On why there are more injuries this year:
"I don't know because I don’t know what to compare it to. I can only compare it to what it's been like here … This is a sport where it's physical and there's a level of violence and there's going to be injuries. It always has been and it always will be … I think it's a byproduct of the sport and I think everybody understands it. I think one of the things that makes it feel at least that there's more than normal is there's so much coverage of everything we do now. It's just changed so much. Everybody knows everything about everything every day. So when you shine a bright light on something, even though it's no different than it's ever been, it might look a little different."
