Neuheisel comments
Here is the transcript of what UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel had to say after Saturday's 34-6 loss to Oregon State:
opening statement
"Congratulations to Oregon State. That's a good football team. I'm proud of our effort. I think our guys went out there and played very spirited football, especially for the first 30 minutes. The field position got us in the third quarter, and we weren't able to turn it back. We let our defense out there with too many short fields. At the end of the day, we were just not able to sustain the line of scrimmage. We are just not able to generate consistent play there, where you can dictate running and passing. Unfortunately, we compound things with untimely turnovers and it just gets away from us. That's very demoralizing for a defense playing as hard as it is. We're going to hang together and try and rise up and play a better football game next week against Washington."
UCLA Head Coach Rick Neuheisel
on improvement
"We're not seeing any effects of it because we're still getting handled at the point of attack. When you're handled at the point of attack and you're playing with long field positions, it's hard to get there. In that way, the improvement is not as much as I'd like. We're trying to give [the opposition] some new wrinkles so that it's not too predictable, but we have to get the efficiency that we're all looking for. We're struggling right now, especially offensively. The defensive effort is terrific - unfortunately, we gave up a few plays. I really think that offensively, we're playing hard. We're just a little outmanned. It's tough to see the faces of the kids wanting it so badly. It's a great lesson - in life, it doesn't always come when you want it. You just keep pounding and pounding away, and you never know when you're going to finally break through."
on junior quarterback Kevin Craft
"I saw some good things - unfortunately, he made a play trying to make a play. We gave up a turnover early in the first half that resulted in a fumble. Fortunately, our defense got the ball back on a fumble on the next play. In the second half, he made a couple of poor decisions. The interception that resulted in making the score 17-3 was a poor decision. You can't fault a kid for the effort. He's clearly the quarterback that knows the most about our offense. But those are the things that haunt you when you're trying to flip field position and you're trying to make every yard count. Those are things we have to eliminate if we're trying to get back on the right side of the scoreboard.
"I think that Chris [Forcier] has got a bright future, but he doesn't grasp as much of the offense. I guess that is the fairest way to say it. He doesn't have as thorough of an understanding."
on Kevin Craft fumbling in the first quarter
"I told him that when you're playing against Oregon State, a team that has the best defensive line that we've seen - you have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, pop, and throw. If you want to pop again, you can't. That's what happened. Sometimes you have to learn painful lessons before you'll believe somebody."
on speaking to the fans after the game
"I always say something to the fans after games, not just after wins. I believe that brighter days are ahead. I believe that with all of my heart. At the University of Washington, we had the fifth quarter, where I'd talk to the fans after games, win or lose. I was asked the by administration here if I would be willing to do it, and as a team we want to reach out to those that support us - all is not lost, there are brighter days ahead."
on the team playing with some anger
"If it can be used constructively, that's fine. If it is used to point out others, and it becomes a divisive thing, we have to curtail that. Ultimately, the best way for us to improve is for each guy to look inside himself and ask what he can do better. It's up to the coaches to make sure he's doing that. Unfortunately, sometimes we don't have many choices and as much competition at certain positions to create it."
This lip service is getting old from RN. You really dont' need to interview him as you can just reprint the same old stuff week after week. Just change our opponents name and it works.
May the CForce be with you, lol. We'll never see that. What a stubborn staff not willing to make change. Sort of sounds like Obama's campaign doesn't it. It's time for "CHANGE".
Yeah, I wonder how many fans stuck around to hear Rick's post game pep talk? He is quickly losing my confidence. Football is about tangible progress and results. After two weeks off, we did not see any significant improvement; especially at the QB position! Craft is still making many poor decisions and foul ups during the game. I just don't buy the propaganda that there is no one else to put in there. If they don't understand this offense, that's a good thing because no one else seems to understand it either. It is just an embaressment. Just taking Craft out of there will help because he performs so poorly that our offense has little chance of becoming consistent.
Cmon guys, we knew that this year was going to be difficult. Lets not forget the makeshift line we are playing with, the fact that we have had out third string QB in all year. We will be back next year. What do you expect the coach to say after the game. The players already no they are several notches below 80 percent of the teams in the Pac 10. Why should the coach have to say it. I congratulate RN for his courage in facing the fans after a humiliating loss
I stayed to here CRN's speech after the game.