Told you I had a lot from the Receptionist:
On the team expecting this success:
“We’ve expected that since the beginning. We knew we had the capabilities to do big things. For it to come true, it’s kind of a reality to us. Were trying to build off of that it as a team and not rest on anything.”
On the hype surrounding the Stanford matchup”
“We take every game basically the same. We know every game is big, especially from here on out. The Pac-10 is very unpredictable – any team can beat another at any given time. But we put weight in the fact that you have to bring you’re A-game every week. With us being 3-0 and them 2-0 in Pac 10, of course it’s a big game. But we’re not putting extra weight on it.”
On the hype affecting younger players:
“It might cross their minds because they are young. With veterans like me, Reggie, Brian, even veterans like Logan, Ryan Moya, we’ll squash that in the locker room. Especially us being UCLA, we’ve gotta always have that chip and play hard. We’ll let them know to treat this like any other game.”
On the benefits of the bye week:
“It definitely allowed us to be able to go over some technical things. We’ve shown a lot of excellence, but we also have a lot of room for improvement. We have to iron that out, the penalties, the lack of concentration in a lot of areas.”
On needing to improve tackling:
“That’s one thing you need to clean up. Toby Gerhart is a very exceptional back. He was great against us last year, and he’s had a steady career. It’s definitely something we have to focus on this week. Running into him is not going to stop this person.”
On the Stanford offense:
“Stanford has a very balanced offense. Everybody knows Toby Gerhart, he’s been the one who’s been there for three years. Everybody knows he’s a hard runner. But they have a young receiving core who’s making plays for that QB. Their system of offense is very good right now.”
On the start reminding him of his senior year of high school, when UCLA went 10-2 in 2005:
“I’ve been a UCLA fan since way before that season, but that season was pretty special. Them going all the way, winning tough games, even tough games at Washington State and Stanford. I can see us doing that type of thing this year, but just it’s going to carry on. That year it kind of stopped and died down. This time were trying to continue that legacy for multiple years.”
On last year’s Stanford game:
“Last year’s game was a physical game. Stanford wanted to come out and pound us in the mouth. They sort of still had QB issues, still finding the right guy. They tried to rely on Toby Gerhart a lot, and he came up big for them. Their defense held strong against our offense until that last drive. I can imagine this game being very similar. A defensive battle, which offense is going to rise up and overcome adversity.”