From Sunday night’s conference call with Rick Neuheisel…
On the UCLA defense:
“I don’t know that I can put my finger on it. We’ve certainly practiced it, and we’ve been very good at it. We have to get back and keep doing it. I don’t see it as a lack of effort. It’s just almost too aggressive in getting out of control. Tackling is one thing with aggression, but I think we’re getting out of control.”
On poor tackling:
“I think we’ve tackled well for a large portion of the season. Jahvid Best had eight yards on 17 carries, and 93 on the other. For a great portion of the game we’re right where we need to be, making the plays, and then for whatever reason we get out of whack. We need to have that focus for the entire 60 minutes.”
On the anger that’s setting in:
“There’s a lot of pride on this team and a lot of anguish over the fact we’ve struggled over the last month. But there’s no lack of determination and no throwing in the towel.”
On the team’s morale:
“There are competitors and then there are people who are in when things are good. I think we have good competitors. No one said it was going to be easy. 3-0 was exciting, but it certainly didn’t guarantee a smooth ride the rest of the season. It’s time for us to just keep fighting. I just believe it to be a journey that is necessary and we’re going to get there.”
On the defense:
“I think our defense has had one bad half of football. The first half against Cal was not indicative of what our defense has been. It just wasn’t the same. I thought they came out and played much better. I’m not pressing the panic button, even though there are a lot of naysayers who want me to.”
On the team making strides this year or in the future:
“I’m talking about the journey that it is. I don’t know when the end of it is. I know that where we’re going is an exciting place. That doesn’t mean people are going to be happy with how it’s arrived at.”
On Kevin Prince:
“He did a lot of good things, a much-improved performance from a week ago. For the most part I thought he was pretty good.”
On the red-zone inefficiency:
“It’s just about making plays. We give ourselves chances. Now we’ve got to make them. Unfortunately we haven’t been good enough to be on all cylinders down there. I don’t know. Maybe it’s a case of pressing, that we’re wanting it so badly we’re forcing things. I just have a feeling that as long as we keep working at it, good things are coming.”