Sept. 22, 2012

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California Head Coach Jeff Tedford

On overall impressions after a 1-3 start

"We've got to take this one game at a time. You play on the road against two tough teams. I was encouraged but there are a lot of plays to be made. We had a lot of opportunities tonight but it comes down to making plays.

"Up front they played more physical than us. Zach was under a lot of duress and we couldn't get our running game going. Up front they were better than us.

"USC is gifted all over, not just at wide receiver. We missed some open-field tackles and we've got to get guys to the ground."

On QB Zach Maynard missing some receivers
"He missed some high. Every time that happened he was under duress. We'll learn from that. We have to give guys a chance to make plays. Guys were open."

On USC DE Morgan Breslin
"He's a very good player. He plays with a great motor. Coming into today I thought maybe he was their best lineman. He plays with great leverage and is hard to block."

On if he thinks Cal can still get to a bowl with a 1-3 start
"There's no doubt in my mind. There is a lot of football to be played. I have a lot of confidence in our chemistry. We'll be back to work. We have a tough conference but we have a good football team. We've got to make enough plays to get over the hump."

California Players

QB Zach Maynard
"USC has a great team and had a great game plan. They were jamming our receivers off the ball and they were getting hit once they caught the ball."

On struggles in the red zone
"It was unfortunate how a couple of our plays panned out. We had good plays, but there's not as much field to work with down there. They were crashing our run game and we just didn't have some plays pan out."

On having trouble connecting with Keenan Allen at times
"Keenan thinks he's open a lot (said with a chuckle). They doubled and tripled him every time. He did a great job, but I had to release as quickly as I could so I tried to put it in there, but USC did a great job on defense."

WR Keenan Allen
"There were a lot of play calls we couldn't get to because the protection keys were off. We couldn't seem to get it clicking until late in the second half.

"We have to execute consistently. It's something we have to work on. We need to get the ball in the end zone and get points on the board. Against top teams like this, you can't win with field goals.

"We blew a couple things out there that could've been touchdown plays. No one player is to blame. We we'll go into the film room and try to improve."

CB Steve Williams
"We had our chances to win. We had a lot of opportunities but we didn't capitalize. If you don't, they will and they won the game."

On the effectiveness of USC's running game
"I was surprised. They didn't have a running attack in the previous two games. But they came out here today and pounded the ball down the middle."

On his interception
"Matt Barkley stared at the receiver and I intercepted it. I don't even think the receiver knew the ball was coming."

USC Head Coach Lane Kiffin

Opening Statement:

"I think that the game was won at the line of scrimmage. We limited these guys to 77 yards rushing. Our offense and defensive lines, if you look at plusses and minuses when it comes to sacks, we had seven and they had none. That is an explosive offense, and at the end of the day we won it up front. I'm extremely proud of our players.

"Throughout the week a lot of people were trying to get in and tear them apart. They did a great job of preparing. I thought our guys played really hard and physical. This easily could have been a hangover game."

On having Khaled Holmes back:
"We had some matchups that we like. Having Khaled Holmes back makes a big difference when it comes to running the ball and sacks. He's a leader on our team, he makes a difference. The two guys TB Silas Redd and Curtis McNeal ran hard right from the start. We put it on the ground once with Curtis ... and that could have been helped."

On if he looked at Cal film to determine if they'd stay away from the left side:
"We did run away from 50 DL Aaron Tipoti, to put him on the backside. That is a hard game on the center."

On the play of USC backups today:
"It was good to see our backups go in and do well. To have no sacks and rush for 300 yards it's a good day up there."

On not playing an LA style game today:
"It's not as fun. It's more fun to have a 50-0 game but that doesn't happen every week. Some games will be like this. We're seeing changes in defenses, and that's one of the good things about throwing to those guys so much. Teams are all the time trying to take that away and it opens up the run."

On how USC regrouped after the Stanford loss:
"Just stick together. Everyone always loses as some point in their career. It's how you respond to that. This was our best week of practice. We showed up every day. And it could have been more out of hand if we finished some of those plays."

On having PK Andre Heidari back:
"Not to be selfish, but it helps a lot as a play caller to know your kicker's range. He kicked really well this week in practice. The snap was low and he still made it. It was great to have him back."

On OT Aundrey Walker stepping up today:
"It was good to see. I like to see guys respond the right way and not pout. Aundrey had a great week of practice and went out and played better."

On bye week:
"I think we need it. We're pretty beat up. Even some guys playing aren't 100 percent, so it's good to get those guys some rest. Our people are tired in general. We had some long weeks and this is a really good for it."

On Junior Pomee's personal foul:
"I'm sure they are right. They are able to see a lot better with replay in the booth than I did live."

USC Players

QB Matt Barkley

On the feeling after this game compared to last:
"Different. I think it's great how we bounced back. We were able to shut out the noise and distractions from what people were saying. I'm proud of the way all of our guys played today. Our defense played lights out and the running game was on fire."

On the passing game today:
"I'm not looking every week to get stats and have a flashy game. I'm happy with how the offense performed. I think we left some points on the board in the first half. So there are little things here and there, but we did a lot better on third down. Defenses are going to stay back and force us to run and we gotta do it and that's what we did today."

On how long it took to get over the Stanford loss:
"You take 24 hours and that's it. Win or lose. I will take 24 hours and enjoy this, but by Monday we're in doing rehab and watching film or whatever."

On Khaled Holmes:
"His leadership, his seniority, he has that presence that you like to see."

On if a less flashy game is going to be a recipe for success:
"Leaving points on the board isn't the recipe you want. We're trying to score as many points as possible so hopefully we don't repeat the way we lost."

TB Silas Redd
"From the first play we were full force and we didn't take our foot off the pedal. We bounced back this week and I couldn't be more happy."

On Lane Kiffin's energy:
"He's enthusiastic and energetic and we feed off of that offensively and defensively. That's all you ask from your coaches. We fed off each other and came off with the win today.

On the running game:
"Shout out to Curtis McNeal for being a great teammate and allowing me to be his running mate. It says a lot about him and his character. He's a good man."

S TJ McDonald
On regrouping after the Stanford loss:
"It started right after the game. We didn't let up. We stayed together even though people were trying to pull us apart. We don't want to feel that feeling again and the only way to do that is to practice the way we practiced last week."

On staying together as a team:
"We take what our coaches tell us. We need to have the confidence that we'll execute, get to the quarterback, and keep the ball in front of us."