California Head Coach Justin Wilcox
On bouncing back following a four-game losing streak:
"It's easier to talk about resiliency after you've had some success, but they are a resilient group and they've continued to practice hard and come to meetings eager to learn. The effort has always been good. We just executed a bit better tonight."
On overcoming some adversity early in the game:
"There's always going to be some adversity in a game. I've been doing this for awhile and I don't know if I've ever been in a game where there wasn't any. It would be nice to have a little less at times. But it was nice to see those guys battle."
On Josh Drayden's performance:
"I thought he did a really good job. He tackled well. There was one drive where he had about three or four open field tackles on the perimeter, which is easier said than done against good players. It was great to see him make some of those. It was a good performance by him."
On Devon Modster thinking he played just "average":
"I love the fact that he thinks that way. He's a competitive guy. He was pretty efficient with the ball. I think probably he's thinking about a few plays where we had some home runs that we didn't quite connect on and one that we dropped, but I'm proud of how he handled it and competed. The other thing he did is he had a couple big plays on scrambles that were key in moving the ball. I thought he did a good job. I'm proud of him for battling through it. He practiced with a chip on his shoulder last week and this week, and it showed up.
California Players
Devon Modster, QB
On coming back from a four-game losing streak:
"I think it just shows a lot of grit, coming off of a four-game losing streak, our spirits didn't die. We came out to work every day and I think it showed tonight."
On the importance of having McKade Mettauer and Michael Saffell back on the offensive line:
"It was great. I don't think I got sacked one time tonight, but Mike is a great leader and he makes all the right calls, and the offensive line did a great job tonight."
On his 52-yard touchdown pass to Makai Polk:
"I saw they were cover 0 and I knew it was going to be a big gain, but I didn't know if it was going to be a touchdown or not. But right when I threw it I saw a huge hole and Makai just did all the rest."
Makai Polk, WR
On his vantage point for his touchdown:
"It was just nice blocking by the line and the tight ends, so I just saw a crease and went with it."
On how he felt after his first Cal career touchdown:
"It felt good, it felt very good. I wasn't trying to be too happy, trying to stay composed but it felt good."
Evan Weaver, ILB
On what he thinks this win says about the team:
"It's awesome to get a win. Winning four games, losing four games, sheesh, we have got to get back to the trend of winning four. It feels pretty good to get a win. It feels pretty good to not be cranky up here and angry, so it's a pretty good time to be on the winning side again. October is obviously not our month the last two years so let's make November [our month]."
On how he felt about going against a pass-heavy offense:
"I feel like it correlates with our defense very well. We have a bunch of dudes that can cover and we have a defensive line that can rush and we proved that today. We had a few turnovers, got one early, which was huge, and just being able to have people like that and have guys like that all over the field is perfect. It's just good to be able to play like that and play fast, play physical and strap them up."
Jaylinn Hawkins, S
On how his interception set the tone:
"I just felt like we just went out there and played with our hearts and fed off of each other's energy and it started from practice, it started Monday. Executing in practice, practicing with energy, especially Coach gave us a good message to take with the team — play one play at a time and put passion each play we go out there. So that's what we did and just let the rest happen."
Josh Drayden., CB
On his play tonight:
"It felt great just to be out there with my guys, it's been a while, but just being out there and feeling the energy, feeling that passion and bottling it. To be with them and kind of turn up on the field, that was good, it felt great. It's probably one of the best feelings in the world I have had this year."
Washington State Head Coach Mike Leach
Did you feel like after taking a few steps forward against Colorado and Oregon that you regressed a little bit today?
"Well, I think we definitely regressed. As coaches we have not been able to turn this into a consistently tough team. Some of all this nice positive stuff we experimented with, well that experiment has failed. Also, I think that somehow it's got to be meaningful enough to the players, and as coaches, we've got to make it meaningful. At some point, some of these players it has got to mean something to them but to go out there and play well. We got too many people that want to be easy too often."
What does that look like and how do you guys turn that corner during practice and during meetings, and of course, in the next week?
"I don't know, I mean, we get all kinds of mixed messages. We pretend it's meaningful and we'll pretend to try hard, as soon as it gets difficult then we wilt. We've got to be tougher than that. We've got to hold each other more accountable than that."
Do you think that the explosive plays were kind of the biggest problem for the defense?
"You know we've been talking about that explosive-play thing for a while, and I'll tell you what the trouble with explosive plays are, I'll tell you exactly what they are. We go out there and play with eight instead of 11 because we are too soft and too undisciplined to do what we're coached to do. And as coaches, we're not able to get the message through somehow. And then all of a sudden, it's not what somebody is where they're supposed to be and so then we give up an explosive play. And as a team, we're almost toxic on third down. Both sides. And that's just toughness, that's just how bad you want it. Now offense isn't any better, I thought defense played better than offense today. I thought the only team we had today that played well was field goal block. We got one of the best field goal block teams in America."
Washington State Players
George Hicks III, CB
Mike Leach's Message After the Game:
"We have to be better. There was a lot of talk throughout the week, and at the end, we didn't execute. That's it. We have to put things into action come Saturday."
How to Fix Explosive Plays:
"We have to do a better job of doing our job. Give credit to Cal, they made plays. We just have to do our job, it's that simple. Simple mistakes. Things that we work on all the time in practice, we need to execute it better.
Brandon Arconado, WR
Regressing After Playing Colorado and Oregon:
"We just didn't play up to our potential; it was really inconsistent. We didn't do our job."
On Offensive Struggles:
"We stepped on our own tails. Unnecessary penalties, dropped balls– just not doing our job."
Abraham Lucas, OL
On the Penalties:
"At the end of the day, they are the part of the game. You want to limit them, but we had way too many tonight. You can say what you want about whether they were good or bad, most of the time they are bad anyway. It was 10 too many."
On Being Tougher The Next Three Games:
"We, as a team, need to decide that we want it more each and every week. I think we do that sometimes. Against Oregon, we were hyped up. Then you play somebody like Cal, who's unranked, but still a very worthy opponent, and they showed that. I think us not looking at every time with the same killer instinct and killer mentality has been our downfall."
Anthony Gordon, QB
On What Went Wrong Today
"Lack of urgency. We surrendered too many opportunities early on in the game, and that's hard to make up against a good defense and a good team like Cal. We need to execute more precisely and take every possession with a purpose."
Knowing They Need to Win The Next Three for a Bowl Game
"I saw the urgency in everyone's eyes after the game. I saw the disappointment in how it turned out. We need to take it in our hands as an entire team and coaching staff. All of us together need to do whatever we can to be bowl eligible."
