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STANFORD UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 18, 2017

David Shaw

Stanford, California

Stanford - 17, Cal - 14

DAVID SHAW: This job takes a lot of time away from your family and I've got a wonderful family. Very appreciative. My parents, my brother and my sister and their -- just all the people and all the support over the years has been outstanding. Not to mention all of the mentors that I've had across, down the road, just been so great.

But the biggest thing for me is we got here in 2007, the previous staff, and laid the foundation for where we are today. A lot of hard work by a lot of people, coaches and players. In the last seven years in particular, mentioned this earlier to a lot of the media people, we have been left for dead so many times, so many times. We lost a game and the bandwagon was completely empty, and our guys fight back. Every single time, they fight back. Being resilient is the most important characteristic for me, because life is tough, things are difficult, and our guys have always fought back.

After San Diego State, through -- not only was the bandwagon empty, there was no bandwagon, there wasn't one at all. We came back, rallied off five straight. Lost a tough game at Washington State in the snow. And then came back and probably put our best effort forth against Washington and came back and fought a tough Cal team.

So being left for dead after the third game of the year and then coming back and really winning seven out of the next eight is outstanding. Outstanding.

That being said, defensively, it was a tough game. It was a tough game. We got enough stops. We got enough stops and forced field goals. And that's what has got to happen in a big game. Offensively, we ran the ball tough, we ran the ball physically. I thought K.J. played well. Love to have a couple of those plays back, the one that to J.J. Boy that was a great play by the defensive back, but to try to have that be the way to seal the game. But the effort on both sides was outstanding and it was a fun game to be a part of.

Questions?

Q. Talk about, you beat Tom to the punch?
DAVID SHAW: Nobody ever beats Tom to the punch.

(Laughter.)

Q. Speaking of your defense, Ben Edwards had a couple of really big plays in this game, at least temporarily saving a touchdown on that tackle, nearly causing a touchback. And then having the great big, the timely interception. Can you talk a little bit about his play?
DAVID SHAW: Really the last month Ben Edwards has really continued to come along. Recruited him out of Florida, bright kid, smart kid, tough kid, very athletic. And everybody comes to their comfort level playing big time college football at a different time. Some guys are faster, some guys are slower. The last month Ben has been extremely well. That is why he has played a lot more. Gives us flexibility to use Justin Reid at nickel, at safety, by bringing Ben in. And even tonight when Quenton had to go out for a little bit, we put Justin at corner. So Justin's versatility is made possible, the fact that we trust Ben to go out there and make plays. To be deep, as deep as the deep is, and to go back and make an interception on a big play, shows a lot of grit by him, a lot of comfort by him to be back there when that ball floats up in there for a long time, to go up there and get it, it was a huge, huge play.

Q. And Patrick Laird had a marvelous came for Cal rushing and receiving. Can you describe what you felt about his play?
DAVID SHAW: Not surprising. He's been that way against everybody. There's something about playing with heart and determination. But I don't want to slight this young man either, he's quick, he's physical. It's not like he's got no talent, just goes out there and runs hard. This kid's quick, he's physical, he's smart, he's patient, he's got great feet. We had a lot of respect for him coming in the game and even more for him now.

Q. If you could talk about the way your line took over the fourth quarter. I would say for much of the game, outside of Love's run, it was almost a tie at the line of scrimmage with the work Cal was doing. Fourth quarter was very different.
DAVID SHAW: And we talked about it on the sidelines. This is what we train for. It's why they work so hard in the off-season. We work for the fourth quarter and give Coach Turley a lot of credit. Over the summer, we do finishers, like Friday finishers. So that's the mentality, if you work hard all week, and at the end of the week you do something that's harder than anything you did during the course of the week, it's just building that resilience, building that mentality of at the end of the week, at the end of the game when it's at its toughest, I'm at my best. And that's what our guys did. And they dug deep, we ran the ball physically. Can't say enough about Cameron Scarlet coming in there and showing us what we know. He's done it on and off throughout the year. And we called his number said, we're going to leave you out there, go win the game for us. And he ran hard, he ran physical, he broke tackles, he did exactly what we needed him to do. So give a lot of credit to Cameron and those guys up front for finishing the game on the field.

Q. Can you tell us about the dialog that led to the decision to go for it on that fourth down? And then the play call itself?
DAVID SHAW: There was no dialog. There was no decision-making process. There was no decision-making tree. We had a fourth and one with the guys we have up front, with the game on the line on plus side territory, no question at all, we're going for it. I told them, too, I said, everybody in the stadium knows we're going for it, everybody in the stadium knows what run we're going to run. And we don't care, we're going to run it, we're going to get it. That's the mentality, that's what we put in the hands of our offense, our offensive line. And we earned that. Those guys had earned that. They had big smiles on their faces, because that's what they wanted. There's -- it's a big thing to finish the game on the field. If you kick a field goal, it's just a six-point game, and they get the ball back and now you're trying to keep them out. But if we get the first down, then the game's over. So we wanted to put it in the hands of our offensive line, our full backs, our tight ends, and Cameron Scarlett.

Q. Can you take us through K.J.'s touchdown pass as you saw it unfold?
DAVID SHAW: So believe it -- it was an audible. So we checked to the play, saw the coverage. We did a good job of -- it was a blitz. We did a good job of keeping a nice pocket, because -- but he had to step up, push up in the pocket, and he threw a Nolan Ryan fast ball. That thing was fast, it was quick, and it was extremely accurate. Kaden Smith, who we think is an outstanding tight end, just in the last few weeks for whatever reason hasn't had a lot of opportunities, and he made the most of his opportunities today. I love where we are at the tight end position, I love where we are at the receiver position. As our quarterbacks continue to grow and mature, those guys are continue to have opportunities to make plays. But that was all K.J. getting us to the right play and then throwing a beautiful strike for a touchdown.

Q. On the last drive what were you thinking, move the chains and get out, or score and/or what was the thought process there?
DAVID SHAW: But it was all about the chart. If we could kneel on it, we were going to kneel on it. If we were going to score, it was going to be a touchdown. I wasn't going to kick a field goal. I was going to get all the way down there, if we can score, let's make it a touchdown. Otherwise it's back them all the way up there and try to make them go the length of the field to win the game. So really there was it was one of those deals where there was no anchor. We threw the anchor of the boat, we were going full speed ahead.

Q. On Bryce's touchdown, as you're watching it, did you see that defense stacked up in the box against him? Are your eyes kind of getting wide there, seeing that he could break it outside of that and go a long way?
DAVID SHAW: So my man Bryce isn't the biggest guy, but when you see everybody get all bunched up in there and we hand the ball to him, my eyes just go to the back of the group and I just wait for him to pop out. Didn't happen a lot tonight. He was in a lot of pain, but he got that crease and then I saw that little 20 squirt out the back side and injured or not, there's nobody catching Bryce once he gets up to full speed, 80 percent, 90 percent, whatever he was. So much pride, so much determination, that's why he's one of the best college football players you're going to see. But it was a heck of a run, it was extremely well blocked, and then usually if we give Bryce one or two, the angles they take don't matter and he finishes in the end zone.

Q. If Bryce's played really well on, as you put it, on one leg for three games, but if he is still in this gimpy position next week, would you hold him out of the Notre Dame game?
DAVID SHAW: If he is not functional, yes. If he's not functional, if he can't protect himself first and foremost, if he can't -- like right now, it's not like it's getting a lot worse, it's just pain. And if it's just up to pain, Bryce will play. If for some reason we think that it's a potential danger for him down the road, then we won't play him. I love this young man like he's part of my family, so we're going to make the smart decision for him physically. But at the same time it's a sprained ankle, it hurts. At the end of the game he couldn't really push off, so we pulled him, whether he wants to play or not. But he knew that was the wise thing to do. In typical Bryce fashion he could have sat on the bench with ice on his ankle, he was right behind me excited, cheering Cameron Scarlett on to go win the game.

Q. I'm not sure what the coaching protocol is in a situation like this or what your relationship is with Chris Peterson, but would you consider exchanging notes with him about how to attack the Cougars?
DAVID SHAW: Hopefully they do a better job than we did a few weeks ago. No, Chris has got a great program. We kind of have our hands full next week. I'm sure we'll be scoreboard watching to a certain degree. I don't know what time there game is, I don't know what time our game is, but I think the Irish are going to get our full attention next week. And we can't worry about what happens on somebody else's field. Either we go to the PAC-12 championship game or we don't, but that's going to happen someplace else. We got a very good Notre Dame team coming in here next week, and we got to play our best football to even have a chance to win. And it may be with Bryce, it may be without Bryce. We'll see.

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