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STANFORD UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 15, 2018

David Shaw

Stanford, California

UC Davis - 10, Stanford - 30

COACH SHAW: First of all, congratulations to our team. Wasn't perfect but we played well, and I told the guys downstairs we're not going to act like we lost because we didn't win by as much as we wanted to. We're going to act like we won and be pleased that we did enough to win the football game and recognize we have some room to grow, which is great. Just being three games into the year, we are where we wanted to be recordwise.

Some areas we're doing really well, some areas we need to improve, and, for us, I think we're still playing really good defense. Couple of unfortunate turnovers that put our defense in a tough spot, and our guys came out and played great. So proud of those guys and Coach Anderson and his staff and all the guys, the seniority we have over there, the maturity we have over there. Put 'em in some tough spots, and they kept them out of the end zone in the first half.

Offensively I think we're doing some really good things and we're missing some opportunities. K.J. has played so well and still made some great throws today, but at the same time forced a couple, got a couple of turnovers. He did rebound and came back and played well after that.

I thought we were running the ball better this game, and it's not about the opponent; it's about us. It's about us doing our jobs and staying on blocks. When we stayed on blocks, hey, we got our runners through the crease. When we didn't, we had some tough runs. I thought Trevor Speights ran the ball really well in particular and got some creases, and you see his speed and power, but still sloppy with our hands, got a couple holding calls. They're not bad calls, they're good calls. We had bad feet and bad hands, and we dragged guys down. We earned those penalties, and at the same time saw some things out there that were encouraging.

Q. Coach, overall what did you see from UCD today?
COACH SHAW: I talked to Coach Hawkins beginning of the game. He's got these guys playing hard, they play fast. We knew they weren't going to come in and be afraid and be scared of us for anything.

They manned up our receivers outside and loaded the box and then mixed up the coverages and brought some corner blitz and tried to change the fronts here and there.

So staff, their staff really prepared those guys and those guys went out there and played really well. Made enough plays to get the lead, but they kept playing and kept fighting back, and toward the end of the game, I don't fault anybody for playing.

There is a second left, hey, let's keep playing, no problem with that at all. Our guys made some plays and didn't make a couple of plays and Treyjohn Butler made a heck of a play knocking that ball out, it just happened to go in somebody else's hands. Those things happen. As my mother says, it's a funny-shaped football. So sometimes the bounce goes for you and sometimes it doesn't. All in all, UC Davis, they played really hard in all three phases.

Q. (No microphone.)
COACH SHAW: Hard to say. I thought they played well up front offensively on the line, and then their linebackers and defensive line, they got more pressure than we really gave up last week against USC. They got us on the edge a couple times, a little pressure up front, in the middle a couple times, so the two lines.

Q. Coach you got Jesse Burkett back today, you had about 137 yards rushing. Were you satisfied with your offensive line's push today, and how do you think they stand going into the Oregon game?
COACH SHAW: We are still growing. We're still growing. We still have flashes of being really good and some flashes of not being really good, which is consistency, which I think in spots we were better today.

I thought Jesse played well from what we understand, from the sideline. He did a great job making some calls that were some difficult looks. There's still too many times where we got beat in pass pro, too many times where we had a crease and the guy fell off the block and made a play. About three times today when the ball got snapped, we had a place to run the ball, and by the time the runner got there, the place to run disappeared.

That's about strain, that's about great foot work, that's about great hand placement. It's not just the offensive line, it's receiver play. We missed a couple of blocks. Tight end play, we missed a couple of blocks. Tight end positions have been blocking so well. We missed a couple today that hurt us.

Q. Have you noticed any frustration among the offensive linemen as they are going through the process and having to manage the fact that it's a growing process three games in?
COACH SHAW: Yeah, it's a combination of things. It's a growing process, and I would love for somebody to win the left guard spot. Hasn't been won yet. Now if it happens by injury, then it happens by injury, but we're going to rotate guys there if everybody is healthy, so I don't think we played well enough there, pass pro or runs. It's a combination of the group growing together, and at the same time playing against teams that are dedicated to making it difficult for us up front.

Q. Coach, Keelan Doss had 13 catches, 106 yards. What were your impressions of him, and how do you think your team defended him?
COACH SHAW: That's the hard part. I thought we played really well against him. This guy is really good. He's fast, he's long, tracks the deep ball really well. That was potentially a 200-yard receiving game if our guys don't make the plays that they did make on him. He's a good football player, and he's going to play well at the next level.

Q. Update on Devery? He came out at one point in the game. Was that substitution or was he okay?
COACH SHAW: He got banged up, but I don't have an update for you.

Q. Compared to the last couple of weeks how much of the unscouted looks and exotic stuff did UC Davis throw at you guys?
COACH SHAW: There were a few. Few things they hadn't done on film. I told our guys we earned that. The way we run the ball, we're different than a lot of people. We're going to get some looks every single week. We have to go back and diagram and make sure we're on the same page and get out there and try to be efficient and run the football and be efficient in our passing pro.

Q. K.J. has been so good pretty much every since he took over the starting position, but when he has a first quarter like that, what was the conversation with him on the sideline and what you saw from him afterwards?
COACH SHAW: I never worry about him. He's unshakeable. He missed a couple of throws, made a couple of bad decisions and he comes back, and he's bouncing on his toes and he says, "Okay, Coach, what did you want to call next?" Coach Tavita does a great job with him, talking through looks, talking through decision making, we prep him for the next series, and after the first quarter I think he settled down and did a good job.

Q. Coach, is there anyone on defense who stood out to you today? Last week it was pretty much the starting 11. Is it the same this week?
COACH SHAW: It's pretty close. Once again you give up 100 yards receiving to a really, really good receiver and say at the same time your corners played well. They made some great plays. The quarterback made some great throws too, laced it between a couple guys, but I thought Paulson played well again, Alijah played well again. I think our safety play has been outstanding as well. Love where your linebackers are, making plays and getting everybody lined up. You know, a fly sweep team, a lot of motions, a lot of adjustments, some unbalanced, there were a lot of looks our guys had to get adjusted to, and for the most part the entire day they did well.

Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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