STANFORD UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 2, 2021

Gabe Reid

Postgame Media Conference

Stanford 31, Oregon 24

Q. Can you just talk about the interception you got and kind of what you saw on that play that allowed you to pick that ball off?

GABE REID: Thank you, yeah. Can't really put into words. I was dropping that play, and felt like it was a quicker drop from the QB, so took a flat angle and the ball kind of just landed in my lap. Just made sure I caught it. Yep.

Q. Given the emotional swings of being up and then not doing much in the second half and suddenly rallying at the end, what was the emotion like on the field when the students came on and in the locker room afterward?

GABE REID: Yeah, we were all on cloud nine. Just pure joy. Like you said, there was a lot of ups and downs, but we tried to stay consistent with our energy, with our passion, and we'd like to think that we'd deal with adversity well and we're ready for those moments, so when they made a run in the second half, we tried to stay grounded, and just super proud of how we finished that game out, both on offense and defense and special teams, as well.

Q. What were some of the points of emphasis defensively coming into this one against Oregon, and how close do you think that the defensive unit as a whole came to meeting those benchmarks?

GABE REID: Yeah, great question. I think obviously Oregon every year, a lot of weapons on offense. Coming into the game, we were thinking they have some dangerous backs in the backfield, so that was our number one priority, just stop the run. I think first half, we did well at stopping the run, and everyone rallied to the ball, and we made plays when they came up.

Second half, I think we gave up a few that we should have had, wish we could have had back, but like I said, I'm proud of the way that we battled as a defense, and yeah, felt like this is coming closer to reaching our full potential as a defense. I feel like there's still a lot on the table for us. Our ceiling is still higher than how we played tonight, but proud of our guys.

Q. Can you talk about the goal-line stand in the first half and how big it was to get off the field there?

GABE REID: Yeah, it was huge. It was huge, man. Definitely have been on the other end of goal-line stands when the offense was able to get it into the end zone. We were just happy that everyone did their assignment, we got a surge from the D-line, and everyone fit their gaps right and were able to knock it back. It was a huge, huge play, especially coming into halftime, just to have that momentum and continue to build off of the solid first-half start that we already had.

Q. On the topic of running backs, how physical of a challenge were guys like Troy Dye and CJ Verdell, and were they kind of similar to what you saw against UCLA, as well?

GABE REID: Yeah, the crazy thing about playing in the Pac-12 is every week we face tough, physical backs that run hard. I'd say those are two of the best backs that we've faced, and they were definitely weapons, a load to try and bring down, so we really tried to emphasize like gang tackling, everybody getting to the ball and try to bring those guys down because they're tough to take one-on-one.

Q. Can you also kind of describe as best you can what's going through your mind in an overtime game, how you're staying focused and ready and just the mental side and keeping your nerves calm in such big moments like that?

GABE REID: Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing for us as a defense, whatever happened on offense, just focus on what we can control. Offense went out there and scored, and that was great. But we were ready for whatever happened.

Just really trying to stay constant. I clearly remember my sophomore year when we were at Autzen Stadium in that triple overtime game. It was wild. So I think just kind of being there, even though I didn't really play in that game, kind of helped me be able to deal with all that hype and excitement that comes with overtime.