STANFORD UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 8, 2022

Jonathan McGill

Postgame Media Conference

Oregon State 28

Stanford 27

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Jonathan McGill.

Q. Your perspective on the last touchdown for the Beavers, how it happened.

JONATHAN MCGILL: Yeah, we were playing two man. We were in our dime package. Didn't really get a glimpse, honestly, of what happened on the other side.

Just threw a fade. We had some guys in position. They made a better play than we did in that specific situation.

We were holding up in the back end for the majority of the game. Obviously play calling was definitely not the issue or anything like that. In the secondary, we take full responsibility definitely for what happened on that play.

Coach Akina says all the time, if we make a mistake, it's a touchdown. That's the life of a DB, but we'll definitely shake it off and get back to work.

Q. Can you go into what changed between the first and second half on defense.

JONATHAN MCGILL: I mean, I don't think anything really changed. Play calls were the same. What their offense did a little bit different, they tried to break our tendencies, and I felt like they did do that towards the second half. What we were getting from the pistol alignment, running back at home in the first half, was heavy running. Going into the game I think it was 36-4 run on that.

They came out in the second half, came out in that pistol, running back at home. Ended up actually taking more deep vertical shots, throwing the ball more.

In college, coaches are smart, everybody is smart. They try to break tendencies. From a defensive standpoint, obviously we just got to learn how to finish games better, get takeaways when the opportunity presents itself.

Q. On finishing games, any sense that if you can get one, that can start some positive momentum, propel you in a new trajectory?

JONATHAN MCGILL: Yeah, I think kind of going on that, definitely visualizing, seeing things happen, but actually living it, experiencing it, can create that momentum.

We got guys, a lot of good guys on the team. Seeing Brycen go crazy today was something I love to watch. Seeing Mike make big-time catches. Tobin Phillips having a breakout game, having two sacks.

Guys have seen it, but we need to obviously get the win. That's the most important thing I feel like. As a leader on the team, I can see that feeling of a win definitely turning the trajectory of the season around. That's definitely something we've constantly been trying to fight for these past couple weeks.

Q. For the first time this season it seems like the defense is coming together. What confidence does that give you on the back end when your line is performing that well? How does that allow you to elevate your play?

JONATHAN MCGILL: Yeah, the biggest thing we worked on this upcoming week, a lot of the older guys on the team, some of the leaders on the team, we had a meeting with Coach Anderson. We were being very transparent on what we feel most comfortable playing and Coach Anderson on what he feels most comfortable calling. I felt that was something that was definitely very big for us, kind of coaches and players seeing things the same way.

In terms of defense being confident and DBs being confident, we were talking about it on the sideline, me and Kendall were like, It's really good when you take his first look away (a quarterback) and now he's just running.

That was the biggest thing. We wanted to really establish trust between the defensive backs and everybody else on the team, D-line, trusting linebackers are going to get things right, safeties trusting the linebackers are going to get things right, the front seven that will hold up against the pass, the back end trusting the front seven they'll hold up against the run.

The biggest thing we wanted to do was play complementary football going into this game. We obviously had spurts of that and stuff like that. But just got to be more consistent and just finish a game. It comes down to three, four minutes left in the game. We just got to make a play.

Q. As the leader of this team, what do you say in the locker room to lift a team after a slow start?

JONATHAN MCGILL: Yeah, that's a tough question, man. That's something that a lot of us on the team are really trying to look at.

You put the work in in the off-season. This was one of the hardest off-seasons we had. You're grinding every day. Practice is as hard as you can make it. But production is where we're lacking.

Seeing those results, like, in real-time is what we're lacking, as well.

Just as a leader on the team, you can't be too emotional with wins and losses. You got to be even-keeled. You got to be at that steady rock where guys can turn to when stuff starts hitting the fan.

I've been trying to pride myself on that, trying not to be too emotional with losses, getting too high with the wins. At the end of the day those guys elect you leader and captain, they're looking to you when times get tough.

The only thing I kind of know how to do is work. That's the biggest thing that we're trying to convey to the guys, just work. Have practice habits, build trust and confidence in yourself that you can go out and perform on Saturday. What we got out there today was what we got in practice. It wasn't anything different. You just get to Saturday and you have to perform.

The work is just going to give you more confidence to go out there and excel.

Q. Road game coming up at Notre Dame. Does it help after a loss to have a big opponent to look to?

JONATHAN MCGILL: Definitely I feel like obviously we want to take everything one week at a time. We have our next opponent in Notre Dame, a big rivalry, a Legends Cup is up for grabs with that game as well.

I feel like going into an away game, going into a hostile territory, leaving early to get accustomed to the time change, I think will definitely be big for us. Obviously we want to get the win. You can definitely start building momentum after that, especially when you start getting hardware, when trophies and such are involved.

Appreciate you guys.