STANFORD UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 8, 2022

Jonathan Smith

Postgame Media Conference

Oregon State 28

Stanford 27

JONATHAN SMITH: Obviously you win the game in the fourth quarter despite however you play in the first three and a half (quarters). These guys kept on battling. Really just proud of a few guys. Damien Martinez had some huge carries. Ben did some good things for his first start.

I thought our defense battled throughout the night. But we had a bunch of mistakes on both sides of it and special teams self-inflicted issues that we've got to clean up.

But look, found a way to get it done. Happy for these guys to battle for four quarters.

Q. You've been in the college game for 25 years. Have you ever had game that ended like this?

JONATHAN SMITH: Not a ton of 'em. Not one comes to my mind. I mean, I've been around games where you get the ball with 50-some-odd seconds, you got to drive the field and score. I've been around that, on the good side and bad.

Obviously we made a play to get it done.

Q. What do you feel turned it around in the fourth quarter?

JONATHAN SMITH: Damien Martinez's run. We were moving around, then we got a little bit of a spark. Credit to Stanford, too. We got the score, we needed a stop, they took a bunch off the clock there. We gave them a penalty that extended the drive.

That's what I go back to, we had too many penalties, issues on special teams. Got 10 guys on the field. There's a bunch there. But these guys kept on battling.

Q. (No microphone.)

JONATHAN SMITH: You want to have a good season, you got to find ways to win kind of sloppy, tight, on the road. We found a way to do that.

Q. What did you feel about Ben's performance today?

JONATHAN SMITH: Some things to learn from. But I thought he made some good throws in there. I don't think he forced the ball a bunch. Got us in a lot of the run looks we were asking him to.

Without watching the tape, I was proud of his effort.

Q. What happened with Dylan?

JONATHAN SMITH: Got stepped on or something. They were messing with his fingers. They told me early third quarter he was out for the rest of the game.

Q. (No microphone.)

JONATHAN SMITH: No, we did. Peyton Hogan actually came in and made a nice snap. One time we punted in the fourth, I guess it was the fourth quarter, when we ended up going for two, that was early on where we already missed two kicks more or less because we missed our first one, missed again, but they gave us another crack at it.

Our Snapper is brand-new, that's why.

Q. The defensive stops down the stretch to put you in the situation where you had an opportunity to win, how big were those?

JONATHAN SMITH: The guys had some big stops. They also gave up some plays. Give up a post ball for a touchdown when we're in post defense. Needs to be a safety back there.

They did, they had some three-and-outs that gave the offense some opportunities. Again, I thought all three phases kept battling. We're not nearly close to perfect, but found a way to win at the end.

Q. With Damien, obviously earning a bunch of playing time as a true freshman, but hadn't broke free yet. How do you feel he played?

JONATHAN SMITH: He had some creases, man. We've talked about trying to be more explosive in the run game. Had not just a touchdown run but another one that ripped off for good gains. He did some nice things.

Q. What was the plan on the last drive?

JONATHAN SMITH: We wanted to throw a completion for more than 10 yards, which we actually got done even though we stayed inbounds. You're trying to push it further down the field. The last one everyone's going deep. Everyone is running a go route. Tre'Shaun, two-man corners underneath him, corners doesn't have the eyes on the bowl, and Tre'Shaun makes the safety miss.

Q. For a guy like Tre'Shaun who has had issues with the drops...

JONATHAN SMITH: I was happy for him. He's capable of making plays. He should have had another touchdown. Get a holding call on the opposite side of the things.

All those guys, he's an example, it has not gone perfectly, but he sure made a play to win a game.

Q. What did you feel was missing offensively first three quarters?

JONATHAN SMITH: Slow going. We had some runs in there that could move the chains, then we got behind it a couple of times. Kept forcing us to operate in eight, 10, 12 plays. We found ways to get ourselves off the field.

Q. (No microphone.)

JONATHAN SMITH: A little bit. Again, feeling like we could do some things offensively. I think our players were into the idea. Trusted my gut. Yeah, let's do it.

Q. Does it feel like a morale booster after the two losses, to win in that fashion?

JONATHAN SMITH: Yeah, there's no question, winning helps morale. Again, just like we do each week, we watch this tape, there's so much to learn from. We've got to get better. Makes the flight home a whole lot better.

Q. (Question regarding penalties.)

JONATHAN SMITH: Out of our character. We have not been that, unsportsmanlike going like that. That will be addressed tomorrow.