STANFORD UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 30, 2023

Justin Lamson

Postgame Media Conference

Oregon 42, Stanford 6

Q. I just asked coach this question, final question for him. Seems like you guys did a good job controlling possession in the first half. What do you think you guys did well to control possession and also keep it as close as you guys did in the first half?

JUSTIN LAMSON: Yeah, I think not making silly mistakes. I mean we were locked in on our assignments and we were moving the ball, and that's what we got to do better job of all around.

I think we did a good job of that in the first half for sure.

Q. What was the difference then in the second half when you guys had more trouble moving it?

JUSTIN LAMSON: I mean, I think going into the second we kind of made mental mistakes, and that's kind of been the story all year. It's on the players. We got to do a better job executing our assignments. You saw offsides. You saw some miscommunication with the blocks. I had plenty of mistakes.

So I think that's something we got to clean up. We just can't do that against a good team like Oregon.

Q. Did you know going in that you would be running this much? What was that like for you?

JUSTIN LAMSON: We kind of saw that they had some trouble against Texas Tech with the quarterback run game, so we thought it was something we could expand on. It was working, so I think that's why we continued to do it.

So, I mean, it was in the game plan, but it's always in the game plan in this kind of offense for sure.

Q. Something you guys have done well at times this year is large chunk games, 45-yard, 50-yard completions. Seems like they did a good job containing you guys. What was it about their defense that made that challenging for you guys?

JUSTIN LAMSON: Yeah, they're a super versatile defense. They showed a lot of different fronts, a lot of different coverages. Their guys are athletic. You've kind of seen it all year, they hold teams to less than 20 points.

So I think we just -- there is a point where we got to end up making big plays. Contested catches; I got to break some tackles; one-on-one. Same thing with everybody, and I'm sure any player would tell you that.

Against a good team like that you kind of got to make those big plays to win the game, and we just didn't do that today.

Q. Two weeks before the next game. How are you going to take the next two weeks?

JUSTIN LAMSON: Man, I think it's about getting everybody healthy first of all, kind of game planning for Colorado. We know they're a good team, a very explosive team. You know, just getting right back -- there is one thing about our team, is we work every single day. Whether it's a win or loss we're going to come in. Whether it's a lift, a meeting, we're going to be dialed in.

We are just going to go about our game plan, trust the coaches. They been putting us in good positions. It's on us. We're going to be just fine.

Q. Just talk about how you would evaluate the offensive line and how you're growing with them and that side of things?

JUSTIN LAMSON: Yeah, obviously it's a young group. I mean, they've had a lot of stuff thrown at them this year, so I think they're doing just fine. I think we're getting better every single day, and I love those boys.

So we're going to get through this together. Those are my guys. We're going to figure it out.

Q. Just kind of in general, obviously the time of a bye week is always kind of important. Do you feel like this is a good time for you guys to have a bye, hit reset, refresh? Talk about the timing of the bye week from your perspective.

JUSTIN LAMSON: Yeah, I mean -- yeah, kind of middle of the season, so a little bit of a break, mental break and physical break, I would say it's a pretty good time for us. Going into a good game like Colorado, it only helps.