STANFORD UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 16, 2024

Tyler Shough

Louisville Postgame Media Conference

Stanford 38, Louisville 35

Q. Tyler, how disappointing is it just to come out and not just lose but to give this effort?

TYLER SHOUGH: Super disappointing. I feel like just as a team we're all kind of heartbroken because we feel like we all had a hand in it. I take the blame as far as we've got to find a way to put some points on the board in the second half. We were rolling a little bit and we just stalled out, and got to make some better decisions, give the guys a little bit more chance on some balls, but ultimately just kind of let it slip away, and it obviously sucks.

Q. Have you experienced anything quite like this in your career, a big win, disappointing loss like this --

TYLER SHOUGH: Oh, yeah. It happens all the time. I think dealing with success is a lot harder than dealing with failure when it comes to wins and losses. We were preaching that all week. I don't think it was a lack of motivation or message. I just think we got a little bit lackadaisical there at the end. Offensively we've got to find a way to finish those drives. We were moving the ball well, whether it's a mishap here on protection, a bad throw by me, something close, and they did some good stuff, too, but we've got to find a way to get it done.

Q. Is there a play that you'd like to have back?

TYLER SHOUGH: Right now, I can't pinpoint it. Obviously there's a couple of plays that we could have been in a better situation for. Like I said, I think some ball placement on some of those crossing routes should have been better. Got to give Ja'Corey a chance on those go balls. Then for sure that ices the game and we don't have to be in that position.

But other than that, we've got to all be better, and it starts with me because I can't let us fizzle out there. We've got to put our foot on the gas and finish the drives.

Q. As far as a team moving forward, how do you refocus and get that edge back?

TYLER SHOUGH: I think it starts with our leaders. We can't let anything slip by. No stone unturned as far as just go through our daily process, go through what we're supposed to do, and then give a little bit more. We're at this point in the season to where we know what we can be and know what we are, and that wasn't us as an offense, as a team.

I think it's just picking up, rubbing the dust off and getting after it. I think it's a blessing to be able to kind of be at this point and learn from these mistakes, but it can't happen, especially with the caliber of team that we have. So we're going to learn from it and we're going to finish strong.

Q. There's going to be a lot of talk about the penalties on defense, but there were some big penalties on offense, too, took away some big moments. Was it frustrating out there to have that continue to happen?

TYLER SHOUGH: I mean, it's just lack of focus and discipline, and I think that starts with our practice habits. We've got to watch the ball, watch the snap, I've got to be good with my cadence. We know if we have an RPO, can't double pump it and get the lineman downfield. I know some of those things happen as far as just play throughout the game, but with little things like that, we can clean up.

I think a lot of mistakes we made were fixable. I don't think they're lack of effort or lack of will to play. But I think there towards the end, got to stay focused and finish strong.

Q. Was there any reason why the first quarter, other than the batted ball, that you all kind of did come out a little slow?

TYLER SHOUGH: You know, stuff like that happens. I think obviously we wanted to start fast. That's the whole -- what we were preaching on. We knew they were going to try and slow the game down. It got batted, and we kind of picked it up from there.

We had some looks. I feel like a lot of our shots on some of our plays were there, but for whatever reason, didn't connect or didn't happen. I think I was proud of the way we kind of finished there in the beginning of the first half, putting some scores together, doing what we can do.

I think just maintaining that same focus throughout the game is what we're going to preach on.