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UNIVERSITY OF OREGON MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 7, 2013Mark HelfrichOREGON – 20 COACH HELFRICH: They did a great job of just grinding it, and grinding it and grinding it, and a bunch of short third down conversions that they did a great job of. Our guys competed, no question. First seven possessions inside the five. Fourth down inside the five. Couple of those touchdowns and it's a completely different game. But I have to give him a ton of credit, and really proud of our guys and how they competed. Q. You said last year they didn't get your best shot. Was that the case tonight or do you have to give Stanford's defense credit? COACH HELFRICH: Absolutely. I think we competed really well. There are a ton of things. We'll go back and see for whatever reason a couple of plays could have been huge in the first half. The ball goes out and a couple of timing situations, and we had a possession‑type situations. But our guys competed. There is no question about that. Was it perfect, no? Were they coached perfectly? Absolutely not. Q. As far as the BCS, how tough is it to lose a game like this? COACH HELFRICH: Any loss is disappointing. Where we've put ourselves and where our players have put ourselves it's obviously magnified. But, again, couldn't be prouder of this group of guys and how they compete. We don't hold the cards anymore, but we never hold the cards. We have to come back, prepare, and get ready for whoever is next. Q. Was their offense, if you put it in a textbook or a playbook (No Microphone)? COACH HELFRICH: Well, yeah, a lot goes into that. From an execution standpoint on offense, you know, we'll look at film and there will be a lot of would haves, should haves, could haves, but, unfortunately, you don't get do‑overs. Give them a ton of credit. They'll have a lot of guys that have graduated this year and an outstanding defense, and that will change things a little bit. But, again, give them credit. Q. Was their offensive line a little more formidable than you thought their offensive line would be? It seems like they got yardage whenever‑‑ that's short yardage? COACH HELFRICH: I don't think we ever said otherwise. I don't think‑‑ did we underestimate somebody? Q. No, was it more formidable than you expected? COACH HELFRICH: No, I think Stanford is an outstanding team, and they played really, really well. They finished the game and started the game a lot better than we did, and they won tonight. Q. Two years in a row Stanford played really well against you guys. What is it that they're doing so well? COACH HELFRICH: I think they have really good players. A lot of times they play very similarly to other teams. Some of those guys are graduating this year. 15 or 16 of their guys are seniors (No Microphone) lot of teams have played us very similar to how they did and there have been different results. But, yeah, they've beaten us two years in a row. Q. Why did Marcus run the ball so much? COACH HELFRICH: What do you mean? Q. Why was that part of the game plan? COACH HELFRICH: We thought it would give us the best chance to win. Q. Is this loss harder knowing you were so close? COACH HELFRICH: No, I think it makes me more proud of our team. Just how we fought, how we battled. We were so close in so many regards whether it was an offensive mistake or special teams, the punt return that almost went. So many of those little things that added up to more points for them. Q. Do you regret not kicking a field goal earlier? COACH HELFRICH: I don't. I would do it the exact same way. I thought we had a play that we had a ton of confidence in, and I would do it again. Q. Is Marcus' knee bothering him at all in terms of running the ball? COACH HELFRICH: I don't know. Everybody's banged up this time of the year. Q. Does it make it a little easier, the history of the BCS, a lot of teams lose in November, 1 loss, and however it shakes out, one-loss teams seem to get ‑‑ COACH HELFRICH: I don't know. That's where we really, obviously, our guys know that the landscape of things and we all do. But we don't control any of that. Stuff's going to happen this weekend that will be weird, and that's one of the reasons you need to go back and get treatment and take care of our details and come back fighting next week, and I know our guys will. Q. Josh is a senior. He seemed pretty upset. He showed some tears on the sideline. Talk about the disappointment of the seniors having lost to Stanford two years in a row. It's a tough loss. COACH HELFRICH: Yeah, I think you give a ton of credit to the guys. Those guys laid it on the line. I think that's where they can feel good about themselves from that standpoint. It wasn't like last year. I thought we competed really hard. Are we ever going to play perfect? No. How they played tonight, we had to play a little bit better than we did, and that's my fault. You know, I know how to correct those things. Our staff knows how to correct those things, and our guys will bounce back. Q. Why is that your fault? You prepared? COACH HELFRICH: Because I prepared them. Q. Would you change the game plan a lot if you had to do it again or was it an execution thing? COACH HELFRICH: Well, there's a ton of stuff, a ton of stuff. It starts with me, and we'll end it at me as far as how we make corrections or do things differently. There is always thinking we should have, should have, should have, but there is a ton, a ton of little things that are a combination of factors. Q. What kind of impact did the crowd have? COACH HELFRICH: I don't know. I thought it was obviously great energy. But I don't know. Q. Down 17 points at halftime, what was the message coming out in the second half? COACH HELFRICH: Again, very similar to what I just said. By that time we only had the ball on the fourth down play and then the fumble inside the 5. Just finish those drives and minimally‑‑ kicked the field goal or whatever, the field goal and touchdown, it's a completely different game. We were really close to getting a bunch of pressure on the passer. The ball popped out a couple of times, and we didn't end up with the recovery. We were really close. We played a really good team and we battled. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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