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UNIVERSITY OF OREGON MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 7, 2013Marcus MariotaOREGON – 20 Q. Seemed like the first couple of drives didn't quite connect. Did that set the tone for things? It took a while for you to get anything going offensively? MARCUS MARIOTA:  Yeah, you know, we were moving the ball pretty well, I thought. We just weren't able to finish. Credit to our defense, they had that bend‑break attitude. We were able to get it down into the red zone, but it wasn't enough to hold us out. Again, hat's off to them that they did. Q. How much would the game have been different if you were able to convert early on in the ballgame with those couple of missed opportunities and you go for it on fourth down? MARCUS MARIOTA: Right, yeah, I mean, it would have been a lot different, I think. It's just one of those things that happens. At this point in time in the game, you don't think about it, but it's part of the game. We're going to learn from it and come back next week. Q. (No Microphone)? MARCUS MARIOTA: It's tough. You go out there and you have a good week of practice and just don't pull it out. It is tough. It is hard because all these guys really worked hard for it. You know, it ain't over. It happens. We're going to come back stronger than ever, and we're just going to take it in stride. Q. Was their defense similar, Marcus? Was the defense similar to last year? Line of scrimmage‑wise, closing in on you guys in space and tackling well? MARCUS MARIOTA: Yeah, you said it. They played well. They came back with the same mentality. They went out and executed. We just weren't able to finish drives. We had some missed opportunities, but that happens. It's part of the game. Q. Marcus, what's going on with your left knee? MARCUS MARIOTA: It is what it is. It's a little banged up, but it's nothing too extraordinary. We're just going to take it and get healthy, and I'll be ready for next week. Q. How much did it affect your running game, Marcus? MARCUS MARIOTA: It wasn't that much of a factor. You know, the staff did a good job of forcing me to hand the ball off. You know, it's a credit to them. Q. How much pain were you in? MARCUS MARIOTA: I don't know. I tend to just not focus on the pain because you've got to play with it. You have to play with that kind of stuff. It happens. I wasn't too focused on it. Q. When you got helped off the field was it touch‑and‑go that you were not going to come back? MARCUS MARIOTA: The moment it happened I told myself to get up and just fight through it. The guys needed me. There wasn't a question in my mind that they were going to take me out. Q. Is the brace at all limiting your running or are you able to move and cut? MARCUS MARIOTA: You know, not really. I've got to learn to play with it. I've never really played with a knee brace before, so that's something that I've been doing in practice and getting used to. Q. How much does it affect your decision making? MARCUS MARIOTA: It doesn't play really anything into the decision making. You can't think about that kind of stuff. That's kind of when you do get hurt is when you play tentative and think about that stuff. So I really was not focused on it, and I just played through it. Q. What happened with the long ball to Huff? How would you describe that? MARCUS MARIOTA: I looked through. I missed him. I just didn't get enough on it. I can make that throw. I just kind of guided it instead of throwing it. Q. Tough to get rid of them when you're standing on the sidelines so much through three quarters? MARCUS MARIOTA: Yeah. Credit again to them. They held the ball for a long time. I think we only had a possession in the second quarter. That's a credit to what their game plan was, and they did a good job executing it. Q. When did you first hurt your knee? MARCUS MARIOTA: It was‑‑ I can't really talk about those kinds of things. It is what it is. Q. Coach said it wasn't part of the game plan to have you run a lot; why was that? MARCUS MARIOTA: It's the way Stanford plays. They played a defense where they try to keep the quarterback from pulling it, and they try to ride to the ball. They came out and did the same thing today. Q. Is that different if you're a hundred percent? MARCUS MARIOTA: I don't know. I felt that I played at the most that I could. You know, they just did a good job of just containing the run game again, hats off to them. Q. National title hopes are kind of dim right now. Lot of things have to happen just like last year. What are some of your thoughts on that? MARCUS MARIOTA: We're not focused on that. It really comes down to coming back tomorrow, getting the film, learning from it and preparing for our next game. Q. You said last year you had to rely on some of the older guys to get over this loss. Is that going to have to be you? MARCUS MARIOTA: I feel like that's probably what's going to happen. It sucks to say this, but, yeah, I've gone through it. It takes a lot out of you. I think a lot of these young guys are still going to learn how to handle it, but it's the same as the older guys did for me last year. It's just come back the next day and work. I mean, that's really all you can do. It's in the past now. We'll just focus on what's in the future. Q. This has been a game that's been circled on the calendar all year with the loss last year and the winning streak coming into this. Can you just follow‑up, when you come back, how do you come back from the sort of game that you sort of took off a little more than a single game that doesn't go your way? MARCUS MARIOTA: We didn't have any more on this game than any other. We really focused on just one game at a time, and it really was just this week. We don't circle it on the calendar or anything. It's just they happen to come out and played well, and now it's on to the next one. We have to keep focusing on it. Q. Talk about the comeback attempt. You guys got so close there at the end. Did you think you were going to do it? You clicked there at the very end of the game, but a little too late. MARCUS MARIOTA: Yeah, I think it shows a lot about the character of this team. We weren't down by any sorts, and we still felt like we could win it. The guys still battled. Probably the guys up front did a really good job and gave me some time. The receivers got open. We just kind of put some guys together. Unfortunately, it was too late, but it's just kind of the way the ball bounces. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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