PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: OREGON v ARIZONA

December 5, 2014

Dan Pettinato

Rich Rodriguez

Anu Solomon

Oregon – 51
Arizona – 13

THE MODERATOR:  We have Coach Rich Rodriguez, Dan Pettinato, and Anu Solomon.  We\'ll start with an opening statement from Coach Rodriguez, coach?

COACH RODRIGUEZ:  Wasn\'t a good night.  Questions?

Q.  Was the decision to switch quarterbacks at halftime because Anu was hurt?

COACH RODRIGUEZ:  We\'ll start with that, okay.  Anu\'s been battling through the injury for a month.  I\'m proud of the way he\'s competed.  It wasn\'t a good night.

Q.  In the first half, offense was it difficult to get going?

COACH RODRIGUEZ:  Yep.  Well, they played well, we didn\'t.  Outcoached us, outplayed us, did a nice job.  We didn\'t execute well.

Q.  Obviously, one of the better seasons in Arizona history.  How does it feel to end this way?

COACH RODRIGUEZ:  It\'s not the end.  We have a bowl game.  Disappointing the way we played, but you have to give them a lot of credit.  They\'re a very good football team, and we didn\'t play well tonight.

Q.  What was so challenging offensively?

ANU SOLOMON:  On behalf of my part, I just didn\'t execute.  (No microphone).

Q.  What did the other coach say to you?  Did it mean something to see him say something to you like that?

ANU SOLOMON:  It just shows what great guys they are, and we were hoping and wishing them the best.

Q.  You guys had a lot of trouble running against them the last couple times, but why did the running game not work today?

COACH RODRIGUEZ:  I\'ll have to watch the film to see exactly where the breakdowns were, but from my vantage point, it was lack of execution and them playing a little better than us.  Probably should have had a little better play calls.  It was a combination of things, but I\'ve got to watch the film to determine the factor on each one.

It seemed like it was a different, almost a different reason every time.  You know, this play didn\'t work or that play didn\'t work.  We\'ll examine it, get better from it and get ready for the bowl game.

Q.  Without looking at the game film, is there one thing about Oregon that stood out to you in tonight\'s game?  Offense, defense, special teams, anything in particular that stood out to you?

COACH RODRIGUEZ:  Well, what we thought coming in is they\'re a very athletic team in all three phases.  I mean, really good athletes, good space players, and not just sometimes you refer to the skill guys, it\'s not just the skill guys.  I mean, they\'re very, very athletic all across the board.

Q.  The last two times you got contained, did they do anything different schematically for you guys as far as execution?  It seemed kind of different?

DAN PETTINATO:  They just played better than us tonight.

Q.  They moved the ball a little bit but weren\'t able to get in on you guys (No microphone)?

DAN PETTINATO:  I don\'t think so.  Like Coach said, they played better than us tonight.

Q.  Did you feel like the defense really gave you guys a chance to stay in this thing?

COACH RODRIGUEZ:  Oh, sure, yeah.  They were playing, battling, competing.  Playing a lot of plays.  The offense couldn\'t get any first downs on offense, so the defense had to go back out there.  We know it\'s an up‑tempo team.  So our guys are in pretty good shape.  But still when you\'re having to go out that many times 57 snaps or whatever it was in the first half.  With that type of offense, they\'re going to get theirs.

So our defense hung in there.  They really competed well I thought in the whole game, but particularly in the first half.

Q.  You see (No microphone) how difficult do you think they\'ll be in the playoffs?

COACH RODRIGUEZ:  Well, watching the other teams on film or anything like that, it\'s hard for me to judge, but I think Oregon\'s a very, very good football team.  The winner of our league each year is going to be, I think, a contender to be one of the best in the country.  Oregon\'s the best in our league this year, and I think they have a chance to prove they\'re the best in the country.  But any team that makes those four team playoffs has to be really good.  I just haven\'t seen the other ones on film like I\'ve seen Oregon.

Q.  Going into a bowl game mean that much to you guys?

COACH RODRIGUEZ:  I really don\'t know.  To win the Pac‑12 South is a great accomplishment by our guys and by our senior class, especially.  I think it could be the toughest division in college football.  So proud that we got that.  We should be in a very, very good bowl game.

I think our fans will travel well.  I know our guys have to wait three and a half weeks or whatever it is to play, but I think our guys will be fired up wherever we go and compete really well.

Q.  Does it feel different‑‑ (No microphone).  There have been complaints over the season that they\'ve changed it four or five times.  Does it still have an effect on either team, was it too slippery?  Was the rain the cause?

COACH RODRIGUEZ:  I don\'t know.  The guys could probably‑‑ you could tell there was some patch work but they worked their tail off to get it ready.  But I didn\'t sense anything.  The guys could tell you if the footing was any different than what they\'re accustomed to.

Q.  What\'s it mean for you to have three and a half weeks to get a little better when it comes to a nagging injury?

ANU SOLOMON:  You know, the training staff has done a really good job just getting me well.  Even without me, we\'ll still be well with Jesse and Connor.  But we\'ve got to move on from this and play well.

Q.  Did you sense nerves early on or was it just tough to execute?

ANU SOLOMON:  It was just us not being on the same page.  If I\'m not doing well, it all starts with me, and that\'s just what happened today.

Q.  Did your injuries make you at all feel like you didn\'t have the ability back in the pocket?

ANU SOLOMON:  It was kind of a challenge (No microphone).

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports