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ROSE BOWL GAME: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA v MICHIGANJanuary 1, 2007Lloyd CarrPASADENA, CALIFORNIA COACH LLOYD CARR: I thought SC did a tremendous job defensively. They took the running game away from us. And we couldn't protect. I think a lot of it had to do with their speed. And so I give them all the credit. They did a great job. And then in the first half our defense played extremely well, but I think the two turnovers in the second half, eventually our defense wore down. We had a hard time getting to the quarterback the second half. And so give USC all the credit. Questions? MODERATOR: Raise your hand for questions. We have microphones here so coach can hear your questions. Q. When they were asking about the defense and you said that they were going to blitz quite a bit and it appeared that they blitz quite a bit and the protection broke down it seems. Why wasn't the quarterback more like in shotgun in the first half when you saw that these people were going to blitz? COACH LLOYD CARR: Well, our offense primarily is designed, the shotgun part of it is the two man offense late in the half, late in the game, and we felt like we had to have good balance. We had to be able to run the football some to be successful against SC and to be able to run the ball effectively we've got to have a quarterback under center. Q. What adjustments did you make to the blitzes and what did they do to counter that that maybe meant that it didn't work? COACH LLOYD CARR: Well, I think you know at the half, 3-3, we're still in the game, as poor a job as we had done running the football. And the main thing that we discussed was that at some point they're getting into our two-man offense. But we didn't want to do that because we wanted to try to protect our quarterback, our defense, who had been doing such a great job. The turnovers in the third quarter there, if we can punt the football and not give them the ball at the short end of the field, not put the defense in bad position, then we're still at the game and you know we were hoping to have a chance to win it at the end. Q. Lloyd, can you compare them to the last team you played Ohio State, better? COACH LLOYD CARR: I don't want to compare teams. I think they're both outstanding football teams. I said going into this game, SC is the best defensive team that we've played and there's no question in my mind that they are. Great quickness and athleticism, and they blitz you. They can cover. They're an outstanding team. They're going to pressure you and you gotta be able to protect the football, which we didn't do in the second half. Q. I'd like to interrupt for one second if we could have people move into the seating area. That would help a lot, avoid the log jam at the door, please. I'd like to ask you one more question. Why couldn't -- was Jarrett not hit at the line so he could -- you could see the numbers. He was going to be a pain in the paint. So I couldn't see the defensive man was playing off him too far to give him a way to get off the line. No. 8. COACH LLOYD CARR: He's a hard guy to match up with. And he's six foot five, so when you bump and run with him, you're going to have -- and we did some of that. But you know you've got more than one guy to defend. You've got also got a guy named Smith. You've got a lot of other things in their offense. We tried to mix it up. But certainly he made some plays. Q. Coach, with the inability of the offensive line to protect Chad was that the biggest key or one of the biggest in your estimation right now? COACH LLOYD CARR: Well, yeah. I mean the inability to run the football -- we've been a team that has had excellent balance throughout the course of the season. We've been able to run the football effectively, stay out of long down and distance situations. I thought Henne made some big plays in the first half on third down and long, third and 14, third and 12, to keep drives alive. But it's just a matter of time when you can't run the football against a team pressured as well as SC that you'll end up getting some sacks, and that's what happened to us. Q. Coach, can you give us your take on what broke down in the secondary in the second half? COACH LLOYD CARR: Well, I think we left our defense on the field too long, and more than anything else twice we gave them the football at the short end of the field. Those turnovers, our defense played extremely well in the first half. We start the -- we make a great stop to start the third quarter, get the ball back, and then turned the ball over at the short end of the field. So any time you turn the football over at the short end of the field, then, you know, you're putting your defense in bad field position. And that's what I really think happened. Q. Coach, what did you feel they were doing to keep Booty from getting hit more often? COACH LLOYD CARR: Pardon me? Q. What were they doing to keep Booty from getting hit more often, to protect? COACH LLOYD CARR: They did a good job, kept the tight end in. They moved the pocket very well, with some roll-outs, and with some boots. And he got outside, contained, hit a couple of passes. But I think they had a plan that they were going to make it, they were not going to let us know where he was going to be all the time. They moved the launch points. Moved the pocket, and then they threw some very quick play action, got rid of the ball. They made it very difficult for us to get to them because of their protections and because they moved the pocket. Q. Lloyd, for as well as you guys played early in the season, do you think at the end two good teams found weaknesses that other teams could not exploit? What do you think happened? Was it just two good teams or did something break down in your team? COACH LLOYD CARR: I think in this game we played extremely well defensively until a point in the second half where we continued to put our defense in poor field position. So this game was really more than anything else our inability to sustain anything offensively really until we got to the fourth quarter. And by then our defense, I think, had worn down some. So I think our defense played well enough for a long time tonight. But and then in the last game it was our offense that played well enough and our defense didn't play well. So it's just the reverse of the other game. Q. Coach, can you just comment maybe on the pressure to win bowl games for coaches, and I think specifically Glen Mason at Minnesota being fired immediately after losing a bowl game? COACH LLOYD CARR: Well, I think you know the name of the game is winning. And that's the deal. You don't win enough, you're going to get fired. Q. Coach, after facing Ohio State and USC, do you think USC could contend with Ohio State in a championship game; do you think USC could beat them? COACH LLOYD CARR: Hey, they're both outstanding football teams. So you saw the game. You saw Ohio State. I'll let you be the judge of it. Q. Coach, one of the themes of the questions leading up to this game were sort of variations on doesn't matter. From what you saw in your team's locker room after the game, was it apparent to you that it mattered a great deal to them? COACH LLOYD CARR: Yes, I think it mattered a lot to them. I think they're tremendously disappointed because they wanted to win. And so anybody that doesn't think this game means a lot doesn't know much about this game, I think. Q. Coach, your seniors have accomplished a lot, but they didn't win a bowl game here, your fourth year seniors, how disappointed or saddened does that make you? COACH LLOYD CARR: How disappointed can you be? As disappointed as you can be. MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. Appreciate your time. End of FastScripts |
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