TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL: COLORADO v OREGON

January 1, 2002

Mike Bellotti

Joey Harrington

Steve Smith

JOEY HARRINGTON: Yeah, I'm really surprised at how the game turned out. I always believed we were going to win. But the way we did it today kind of surprised me. Colorado was a tough team, the hottest team in the country, and we came out and played one of our best games against them. We played very well together as a team today and I think that was the differences.

JOEY HARRINGTON: It hit me last night. We were sitting and having our pregame meeting. Everybody was in there. We watched the highlight film and it kind of dawned on me and some of the seniors that this is the last time we are going to be spending the night together, that night of bonding, really. We watched the highlight film, spend the evening together and it's a really special thing.

STEVE SMITH: No, we didn't -- stopping Graham, it was nothing different. We just went out there and played defense. You know me, stacking nine in the box and trying to make him one-dimensional, and we did that tonight.

JOEY HARRINGTON: It won't be as difficult as you think because I'll be spending time with my family and enjoying the win. I don't know if two days is enough to really soak everything in. I'm going to be glued to the TV come the 3rd, but until then I'm going to be living it up with my family.

STEVE SMITH: Yeah, it's pretty cool. You know me, I didn't get a touchdown, but it's a great feeling. (Laughs).

JOEY HARRINGTON: Realistically, we can only hope for a share. The way the system is set up, the winner of the Rose Bowl is going to get the Coaches Poll. The BCS sets it up that way. There's still a lot of football left to be played. There's still 60 minutes of very important football. Who knows is going to win that game. If Miami does win, I do believe that we deserve a share.

JOEY HARRINGTON: Yes. Absolutely. Not only was it the biggest win, but it was on the biggest stage and we did it in one of the most emphatic manners that a Duck team has ever played. We made a statement today, 38 unanswered points and shot down the hottest team in the country. We show that we deserve to be playing for a share of the National Championship.

JOEY HARRINGTON: There was a couple of plays we had protections on them. We had hot reads; a couple weak side, a couple strong siders, one of the balls got batted. I would say we probably threw hot four or five times today. They brought a lot pressure, brought the corners, brought the backers. We just had protections on where in order to pick those things up, we had to sight-adjust with our receivers, and they did a great job of seeing all of them. We didn't miss a hot read today.

JOEY HARRINGTON: What can I do about it? There's nothing I can do to put us in that game. There's nothing anybody can do to put us in that game. We moved beyond that point. People have been asking, "Are you bitter about not being in the BCS Championship Game"? Yeah we were at first, but we are not anymore. We had an opportunity today to make a statement and we had our heads on straight and we were ready to play for a piece of the National Championship today.

COACH BELLOTTI: First of all, I want to thank the athletes that are just leaving. Obviously, my opening statement is just that I was very pleased and proud of my coaches and players today. They took advantage of one of the greatest opportunities in Duck football history and made it the greatest moment in Duck football history. So with that, I'll answer any questions.

COACH BELLOTTI: Well, you know, I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome of the game. I thought it would be closer. I'm so very pleased with our team and our players because they made that game fairly one-sided. You know, you never know, it's all on a one-game basis, but very pleased with our execution, our game plan on both sides of the ball; did not give Colorado a chance.

COACH BELLOTTI: Well, I thought we should have been playing in the game, obviously, and I thought it was very difficult to tell my team why we were not because I could not come up with a lot of good reasons. I probably can't now, even more so simply because I think we have done everything that we could do. I don't know if we deserve thinking anything. I'm going to leave that up to the people that vote. All we can do is play football and leave it on the field.

COACH BELLOTTI: Well, we felt like the matchup was good for our offense versus their defense in terms of some things that we really thought we could get from them, exploit the pass. But we do that every game. It's not something unique. It's pretty much well within our repetoire and I think we executed well. As Joey said, we had about four or five hot situations that we hit today; so they were not able to get pressure on our quarterback. We ran the ball efficiently, if not effectively. Maurice's run -- I'm going to come to Maurice's run in the 3rd quarter; it changed the complexion of the game and the momentum and certainly gave us a significant lead in a significant change of momentum or change of situation in the 3rd quarter.

COACH BELLOTTI: The mood of our defense? Angry, hostile. Probably feeling quite a bit underrated and wanting to prove a point. I think that's true of the coaches and players. They obviously showed that they can play with anybody in the nation.

COACH BELLOTTI: Well, again, everybody thought the question was going to be our run defense versus their run offense and I admit that I felt that, that whoever won that matchup would have a significant impact on the game, and I thought that our team did a great job of stopping the run, which is the philosophy of our defense. That's never changed. And it was not anything unique that we put in for today. We did some movement, did some packages, did some things to change the look, but it's basically the same philosophy on defense.

COACH BELLOTTI: This year was: "Make your move. " I read a poem to the team last night and the final line is: Make your move, time is ticking away." And our kids made their move.

COACH BELLOTTI: I said many times that there were about four or five games this year that the other coach could wonder what if, and we were the beneficiary of those situations. Give credit to Stanford. They made some plays when it counted. We did not and we played one bad quarter of football this year and it got us. That's probably what kept us out of the Rose Bowl, but I could not be prouder of a group of coaches or a group of players in my life.

COACH BELLOTTI: I am. Again, I think that -- I've told this group, all you can do is all you can do, and we've done that in a sense, since that Stanford game. And this group of kids I think in what they did tonight to Colorado today, was a significant victory and a significant statement about Oregon football. Where it lands us in the national thing and all that, I don't care, I really don't. I obviously have said what I think we deserve, but the most important thing is these kids feel great about themselves and what they have accomplished.

COACH BELLOTTI: Samie Parker is the kind of guy that most defenses look at and are scared about because every time he touches the ball he's a threat to go all the way. He can turn a 5-yard hitch into a 50-yard game, and if you don't cover him, he's going to beat you deep. His development over the course of the season as a deep threat for us probably has opened up a great deal of our offense and allowed us to keep people very honest, because you have to keep somebody on him and give him cushion and he can take advantage of that both ways.