Senior wide receiver Mark Bradford
What are your thoughts after today?
"We just have to go back to the drawing board. The coaches really
challenged us with the after-game speech - basically told us we have to go back
to the drawing board. Go back and work hard. This is really a
humbling experience right now. A lot of guys need to look at the film,
just take the coaching and get better from it."
Were they a little bit better than you expected defensively?
"No, I expected them to be good. I saw the film. They had a
really good defensive scheme, so I wasn't surprised at how good they were
defensively."
Did you expect you guys to be better offensively?
"I thought we had a few chances to execute a few plays that we didn't get -
like the tailback pass. I thought that we were going to be able to hit
that. There were just a few plays out there that I thought we would be
able to executed that we didn't get done."
How do you get away from the 'here we go again' scenario after what
happened today?
"I never really felt that this game. I always felt like we can make a
couple more plays - a play here, a play there. I know how big a play or
two can be in a game. We've had times in the past where stranger things
have happened. We have seen it, like the UCLA game last year and other
teams. With me, I always just think: 'Just make the next play, make the
next play. It's going to come, it's going to come.' Until it says
double-zero, I feel like I have a chance."
Is it surprising that this year's offense, with all the seniors you have,
to have 10 points at the end of a Pac-10 football game?
"Yeah, that was really disappointing. I thought that there were a lot
of plays out there that should have been made. We had a lot of
opportunities. I never would have thought we would have a 10-point game.
At the same time, if we score 10 points and they score seven, then we win.
I expect a little bit more out of this offense, and I expect more in the future.
So obviously we have to hit the drawing board and come back better."
You and Evan Moore were both able to complete passes in the first quarter.
Then their DBs played better as the game went on?
"[Pause] I guess they were able to make a few more plays.
The playcalling kind of changed. Their defense changed; they went to more
of a bracket after we made a few plays on them. They went to 'cover two' a
lot with help over the top. They really wanted to stop our pass game
because we were really effective in the beginning. The scheme got us."
They were basically daring you guys to run?
"Yeah, basically. That's how I felt - yeah."
You got up after that hit J.D. Nelson gave you. Was that just being
in the wrong place at the wrong time?
"A lot of those hits look a lot harder than it really feels. On the
sideline, everybody was asking, 'Are you okay? Are you okay?' I felt
it was just a regular football hit. I just bounced right back up and was
ready for the next play."
You are often a quiet guy, but this is your last year. Do you have
words you are going to deliver to your teammates?
"I am probably going to go and talk to them. Just let them know that we
are a lot better than what we showed out there today. We have the
potential to go out there and make a lot more plays, and a lot bigger plays.
To not get down on themselves and go into the 'oh no, here we go again' type of
thing. Because I know that I feel that way, and I need to make sure that
everybody else feels that and it is instilled into them. Just try to
convey that to the offensive guys and have them rally behind me and rally behind
the positive notes."
Fifth-year senior quarterback Trent Edwards
How do you feel right now?
"I feel kind of frustrated. I thought that we were well prepared to
come in to give these guys a fight, and I don't think we really did that.
I can't really point fingers until we look at the film. Unfortunately,
that wasn't the way I wanted to play. I know a lot of guys can probably
say the same thing about their performance today. We just have to live and
learn from it."
What
did you see over the course of the game as you looked downfield, that Oregon
changed once you could no longer run the ball?
"They were a little softer in their secondary. They weren't biting on
our play-action as much. Obviously, if you can't run the ball, there is no
real threat to have a play-action pass in there. They have a really solid
secondary. I know that we had two solid receivers that they had to pay
more attention to, and I think they did that once they started stopping the run
game."
How did you feel your protection was today?
"I thought it was phenomenal up front. I thought the guys really
handled them. They didn't bring as much pressure as I thought they would.
I thought they would blitz a lot of their linebackers. They kind of stayed
away from that. I don't think we gave up any sacks in the first half.
There were maybe two sacks in the second half that were my fault, and I don't
know many on top of that there were. But that's a big improvement over
where we were last season."
You have a lot of guys back on offense and expected such big things.
What was going through your head as you look late in the fourth quarter, have 10
points on the board and are down by 38?
"Yeah. Again, it's frustrating, but we didn't convert early in the
game. The first three quarters, we weren't able to convert in the red
zone. That's something we need to look at on film and something we need to
do better. A lot of that is on me. I need to do a better job on
offense. I need to know a lot faster where to go with the ball.
That's an area I need to improve on."
The word 'humbling' has come up a few times. What happens tomorrow
and the next day to move on from this?
"I wouldn't describe it as a humbling experience for me, at least.
That's a solid football team and a solid stadium with a big crowd and a big
nationwide audience. We have a ton of young talent, that this was their
first game. You can say that's humbling. At least for me, yeah, it's
frustrating that we lost by so much, but I would not entirely consider that a
humbling experience."
Mark made reference to Coach Harris challenging you guys afterward to get
this thing turned around early on. What were his words and his message?
"He said it was a humbling experience, and we need to look at the tape first;
then learn from that. We have a solid opponent coming up next week.
But you have to give a lot of credit to Oregon. They are a 10-win team
from last season. I thought that their quarterback did an incredible job.
Their run game really helped him out. Defensively, they were pretty solid
up front, too."
They lost some guys up front. Were you surprised at how their down
four played?
"I was impressed. I don't think that they were where they were last
year - how good their front couple guys were that pressured us last year.
But they're still solid up front. I know that the teams they are going to
face are going to have a lot of problems with them as well."
How do you feel that Oregon's defensive backs did against your receivers?
"I thought that they did a pretty good job. They tried some different
techniques we weren't expecting on our receivers. In the second half, I
thought that they did a good job changing their coverages. I thought that
they were very well coached. I know that they can change their secondary
looks, and that is something we were concerned with going in - that they can
disguise things pretty well. They know where to go and which guys to
cover, and they were able to do that. That's going to help them out the
rest of this season."
How do you feel physically?
"I feel fine. Nothing major to report. Just minor things here and
there, but nothing really worth worrying about."
You said you don't want to point fingers, but what message do you give to
your teammates. This is your last year, and this is not how you wanted to
start?
"Sure. The message to my teammates is that everybody needs to step up.
Everybody - there is not one individual player. The first person you need
to look at is yourself. That's whether you are a senior, a junior, a
freshman or a sophomore. You need to look inside and find it. Find
it in you to make sure that things like this don't happen with the next 11 games
we are going to have."
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