What Jake Dickert Said After No. 3 Oregon Ducks Beat Washington State Cougars
Below is a raw transcript of Jake Dickert's postgame press conference following Oregon's win over the Washington State Cougars on Nov. 13 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene.
Q. On his team’s resiliency.
COACH DICKERT: "There’s no quit in this team. That’s what I told them at halftime, that’s what I told them after the game. I’m proud of their resolve, I’m proud of their togetherness. We knew we were going to come in here together as one, and whatever happened in those 60 minutes, we were getting on those busses together as one. I’m proud of their effort. That’s a good football team, I give credit to Oregon. They’re tough, physical and didn’t make mistakes. We kept punching, they kept swinging back. I think we played 60 minutes of football, but just ended up coming up short."
Q. On the defense's resiliency to give them a chance late.
COACH DICKERT: "Our guys aren’t going to quit. They’re going to keep fighting, they’re going to keep battling. I think the biggest thing we were looking for in this game was just improvement – to keep progressing and for our program to keep moving forward. Last year we had them on the ropes and didn’t finish in the second half, but we kept swinging. Some of the same things happened today, but at the end of the day we’re getting better. We’re still fighting, we’re getting to a point where I’m proud of this team and what we can still do. There’s a lot of things on the table for us and we’re going to keep fighting for these seniors."
Q. On the keys to Oregon rushing for 275-plus yards.
COACH DICKERT: "I’m disappointed with us not being able to stop the run in the fourth quarter. They did some different things; they handled our interior movement really well. At the end of the game, they just wore us down and we weren’t tackling very good. That’s on me, I’ve got to put our guys in better positions to stop the run. That really falls on me."
Q. On if the third quarter was the turning point.
COACH DICKERT: "Absolutely. It really started in that first drive, they come out and get the short field, then punch it in for a touchdown. That sort of took the wind out of our sails. Defensively, we just weren’t able to get stops when we needed and get the offense enough time to get going. We just didn’t get the stops and it starts with stopping the run on first down. They were always ahead of us on the chains, and they’re a challenging team when that happens."
Q. On if there was an emphasis on defending Kayvon Thibodeaux.
COACH DICKERT: "Absolutely. We were obviously in a lot of open sets. We slid to him, chipped him, and had the back working to his side in extra protection. They did a good job, sometimes they would slide him inside; they would stand him up and move him to different spots so you didn’t know where he was. He’s the best player in America. He’s going to get his a little bit and we’ve got to try and neutralize that, because they’ve got a couple of other people that can rush the passer as well. We did a good job on our plan. Sometimes he out-executed even the chip and the double-team. Those are the ways we tried to attack him."
Q. On the efficiency of the deep drop back vs. the quick drop back for Jayden de Laura.
COACH DICKERT: "There were times when Jayden (de Laura) couldn’t get his feet set and couldn’t let routes develop. He was having to get the ball and scramble or try to create plays based off of pressure. We were never able to get quite in rhythm in the deep pass game and take the shots that we hopped we could come in and take during the game. I give our guys a lot of credit, they battled through it facing some different looks. That’s a heck of a front seven defensively, obviously I think they’re the best in our league. There wasn’t a whole bunch of things I thought we could’ve done better; we just have to give him a little bit more time to set his feet and throw the ball."
Q. On De’Zhaun Stribling’s production tonight.
COACH DICKERT: "I think Strib is getting more and more comfortable. We’re doing a better job of finding ways to utilize the outside receivers too. Strib’s a big-body guy that can go up and make plays. I’m happy for his success because he goes out there and works hard. He’s a valuable part of the offense to get some of those outside guys involved. He’s one of those guys that’s proven now that he can make some plays."
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