What Joe Moorhead Said Before Facing Utah in the Pac-12 Championship

Hear from Oregon's offensive coordinator before this week's game in Las Vegas.

Author:
John Rustik
Publish date:
Dec 1, 2021 11:42 AM EST

The Ducks will face off against Utah this Friday with a trip to the Rose Bowl on the line.

Below is a transcription of what Offensive Coordinator Joe Moorhead said during his Tuesday press conference with local media.

On returning to the field pregame for first time since Stanford

“What happened the morning of the Stanford game really helps you gain a lot of perspective on things in life, and you know, taking your health for granted is probably one of them. So, the incremental steps that have been taken to get back to health, and, you know, just to be back down on the field for pregame, and with what was on the line, kinda made you appreciative for everything that's happened since the Stanford game.”

On celebrating in the locker room

“I try to stay as far away from the moshpit as I can. I’ll just tuck myself in the corner and enjoy from afar.”

On if he sees the game differently now that he’s not in the booth:

“It’s an interesting question. It had been so long since I’ve been up there to call a game and my entire perspective had been from either a head coach play caller or primarily play caller on the field. Being back up there, I think as I mentioned a few weeks ago, a stoic, sterile environment. You’ve got a great view and I’m really kinda enjoying it again to the point where I’m not-- if given the option again I’m not quite sure which one I’d do because I feel like I’ve been seeing it really well from up there.”

On being reached out to by Akron or any other university:

“Certainly it’s the time of the year where the carousel is spinning, very quickly in some instances, and I’ve heard or seen my name attached to multiple openings this cycle and, quite frankly the past two years. All I can say is that all my focus and attention is on doing the things that are necessary to help our offense prepare to play well on Saturday.

On Playing in a Dome:

“Play every game in a dome. Control the elements there. Championship games that I’ve been a part of in the past, the Penn State one we played at the Colts' stadium. Didn’t have any indoors at one double A, but the MAC championship game we played at Ford field, so kinda look back to those situations and they're ones where we've played pretty well under those conditions

On Adjusting their Game Plan Against Utah:

“We’ve added the Colorado game to the breakdown because it’s the most recent game and kinda use the stuff that we had heading into the first Utah game, but they’re a very well-coached team. There’s gonna be tweaks that they have, there’s going to be tweaks that we have. I don’t think you're gonna make a huge overhaul and do something completely different. But, there are things certainly from a tendency standpoint and a schematic standpoint that we need to be prepared for and things that we need to change as well.”

On DJ Johnson’s Availability:

“Cross our fingers. DJ has played a critical role for us over the past few years and playing both sides of the ball this year. [He] does a phenomenal job in the run game and we get him the ball in some of the short passes, he’s a big guy to bring down, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed and that he continues to progress. Excited for him to have a role in this game.”

On Kris Hutson’s Growth:

“I’m very excited that Kris has stepped up with the opportunity that's been presented to him. Playing both the Z and the H position and I think the things that you’ve seen are him being able to get open and create separation, particularly in the spot with some of the over routes. There were two critical plays in the Oregon State game and he can make people miss after the catch. He’s gotten his opportunity, he seized it. I think, I know Anthony’s very comfortable throwing him the ball so, young guy who’s continued to get better and better.”

On Bouncing Back Against Oregon State:

“I don’t think it was anything where we completely changed our approach or our game plan or how we called it. Quite frankly I think it's the opposite. We stayed consistent, believed in what we were doing and had a great week of practice, hopefully called some good plays and the kids executed them well. I think you look back to the Utah game and it’s not a situation where there were ten three-and-outs and we punted 20 times. We moved the ball in between the 20s in the first half and missed a couple field goals, and had some drives that we didn’t finish in the second half. We needed to be better in that game on third down and in the red zone so-- coach talks about culture and our process and I think you know adversity kinda introduces a man to himself right? We came out of that game and nobody was happy. We fell back on the things that are reflective of our culture and I think that’s why we’re able to bounce back with a big win over a great opponent in Oregon State.”

On Keeping the Run Game Established:

“I think we perform best when we’re balanced. I know our P&10 runs in this past game, I think we may not have had a P&10 pass, and that was another situation in the Utah game--but we got behind the sticks and kinda got us out of our element of being able to be balanced. Then in the second half we were playing four touchdowns down so for us to be successful, we gotta be able to do both very well. I think this past game was a great example of being able to--I think it was 275 and 225 [passing and rushing yards]. Got to be able to be balanced, can’t get behind the sticks.

On Cristobal and his mother:

“It’s part of the profession that probably, I won’t say it doesn’t get talked about, but it’s a results-oriented business where people are expecting a quality product on the field and they want wins. Talking about not making excuses and I get that part, but there is certainly in every aspect of a coach's life a human element. It’s very real, very visceral and whether it’s a coach getting a surgery and going down for a while or coach’s mom. That’s a time where like any family you gotta pull together and we certainly had all our thoughts and prayers with his family during that time.”

On his thought process around opportunities that present themselves:

“They have and they will continue to. The three criteria I’ve always used in this order are personal, professional and monetary. How’s the decision affect you and your family and how does it benefit them? Professionally, you have a chance to go somewhere where you can either sustain success or rebuild. And like you said: the monetary part. Everybody likes money. I’ve gotten to a point where, I mean, I grew up my dad was a steelworker, had three jobs. We were the lowest end of the middle class you can be. I still don’t even know my ATM code so I have to ask my wife for money. The money part of it, yeah we have some but I don't have any in my wallet and have to ask her for an allowance so that part's a little further heading down the trough right now. We’re preparing to get ready to play the game and then we’ll deal with anything that happens after that.

On how he handles his players seeing his name being attached to other jobs:

“They haven’t brought it up. We're so myopic and focused on what we’re doing right now that they understand that coach creates a culture of no distractions. It hasn’t even been brought up.”

On Anthony Brown's decision making recently vs. the first half of the season:

“There were times where there probably just wasn’t that high level of consistency during the first part of the season. Since the UCLA game, we’ve seen a steady climb in execution, in production, in explosive plays, protecting the football. His level of confidence has really grown since that point so he’s very mature, played a lot of football but hopefully he’s rewarded here when this list comes out because I think he deserves it. I think he deserves to be an all-conference quarterback in this league because I think he’s one of the best.

You may also like:

ROUNDTABLE: Predicting No. 10 Oregon vs. No. 17 Utah in Pac-12 Championship