What Kalen DeBoer Said After Washington Beat Oregon
The Oregon Ducks lost to the Washington Huskies on Saturday in gut-wrenching fashion as questionable play calling, injuries and poor defense all proved too much for the Pac-12 front runners to overcome.
Following Saturday's game, Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer met with reporters to discuss his first win over the Ducks since becoming head coach at Washington.
Below is a transcript of the press conference.
On the significance of the win
“I know it’s just huge. It’s about these guys in the locker room and everything they’ve been through over the last couple years. They deserve it because they keep fighting, they keep playing, working, sticking together. I think in the end, program wise it’s a huge win. We just beat a top ten team on the road and for us it’s just another step. There’s places and goals that we have and every game we have shown we’re making progress towards those goals. You have to give yourself a chance to get the points, use more of the clock because of what they can do offensively. It just felt right. Henry Payton has been good all year. One kick after the other came through tonight and the last was just as big as any.”
On the rivalry from a personal perspective
“It means so much because we’re giving our players a great experience. I’m going to be talking about this 10, 20 or 30 years down the road. Hopefully Husky Nation is too. There are so many great lessons you learn from athletics, but these moments are the ones that we share all together. It’s going to be fun rehashing these great moments, where the ball was at, how we came through. It was big, and I’m so proud.”
On following Chris Peterson
“Coach P. Did so much for this program. So many of these guys came in when he was head coach and that’s why we have such a great group of gentlemen in this locker room that have high character and are good football players. It’s all about these guys and these coaches. I get a lot of credit from the wins but everyone’s just working together. It’s a passion of mine to bring it all together and that’s what happened tonight.”
On taking over a four-win team
“There’s great talent in the program, pulling it all together, we’re getting everyone headed in the same direction. I knew we hadn’t come close to playing our best game yet. Challenged them to do that last week, still didn’t do that. That was more of the level I think we can play on tonight. Great learning opportunity for us to show what we're capable of when offense, defense and special teams are all doing the right thing.”
On Nix going out
“It certainly had a bit of impact on the next drive. They were a little bit more conservative. It changed their ability to run the ball. He’s such a good player and I know what happens when you have a big-time player, especially a quarterback, out of your offense.”
On if he was surprised with Oregon’s attempted 4th and 1
“No because they’ve shown that aggressiveness all season. Another onside kick today, and we were ready for that because of what they’ve done throughout the year. Our earlier 4th down at the end of the first half with 30 seconds left. That’s what they’ve shown is their aggressiveness and confidence to get after it.”
READ MORE: What Dan Lanning said after Oregon lost to Washington
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