WATCH: Chip Kelly Talks UCLA Beating Washington in Primetime
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UCLA football coach Chip Kelly spoke to the media following the Bruins’ 40-32 win over No. 15 Washington at the Rose Bowl on Friday night. Kelly talked about his team's compete level in a high-stakes Pac-12 showdown, Dorian Thompson-Robinson's clutch factor, the defense's emergence against quarterback Michael Penix Jr., the offensive pieces meshing together and the importance of a loud crowd in the bleachers.
Thoughts on the win?
I thought our guys competed. I thought our defense did a great job in the first half. ... Penix led the nation in passing coming into this game. For our guys to stake us that lead, and we needed every inch of it. But to put them behind, so it turned into a real big throw game for them in the second half. We knew how explosive their offense was, but we generated a pass rush with our front. I thought our guys did a great job in coverage. To get them to turn it over twice in the first half is really good for us on the defensive side of the ball, and then for us not to turn it over at all, I think that’s a big thing we talk about all the time, winning the turnover battle. You've got a shot, when you're playing in conferences games, if you can win the turnover battle.
Defensive line?
Yeah I thought, you know, Jay played, Jay did a great job with the snaps that he got. And then the rest of the guys, it’s just really what college football is all about. It’s got to be next man up. Losing Martin for the season is obviously difficult, and you feel for Martin because he’s been such a warrior for us. But I think our other guys are taking advantage of the opportunities that have been presented to them and I thought they did a really nice job.
Dorian's performance?
Yeah, I just thought he was clutch. We really have total confidence in everything that Dorian does. I think he’s got a great grasp of what we’re trying to do. You know, you look at the last play, it’s 3rd-and-6, we weren’t running the ball, we threw it, but he put the ball exactly where it needed to be. We converted, got the first down and we're up to run the clock out, but that's the confidence we have in him at quarterback.
Significance of the moment?
We were excited. Anytime you get to play a conference game against a really good Washington team… You watch what they did to Michigan State earlier in the year and look what they did to Stanford last weekend. We knew we were going to get everything they had. They’re a really well-coached team. They got a lot of skill on that team. And I think the quarterback has really been a difference-maker for them. So we’re excited that we got a chance to get one in the books on Friday and then we can watch some other people play tomorrow.
Dorian's best game?
Comparison is the thief of joy. He's had a lot of good games. He had six touchdowns against ‘SC in the Coliseum last year. You know, he’s had some other really good games too. But this was a great game for him. … I thought he played outstanding. That's the confidence we have in him as our leader and as our quarterback.
Bobo, Charbonnet and the O-line all coming together?
They did. And I thought Kam Brown really contributed. I think we’re getting production out of our outside receivers. For the last couple years, because of the talent with Greg Dulcich and Kyle Philips, we had a little bit more inside receiver. Now that both of those guys have gone on to the NFL – one’s with Tennessee and one’s with Denver, so we know how talented those guys are. But for our outside receivers, for Jake and Kam, to step up the way they stepped up today – and become a matchup problem for some people – that was big for us because we can get the ball distributed to the perimeter. But if you got to cover out on the perimeter, then it opens up some holes for Zach, and I thought Zach carried the load like he’s done in a lot of games.
Defense made stops they needed to tonight?
I was really proud of them. Especially in the first half, I thought their energy and I thought their … how they were playing, the different looks they were doing to disguise and the ability to get two turnovers in the first half against this team, because this team had been clicking on all cylinders in the first four games. You watch them on tape and you can tell this is a really impressive football team. So for us to kind of hold them at bay a little bit, I think was the difference – really how our defense played in the first half.
Stephan Blaylock pick leads to Kam Brown TD?
Yeah, I think we talk about responding all the time. So when we get a turnover, if our offense doesn't do anything with the turnover, then it really doesn't count. So when you have a turnover, we have to respond on the offensive side of the ball. So if our defense can create turnovers, we gotta respond on the offensive side of the ball and turn that into points. I thought that's what they did in that situation.
Big crowd tonight, how important was that?
I think it was really important. It was good that we got the kids back on campus. It's a little bit different – I was talking to Kalen about it, Washington's a quarter school, so – but to get our kids back on campus. For them to come out for the first time their back, and we got to play a Friday night game in the LA traffic – I saw three accidents on the way to the game, I'll give credit to our police escort, they were weaving and dodging and there was a lot of things going on, but that's a typical Friday for those of us that live in Los Angeles – for the people that came out, especially at 7:30 on a Friday night, to come and see a team that I think is fun to watch. So, hopefully we continue to grow on that. We got a huge game next week against Utah at home here on Saturday, so hopefully we'll get more of that.
How important was this moment – national TV, under the lights?
I think – and we talked about in the locker room after the game – but this game is a race to maturity. You're going to get tested, but competitors respond in those situations, whether it be momentum swings, adversity, or just random events that happen at a game. But it's about playing the next snap and not being down and having a little bit of resolve, and I think our kids continue build that as they get going. There's a resiliency to this group, they've been through a lot. We've been fortunate, being on the pretty good end of the score the last couple of games, I don't know what it was, they've won eight in a row as a group, and I think each week they get a little bit better. In each week, there's a new challenge, depending on who you play. So, we got about a day, because we're playing Friday night, to enjoy it, and then we have the defending Pac-12 champs coming in here in Utah. So that'll get your eyes up, getting ready for that one.
Big of offense to not give Washington the ball back at the end?
Yeah, and we work on it every week. It's four-minute offense. And that's what great teams have to do. You've got to be able to seal a win and not put it in somebody else's hands. If we get a chance to get the ball back here, we know exactly what to do timing wise. We know how many timeouts they have, know how many first downs we need to gather in that situation, and we were cognizant of that. I think everybody on offense was cognizant of that. Watch what happened and how it played itself out. I thought Dorian made some really good plays in the run game. They were clutch. Lot on Zach Charbonnet, too. But to finish it off with the pass to Hud was awesome. A lot of people, think, "run it, just go and run clock." When we're trying to run clock we're trying to win the game. We put the ball in the best player's hands and he came up big tonight. That was good for us and that's something that we can learn and grow from as we keep working on our four-minute offense. We get to work on our four-minute offense every week, it's pretty good cause that means you're winning, so we'll see how it goes from here.
Up eight and Washington seemed like they were kind of reeling back, what were some of the conversations in the huddle like and how much of an advantage is having DTR in a position like that?
Yeah, I think our conversations are really just about the game. You know, there’s, you dont have to motivate this group and say “hey they’re like this, we’re gonna do that.” It’s just really what coverages are we getting, what type of looks are we getting, how much inside pressure are we getting, how much is the line moving if they give us this? It’s just really an analytical kind of approach to it. It’s not rah-rah fire and brimstone stuff. it’s just, hey this is what we’ve gotta do to execute, and I think great teams execute, especially down the stretch and we got an opportunity down the stretch tonight.
You mentioned the age and maturity of your quarterback…
Chip: Age isn’t indicative of maturity. I’m living proof of that. So I know a lot of people, I have a lot of friends that are the most immature people I’ve ever met in my entire life and age has nothing to do with that.
But he has experience.
He does, he does, and he is mature. I mean, let me give you that too. I think he’s played in a lot of really big football games for us. You know, I go back to his freshman year, his first start was at Oklahoma, you know, played in front of 93,000, and one thing about him is he doesn’t get phased, doesn’t get rattled, he’s as tough as they come. He takes hits, he gets up, and he continues to play. He’s a competitor. It was really cool to see again and the way it ended. I think we all felt really confident, and when I talked about - made the play call, we’re like “alright let’s go.” We knew what we needed to do. He had three options on the play, he went to one right away and ripped it on time and it was really just - that was a little bit of a microcosm of how he threw the ball, handled the ball with the ball in his hands when the game’s on the line.
As far as his teammates, how they feel about him, all those experiences…
Yeah, I mean, they all fester off each other. The great thing about this team is I think it’s really selfless. So they really use the word believe a lot and vicariously derive joy from other people’s success. I think our players really enjoy that they don’t care who it is, whether it was a pick by JonJon or a pick by Blaylock, and everybody. You look at this team, they had a bunch of energy, a bunch of juice tonight. They get excited about playing and they get excited about winning as a team. It’s pretty cool to be around this group.
Washington defensive line came in pretty good this year, felt like you guys were initiating contact and just kind of took it to them, can you talk about the offensive line?
Yeah, I think our O-Line, you know they’re just really starting to come together. We have a couple kids, four of them al played for us before but we added on transfer. And I think Raiqwon has fit in right from the jump, you know, he has 30 starts in his career, but he picked up our system really well, fit in really well with all the players. But I think all those guys are starting to gel as a group, you know, Garrett’s starting to get - this is the fifth game for Garrett. You know, I think Raiqwon and Garrett had really big matchups with the defensive ends we were gonna face this week and I was proud about how those guys handled it.
You went for a couple fourth downs and it seemed like you were trying to get a little assertive today. Can you talk about just kind of going for it in a big spot?
That’s just analytics. We just, we know when we’re gonna go for it and we know when we’re not gonna go for it. It’s not a feel thing. I think you try to take emotion out of some of those decisions. Those decisions are made during the week, so we kind of have an algorithm of what we’re gonna do, where the ball is, what’s the distance. So when it comes to it, it’s “alright we’re going for it,” it’s not that out of the blue, everybody’s surprised that we’re going for it. And I think our kids understand when we’re gonna do it. But the numbers will tell you when you should, when you shouldn’t and we kind of just follow that so.
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