WATCH: Dorian Thompson-Robinson on UCLA Records, Oregon Road Prep

UCLA football quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson spoke to reporters following Monday morning's practice session at Wasserman Football Center. Thompson-Robinson talked about appearing on SportsCenter, the impact of the Bruins' extended winning ways, his thoughts on Utah beating USC, his first impressions of Oregon on film and what he remembers from his last few matchups with the Ducks.

Enjoy being on SportsCenter this week?

Yes, sir. I did. I did. Um, luckily with my media team here, I got to do it at home and be nice and comfortable, so. It was fun, though, I enjoyed it for sure.

Talked about taste of winning in your mouth – does that keep building the more success the team has?

Yeah, for sure. Obviously, you get more and more things added onto your plate and the games get bigger as you go, so you if you lose obviously the next game’s not going to be as big, so we’re trying to keep that pace going. We know who we are, we understand that, and we also understand the work that needs to go into keep that, so I think we’re headed in the right direction right now for sure.

Broke Brett Hundley's record, he was very complimentary – ever watch him play or know anything about him before coming to UCLA?

Yeah, for sure. I think he was probably one of the only UCLA quarterbacks I really watched—I watched Josh a little bit, obviously, his freshman year, but Brett was definitely the guy. He’s the guy that I always thought of when it comes to UCLA quarterbacks and so definitely a guy I look up to and a guy I model after, for sure.

Similarities in the way you guys play?

Yeah, for sure. Both smart guys, both can read a defense really well. He did some really good things while he was here, especially against SC, being undefeated against those guys and there’s definitely a lot of things like the legs and the things he can do to create plays and stuff like that definitely show up on the field, for sure.

Watch Utah-USC game?

I did. I did. I watched it from start to finish, rewatched the highlights and all the film and everything, so I’ve watched it multiple times for sure.

Takeaways from the game?

Yeah. Well, shoot, shoutout to the Utes, they did their thing going in toward the end of the game. I think the real defining moment in that game was the minute before and after halftime when Utah got to be able to tie the game up but no, USC’s a really good team, you can see it all over the tape. Obviously, losing Jordan Addison late in that game kind of hurt them a little bit but still a really good team, for sure.

How about Oregon now that you've watched some tape?

Yeah, really, really fast, front seven, DBs can cover really well, you can tell that they’re well-coached, still a new system, they do a lot of communication pre-snap trying to get guys lined up, so. But again, just a really, really fast defense, that’s what I can see from right now.

Is there a part of the offense that you feel more comfortable with this season?

Um, me personally, I love to throw the ball, so I think the pass game right now is clicking on all cylinders, obviously leaning on Zach, the O-line, getting those guys going and making sure we’re getting the run game, it takes a lot of stress off my plate, so I think leaning on them for sure coming into this game will be a big thing.

Smartest players on the team?

Whoo, tough question, putting me on the spot. Um, besides me, nah, um, no, there’s definitely a lot of smart guys, definitely on the O-line, I’d probably say those are the smartest guys on the offense with Jon Gaines, Maf, Sam, Duke, Raiqwon being in grad school and everything, so I’d say right now the O-line leads the line for smart guys, but I’d say Bobo is really intelligent when it comes to ball, Kaz knows, Kam, Zach’s a good football player, but it’s hard to pick, that was a really tough question for sure.

Are you talking about smartest at football or in classroom?

Yeah, high football IQ—I’m not saying that they’re dummies in the classroom, but they’re definitely smart guys out on the field.

Biased? Didn't mention any defensive guys?

Um, nah, I’m playing, I’m playing. Nah, those guys are really smart too, it's just I know the offensive guys a lot better.

Being on the road in Autzen the perfect situation for such an experienced offensive line leading the way?

Oh, yeah, for sure, I think it’s going to be a special moment for everybody, we live for games like this—when you get a sold-out crowd, it’s on College GameDay, anything and everything you could ask for, it’s going to be at this game, so we live for moments like this, it’s going to be really fun and so I think we’re just ready to attack the week and then looking forward to Saturday, for sure.

Is this kind of what you envisioned or maybe better?

Oh, no, this is right where I thought we’d be coming into this point in the season, you know, you go into a bye week 6-0, coming out of the bye week you’ve got a really good team on the national spotlight, so you couldn’t ask for anything more. I think this is where I personally envisioned this team being and I couldn’t be more grateful to be here right now.

Want to win it for coach Kelly going back to Oregon, could reshape the whole perception of his time at UCLA?

Yeah, for sure. I think this team and myself included wants to win this for this university, coach Kelly includes that and everything he’s done for this program, so I think we’re just trying to put this program, like I said, back in the national spotlight and that obviously comes with coach Kelly because he gets all the recognition being the main guy, so.

Caleb Williams' similarities to your game as an underclassman – how did you strike the balance and learn when to give up on a play?

Yeah, for sure. I think, like I said, I can’t speak on his situation, but on my situation it’s based on experience, like you said, in my early years I had a lot of flash plays as well as some plays I’d like to take back, and so you know, all that goes into it. I’ve learned from those flash plays and I’ve also learned from the plays where I got sacked 20 yards behind the line, so I think that’s probably a part of his game too, he’s probably going to have to learn through some of those growing pains, but you can see the talent, it jumps off the screen, and I think that’s the difference between making splash plays and being able to take control of a game and being a game manager in that way and being able to know when to take your shots on and off the field, so.

How big will discipline be given the environment you're going into?

Yeah, it’s going to be a huge thing, you know, their defensive line, they stem and move all the time, so the O-line is going to have to be locked in that way, it’s going to be loud in there, especially on third downs, so we’ve got the crowd noise pumping out here at practice trying to emulate that, but you never really know how it is until you’re in it, you know we don’t play there every week, so it’s going to be a different feeling and a different environment for us, but like I said, I have full faith and trust in the guys here with how smart our O-line is and the rest of the guys on the offense, I have no worries we’re going to go in there and we’re going to do our thing, so.

Practice silent counts?

Uh, I won’t give away too much information, but yeah, I’m sure coach Kelly will have a wrinkle or two in there for it, so.

What do you remember from previous trips to Autzen? Remember a few years ago when you didn't play?

Yeah, so going back to my freshman year, we went there, got our butts kicked and that wasn’t fun, I remember the crowd being loud, though, really into the game, let’s see, my sophomore year, I don’t know if I played or not, I don’t think I played, and then COVID, obviously I didn’t get COVID but I couldn’t travel with the team, contact tracing, and then last year, we lost to them, so again, I haven’t beaten Oregon, just like Utah I have a bad taste in my mouth and so I think we’re just going to come out here Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and go to work and see where it takes us on Saturday.

What do your bracelets say? Are they new?

No, I’ve always had these. These are from my chess mentor, this one says ‘Player, not a piece’ and this one says ‘Protect the king,’ so for me, the king could be anything, it could be myself, it could be the ball, it could be anything, so just always making sure I just have those on me.

What does that mean this week?

Ooh, like I said, the king could be a lot of things. This week, in particular, for sure it’s going to be the ball. Um, you the only thing I’m thinking about from last week’s game or two weeks ago game was the interception late in the game, the pick-six, and so again, I pride myself on trying to keep the ball safe and that’s one of the ways I have to do it is making sure I protect the king and so yeah, I think that’s going to be the main thing going into this game, for sure.

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