WATCH: Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Ethan Fernea Talk UCLA Beating USC, Resetting for Cal
UCLA football made quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and receiver Ethan Fernea available to the media Monday after practice.
Thompson-Robinson talked about the reactions he's been hearing to his record-breaking, viral performance against USC on Saturday, as well as what he's thinking in regards to his future with Senior Night coming up against Cal. Fernea went through his long touchdown run against the Trojans, summarizing the importance of it coming against his crosstown rival and what it meant to hear his teammates and coaches shout him out postgame.
DORIAN THOMPSON-ROBINSON
Senior night, feelings going into final game at Rose Bowl on the schedule?
No, yeah, just like you said, it's definitely a happy Monday, guys are excited to get in the building and get back to work. And so I think that's kind of the mindset going into this week as well, guys are chomping at the bit again, want to put ourselves in the best position possible to make the best bowl game and move on from there and leave on a high note. So this isn't just a pushover game or anything like that, we really wanna go out there and win this game too.
Quentin Lake?
Yeah, just the maturity outside of football is really – he's really been a field general, we like to call him out on the practice field, in the film room, really just a football junkie. But really getting to know his teammates better, being more of a vocal leader outside of just the locker room and stuff like that, and being able to hang out with his teammates a lot more and have them rally around him when he needs them the most.
Processing the excitement of all the viral moments and big plays?
Yeah, my phone was pretty blown up come Sunday morning and all the way through to today. But no, it was definitely a fun weekend, one to remember, but like I said, I'll pick up all the newspapers and get all the stuff for my mom later, but I gotta focus on Cal and all that stuff. But it was a fun weekend, for sure.
How do you shut that week off and move on?
Yeah, exactly. I think just doing what I've been doing, which is focusing on my teammates, focusing on this group of guys that come out with me here on Monday. Again, just getting back into the routine of things of watching film and going out here and going through the walkthroughs and the practices and cleaning out all the mistakes and stuff, getting ready for Cal. But I think our leaders and our coaches do a great job of that, so I don't see any problem of moving on throughout the week.
Kam Brown?
Yeah, for a guy that came from a pretty big program in A&M and knows about the stage and the spotlight and all that stuff that comes with college football, for him to come in here and really gel with all the guys here and gel with the offense and stuff like that, it's been really special to see. Kam's a really good player and he's definitely still working some things out with learning the offense still, but he's come light years from where he's been and I couldn't be more proud of Kam and he's gonna do great things for many years to come.
Seeing anything from Cal early on?
Yeah, really good team. They don't do a lot on defense, but they're really good at what they do. And so if we're assignment-sound or we're not technique-sound, they're definitely dangerous enough to take shots at us and really change the game around if we let them hang around. So we definitely got our work cut out for us, and it is like that every week in the Pac.
Progress you, Kyle and Greg made through four years?
It's been special. Those are probably the two closest guys I'm closest with on the offense, so it definitely shows out on the field. Me and those two guys have a great relationship. Obviously, you guys know Greg's my roommate, so I get to spend as much time as I can with him, and then same with Kyle. Kyle lives right down the hallway from me in our dorm, or in our apartment complex. So I think just the relationships that we've built over the past years ultimately has helped us on the football field and it'll be continued on this weekend at Cal.
Moment you thought you'd have something special with those guys?
More so with Kyle than Greg. Me and – obviously, Kyle early enrolled, but when I got here, that was the first person that I kind of stuck with to kind of throw and go over the playbook with and do all that stuff as freshmen. And then when Greg finally started to play, that's when me and him really started to gel too. So I think just over all the years of work that we put in, the amount of hours that we put in in the film room and coming out here and repping the same throws and catches over and over again has really paid off for us now.
Could be last home game for you guys?
Yeah, it's gonna be surreal. There's gonna be some decisions being made and all the guys that are in those positions have had those talks and are continuing to have those talks now that it's getting closer to that time and we know that there's gonna be some decisions that have to be made and we're just gonna go out there and live it up like it's our last one, even if it may not be.
Is Saturday your last home game?
Cannot say for sure. Cannot say for sure.
What will go into that decision and have you started having talks?
Yeah, I've had talks already, for sure, with coach Gundy, with coach Kelly, with my teammates and with, obviously, my family and some people that I look up to very closely, but no decision has been made yet. No decision's really in mind to be made. When that time comes, probably in the next few weeks or so, I'll really start to hone in and list out the pros and cons for both sides, but for right now, like I said, I'm going out there on Saturday and trying to have a ball in the Rose Bowl and live it up one more time before this bowl game and then focus on that next.
Are you going to be announced on Senior Night?
God, I don't know. I actually have to go ask coach Kelly and coach Gundy that. I know some of the guys got talked to today about it, I have not though. So I'm pretty sure that conversation will be had here very soon.
Will how the team finishes the season impact your decision?
Yeah. I think, still, at the end of the day though, it's what I'm hearing from scouts, it's what I'm hearing from my coaches and people that are experts on the situation and stuff like that. So it will ultimately come down to probably some opinions and advice that I get and we'll see where I'm at, but that would obviously be nice to have a nice winning record and a nice ending note to leave off on too.
ETHAN FERNEA
Going through your mind on the TD?
Um, yeah, it was inside zone like you said, I kind of ran into the back of all the linemen, the hole kind of closed up on me. I don’t really remember spinning out like that, it was kind of instinctive and then I just saw a bunch of green grass. I probably should have just gone down so we could get in victory formation and call it a day but I figured since it was the rival, I had to try to get in the zone.
How special to get that TD in your last USC game, one of your last college games, after the injury and the whole journey?
Yeah, it was super special. I’ve been getting reps at running back, but I wasn’t really expecting to get too many carries just because of the fact I have a cast on my arm. I scored a touchdown last year and I remember thinking on the sideline, like dang, senior year, last one against SC, you always kind of dream of making a big play your senior year against a rival and throughout the game, I kind of thought that wasn’t going to happen so for Coach Foster to come up to me and throw me out there like that, it’s super special. I’m just glad our team played a really good game and put me in a position to be able to get in there. We were up big and Zach Charbonnet got 1000 rushing yards on the season which was really awesome to see. Dorian obviously had an unbelievable game so it was fun watching and I’m just glad we were able to come out with such a commanding victory.
No way you were actually going to go down, right?
Yeah, no chance. Not against SC, it was anyone else, maybe, but I don’t think so, not against SC.
Have you eaten Otito's food?
Oh yeah, actually I spent Thanksgiving at Otito’s apartment last year and he’s an unbelievable cook. Probably the best Thanksgiving meal I’ve ever had to be honest. And so yeah, he’s — if you ever get a chance to have Otito cook you a meal, I highly recommend.
What are those Thanksgiving meals like?
Yeah, it’s really cool, really fun because like you said, there’s a lot of guys on the team that are out of state and it’s not like they can just drive home and get home cooking from their mom, whoever, their grandma, so it’s fun to go over to Otito’s house. There’s usually about 30 guys over there. I think Otito really enjoys cooking, I think that’s a passion of his. He really enjoys it, he goes the whole nine yards. He really over does it and it’s awesome.
Favorite dish?
I think last year, he made some mac and cheese that was pretty out of this world.
Planned to come back after wrist injury? Think it was all done?
Yeah, exactly. Whenever the injury happened at Stanford, they told me it was my scaphoid, which usually requires surgery so I thought I was probably going to be out the whole season knowing I was going to have to get surgery. And so a couple weeks, the medical staff at UCLA is awesome and I was able to get surgery like literally two days after the game, we got surgery, which was a huge blessing to get it out of the way. I waited a week after surgery to have a follow up appointment and they told me they can put a hard cast on it and the screws in there are good and I can go ahead and go. Obviously I was going to be extremely limited on the offensive side of the ball because I only have one arm, you can’t do much with one arm when it comes to handling the ball. But coach Foster and coach Kelly had me getting reps throughout practice at running back so I think they and me have gotten pretty comfortable with me taking handoffs and I’ve gotten pretty good at catching the ball so yeah, it’s been awesome. I originally just thought whenever I came back, it was just going to be special teams, like I said, I’ve got one arm, but we’ve all gotten a little more comfortable with me carrying the ball.
Thoughts on the coaching staff's job with schemes on offense?
Ever since they got here, I’ve had confidence in our scheme. Coach Kelly is without a doubt the smartest football mind I’ve ever been around. So watching him dial up plays and watching him game plan is a really big privilege for me especially because I have ambitions to be a coach so it’s been a huge privilege being able to watch coach Kelly game plan and dial up plays. I think as a whole team, we know how elite our coaching staff is, so every game we go into, we’re confident with the game plan. We’ve always had an explosive offense, we’ve got guys who can make big plays and a lot of guys stepped up on Saturday against SC — against our rival so it’s good to see.
Things you hear from Chip on your potential coaching career?
Um, one thing that Coach Kelly does that I’ve noticed this season is how seriously he takes the scout team. The scout look, it’s incredible watching coach Kelly know exactly what every player on the scout defense is supposed to do along with what every player on the offense is supposed to do. So he takes that super seriously, he takes training more serious than anyone in the country. He wants to give us the best possible look every single play in practice so it’s pretty incredible watching him not only get an offensive game plan but he’s out here making sure the defensive scout team is giving us the perfect look. It’s gotta be perfect for coach Kelly.
Feeling knowing your teammates and everyone talked about you postgame?
That’s really special. I mean, you know especially like you said, from guys like Dorian and Zach, they had probably the biggest games they’ve had this season and for them to spend any time on my trash time touchdown, that means something to me. And I’m glad that — I haven’t had a huge role on offense throughout my career but coach Kelly has put me in kind of a leadership position which has been a blessing to me. I’m kind of a guy that talks to the team a lot. I like to yell a lot at practice and so it means a lot knowing that I might have made a little bit of an impact and it’s not just talk for those guys. And I think I have a good relationship with a lot of guys on this team, which is a huge blessing.
Thought about how this is going to be your last home game?
You know, I don’t think it’s going to be hard, I think it’s going to be fun. I try to just smile about the journey and not be sad that it’s over and honestly, I haven’t really thought about that: that this is the last one in the Rose. I didn’t think about it. I’m trying not to think about that. I’ll definitely be emotional after the game. It’s been a hell of a ride and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. And hopefully we can finish with a victory.
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