WATCH: Jon Gaines II, Jordan Genmark Heath on Late Turnovers, Failed Comeback
UCLA football offensive lineman Jon Gaines II and linebacker Jordan Genmark Heath talked to the media about their team’s loss to No. 10 Oregon on Saturday. The two talked about unforced errors and penalties, in addition to the mental and physical toughness of both quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and quarterback Ethan Garbers.
Interception you had?
Jordan Genmark Heath: We knew it was a crucial time in the game. We needed a turnover and just the production of our defense. I was fortunate enough to be in the position to take it away and that all starts with the rush up front, our disguises and the play call from up top. Like I said, production of our defense and I'm happy I was the person who got it.
Got two stops towards the end, how much momentum at that point?
JGH: Yeah absolutely. Any time we can put our offense in to end the game, that's a great job. We had a lot of mistakes early on. We should've had four turnovers. Those are the small mistakes we talk about. We're extremely extremely close from being a great great team. And I think you guys see that every single week. Once we take care of those little things, the game won't even be close. Every time we can take the ball over our way, it's a huge momentum turn. Yeah, we needed that.
Down by 17 – did you guys say anything to each other about not quitting?
JGH: Yeah, coach Kelly and the staff, KB as well, we talk about once we enter that fourth quarter, we're throwing the 1s up. A lot of people throw those 4s up, for fourth quarter – we're attacking it just like it's the start of the game. That's what you guys saw out there. We came out there fresh, fast, physical, and that's the momentum change we needed. When those other teams start getting tired, we're just getting started. That's why you guys see those "1s" in the air.
Failed to get run game going?
Jon Gaines II: I just think, you know, at the end of the day we got to execute better. Football is a really simple game, it’s blocking and tackling. You know, they’re a good defensive team and we just didn’t execute as the offensive line the way we needed to. If you get behind early, you go to start throwing the ball a little more, that kind of factors in as well. But at the end of the day, it’s a matter of execution, we got to look to improve at that.
Thibodeaux?
JG: I mean he’s a great player, simple as that. We had to prepare, and we just didn’t execute the way we needed to. But we’re going to come back stronger.
What did you say to Garbers coming off the field after he was thrown straight into the fire?
JG: I think the biggest thing in our quarterback room, in its entirety, is the toughness aspect. With him, we understood he was in and we trusted him with doing his job. Once again, things didn’t end up the way we wanted to but he’s the type of guy who’s going to respond, simple as that.
JGH: Garbers also, sorry, Garbers is also a hell of a player too. There’s no dropoff from Dorian to Garbers too. So you’ll see a ton of him. Hopefully Dorian is healthy and ready to go next week, but there won’t be any difference in the talent or productiveness of our offense with Garbers leading it.
Say anything to Dorian? Physical and emotional state after not being able to finish?
JGH: Yeah, no, especially when you have somebody that cares as much as Dorian, and as you guys know, he gets any and all backlash. It can be the defense didn’t get a third down stop and all of a sudden it’s Dorian’s fault. And just having that constantly, it’s a mental battle. And you know, he works on his mentals, and he’s going to bounce back regardless of what that role is. We believe that he’s going to come back healthy next week and be ready to play, but if it’s not, or if he has a limited amount of snaps or whatnot, he’s going to go out there that leader that he is, he’s going to coach Garbers, he’s going to be locked in the whole week, and hopefully we can get him out there next week.
Offsides and other unforced errors?
JGH: I think, especially playing defense, you want to be fast off the ball. You want to be twitchy, and sometimes when you get too antsy, you tend to jump a little too fast and the offense gets lucky with the fake snap counts and whatnot. So, I think it’s just attention to detail, we’ve been in big situations and especially in big games, you want to be the person who makes the play. You want to have that little advantage over the other person. I think if we can eliminate those, we’ll be really solid.
Offense stalled in second and third quarters?
JG: Once again, a failure to execute. We knew our game plan and we didn’t do what we needed to do. We ended up getting behind and our defense, credit to them, they played their hearts out. They gave us the opportunity to catch back up and make the game more interesting than it needed to be. But once again, it’s just us not executing.
Dorian gutting it out after getting hit so much?
JG: Anybody in the offensive room would tell you this is a game on the o-line, simple as that. We have a lot of pride in what we do, and it’s about how we respond to this because, I’m going to sound like a broken record, but we didn’t execute when we needed to. Simple as that. Anybody in the o-line room would tell you that, and we’re going to respond.
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