WATCH: Kyle Philips, Zach Charbonnet Talk UCLA Finishing Drives, Early Dynamism
UCLA football receiver Kyle Philips and running back Zach Charbonnet talk to the media after the Bruins held off a late comeback from Stanford on Saturday.
Dorian going down?
Kyle Philips: Really proud of the whole team, but we saw him go down, fighting a shoulder injury the whole game. We ran the ball and he went down, the game was on the line and he came back and made a huge play. We’re all just really proud of him.
Was he hurt in first half?
KP: It was just kind of over time. He was He was taking hits and it was wearing on him a little bit, but he’s tough guy and you know it will never hold him down, small things like that
Catch at the end, what’s going through your mind?
KP: Just catch the ball. Dorian threw a good ball and put it where only I could get it. So I kind of went down there caught the ball, and just glad I was in the end zone.
Long touchdown?
KP: We have great coaches that really make a great game plan for us. Just through watching film we kind of know how they play, not in the boundary. Motion out Zach, he's a beast in the backfield so they always have to respect that, so we got the bump that we wanted and it was a wide open lane and (I) ran down there, Dorian threw a beautiful ball and I was able to catch it and get in the end zone.
Did you celebrate with him after the last touchdown on the sidelines?
KP: On the sidelines yes. He threw it and had to go and work on his shoulder a little bit but then he was up and good.
What did you say to each other?
KP: I just told him that I love him, just so proud of him to fight through that injury, really put the team first even though he was going through a whole lot.
How nice is it to have a read option quarterback?
Zach Charbonnet: We got to pay respect to Kyle's return, it was a big return, it put us in great field position. Just being able to have Dorian like that to pull the ball, it really changes the defense because you don't know who is getting the ball, so it's really challenging.
More catches out of the backfield?
ZC: Sometimes the flats are going to be exposed and when they were called we just had to make a play on it.
You guys bounced back in a big way, feelings winning Pac-12 opener?
ZC: Yeah it feels really strong. We just got to keep this up, we can't let it get to our heads. We have to get back Monday and get back to work and get prepared for next week.
When Stanford came back and tied the score, anything from last year creep into head?
KP: Not at all. That's just credit to Jerry and his coaches. They're just really overly positive. And they scored, we know we're capable of a lot more. Our coaches put us in those types of situations every day in practice so we know that we can do them. Once we get the ball, we know we have playmakers all around, so we knew we were going to go down and score. It wasn't that in any of our faces, we looked around and we all knew we were going to do it.
Seven minute drive at end?
KP: Just guys playing their tails off. The offensive line was blocking amazing. Zach's bouncing off guys left and right, breaking tackles and getting us all those extra yards and just left them with little time to go down and score. They were down two scores so they needed as much time as they could get. It was just great for us.
Britain + Zach + running quarterback?
ZC: It presents multiple challenges. I get the ball. Dorian and Brittain all get the ball, so its really hard to keep up where the ball is going.
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