Pac-12 Championship Sound Bites: "We’re Judged On Championships Here, That’s The Standard"
It was a battle for the Pac-12 title between the North and the South. The Oregon Ducks came into town, on USC's home turf and handed the Trojans their first loss of the season this year.
The Ducks kept a steady lead over the Trojans for the entire four quarters of the game. A concept that is all too familiar for USC's football program this season. The Trojans came close to narrowing the score late in the fourth quarter, as the score was 31-24, but Oregon's Jamal Hill intercepted Kedon Slovis' pass for no gain to the Oregon 31.
With just 2:47 left in the game, the Trojans fate was sealed.
Emotions were running high in the locker room following USC's first loss of the season.
"There’s a lot of hurt souls in our locker room right now" said Clay Helton in a post game press conference.
Despite the Trojans finishing the night with a loss, USC ends their conference play record 5-1.
Here are some post game sound bites from Friday's Pac-12 Championship game.
Clay Helton Talks Loss To Oregon
“Great college football game. Credit to Oregon and Mario (Cristobal), played a wonderful game. Very good game plan, and the kids played with great heart. As well as our team. I’ve never been associated with a group of kids who fight harder or have more heart. There’s a lot of hurt souls in our locker room right now. It’s something that I know our kids wanted extremely badly, to win a championship, and we came up a play too short today."
Clay Helton Talks Turnovers And Penalties
“We were fighting for one more possession and we actually got it with 4:30 left. It was right where we’ve known to be. We were in position even with the mistakes we made, especially the turnovers. We can’t do that with a good football team.
It’s only for the kids’ heart and toughness and willingness to fight back that we put ourselves in position to go tie the game at the end. That’s all you can ask for and this time around we didn’t get it done. We don’t make excuses. But credit to the kids, they fought their butts off.”
Clay Helton Talks Oregon's Defense
“It’s a talented front. We know Kayvon (Thibodeaux) and what he can do. I thought he had tremendous jump off the ball tonight. They did some nice things, got three sacks tonight. They flushed Kedon (Slovis) out of the pocket and got him off his spot a bunch.
I thought Kedon did a nice job keeping his eyes up and downfield and creating a lot after being flushed. Credit to them, they’re a good football team. Their front is talented and they played well tonight.”
Clay Helton Talks Trajectory Of USC's Football Program
"We’re judged on championships here, that’s the beauty of this place, that’s the expectation, that’s the standard. That’s what we play for and that’s why hearts are broken in that locker room. That’s the only thing we’ll accept as a team, a championship. We’re really close, but obviously we didn’t get it done tonight and that’s the next step.”
WR Drake London Talks Kedon Slovis' Performance
“Same every game. There’s no doubt. We all believe in him. He’s going to have some hiccups here and there but he’s Kedon Slovis and we all trust him.”
Oregon Head Coach Mario Cristobal talks Pac-12 Championship Win
“Back in March we said whoever handles this pandemic best is going to end up holding up that trophy. They managed to find a way to stay healthy, make it to every game, and sure enough we found ourselves here in the PAC-12 Championship. Tremendous credit to these football players.”
Oregon QB Tyler Shough talks Pac-12 Championship Win
“It’s a blessing. We were on our couch at home and got called back for a season. A lot of us are mentally drained. I’m so proud of our team because of the way we fought through these tough circumstances.”
[READ: Oregon Defeats USC In Pac-12 Championship Game]
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