Chip Kelly’s quotes from the UCLA-USC game

Here we have the sounds from the game immediately afterward in our postgame quotes following the loss to USC. UCLA Bruins head coach Chip Kelly spoke to the media following the loss.

Q: ... on the decision to have Keegan Jones in the backfield on a late fourth down

“Yeah, he was the back that was in the game at that time. I thought we needed a yard. Keegan is a good, solid back for us and he just came up a little bit short.”

Q: ... on one-on-one coverage against USC’s receivers

“I mean, it was a back and forth deal. Our kids on defense played really well. We knew going into the game, the talented receiver corps that they had, and that it was going to be a difficult matchup. I thought that our kids competed. But they just made one more play than we did.”

Q: ... on a pair of special teams mistakes for UCLA

“Yeah, in a close game like this, we knew going into it that [special] teams would be a big factor. I thought that RJ [Lopez] did a great job on kickoffs all day long. He didn’t even allow them to get a return. He was really smashing the ball, but we have to be able to cover a kick, and we didn’t – especially in that situation because it was a field goal game. You’ve got to prevent them from getting over midfield because it was inside of three. We have got to get that fixed.”

Q: ... on what adjustments he saw that USC’s offense had made in the second half

“I think that Kedon Slovis is one of the top quarterbacks in the nation. I don’t think anybody thought that we’d come in here and shut them out. But it was kind of a heavyweight fight and you are just trading blows. They hit one and we hit one, and then we hit one, and then they hit one. We had a shot at the end. We had the ball at the end.”

Q: ... on the performance of Mo Osling III

“Yeah, I’d have to watch the film, specifically. But I love Mo because Mo competes. I thought he was really competitive tonight, made some plays, had a big sack. I can’t be very specific.”

Q: ... on the performance of Dorian Thompson-Robinson

“I thought Dorian played really well. He came back last week at Arizona State and really just practiced starting Wednesday and missed Monday, Tuesday. So, he had a full week of training this week. I thought it really showed. I thought he threw the ball with command and did some really, really nice things out there. He was 30 of 36 with four touchdowns.”

Q: ... on how disappointing it feels to have given up leads in a back-and-forth game

“Anytime you lose, it’s hard, especially when you lose a close game. So, I don’t think that you quantify it, that you lost this way or that way. I think that it’s difficult and it hurts. It hurts because they put so much into it. That’s what we’d talked about in the locker room, that it really hurts. If you don’t work very hard and it’s not that important to you, if you go out and lose, then it wasn’t that big a deal. But this group, they’ve got an unbelievable work ethic and camaraderie and commitment to each other. When you lose as a group like we lost tonight, it hurts.”

Q: ... on USC’s pass protection picking up some pressure from UCLA and if that was true

“I thought they obviously have a system that they run and they have been very successful against everybody they’ve played. In their game against Washington State, they threw four touchdowns in the first quarter. You have someone as talented as Kedon and that group of receivers, they did a good job with their offensive line and you talk to Clay, they finally got everybody back and had a chance to practice this week. I thought they did a nice job. Otito [Ogbonnia] did a nice job and split them once for a sack, and then I thought Mo [Osling] had one. I don’t have the numbers in front of me for the other ones, but we knew going into it like I said earlier that we knew we wouldn’t shut them out. They’d get theirs, in terms of what they do. We just had to match them.”