Hawaii Football Postgame Press Conference vs. UCLA

yeah in a game like this uh tough tough they made a few more plays than us um and the result is what it is but I feel for my boys um they work hard uh and um you know they you don't deserve it I mean you got to go take you know you got to go take things in life that you want and um you know it's a good it's it's a good thing you know it's a hard to say it's a good thing for my guys losing but you know through adversity you know it help help these guys grow uh helps me grow and um and uh we'll come back ready to go the next time we play in uh Texas on your um next to last Drive um it kind of looked like you were um playing um as if it were your last drive and trying to milk the clock and play more ball control was that because of um the way um UCL was playing or or because you want to just leave them with as little time as possible yeah you know you feel like you can um you can kind of I trying to remember the last drive but uh the second to the last Drive yeah you know I just I we just wanted to um to put ourselves in a good situation if if you're the last guy with the ball you know it's and then give the team a two-minute draw sometimes it's hard to hard to you know press a two-minute draw so um try to make it tough on them uh put time down um but uh you know sometimes uh you know there's there's different things in in in some of the plays that uh you know that uh I got I got to get better at um when it comes to uh coaching so it's okay hey coach Jang uh what would you say in the second half UCLA did to make the going tougher for you guys offensively any specific uh things that you picked up on no uh they you know they they're they're pretty good they're getting off the quarterback a little bit um you know they're they're winning on some of their matchups um which they're you know that's that's you know watching the film from last year that's that's kind of what they did they they they were really poised in in one-on-one matchups that they won um and so they they made a couple more plays on defense than we did on offense coach um talk about the uh special teams you know um you had the fake punt there early on in the game and and just kind of how you saw that facet of the game performed this uh this afternoon yeah Special Teams um will continue to get better um it's a point of emphasis for us uh it helps when your guys are in the system as long as they are um now being the third off season for us together and so overall on the team aspect you know special teams going to become a weapon um and and we plan on using special teams as a weapon Co just talk about you know you guys get the ball with 56 seconds left just what was the play call um what was the you know plays that you guys had in mind driving down the field you know anytime we anytime in two minute you know especially especially uh you know when you get sacked it it really help it really kills drives in that type of situation um you know we had we had we had a couple we had you know we had a chance at four plays but um as you can see sacks are Drive killers in two minute warnings which we ended up taking one um but uh got to get better in some of these situ ation I got to help the guys get better in those situations and um and you know put together uh you know you don't want to be in that situation where you got to come back but uh if you're in it you got to just be better you better uh practice um coach um what can you say about the toughness of brayen shager to stay in the game and do you think that affected the play calling um later on yeah Braden was a little banged up um you know and and took a shot in there uh you know uh I believe it's first I think it's first quarter uh took a shot early on and so um you know maybe it affected him a little bit uh you know but the kid is so tough man um you know he he fights through you know you know and takes shots and gets up and and keeps on going um but uh but you know I I think uh for us you know at times you know we we like to we like to move him and and get him going um but you know in the first quarter he got banged up a a little bit and so um it kind of prevented that uh there are a lot of penalties um a lot of personal files things like that and also um there were uh two delay games is there a communication problem with the with the communication system yeah good question um no you know there there wasn't I I I um tried to call timeout on one didn't want to waste in time out on the second one uh you know it's just just something that you know I got to get better at in um in informing my quarterback it was the uh first time you guys sold out the place in this uh 15,000 setup prime time slot on CBS what do you think of the game atmosphere presentation opportunity yeah I thought I thought it was really special that the fans came out and um and supported the team and uh and they really felt the emotion um you know of of of of our fans the state uh you know there a lot of UCLA fans that traveled here uh there's a couple couple homegrown guys on on that team and so I thought it was a great environment um put on by our University and um being in that time Prime Time slide you know was it was a good game it was it was a it a fun game to watch and so um overall good coach uh regardless of depth chart and uh excellent question about uh QB Shaker who in your mind was actually the next quarterback in regardless of depth chart cuz on the sidelines some of us were discussing that you might throw somebody else in not not what was on the depth chart yeah I know we would have stuck with John uh sell U you know he's getting all the backup reps right now and so we're preparing him as the number two uh coach um just I know you don't want to you know it's a loss a loss is a loss but what are some of the Silver Linings that you told your team um in the locker room going into next week and then uh the following week when you guys head to Texas know just you know I just told him that uh you know we we we talk about adversity right here in this uh in this lecture hall um our team meeting room and and we talk about uh you know fighting through this you know this is adversity um you know these guys want to win um you know they're you know they they got 24 hours to you know fill it but uh but it's on to the next for us and and really it just really comes down to you know becoming better adding value making good decisions but I'm so proud of I told this is what I did tell him I told I'm proud of them okay uh they just made a little they just made a couple more plays than us um but I told them that I would look in the mirror and and you know I'm taking the blame and this is one this one's on me and uh you know I'm going to find a way to get better myself and uh you know from there um you know individually you know I expect them to do the same and then we come back to work and we go I'll take I'll take a blame too that Derek and I had a little miscommunication there was one more question actually two question quick ones um Pell's fingered it that affect the way he was trying to catch the ball later in the game and also um another subject up you guys had uh you know fairly effective shovel um but not a whole lot of uh ground game um you want to try to do little more misdirection or anything else that might have loosened up that aspect of the game yeah sure um you know we have we have design plays that uh that you know we we want to be better at and if we are better at them those those those plays start to hit um and so we'll go back and look at them and and Coach him up and get better at some of those runs the shovels all those things that you're talking about Run game wise uh per finger I wasn't aware that he had a finger um but I knew I knew that you know he was uh feeling hydration you know uh maybe cramping in some so he was missing for a little bit of the first of the beginning of the third quarter but um but yeah you know we we just gota you know those guys know that they they they want to be better at executing and making plays out there and so um you know we we'll go back and watch the film and see how we can get better at those hey Peter um what can you say about the defensive effort you guys put on in the first half holding them scoreless and and then how did you see UCLA get something going in the second half um I would just say in the first half you know we were playing with our hair on fire and uh nothing changed in the second half we just it was just mental errors and and undisciplined um from some of our guys and um we're just going to take that into accountability and fix it all come Monday and then the uh the final defensive sequence you guys had you know kind of trying to stop them outside of field goal range they get too close um what what can you say about just um yeah trying to stop him in that situation um that's something we're going to practice more and uh you know our coaches harp on two-minute Joe and um you know holding them holding them at the end of the game but that's on us the players and uh we just got to come back and fix it like I said um I know you guys playing for your families your state yourselves and um you know the fans and all that but also a lot of times you know get inspiration from coaches right and um coach Thurman was a great player at USC and of course UCL was a big rival and did he tell you guys any did any that comeing play it alls you guys were preparing and did you tell you guys any good stories about their rivalry and and what you know how fired up he might have been for this um he didn't really tell us any stories of when he was at USC but he just he's a calm guy um come game day and leading up to game day so it's it's all up to us to get energy and um of course he's going to lead us and we just got to go out there and execute Peter just talk about just what you felt just how the defense played um what do you guys have to do to be better um obviously you know you guys were very tough and I think the crowd had a lot to do with it yeah um I would say we played good but uh obviously not good enough um the score should have stayed 13-0 uh we just got to come back and fix all our mental errors and um you know nothing's wrong with our scheme uh the coaches are coaching us right so it's up to us players to um just execute um uh it was a um you know the reversal on the U the targeting call yeah do you feel like um after years now they're finally getting that refined to a point where it makes sense and how difficult is it for you guys aggressive defensive players to try to figure out what they what they're looking for what's legal and when because you got to be aggressive right yeah um no coach Tang does a good job on um bringing referees in and uh teaching us to penalties you know so um this offseason we learned from referees firsthand you know what what a targeting call um is and that's why when I got up I knew it wasn't targeting I I I didn't believe it cuz I'm I didn't Le with the crown of my helmet um and yeah just I would just say coach Tang prepping us for that um learning all the rules you know you can't play this game without knowing the rules so Props out to coach Tang we talked to Timmy just now and he mentioned you know the whole 24-hour role of you know letting this one sink in but you know you guys have another task in hand in a couple weeks going out to Texas you know what are you guys going to take away from this game and and maybe some of the Silver Linings of of uh this afternoon um just just knowing that we can do it you know in the first half we shut them out um nobody would have believed that you know you themselves didn't even believe it but um I would just say you know soak it in in 24 hours but don't forget the mistakes that was made so I mean just learning from from the mistakes that we made and and um getting better and uh Peter what you think about today just as a college football game day experience in the stadium and fans and all that stuff um for me personally uh it's great to see fans you know great great to have it um in a soldout soldout place but uh for me when I'm on the field it's just me and the guy across from me I don't really pay attention to the crowd that much uh sometimes I get I I get the crowd hyped a little you know um what in in between plays and uh I mean it's just a great environment and I mean that I think that's my first time experiencing this soldout place so it was it was great you know um I hope to see many more games sold out and um yeah we appreciate the people of Hawaii thank you Hey Bren uh first up how are you feeling man after some of the hits you took tonight uh today pretty beat up took a lot of hits um took one to my ankle um but you know we get a byee next week to hopefully get back healthy and uh can you describe the the challenges that were presented in that second half particularly um by UCLA and just moving the ball down field yeah I think they they got a good defense so um hats off to them they they did a good job of uh doing some confusing looks to our offense and you know at the end of the day we just got to be able to handle it and be better hey Ren just talk about the game and what you felt obviously it was a bit of a slow start um just what you take from this and what needs to be improved uh just got to look at everything we got to you know be better um do our 11th better and uh you know it's just it starts from uh from everywhere it starts with myself and um you know I got to take control and be better you guys get the ball with a with 50 or 56 seconds left in the fourth um just what was going through your mind as you guys were trying to drive the you know ball down the field uh you know I was just having faith and trusting that we would uh be able to do so you know I I had confidence throughout the whole game that we would be able to move the ball and you know sometimes it just doesn't turn your way uh doesn't bounce your way so it's unfortunate bradden I I I know you said you got banged up you powered through it did you feel like that did that limit you in somehow did it affect you in that that second half yeah I couldn't run at the end of the first half and then um was a little better in the second half but still struggled to be able to run and you know obviously that's a big part of my game recently is running so but there's no excuses I could be better know your your plant like your plant to throw or anything uh a little bit but you know there's just throws that you got to make and uh I'm not going to sit up here and make excuses for myself it's almost Eerie in a way but maybe not 100% unexpected like like almost like a roll reversal type thing with your opponent from last week where you know you guys were heavily favored and these guys tonight were today were favored by two touchdowns and you guys took control early of this game and compared to last week where it was the other way around and then your opponent today got the momentum in this second half was there anything at like halftime that you guys maybe say hey we remember what happened last week and we're going to this what we're going to do to avoid that and keep control of the momentum and win the game yeah I'm proud of the way we fought it came out um scored pretty early and you know you just got to keep that momentum rolling and we weren't able to do so I mean the defense played amazing and so uh we got to be able to back them up and you know um just I was really proud of the way they played I thought thought they did amazing they they deserve to win the game so we got to play better in offense R obviously emotions are high right now and and just kind of just showing just what this game meant to you as as as the quarterback but you know what are some of the Silver Linings that you can take um from this afternoon into the bye into your guys' trip to uh Houston yeah it's tough it means a lot to me I want to win um for everybody for this team for the state for everything and how much did it how much did it pump you guys up uh early game when your punter comes through with a a run like that to to keep the drive going and then you guys you guys kind of say like hey after that we're gonna we're GNA do we're going to score in this drive right yeah it was a great job um special teams do a good job too and you know giving us an extra possession and I was proud of the way we fought back and uh we're able to score on that drive Bren when you took that hit um early um what was uh you know going through your mind um you know how badly did you want to stay out there um you know in a game like this yeah know I think it's any game I'm not going to I don't plan on coming out um that's just not the way I've been raised or the way I play football I'm going to you know stick in there for my guys and do whatever it takes to to give my best to win and you know I think I've continued to do that and unfortunately um just didn't happen what was um kind of the message and the mood in the locker room after that game uh just got to move on you know you get one day to to soak uh to be mad about this one and then you got to move on and um we got a we got a game in two weeks that we got to rest up and get ready for