Hi, Fernando. Great. Great job today. Great win. Doug Parrish here with football
organically. I asked Coach Wilcox about this,
but it turns out the tempo for the first beginning of the game seemed like you guys
were just moving the ball a little bit. But, you know, there was
some inconsistency there a little bit. But how did you feel about that? Yeah, well, Mr. Parrish, always a good to see you. But second of all,
especially in the first drive and the first second drive, he scored. But the first drive I put that on me,
it was a little bit of anxiety for everybody. We've worked so hard. We've done so many walkthroughs
that when the game came, it's a little bit of like nervousness. But then after that we're like,
Hey, we do this. We're the better team. Respect to them, but were the better team
were well oiled offense. We're going to get this
and we're going to go and do tempo and learn to score because that's
what our offense thrives off of. It thrives off of energy,
passion and tempo. So when we have the tempo,
we can get the defense misaligned. All our offensive players are very sharp,
can make their reads very quick. Therefore we can able to were able
to move the ball quickly down the field and efficiently. Thank you. On that fourth, fourth and fourth
play early in the third quarter, were you surprised that you went for it
and how important was it to convert that? Yeah, I was. I was I guess I was very thankful
for the opportunity. It was it's
that's one where you're not really sure. But once the offense stayed on the field,
I was very excited that Coach Wilcox had the faith in the offense. And then Mikey MATTHEWS
had an amazing route. I mean, he shook the guy, right came left as I was trying to put it in his vicinity
because he has an amazing hands. And I knew that
if I was put in the vicinity that Mike was going to catch it
and get the first down. So that's meant to him great blocking
by the O-line to some pressure. And I didn't feel anything. So it was it was a great play. Good momentum shift from the head coach. High ball coach
has faith in us to get those fourth downs. You know Steve Kroner from the San
Francisco Chronicle. How are you, Jesse? Mr. Crowder, it's you. And you, Mr. Mendoza, For the first time that I can remember, you alternated at QB with Chandler one. Did you know that going in that
that was going to be the case? And two, could you foresee that happening Games two, three, four into the season? Yeah, Coach bless. Coach Wilcox. Good. Go over there. Very transparent coaches
so they let us know prior to game day that we were going to be alternating
in some type of way in fashion. They tried to do it
that was in every drive just because it's difficult
to get a rhythm and flow. But that's a like they said,
I mean, that's it's more of a coach. Wilcox question. Whatever opportunity
I get, I'm happy to be on the field. I'm going to make the most of it. So whether I'm rotating,
whether I'm the guy, whether if I'm not the guy, whatever I can do
to help the team win, whatever opportunity I get, I'm going to make sure
that I maximize it and help my teammates. Jimmy Gilbert Insider. Fernando, what's the story with the week
after you got going there? Yeah, always good seeing you, Jim. This week off Jersey. A lot of people don't know this,
but he was banged up earlier in the week and our starting center Will McDonald one of my best friends
he went down unfortunately and off although he was injured stepped up to that
starting role and mid-game. He also he got injured or banged up
a little bit and he had the fortitude and mental toughness
to come back in the game. Not someone that doesn't get enough love,
especially with all the O-line. We got Rush t.j, we got Bastian, we got Nick who battled through injury,
but we have all those guys and I could go on
and on about everybody else. But yeah, it's why I show appreciation and support for him
being able to battle through that injury and whether it was major,
which I hopefully it wasn't or minor or whatever shall be. It's just the mental fortitude
that although we're up 20 points on UC Davis that he still wants to be there
in there with us with a couple of starting offensive linemen
and a couple starting receivers out, does that contribute to sort of
the disjointed nature of the offense? Do you guys struggle to push the ball
down the field consistently? Is it is it affecting your rhythm, you know, kind of mixing and matching
with guys that maybe are experienced but you haven't played together
much in fall? CAMP Yeah, back back in fall camp started since Chandler and I we're rotating
and competing along with C.J. Harris and belabor I'm on E.J. I got a lot of reps with every
receiver group which was a blessing. Looking back at it and that that is something that I was able
to give a great connection with. Isaiah Hunter,
who started out at the Three's the start of fall camp, and now
he was catching back, is on the field. He saved my butt on that,
on that shallow catch. So being able to have chemistry
with those guys probably wasn't as much
I've had with Tobias and Keon, truthfully. But I still have a ton of confidence
in those guys and I think it's more of
just playing the game. We played against our guys so long
and having the game and be like, okay, we were there nine months. We're actually in the game now. It took us a little settle in,
but that momentum is going to carry through Auburn and onto the season and
we all feel very confident in each other. Thomas Done right for California. Fernando, how do you personally self sustain
a rhythm knowing that you're going to actively
be pulled from the game? Not for performance reasons? Yeah, that's great question
Thomas also appreciate it. So you're one of your friends
tagged me in the burrito post. It's good that that's love up Yeah like you said that
that that is a great question and I think that like you said it's not ideal for for either of us. But if it helps the team, I know we're both very open to it
and I think it's really staying engaged. I think especially when you're in that situation,
if you're on the sideline next to Coach Blast, engage in the offense and acting
as if you were in at that moment that mentally
it allows you to still be in that moment. And yeah, I didn't need to get a couple extra
throws on the sideline, but mentally,
if I'm playing the game in my head next to Coach Blessing, next Coach
Gilbert, see what they're thinking. It's actually kind of good
to take a step back sometimes and see what they're thinking. Mid-rise
to kind of get there. You know what? Yeah, that's what they're thinking
in mid drive in different situations as you see them on the field for that. But yeah, like I said,
just mentally staying engaged and supporting and leading my teammates. Last question
for Fernando here in the front. Hey, Fernando, Emmanuel Mesereau
with The Daily Californian. I wanted to ask, we heard a little bit from Coach Wilcox
about the work that's going to go into preparing for Auburn. Crowd noise being on the road in the heat. I wanted to ask you what he what steps
are you going to have to take to prefer to prepare for that contest? Yeah, Thank you. That's an amazing question. Auburn I'm from Miami, Florida. And whenever I go back down from break,
it's a lot more humid. And that's something
we really to get used to because although it was sunny today,
it was still great. It was great weather. Great weather. Obviously, I play quarterbacks
is a little different, but I didn't break too much of a sweat. Like, I obviously sweated a lot, but not not as if I would
if we played in Jordan here Stadium. So I think it's getting the extra
conditioning after practice, pushing those guys and pushing
my teammates at the actual conditioning. Although it might be hard that one more
lap around the field that one more gasser and mentally to have the confidence
that we can go out against anybody and execute at a high level. So a lot of learning
tape for myself in this game and that's something confident
that we'll be able to fix. And now that we have something
to watch against another team and their tendencies
and how we work through the iPads in the game,
the in-game communication with the helmet and all the other variables,
I think they're going to be very prepared to Auburn and really excited to play them. Great fans,
great team, great overall atmosphere. Thanks, Fernando. Thank you, guys. So.