California head coach Sonny Dykes
General comments:
"Just another boring Cal football game. I thought Oregon played really really hard. They got down and they still kept playing and I think that's a credit to coach (Mark) Helfrich and his coaching staff. It's kind of been a rough season for those guys. But, I'm really proud of our guys for making plays down the stretch. It was a crazy ballgame. It's hard to put it in perspective if you think about all of the things that happened. We got off to a good start – we had the momentum. Then the third quarter was bad. We didn't manage the field position very well – that was my fault. We gave Oregon a couple of short fields. We got the game in the fourth quarter and had a chance to put it away. The two-point conversion was big because it gave us a seven-point lead. We had another chance to put it away and Matt (Anderson) missed the field goal. If there's anybody in college football that can make that kick, it's Matt Anderson. I never doubted for one second that he was going to make it. He didn't either. It just didn't go his way, but he didn't ever flinch. Our confidence in him didn't flinch. He made the kick in overtime – I think he's one of the premier kickers in college football. I'm proud of our guys for getting the turnover at the end. That's two games in a row that our defense has been on the field at the end of the game and had an opportunity to win a game for us and they found a way to get it done. Credit to those guys. They just kept playing. It was a crazy ballgame – over 200 plays. There was one turnover, which was the last play of the game. Both teams played really hard."
 
On how the Cal players feel after the game heading into next week:
"Tired. I think everybody in the locker room is tired – emotionally. I know I certainly am. We'll be back at it tomorrow. We have a game in six days, which is crazy. We have to go to USC in six days and play a team that's had 13 days off to prepare for us. We're going to rebound and play our tails off against USC and get ready on a short week.
 
On winning consecutive closely-contested home games:
"You have to credit the defense. In the second overtime, we had three offensive penalties in a row that killed us. Matt came in, nailed the field goal. Our defense's back was against the wall, just like it was against Utah. Jordan (Kunaszyk) made a big time play on the ball – you could kind of see it developing. I think Justin (Herbert) threw it late and Jordan ran underneath it and made a heck of a catch. Our guys just hung in there and kept doing their job. I think they got some confidence that they can stop somebody when they need to. Both teams have good offenses. The win was hard. I thought our defense played really hard the first half and then we got on our heels a little bit in the second half. You have to give Oregon credit for that."
 
On trying fourth down conversions on Oregon:
"We'd been going for it a bunch on fourth down and talking about the possibility of going for it again. This was a game we needed to try to maximize our possessions. We went for it. One time we did on a fourth-and-five and that's not by-the-book in football. We had some checks where if we got a certain look we were going to check a punt or a play. We got a look to check a play and Davis (Webb) checked the right play and we converted the fourth down. We were four-and-five on fourth down (conversions). I think if we don't go for it some on fourth down, we probably don't win the ball game. It allowed us to score some touchdowns and do some things so I don't have any regrets."
 
On Cal's offense adjusting to the Oregon defense:
"It was a grinder of a game. They didn't let us get down the field at all. Typically, in one of our games we have a receiver that averages 20 yards a catch. Tonight they were averaging seven or eight yards a catch. Oregon did a good job of keeping us in front of them. We didn't get the ball down the field in our passing game like we normally do. We had to kind of nickel and dime ourselves to get down the field. That's hard to do if you can't run the ball. I thought our run game allowed us to piece those drives together and get in the end zone."

California Players
Jordan Kunaszyk, LB
On game-clinching interception:
"Coach was raving the whole time about getting to the boundary hash. That's where they'd been throwing a lot. So I opened up to the field, and in the back of my head I remembered coach saying 'boundary hash, boundary hash. Low and behold, I went to the boundary hash, found myself the ball, and made the play.

"I kind of overran [the pass], I reached my left hand back and I almost caught it with my palm. I tipped it and grabbed the ball. I was so lost in the moment, I just heard Devante Downs screaming to get down, so I dropped to the ground. Game over."

On thrilling game:
"It's crazy. I remember going into overtime thinking, 'man, another one of these games.' Every one of our games is close, and I wouldn't want it any other way. Coach always raves on toughest team wins and we were the tougher team tonight. When we play together and play hard, we're a really hard team to beat and we have the potential to be really good." 
 
Davis Webb, QB
On play of offensive line:
"I think my offensive-line blocked their butts off tonight, so all the credit in the world goes to them. This win was literally for them. We ran for 311 yards, and I had time the entire night. I was sacked one time. They did a great job protecting me tonight and giving me time to go through my progressions.

"It was a great team win. When a guy goes down of [Chad Hansen's] caliber, someone's got to step up, and our whole team did."

On watching defense secure the win:
"We were sitting there in overtime and believed in our defense... [Jordan Kunaszyk] made the play, I couldn't be more proud of him. He was my roommate this summer, so I was very excited for Jordan and our entire defense in how they competed and battled against a great Oregon offense, led by one of the best offensive minds in the country in Coach Helfrich."

"We played 60 minutes and then some. I'm just glad we could come out on top."


Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich
On Feelings After the Game:
"It's tough, it's tough, just how the guys battled back and put themselves in that position. There were too many others – whether it was missed tackles, penalties, a bunch of things that hurt us. We got a lot better in the second half. We put ourselves in the position to have a chance to win the game and [Cal] made a couple of plays in the end and we didn't."
 
On Adjustments Made in Second Half:
"Tackled, played coverage better. We had a couple of busts in the first half but we kind of what was coming and had a great call. We need to figure out what happened there from a coverage standpoint. I think they did a bunch of things differently in the first half. We kind of anticipated that they would do something different and our young quarterback coming off of a bye week and we knew that. They did a better job than us to start the game on offense but we got it going…in the third quarter.
 
On the Message Given at Halftime:
"Just do your job. We had a coverage where they can't score on the route they scored twice on. Executing and just penalties, the couple of times we were aligned incorrectly. Just a bunch of those self-inflicted wounds…"
 
On the Message Moving Forward:
"I love them. They competed their butts off but at the same time it makes it that much harder, that result, that near miss. They competed their butts off a couple of times over the last few weeks, could've splintered, could've fallen apart but didn't."
 
On The Effects of the Game on QB Justin Herbert:
"[He has] a ton of support in the locker room. Already you can see guys rally around him. He's obviously very hard on himself, how the end occurred. We really shouldn't have been in that position but I'd do the exact same thing at the end and trust him to make the play. Let's go do it again right now."
 
On Tony Brooks-James' Performance and Runnings Back Overall:
"…We've had some availability issues with all of our tailback over the course of the last few weeks and Tony's been a stud, both on special teams and on offense. His effort is contagious and his personality, the way he goes about his business. We need a little bit more balance and production from those guys."


Oregon Players

Tony Brooks-James, RB
On Mood in Locker Room after Loss:
"Sad. Its disappointing to come that close and go out the way we did."

On Freshman QB Justin Herbert:
"He's great, He still going through growing pains. He just got to learn through games like that but I still trust him with everything in me. All we can do now is look forward and move on."

On his performance in the game:
"I could have gave more. We lost. So it obviously was not enough."

On quitting rumors:

"If you could see on field no one it everyone gave everyone they had. Everyone who says we quit are just liars. We gave it all. We gave it everything we had.

On Mark's Message:
"Without Coach, a lot of players would have lost it. He is one of the coaches that cares. He cares for the little things and when anything goes wrong he put it on himself. When in reality it is little thing we could have done better. He takes the pressure off us players and puts it on himself which is a a lot to do as a head coach."

Justin Herbert, QB
On emotions after the game:
"There was a lot of progress from last week. A step in the right direction but not the way we wanted it to end."

On the second half:
"We really slowed down and had a plan for each play in the second half. We believed we could win the game and it was one wrong play, and it was my fault. There a lot of work on with that play and many other plays throughout the game"

On what players said to him after the game:
"It was comforting but it still doesn't ease the pain. They said to keep my head up and start working hard for next week"