What, are you nervous? … That wasn’t even close.

Any time a team goes 1-10, their confidence and self-esteem is low, … You really have to get that back up and believe in one another. That was the main thing. We just tried to...

I see a group that’s playing with a lot of energy. They have a lot of passion for what they’re doing. They fly around. They play very hard. It’s obvious coach Zook has done a...

We let Maurice Drew get loose too many times,

To be the every-down back now is his big challenge.

We’ve learned a lot this year. Any time you can win a bowl game it really gives you some momentum.

It probably sounds worse than it is.

After the first week he matured big time. More than just physical things, the mental part of the game and the leadership he provides in the huddle has improved dramatically.

There’s no question that since (the Bears) have grown up with (the Trojans), … There’s a lot of familiarity with the people involved. That raises the attention level, because you’re playing with your peers.

It’s been very difficult to manage the schedules of the players because this is such an early game. This has been particularly challenging.

This is a great day, without a doubt.

People look to him for guidance. He is an ambassador for the team.

People have said he was injured (that night). It’s unclear what type of injury. It was a scratch on his wrist, a little bitty scratch, it wasn’t even bleeding … None of our players have...

They bring another dimension, guys who are very fluid, very fast and with great hands.

That was a tough start for him, no question about it,

We’ve lost quite a few guys but that’s no excuse. Football is a rough game and we all have had our share of the injury bug.

He has to handle it the right way.

The maturity, not only physical, but mental and emotional, he gained over the last six or eight months has been awesome.

Patience is our key here with the quarterback situation. There are going to be some mistakes, but we’re going to work through it.

Everybody keeps bringing up USC,

It’s definitely a question mark about our season, … Aaron was a pretty special guy. He did so much in such a short period of time. Now we’ll be going with guys who have never...

He matured big-time after the first week. He used to be kind of a happy-go-lucky guy. Every now and then you would turn and see him goofing off with guys. You don’t see that anymore....

We’ll see how practice goes this week, and make a decision later in the week. They’ll both get (practice time) equally. … Maybe Steve will have a few more reps this week as we get...

He didn’t play to his potential, by any means, but that doesn’t mean he can’t play, … Everybody has a day like that from time to time, and he had it right out of the...

He was making the right reads, and he had a couple of dropped balls, and another one there was miscommunication with the receiver, so it wasn’t all him, … He put some pressure on himself....

It was great to see a reflection of how much we’ve improved with this young team. This effort was typical of our team. It doesn’t surprise me.

Joe took the game pretty hard. He just needs to know we’re behind him 100 percent.

I think last year consistency was an issue with him.

I think it went just fine. We got a chance to learn some of the concepts. The biggest thing was adjusting to the shotgun. We’ll take a look this summer how much of that we...

He was hounded hard by practically everyone.

They’ve brought it to a new level, the way they dive for balls, the effort they give.

Every time I look at that, it kind of leaves a knot in my stomach. It was an unbelievable football game and we had a chance to win, but didn’t get it done. So we...

Our plan was to try to attack the weaknesses of the defense. We knew coming into the game that they had some injuries at corner and we had to test those guys.

He was suspended for the first quarter for missing the meeting,

I was a little shocked that Joe struggled like he did,

[1. The integrity of the polls comes into question. That Texas is playing in the Rose Bowl instead of Cal is not by itself an injustice. You can make plenty of arguments in favor of...

You have to draw on previously experienced successes to have your confidence. You have to try to keep that in your mind instead of dwelling on the bad part.

I knew we’d be OK. Joe had a good day throwing the ball and he ran the offense really well. He has a lot of potential.

He’s been one that has been cooperating. None of our players have been implicated with any wrongdoing. We’re doing everything we can to cooperate with the investigation.

It didn’t faze him a bit.

They’re going to play,

In my opinion, they are the best team I have seen in college football. There is no doubt about it.

Every day he’s getting better and better with the reps he’s getting.

This will step it up a notch, … It’s going to be one of those games, like I told the team … this is why you play. A Top 25 opponent on the road, in...

We have to be patient. Joe’s young and there are going to be some times where he need to learn a bit.

He is a great fit for us and our program, and a great recruiter.

We need a little life in the kickoff returns,

It is a huge learning curve. We have become very spoiled here with expectations with Kyle (Boller) and Aaron (Rodgers) throwing a bunch of BBs all around the field. It doesn’t happen overnight.

Everybody enjoys being around him. He’s got a great sense of humor and can always make people laugh.

That was big for him. He was Pac?10 Player of the Week, which is great for his confidence.