What Mario Cristobal said about Oregon facing USC in Pac-12 Championship game, Auburn rumors - OregonLive

EUGENE — Oregon (3-2) will face No. 13 USC (5-0) in the Pac-12 Championship game on Friday (5 p.m., FOX).

Mario Cristobal held his game week press conference tonight.

Below are initial live updates from Cristobal’s press conference.

MARIO CRISTOBAL

“Obviously, a lot of excitement about the opportunity, at the same time thoughts and prayers going out to those out in Seattle because that’s a difficult situation and certainly something that we hope to see them work through and come out healthy on the other side.”

On integrity of the Pac-12 season given how last week and this week are going:

“I think the assessment of everyone involved is that you want to settle everything on the field. We were set to host the North division crown on Saturday on our field and our opponent had to cancel, so we never got that opportunity either. Then all of a sudden we get a sudden change today, we got a different type of opportunity. I don’t know if you can use the word ‘integrity’ as it relates to all this stuff. I think everyone’s trying to figure it out. All you would wish for is that everyone gets a chance to do it on the field and it’s difficult because you don’t know how it’s going to affect you from week to week. You don’t know how it’s going to affect the different teams from the beginning of the year up until now. We played games this year in the low 50s in terms of scholarship players available, but that’s what we’re going to do because it provides the best shot at integrity. I think everybody’s working at it; I think they have found the best solution they can come up with and we’re going to be prepared to play.”

On changing preparation for opponents, game dates:

“We’re working off of two different scripts. We use one day in its entirety to break down Colorado, the other day to breakdown USC. Then we were thinking, OK, just in case let’s go through a walk-through today thinking that we’re playing, at least we’re supposed to play on Saturday. If something happens and there is some type of news at some point in time today on Monday then we can completely flip it and go right to a Tuesday type of practice on a Monday and that’s what we’re doing. Is it as deep and thorough as you would like on a normal week? It’s getting there. It’s getting close. You’ve got ot invest every single that you have and it’s going to be the all-nighters that you’ve got to pull off and you should. You should be excited about that.

“The players, they went home, they got something to eat, they got some rest, gave us time to prepare that second practice because that in itself, that’s a monumental task. I felt like some great flashbacks of drawing cards like a GA back in the day in ‘97. I thought that was awesome.”

On Auburn rumors:

“We seem to get a lot of rumors at this time of year. This is what I can say, I can say that I haven’t been contacted, OK. I don’t know of my agent being contacted and I talk to him every single day. I trust Phil Knight. I trust Rob Mullens. I trust our administration and I trust people here at Oregon.

“As you guys know, we have been working on something when the pandemic first hit and things kind of stalled and things have picked back up. I’ve always been transparent with every single one of you and I will continue to do that. Hopefully in the next couple of days there’s more stuff to talk about as it relates to that. That in itself right there hopefully explained to you exactly where things are with me.”

On what factors are involved in decision-making with job opportunities:

“I haven’t gone through it quite yet, at least not since I’ve been over here so I couldn’t tell you. I know that we have an awesome thing going. We got an unbelievable class going and I think that when people speculate and start putting rumors out there a lot of times people try to take that and get it to fit their narrative, which is try to affect recruiting classes at Oregon, try to spin a story. Like I said earlier, like I said right now and like I’ll say tomorrow, I’ve been honest with you, I’m continuing being honest with you, things are being worked out and I have full trust in the administration here that things are going to be worked out and that I’ll be coaching here so that’s where it’s at.”

On differences from 2017 Vegas Bowl and signing day process:

“At this point we feel with our class for the most part already in tact and identified and committed we expect to have a tremendous signing day.” Says it’s different from the 2017 ordeal but has its own challenges in terms of game prep and recruiting.

On how much time was lost in game prep for USC on Friday versus originally planning for Colorado on Saturday:

“I think both teams lose two days but you make up most of it between what you have prepared for, because both teams were preparing for two teams, and what you’ve been able to walk through, introduce and any type of carryover. You just got to make it up without making it physically taxing on the player. You can’t do double practice, that’s not going to work. But you got to make sure the mental part of it, the walk-throughs, everything else that goes with it keeps everybody on pace to be prepared for the game on Friday.”

Updates on injured and unavailable personnel:

Devon Williams, Noah Sewell. Spencer Webb, Dru Mathis are all good to go.

“Cam McCormick we’re still evaluating; we thought he was ready. We’re not quite there yet.”

“Adrian Jackson has got a good chance to play this week. He was a little bit banged up.”

“Dontae Manning, very hopeful. He’s had a really good week so far.”

“Daewood Davis will be unavailable.”

On Kedon Slovis’ development:

“I think what you see on tape, you see the most talented team you’ll see in the conference. Explosive at all positions. A very, physical offensive line. A tremendous amount of poise and accuracy and command of the offense by their quarterback. ... In those late comebacks and how in a very difficult situations as cool as can be performing and executing at a really high level to remain undefeated. He’s complimented by a great supporting cast, they call a great call, they coach it really well. A tremendous operation.”

On what he’s learned about team the last few days:

“Life is just not fair. Sometimes it works in your favor and sometimes it doesn’t. There’s absolutely zero sense or time to sit around and complain about it and try to talk yourself into being in a better situation or a better position. You usually get what you earn and every now and then things might work out in your favor, might come your way. And when they do, what a shame it would be if you’re not prepared for that moment. All in all all the things that you always stress about the culture and doing things a certain way to be able to perform and play and execute at the highest level to do things right on and off the field and maintain protocol so you can field a team on a weekly basis to the best or our ability. Sometimes it’s out of your control. All those things come into play. They’re excited and they’re grateful. They recognize the opportunity, the situation. They respect it. I think both those things are really important.”

On if there’s any changes to communication due to familiarity with Todd Orlando and Donte Williams:

“You got to change things up. You got to be different because that’s part of the game now right, espionage. Getting signals — not so much that everyone knows your plays but people are always trying to tell if you’re running, throwing, whatever it may be. You got to be meticulously preparing for situations like that in a conference where there’s so much lateral movement and guys going to competitors. I think every team is always on edge about that kind of stuff about sensitive material so all that’s taken into account as we prepare.”

On what opportunity to play in Pac-12 Championship means:

“These opportunities are hard to come by. You spend, not that we had an entire offseason, we didn’t. Not that we were able to have a full camp, we certainly did not. At the end of the season you always want to be playing for a championship. We want to be in that conversation. We find ourselves in that situation, in a crazy manner obviously but I’m going to say again, last week was crazy in itself because we were set to play and put ourselves in a position to play for the North division and have that stripped from us to only come back a week later and be in a position to where that stuff is skipped. I really feel like I should say that for the entire North division you wish that you could find a way to get everybody to play. I honestly don’t think it’s fair to anybody. It’s not fair to us. It’s not fair to Washington. It’s not fair to Stanford. It’s not fair to the rest of the guys. But it’s here and no one needs to apologize for that. Grateful for the opportunity. Everybody’s excited about this whether it was in a pandemic year or not, you get the opportunity to play for the Pac-12 championship you’re grateful and you are eagerly anticipating the opportunity to prepare the entire week to make sure you play at your very best.”

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read Again Brow https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMigwFodHRwczovL3d3dy5vcmVnb25saXZlLmNvbS9kdWNrcy8yMDIwLzEyL2xpdmUtdXBkYXRlcy1tYXJpby1jcmlzdG9iYWwtZGlzY3Vzc2VzLW9yZWdvbi1wbGF5aW5nLXVzYy1pbi1wYWMtMTItY2hhbXBpb25zaGlwLWdhbWUuaHRtbNIBkgFodHRwczovL3d3dy5vcmVnb25saXZlLmNvbS9kdWNrcy8yMDIwLzEyL2xpdmUtdXBkYXRlcy1tYXJpby1jcmlzdG9iYWwtZGlzY3Vzc2VzLW9yZWdvbi1wbGF5aW5nLXVzYy1pbi1wYWMtMTItY2hhbXBpb25zaGlwLWdhbWUuaHRtbD9vdXRwdXRUeXBlPWFtcA?oc=5

Bagikan Berita Ini