VIDEO: Mora Says Not Quite There Yet

Opening statement:

Obviously, it goes without saying that was just a disappointing loss. I feel especially bad for our seniors who haven’t beaten Stanford. There is really not much more to say. We struggled to get off the field on defense and we struggled to sustain anything on offense. Stanford is a really good football team. We have to figure out a way to close the gap.



On why Stanford has given them so much trouble:

This is the worst they have beaten us in the four games we have played them. They are just big and physical. I thought we had closed the gap, but we still have work to do. We will continue to do that, we will continue to work hard on getting bigger and faster and stronger and more physical in recruiting the type of athletes that we think can help us win those types of games. That’s what we have to do.



On hangover after the win over USC:

I don’t think so. We had an amazing week of practice. We came out and got them off the field on defense. We scored on offense. Those aren’t indications of a hangover to me.



On what makes up the gap:

As you guys know, we're still an extremely young football team. We have six scholarship seniors. We are very young so we're still developing and we'll get there. We're just not there yet. They've been doing what they've been doing longer than what we've been doing. They've been recruiting the athletes that fit their profile longer than we have. These aren't excuses, these are facts. We're becoming what I want us to become, but we're not there yet. We have to work on getting the types of players.



On the biggest issues in pressuring Hogan:

We missed him a few times, not enough third and longs. You can rush four, its tough to get there, you can rush five, and its tough. You can bring eight and have an extra guy but you can't do that all game. We tried man, we tried zone, we had him a couple times and he got away.



On gauging striving for great:

Its a constant, it never stops. You're always striving to get better. No matter what you accomplish, you're trying to accomplish more. We're pretty good but we'll keep getting better. We're on the right path. We're making progress. This group of seniors did a lot of great things. This group of seniors that ever won nine regular season games three years in a row, having a chance to go to a bowl game and win a 10th game. They beat USC three teams in a row. It gets overshadowed by a game like this, but its why a game like this hurts.



On Hundley's struggles:

They got pressure on him. They're big and physical and stay square. They get off blocks well and make it hard to run the football. The pressure affected him and at the end he was fighting the finger issue.

