What Kevin Sumlin said after Arizona’s loss to USC

Despite a late rally, the Arizona Wildcats’ winning streak was snapped by the USC Trojans on Saturday, 24-20.

Arizona trailed 24-0 at one point, but scored three second-half touchdowns to make things interesting at the end. Our full recap can be found here.

The Wildcats are now 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the Pac-12.

Here is what UA head coach Kevin Sumlin said afterwards (the full interview can be watched at the bottom):

On why the offense took a while to get going, only scoring seven points in the first half...

“Well, I thought USC did a nice job of challenging us. They played a bigger front, which was creating singles with linebackers, and then challenged on the perimeter with man-to-man coverage. And so we had to get to an area where we really had to throw the ball and we created some big plays versus the man-to-man coverage.

“Either we hit the deep ball and scored or got a penalty. They were content with that ... and it made it difficult for us to run … but because of the man-to-man coverage, we were really able to get back into the game.”

On if it’s frustrating that it took so long to score at the goal line on the final possession...

“It is. The big decision was on fourth down whether to kick the field goal because we needed two scores. … I’ll say this, we had a couple of these games where they don’t quit and were playing like crazy at the end and basically … they did not want to kick a field goal.”

On if the team lacked energy like linebacker Colin Schooler and wide receiver Tony Ellison said it did...

“I don’t know about that. I thought our energy level to start the game was excellent. … It’s hard to have that energy level when you’re not moving the ball offensively.

“It’s a different type of game because of all the stoppages — television, penalties, you name it. It happened. All that being said, we didn’t play very well.”

On how the defense, which only allowed seven points in the second half, played...

“Really after that second drive, our defense did a pretty nice job the rest of the game. They forced some three-and-outs and fourth-down stops and three turnovers. You don’t do that with poor energy level, particularly in the situation that we were in, down 24-7. But as I told our guys, we need to work on us. We’ve got to execute better across the board. Offense, defense and special teams-wise.

“All that being said, we get a field goal blocked and missed an extra point. So, with everything that happened, if we just execute those things, it’s a tie game. The team has to understand that, it’s not as much about the opponent right now as it is us fixing us.”

On the special teams struggles...

“We’ve gotta find some consistency. Sometimes I have to see it. Sometimes when you get a kick blocked … it’s not always the line. I got to see how low that kick was, too. We’ve struggled. … We’ve got to assess that whole unit and that position and fix things. Whether that’s a personnel change, whatever that is.”

On Khalil Tate being hesitant as a runner...

“I see the same things you see. There are plenty of opportunities for him to run.”

On if talks to Tate about taking those opportunities...

“Yes.”

On if he’s frustrated Tate, who ran 13 times, isn’t running more ...

“No. It’s easy to second guess. It’s easy to do a lot of things when you’re sitting there and watching. He ran more tonight than he’s run all year. I get it. He ran more tonight than he has all year.”

On Tate’s overall performance...

“I told you. I’ll give you that on Monday. I’ve got to be able to see everything that happened. In a read-option system, some of those are called runs. We had some more movement throws, getting him on the perimeter to throw and he threw a couple touchdowns on them. You got to look at the protection, you’ve got to look at everything. Are guys covered? I will let you know Monday.”

On Tate’s mobility...

“You see the same thing I see. He’s not 100 percent, but he’s battling through it. It’s up and down. I think when he gets warmed up, sometimes you see him go real fast and other times, it’s what an ankle is. It’s unfortunate but that’s where we are right now.”

On the offensive line, which lost Layth Friekh in the second half due to an ankle injury...

“They gave us an opportunity at the end to win the game. But I think you see the difference in the last two games what Layth can do for us. He really struggled in pre-game. Had real trouble changing directions in pregame. When he came out, we replaced him with Michael Eletise. I thought Mike battled, but I think there’s a reason why the last two weeks our line has played at a certain level with Layth coming back. I think you see the difference on every play.”

On PJ Johnson, who had four tackles (1.5 for loss) and a sack, moving from defensive tackle to defensive end...

“We wanted to get the best people on the field. There’s positives and negatives to that. I thought he was very effective, but now you’re in a rotation situation. When you’re rotating he and Boles, you keep him fresher. But then we made the decision to put our best guys on the field and in the second half, those guys I thought made the difference because of their size. They didn’t have to stay on the field as much because we got third-down stops. I think he likes that position. It’s a little less congested out there than it is in there. … He has without a doubt impacted our defense the last two weeks.

On why linebacker Anthony Pandy did not play...

“Anthony was suspended for this week’s game for internal discipline.”

Hear what Arizona Football Coach Kevin Sumlin had to say about Arizona’s 24-20 loss to USC.

Posted by AZ Desert Swarm on Saturday, September 29, 2018

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