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HOLIDAY BOWL: WISCONSIN VS USC

December 30, 2015

Clay Helton

San Diego, California

USC - 21, Wisconsin - 23

THE MODERATOR: We have Coach Helton, Delvon Simmons and Cody Kessler from offense, Coach Helton will make comments and then we will take questions.

COACH HELTON: Obviously a hard-fought game between two really good teams and you know the team that made the least amount of mistakes won the game. Really credit Coach Chryst, his staff on a well-earned, hard-fought victory. So proud of our seniors and what they have accomplished this year. Very sad for them, not the ending that we wanted. Thought we had a chance there in the second half to give a magical ending for them and it just didn't happen. We had enough mistakes in that game to get beat and you can't play a good Wisconsin team and have mistakes. Like I told them, any fault or failures that they have is on me as their coach. It's not on them, it's my responsibility to make sure that the assignments are sent. With that we will take questions.

Q. Coach, what was the play call on the final play?
COACH HELTON: The play call on the final play was a hail mary to the right side. Cody did a nice job, there was about 7 seconds left where you could get about 10 yards, he signaled an out cut to the single receiver side and just didn't get deep enough but we had a hail mary called, what we call "save the game to the right" and, you know, we have a great quarterback that saw something to his left and tried to take advantage of it and we just lacked the depth on the route.

Q. Cody, did you get hit on that interception and also what was it like, just their pressure throughout the game, seemed like it was a big factor.
CODY KESSLER: Yeah, we knew it was going to be a physical game against a very good, physical Wisconsin team. Yeah on that interception, I went back to throw it, and as I was coming forward, the guy hit the ball in my arm, and I didn't see where the ball ended up, apparently the guy intercepted it. Last thing I remember is him hitting me, but, you know, that's them playing very hard. They had relentless effort to the ball. They do a great job of getting to me, and they do a great job on the run game and it showed tonight.

Our offensive line played really well, and I was proud of them, but that's a good defensive team that's going to make plays, and that happened to be a play at a critical moment but hats off to them on that play.

Q. Cody, people were wondering, did you forget it was fourth down?
CODY KESSLER: No, he called hail mary, save the game, and the corner was playing way off, and I tagged Darreus on the out-route, cause there was enough time to get him at the sticks and get it out, and he just came up to me after and said I didn't see it was fourth down. He said, I missed the down and distance. I probably should have just thrown the hail mary, honestly it was not on him. It's something we have had the whole year with the receivers is, "hey, let's make this play and move on." We have signaled plays and changed play calls the whole year, and we were trying to get a quick 10 yards and get it out and make it an easier conversion or maybe get in a better -- or however we wanted to get the guys lined up, but no, that was on me and Darreus. I called the play and he came up after and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't know what down and distance was".

Q. Cody, obviously this is not the way you wanted to finish but what are things you took away from the season and from your career at USC?
CODY KESSLER: Yeah, obviously, I think there is a different meaning to that as the way I wanted to finish. Obviously I wanted to win the game, but I was so proud of those guys, how hard they fought, the seniors and everybody. I left everything I had on that field. I was throwing blocks and trying to get in there and doing whatever I could and taking hits and popping up and staying positive. We came so close there at the end, but, yeah. I've had a great time at USC and pretty much most of it has to do with the guy sitting next to me and the other guy next to him and the rest of the seniors.

It's been a fun run. I've had a great time and like I said before, someone said it best, we went through the darkest times so that there could be a bright future. And I really believe that, and I really believe, you know, that this team is going to, you know, make some noise next year and be a team to play against and be a team to compete with, and a lot of that's due to Coach Helton, and I know he's going to get these guys ready next year, and it's going to be fun to watch.

Q. Clay, their outside linebackers, Schobert and Biegel had done a lot of damage all year, but 48, who hurt you guys tonight, probably not as much. Did you guys have tape on him? Did you know what to expect from him, especially since he sat out in the first half tonight?
COACH HELTON: We have the utmost respect for their linebackers and defense and they do a great job of mixing up, bringing different guys and really hurt us with some interior pressure tonight, especially in our run game. I didn't think we came off our combinations extremely well when they were shooting the gaps.

The obviously they do a great job of getting to the quarterback. That's one of the best defenses in the country. We knew their front coming in was one of the best if not the best. Like I said, you know, I told the guys in there, any faults that they have is on me, as coaches. They brought great effort tonight, it's my job as coach to make sure the assignments are sound and we could have done a better job tonight.

Q. Clay, the last two games, do they stunt any momentum on what you're trying to build and establish?
COACH HELTON: I don't think so. I think right now you look at a group of very young kids led by some seniors, two of them being up here. They won a Pac-12 South Championship. We haven't done that in a while, and to be able to do that and go to the Pac-12 Championship game and come to the Holiday Bowl, I think we're on the rise, I really, really do. You look at the amount of talent that is coming back, I looked in that locker room after that game and saw Ronald Jones and Deontay Burnett and JuJu Smith and Adoree Jackson and you look at it, and it's like, wow, the future is so, so bright, and a lot of that talent has been developed because their older brothers, two of them sitting beside me, helped grow them up this year. Some of them played faster, you know, maybe than normal, because of the leadership they were given by some older kids. I think our future is very, very bright, and I do not let this game deter it. It was a two hard -- two really good teams that had a very hard-fought game, and we just came out on the short end of the stick.

Q. Coach, Cody, back-to-back games with slow starts offensively. What do you attribute that to? Was that something you addressed before the game?
COACH HELTON: I thought we had an opportunity to start fast. We didn't hook up on two deep balls early that would have gave us a chance, just off the fingertips of one and safety made a nice play on the other. Then, you know, I thought our offensive line in that first -- in that first quarter we had some missed assignments in that first quarter that set us back. You know, to second and 12, and some third and longs and verse that defense, that's a really, really hard day. And once again we came out just like Stanford I thought and started off a little slow assignmentwise, and it cost us.

Q. What was it like dealing with their offense, their power game? You played teams like this in the past. How did they compare to Stanford and other teams that play that way?
DELVON SIMMONS: They're very good, they've got a solid front five and the tackles and the guards that I was going against were competitive and physical on the run, very similar to Stanford. It was a competitive game, you know, they came out ready to work, we came out ready to work and they came out on top and that's unfortunate because, you know, like Coach Helton always said, we've got to fight on. Felt like they got a bright future here with the young guys coming back, Rasheem, Noah, Jacob, you know, those are very good guys and they're going to go to work next year.

Q. Is this Delvon's best game?
COACH HELTON: I'm going to tell you this one reminded me of what he did at Colorado. I just thought he was very dominant today.

It's been really neat to see him progress as a senior. By far, his best season since he's been here, and, you know, he has a tendency to play huge in some of the biggest games, and today just felt like he was all over the place.

Q. Clay, how would you assess the four-man front offensively in this particular game?
COACH HELTON: Say that again.

Q. How do you assess the four-man front?
COACH HELTON: On defense?

Q. On defense.
COACH HELTON: Yeah, you know one of the things I thought Peter did a great job, Coach Sirmon did a great job of mixing in our four-down front to allow and get penetration to try to get to a very experienced quarterback, and we were able to get there some. I thought it helped us, you know, that's one of the things I think in this league when you're playing against the Pac-12 this is a throwing league.

The ability to get to the quarterback and get him off the spot is huge if you're going to win a Pac-12 Championship. So, yes, that is a part to be able to have a four-down package in this league is extremely valuable.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, guys.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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