CFP FIRST ROUND: JAMES MADISON VS OREGON

December 20, 2025

Teitum Tuioti

Autzen Stadium

Oregon Ducks

Postgame Press Conference

Oregon 51, James Madison 34

Q. Coming into this win tonight, one of the best running backs in the country, top ten in most statistical categories. What went into stopping him tonight and how do you think that you guys found success?

TEITUM TUIOTI: Yeah, I think that, first of all, that running back's good, man. He's a big-time player for them and at the end of the day, we just had to find ways to just play relentless, especially against when you're guarding him. You're just going to have to do your best, man, to stop a good player.

Q. We just heard people come in here and say they're dissatisfied with especially the second half. What do you think changed in the second half?

TEITUM TUIOTI: Yeah, I don't think nothing changed, I just think we got to be better just focusing on one play at a time. At the end of the day, whoever is on the field is a starter for us and we got to make sure we uphold the standard. It's good that we see it now, make sure that we can continue to fix it, continue to reflect on it and continue to develop from there.

Q. Can bad film be something helpful at this time of the year in terms of just maybe refocusing this group as you move on in the playoffs?

TEITUM TUIOTI: Yeah, I think we always learn from bad mistakes and make sure we don't make them again, especially moving on towards this next opponent. We just continue to work on our mistakes and then we can fix them.

Q. I know tackling was a big emphasis this week. How do you feel this team tackled tonight? Do you feel like it was better in the first half than maybe the second and what are you maybe going to do forward to continue to work on it?

TEITUM TUIOTI: Yeah, for sure. Tackling was better in the first half. Second half we could do better for sure. I think it's just at the end of the day, we got to go low, make sure we wrap up and finish the play. That simple.

Q. Just the mood in here has been pretty subdued. From what we've been told, the mood in the locker room is pretty subdued as well. What is it like dealing with the emotions of, yes, you guys won, but it kind of doesn't feel like you guys won a little bit. How is it dealing with that emotion?

TEITUM TUIOTI: Yeah, I think we all know that we have a better standard than that. Obviously we came out victorious but we all know there's a better version of Oregon that we can show and that we can uphold to. I think that's why everyone's a little upset. We know that we can play better and we for sure want to fix those mistakes to play better.

Q. Just building on that, in the second half, JMU had quite a few more explosive plays. I believe it was six plays in the second half that they had 20 or more yards. How do you guys balance that and make sure you don't give up as many explosives as you continue your post-season push?

TEITUM TUIOTI: Yeah, I think that just comes down to everybody doing their 1/11. No matter what call we're in, I think we just have to make sure we're all on the same page and make sure that we communicate, especially up front and also in the back end, just making sure we're all on the same page so we can play the same defense.

Q. At the beginning of the season, you speak about how there were a lot of Oregon fans that might have been a little bit scared at the beginning of the season because of the lack of experience. Now you guys are 13 games in. You're headed to the quarter finals of the College Football Playoffs. What do you think you have shown the nation about this team and what are the emotions that you're feeling heading to the Orange Bowl?

TEITUM TUIOTI: Yeah, I would just say this team, no matter what, no matter what no one say, we're just going to continue to work, continue to push each other. At the end of the day, it's all about the brotherhood in there. We're playing for something bigger than just this game, something bigger than just ourselves. We're playing for each other in there. Being young, whatever, we're a football team. We're ready to continue to push through so we can continue to play games together, you know?

Q. A lot of guys like your teammate haves talked about, they know the standard and they know that things will get fixed. Where does that confidence come from, that you know that you'll progress after this week?

TEITUM TUIOTI: Yeah, shoot, we've been doing it all year. Every game, really, there's a lot of mistakes and every Monday we go to the doctor and it's not supposed to be something that you hear that's good. You true to find mistakes. You're trying to fix things. So on Monday we're going to go to the doctor, we're going to make sure we get our corrections we need, and then we're going to sew them up throughout this week that we have.