What Arizona players said after the upset vs. Oregon

The Arizona Wildcats blew out the 19th-ranked Oregon Ducks 44-15 on Saturday to move to 4-5 overall and 3-3 in the Pac-12. Our recap can be read here.

J.J. Taylor led Arizona’s offense with 212 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Khalil Tate threw for 189 yards and three touchdowns.

Colin Schooler had a team-high 11 tackles, as the UA defense held prized UO quarterback Justin Herbert to just 186 passing yards and 270 total yards.

Taylor, Tate and Schooler spoke to the media after the game. Here is what they had to say. The transcript is below.

Khalil Tate on the offense scoring 44 points...

“It felt good. I think it was a long time coming. We haven’t been playing well all year but it was the first time we actually played four quarters and it showed offensively and defensively.”

Tate on how resting his ankle against UCLA helped him against Oregon...

“It helped a lot. I was banged up the past few weeks, something I was playing through. But it can’t get better if you keep playing on it, so I tried to take a break and me and my coaches decided on that, and it worked for the best.”

J.J. Taylor on his thought process when he jumped and flipped into the end zone for a late touchdown...

“My thought process was just to get into the end zone, make a play get the offense off the field.”

Taylor’s thoughts on his 212 rushing yards...

“I don’t really have a thought for it. Gary (Brightwell got injured) early and I told him I was going to finish off the game for him. I wasn’t thinking about anything else but my teammate.”

Colin Schooler on playing against brother Brenden Schooler, who is a wide receiver for Oregon...

“It’s still really weird. But when we’re on the field and it’s in between whistles, he’s not my brother. Getting over that is probably the hardest part, but I feel like he does the same thing. If he gets the ball he’s going to (try to) make me miss. If I’m running at him I’m going to try to get him down. That’s just what’s going on this week.”

Schooler on what was clicking defensively...

“I feel like we played really down on third down. They were 3-for-16 … and that’s huge. That’s a lot of momentum we get and we’re not on the field for that long. Getting the offense back on the field is the

main goal.”

Schooler on if he could tell the defense was flustering Herbert...

“No, I couldn’t really tell that. I felt he kept his head up the entire time. He didn’t really seem rattled at any point and that’s why he’s going to (play) at the next level.”

Schooler on if the defense was due for a night like that...

“Coming into this season, I had really high expectations for our defense and I still do. That’s not going to change. You’re only as good as your last game, so we can’t let this performance affect our future for the bad.”

Tate on having to miss the UCLA game...

“It was different. That was my first time missing my game in my whole football career, so that what different for me to adjust to. I knew I had to come back and bounce back and help my team get a W.”