Here are the highlights of Stanford coach David Shaw’s portion of the Tuesday morning Pac-12 coaches teleconference.
(On the defensive differences of this year’s team compared to last year’s.)
“I think we’re similar. It’s hard to say because we’ve only played three games. Our defense has played better for longer stretches than our offense which is encouraging. We’ve been getting to the quarterback and stopping the run and those our two of our big keys.”
(On UCLA quarterback Richard Brehaut.)
“I think their quarterback is playing well. He’s a good player and the more he plays, the better he’s going to play. That pistol run game is tough to stop. It’s been proven at a few different places.”
(On the threat of Brehaut running the ball.)
“I wouldn’t call him a running threat but you still have to account for him. If you don’t he’ll pick up a first down. He’s athletic enough to pull the ball out and get positive yards.”
(On how good he thinks No. 6 Stanford can be.)
“It all boils down to how we prepare, how we practice and how we play. We’ve played well but we haven’t played our best football this season. We’ve got to get better this week than we were a few week ago.”
(On how the bye week benefited Stanford.)
“The big thing was us getting a little rest. We had some guys beaten up and it was nice to get them healthy and get a few extra days of practice.”