California Head Coach Justin Wilcox
On message to the team:
"It's a tough one because everyone just kicked to the gut and, you know first how much I respect our team for how hard they play and for how hard they prepare. They are an unbelievably coachable group and I love them for that. They bring it every single week and it hurts really bad because they know they had chances and we don't need to relive all those things. We'll fix it on the film and there will be a time and a place for that. They know we had opportunities and that stings, but we've grown this year as a team, both on and off the field, and that's important. There's not a lot you can tell them that's going to make them feel better. It's the truth. We are going to meet tomorrow as a team, and it's going to be rough the next 24 hours for everyone."
 
Development on program and closing the gap on Stanford:
"Looking for us to improve. We know that Stanford is a heck of a program. They've been winning for a long time and have a lot of respect for their coaches and the way they play. Each and every week we are trying to improve, and that means winning. At the end of the day, it means winning. That's what it's all about. Winning so when we don't it hurts. You look at each performance and the good things and the things that you need to improve upon, and you take stock in both. It's just we've got to continue to grow as a team, and I think that's pretty obvious, but I'm confident in the group of people we have on and off the field, and I'm excited to keep coaching these guys through the bowl game."
 
On Chase Garbers' performance:
"I thought Chase did some good things. He seemed to be more comfortable. He was in rhythm. He seemed confident. There were some throws that Chase would love to have back, I'm sure, that's always going to be the case, but I thought we got better. That's one of the biggest things, I thought he got better, and he's a young player and he has to continue to improve but I thought he took a step forward even though there were some opportunities that I'm sure he would love to have back."
 
On Jordan Kunaszyk and the senior group and wanting the win:
"Yep, you do feel for everyone. It means as much to Jordan [Kunaszyk] as it does to anyone in our program because he put so much into it and he's such a great leader for us, and he just cares. We love him for it. I wish we could have done more for him and the rest of the guys. I don't know how to answer any better than that. It just sucks, but Jordan has a bright future in football, in life and I know he appreciates this. I wish we could have done it for him and the rest of the guys and found a way to win the game. The reality is that we didn't, but not all is lost."
 
On upcoming bowl game:
"It's always one of our goals to win a bowl game, so we gave ourselves that opportunity and we're going to bowl practices, which is going to be something that they're going to be excited to get back to work. Since we don't have a game next week, honestly, it might be more than 24 hours, it's the reality of it, but we get to play again. This team, this group of guys get to play together again, and we get to practice, work together and develop some of the younger guys who haven't gotten as many reps. That's a big deal."

California Players
Chase Garbers, QB
On Coach Willcox's message after the game:
"It sucks that we lost. We had a lot of missed opportunities. It hurts, but we have one more game to play, so we can't keep ourselves down on this loss. We have to focus on the next game."
 
On missed opportunities:
"We missed in the red zone early in the first half with Duncan, and the second turnover where he made a one-handed grab in the end zone. That's another missed opportunity. Those stand out the most."
 
On wanting the win for the senior class:
"We wanted it really bad. These seniors haven't beat Stanford, so our goal was to send them out a winner. As underclassmen, we failed at doing that. It hurts a lot because you feel you let your teammates down. But, we still have one more game."
 
Patrick Laird, RB
On the win for the program:
"Obviously this was the big one, so it sucks to end the season like this. We have yet to play our best football. We will find out who we and where we are playing, and hopefully come out and play our best football. I'm really proud of this team. We didn't accomplish everything we wanted to this season, but I love playing with the guys in that locker room. It's been a blessing and a great four and a half years of my life. I love this program, and I love Cal. It's tough, this is my last one at Memorial, but we will bounce back on Monday and we will play our best game in a couple weeks."
 
Jordan Kunaszyk, ILB
Staying on the field after final drive of the game:
"I was soaking up my last time playing at Memorial Stadium. Obviously, it didn't end the way we wanted it to, but I'm so grateful for my experience at Cal and the experiences at Memorial Stadium – the fans and the alumni who come and support us. I wanted to take a step back to be grateful for this experience and really just thank God for the opportunity to play at Cal and for this university that I love so much."
 
On interaction at the 25-yard line:
"The guys emphasized how proud they were of me and how they appreciate how hard I play. We still have the opportunity to win a bowl game, so we have to keep our heads up. Obviously, this game didn't turn out the way we wanted it to. I was really soaking everything up."
 
On today's crowd and atmosphere
"The crowd today was unbelievable. A couple times during the game I looked around and took a moment to soak it all in. It's amazing to have the support we have here and have a big turnout. I feel bad for not getting the win for the fan base, but, at the end of the day, we played as hard as we could. I want to thank the Cal fans for their support and for showing up all season. Unfortunately, I won't be here next year, but I can promise the axe will be coming back to Berkeley real soon."

Stanford Head Coach David Shaw

General Comments:
"First of all, congratulations to our seniors. I'm so proud of those guys. So many of them have battled through a lot over the years; this year in particular with so many guys getting banged up here and there and having to step up. Guys that maybe weren't starters had to step up and play bigger roles and guys that had to fight through injury to get back on the field. I'm very proud of that group of guys and our entire team today.

We knew it was going to be a tight game. We knew it was going to be a fight. We got off to a good start offensively and got a lead. Cal's defense really stepped up. They're really physical and they made it hard to run the ball and they had some difficult pass protection on us. They got after us a couple times and we had some self-inflicted wounds. We haven't had that many false starts in a game in a while.

We needed our defense to pick us up, which they did. We got two red zone stops and forced them to kick two field goals early on. The second half was all about the defense. We got a lot of stops and really stifled their running game. Paulson Adebo made two unbelievable interceptions. That one-handed interception in the end zone was just phenomenal. You won't find a better one in football.

We needed those big momentum swings. We talked about it this morning. Which team is going to make the most of momentum swings? Today it was us."

On Cal's Defense:
"They were really good last year and this year they seemed to be just a hair better in every respect. Better against the run, better against the pass. They're big, long, and physical, and so well-coached, with two guys I respect and have gotten to know over the years. Justin Wilcox, we've always had great battles wherever he's been. Tim DeRuyter, I've gotten to know him over the past few years and he's just a great defensive mind.

On Postponing The Big Game:
"I think both universities handled it very well and made the right decision not to play the game two weeks ago. I think there was great reverence by both universities, both communities, and both student bodies. We tried to honor [the fire victims] today with the stickers on both helmets. It was a rough couple of weeks and thankfully the rains came and got the fire contained. Hopefully now we can start to rebuild as all Californians. Hopefully one day soon a lot of lives will be put back together.

On Adebo's Season:
"It's just who he is. He works so hard, he's so diligent. He's very single-minded in a positive way. If he wants to work on something, he'll ask questions. In a lot of ways, he's a lot like Christian McCaffrey. He makes a big play and he doesn't celebrate, he just wants to get back in the huddle. He's got length, he's got speed, he's got athleticism and he's very, very coachable."

Stanford Players
Paulson Adebo CB,
On one-handed interception:
"I was just trying to make a play"
 
On making two game-changing plays in the Big Game:
"It means a lot just because knowing how much this game mean to both schools, the alumni and our seniors, sending them out having never having lost to California was big."
 
On first Big Game experience:
"Everybody talked about how highly-emotionally it is, but you can't understand until you are actually in that situation, but having played in that game now, I really understand how much it means to both schools, both teams, both players and everybody invested in it."
 
JJ Arcega- Whiteside, WR
On the win:
"We started fast and that was something that we practiced a lot, coming out with emotion and the more emotional and physical team was going to win."
 
Bobby Okereke, LB
On Patrick Laird:
"He's good, like I said, he's patient. He's smart back there."
 
On being physical with the QB:
"You have a quarterback out there who wants to run and try to establish that, so you just have to let him know you have to slide."
 
Cameron Scarlett, RB
On Keeping The Axe:
"Its big, especially my senior year going on the fourth year in a row, making sure we send out all the seniors and the fifth-years on the right foot, and a great feeling to keep The Axe."
 
On the fast start:
"It was definitely big. We struggled with starting fast this year, so the emphasis over the last three-to-four weeks was making sure we get out to a fast start and carry the momentum from there."