Connor Halliday spoke to the media at Monday's Washington State football press conference. The video is courtesy of WSU athletics and a transcription is after the jump.

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(Do you feel like when the offense isn't having success it's usually because the defense is getting pressure?)

 

I don't know about that. I think it's kind of 11 people's job to have the offense rolling and it's never one person. It's a collective group and we need to play a little better as a group. I think we've had a darn good year here and we need to win out here and that's our goal.

(Does it feel like you've been under more pressure the last two games?)

 

I don't know about that. I think, pressure and sacks are a quarterback's job, you know what I mean? That's my fault if there are guys in my face. I need to get the ball out quicker, I need to find a way to shuffle in the pocket so that's something I can fix.

 

(As a leader have you done anything to address the last two losses?)

 

Yeah, I mean you do. You talk to people individually, you maybe call a meeting, you try to be as positive as you can be. I think that's what guys respond to around here. I think I've done a good job of that this year. Last year after the bowl game I really sensed the weight that my words and my actions hold and I think I've done a good job carrying myself in a positive way this year and I think it's showed in leadership. I think it needs to show in some more wins.

 

(Since the Arizona game has the team had any time without the coaches present to do that internal stuff?)

 

A little bit. Not too formally but more on an individual basis. I think some guys that are kind of stepping up into some leadership roles right now are taking it upon themselves to try to help the team out and grab some guys along that maybe aren't pushing forward as hard as they could be and we've got to find a way to go 4-0. We're trying to expedite that process as quickly as possible.

 

(What did you see on film from the Arizona game?)

 

Just that we need to have all 11 guys playing together. We have a lot of times where really close and maybe one guy misses his assignment and that's what happens when a team has so many inexperienced guys out there but we don't have time for them to be inexperienced and we need for them to grow up and play like they can.

 

(Do you think there's more of that than there was early in the season?)

 

Yeah. 

 

(Why are guys suddenly making more inexperienced plays?)

 

Oh, because there's more guys playing now than there were before that are inexperienced. There are more younger guys playing now than there were a couple weeks ago.

 

(Are you guys cycling through more receivers now than you were early in the year?)

 

I just think we're a little banged up. I mean, I think we had to. Rickey got a little banged up, River got a little banged up and you can't play them as much as you'd like to so you've got to cycle through the depth chart a little bit.

(How do you prevent a slow start against USC?)

 

I just think you come out and first of all you prepare really hard. You make sure that all 22-24 guys that are going to get reps are very prepared and make sure they're watching film and make sure they're confidence when they go out on the field that they know what the defense is going to show them, you know, to relax out there. I think that's where you start today and yesterday and I think you go out tomorrow and have a great Tuesday practice and you need a great look from the scout team which I think we've been getting the last couple weeks so if they can keep doing their job and we have a good practice that will start us off on the right foot.

 

(What do you do on game days to get the team fired up?)

 

I don't know those are kind of more locker room deals but just staying positive. I think the biggest thing in that role that you talk about is more after a poor drive or a bad play, when we come over to the sidelines and coach Leach is going to say his few words and then I need to kind of be in there riding guys, especially the younger ones, talking positively. On to the next play, we'll be alright, things like that.

 

(Have you noticed youth being a problem on offense this year?)

 

I don't know if youth has been a problem. I don't want to use that as an excuse and I don't think it has. I think our young guys play really well. I think our young guys have done a great job of not acting young and I think that the moment's never really been too big for them, which is pretty cool.

 

(Is there any difference between this team and Leach's first team?)

 

Yeah, I mean we're more talented. I think we've got some more talented guys out there but we need to show it more in games. I think we show it daily in practice but we need the guys to make the plays they make in practice out there on Saturdays and I think that comes with just relaxing a little bit and believing in yourself.

 

(How do you balance being a leader with the desire to achieve your goals as a senior?)

 

It is a fine line, it is a fine line but the biggest thing is just staying positive. It's my job to be a positive leader. It's not my job to make people realize that my clock's ticking, my job is to make people realize that we don't have the time for you to just be happy with being on the field. You're a true freshman and you're playing but you can't be satisfied with that. You're out there, we need you to be a darn good player or playing at a very high level. Debatably one of the best conferences in the nation and we don't have time for you to be satisfied with just being on the field. We need you to be a good player for us.

(Was playing early a tough transition for you?)

 

I don't really think that was a problem for me. I think the problem for me was realizing what throws I could and couldn't make, not going out there and just throwing it wherever I wanted to. That was my problem when I was young. My problem was being reeled back instead of being pushed forward.

 

(Do young players come to you?)

 

Yeah, just to let it loose. We've got some really talented guys that are out there playing but for lack of a better word they're just playing timid, playing not to make a mistake, playing not to get yelled at by coaches and that's a tough way to play. Especially when you're playing a great team like Arizona, like we did last week. Guys need to let loose and if you make a mistake you make a mistake. We've got some guys that are 17, 18, 19 years old out there. You're going to make mistakes, everybody realizes that but make them going 100 miles per hour with your hair on fire. Those mistakes can be corrected. The mistakes where people are hesitant or scared to make a tackle, scared to make a play, those are tough to fix.

(Does the chance to go 2-0 against the team that dominated college football when you were a kid mean anything?)

 

Yeah, they definitely were the standard of football when I was growing up. It's always exciting to play a team like that. It's exciting to have a chance to go 2-0 against them as a starter. That's something I would really love to capitalize on and something I will do everything in my power to get us there and it starts with the film I started watching yesterday and the film I'm going to watch after talking to you guys and making sure we have a darn good practice tomorrow and making sure the 22 guys that are going ot be on the field including myself aren't scared of that jersey. One of coach Leach's biggest mottoes is, "Respect all, fear none." We need to respect USC but we can't fear USC. We need to have those young guys believing that they're going to make plays. Believing they're going to pick off a Cody Kessler or believing they can come up and press a Nelson Agholor or make a tackle on one of USC's great running backs, get a sack on one of USC's great offensive lineman and be able to block that great defensive lineman they have, Leonard Williams, need to be able to block him so making sure that all the guys truly, truly believe that. It's one thing to say that but it's another to believe it when you look at yourself in the mirror.

(Is there anything you can pull from beating them last year?)

 

Just some confidence. That's something we can instill stuff into these young guys by talking about it but there's film to show that we can actually beat them and truly what I was just talking about, believing this is something that I believe we're going to do and something coach Leach believes we're going to do and Vince does and River does and making sure that everybody else believes it.

(What was it you noticed after the bowl game that made you realize people were listening to you?)

 

I was able to – coach Leach for a long time had talked to me about the weight in my actions and words and how much they held with my teammates and I think since I was young I was always kind of a guy that felt like I was just a part of the core group. And I'm not saying that I'm not a part of the core group but I'm saying my actions and my words hold more weight to the core group than what I ever thought. And the bowl game was kind of like the first time I'd ever seen that. Coming into the locker room off that pretty terrible loss. I was pretty emotional in there and I was able to take that newfound insight into the offseason and to spring ball and fall camp in Lewiston and I think for all the shortcomings that I have, the team would say I've been a very positive leader this year. Much more so than last and I think it's helped the guys.

(How would you describe the first eight games?)

 

Real close to being 5-3, 4-4 something like that, 6-2, but just haven't made enough plays in crunch time when we needed them. I think we've played some really good football games, I think we just kind of, not to be negative in any way, but just kind of found a way to lose some games. I think we're a talented team that's really close, that needs to believe that we are that close and believe that in Lewiston was a team that I believe should have won eight, nine, 10 games and we have the talent to do that. Now we have some younger guys out there and they need to believe that, too.

(Did you feel the program was beyond what happened Saturday? Was that a slap in the face?)

 

Yeah, yeah it was.

 

(Is Leonard Williams a guy that commands so much attention that you have to pay him special attention?)

 

Yeah, the line calls aren't going to change much but my job will. I mean I will pay more attention to him, personally. Like I said earlier, I take sacks and quarterback pressures are my fault for holding the ball and not finding somewhere to go with it so if he starts dominating the game like he did a little bit last year, that's my job to check us into quick screens, runs away from him, short passes in the 5-10 intermediate range and getting the ball out of my hands. So that will be my job.

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