Forcier: ‘It doesn’t mean the job’s closed’
August 19th, 2008, 8:00 am · Post a Comment · posted by Adam Maya, staff writer since 2006
With Kevin Craft selected as the starting quarterback for UCLA’s season opener against Tennessee on Sept. 1, does redshirt freshman Chris Forcier feel like the odd man out? Not quite. Check out what he had to say to the beat writers following the announcement:
Question: What did you think about the decision to make Kevin Craft the starter?
Chris Forcier: I’m not reading anything into it. I’m just going to keep trying to prove myself. We’re battling still. It doesn’t mean the job’s closed. The competition is a good thing. It’s making each one of us better.
Anything can happen. You saw that with Pat (Cowan) and Ben (Olson) already. I just got to be prepared. My opportunity will come. I’ll just keep working towards that day.
Q: How much of the offense do you have a grasp of?
CF: I couldn’t tell you, percentage-wise. There’s so much stuff to learn I can’t look at it as how much more I have to learn. I just got to keep listening to coaches and fix the things I make mistakes on. One day, hopefully soon, I’ll be able to, like Rick wants, teach a class (on) the offense. That’s what all coaches want, they want a field general out there, leading with confidence and telling everyone where to go.
Q: Do you think the team is better off now knowing who the starter is?
CF: Our team’s going to want someone they can get into a rhythm with. It’s hard to get into a rhythm when you’ve got quarterbacks switching here and there.
Q: Given the recent history of your position, do you feel you’re not that far away from being the guy?
CF: Definitely. You never know. Football is a game off the odds. You never know what’s going to happen. Someone could have went down today. If Kevin would have went down today I would have been the guy. You’ve just to keep working. You can’t think about things you can’t control.
