Stanford spring game: Quotables

Stanford's offense had the upper hand in the annual Cardinal and White Spring Game, topping the defense 42-31. Quarterbacks Ryan Burns and Keller Chryst each impressed at times, throwing to a very productive group of receivers complemented by dynamic running back Bryce Love.

Below are postgame comments from head coach David Shaw, Burns, Michael Rector and Zach Hoffpauir.

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On the offense bouncing back after a slow start... "Obviously it wasn't the way we wanted to start the game but I think it's how we responded to that - it's a testament to the guys we have on the team, the guys we have on the offensive side of the ball. We came back, responded... We had a good day."

On the most positive part of spring ball... "As a team I think the growth we've had. We came in and didn't really have an identity. I think over these past four weeks of spring ball we really built that up. I think just the growth that everyone had individually and together was just a big thing for us."

On a change in Ryan Burns this spring... "Yeah, definitely. He has a sense of confidence. It's more of a relaxed composure type of thing. I think he really has command of the offense. I think really you can tell that the game has slowed down for him. He's not really thinking so much. He's letting the game come to him and it shows."

On if he feels there has been a jump in his game this spring... "Yeah. I definitely would say so. I've been more comfortable back there. I'm really good friends with Kevin Hogan, he's one of my best friends. But I think a big part of it has just been being under him it was hard to take control of the offense. When you're getting reps you're the No. 2, No. 3 guy. So, it's like, you can't really get those guys behind you 100 percent. That's what I felt, at least. Now, with him gone, I felt like there was a void to fill and I feel like I've been trying to fill it."

On a possible lightbulb moment... "Not really. Just this spring ball, since it started, things have been clicking a little more. Like I said, the guys have kind of gotten behind me a little bit, I think, and that helps with your confidence and your overall play tremendously. I think that's the biggest thing right now, and keep progressing from here."

On how Keller Chryst and Ryan Burns have changed since Hoffpauir last saw them (in 2014 when Burns and Chryst were on the scout team)... "The football IQ side, the knowledge of the game. They have a better command over the offense. Obviously they're both super talented, amazing arms. Probably two of the best arms in the country or the Pac-12. But now you can tell they're really commanding the offense, making their checks, their kills, all that stuff, so they're doing a great job."

On positives and negatives from the game... "It's hard to say what I didn't like because from my vantage point everything is great. Like, the turnovers early - great for the defense. It's what we've been emphasizing. But bad for the offense. And then the quarterbacks pick it up and make some big plays, which was great for the quarterbacks, great for the receivers making some plays. But then not great for the defense. So I win everything and lose everything today. So the biggest thing for me was, and it's typical, whenever there's a back and forth it means it's a good team - offense making plays, defense making the plays. But the biggest thing or me, two things. No. 1, getting some turnovers. We've been pushing it for years now - we need more turnovers. To see Noor Davis get some depth and pick that ball off - we've been pushing our inside linebackers to play with more depth in our zones. It was a great job by him. And then Meeks - he's been doing it, we just need more. He got his hands on a couple of today, so that's really nice."

On the performance of the quarterbacks... "Hard to say who had the upper hand because we have to see what the decision making looked like, but I was excited to see both guys come back and make some big-time throws. You have two big quarterbacks with strong arms that are athletic and they made some big plays down the field, made some accurate throws over the middle, to Dalton Schultz and the tight ends and checking the ball down. So there were a lot of positives for both guys."

On Bryce Love... "He's a special, special football player. And I'm excited to when we have both him and Christian on the field at the same time, one guy can play receiver, the other guy's playing running back. They can both be in the backfield at the same time. We could have them both flexed out and then have Cameron Scarlett in the backfield. Special things that those guys can do. I'm exciting about Francis Owusu. The last week of practice for him has been outstanding and he capped it off with a great day today. Michael Rector has had a really good spring, so our combination of guys that we can put on the field. Trent Irwin making some plays. Dalton Schultz, who is now your go-to guy at tight end. And now you have three receivers with some experience that are good players with explosive running backs coming out of the backfield and quarterbacks that can get them the ball. It's exciting. We have a lot of work to do, we have a lot of things to shore up, but spring was a good start for this team."

On impressive defensive players who impressed today... "Every time you ask any of us the first thing we say is Solomon Thomas. We didn't block him for the first five plays of the scrimmage. We tried to, but he's a special player. I'm excited about him. I'm excited to see Luke Kaumatule play today. I'm excited to see Eric Cotton. Jordan Watkins made some plays today- a fifth year senior, long and athletic. It would be great if he takes the bit and just really keeps coming, because he had a really good week of practice this week even after getting banged up early in the week and then had a really nice day today. He had a couple of TFL's and made some big plays, playing with passion and energy. So I'm excited. Aziz and Brennan Scarlett were on the sidelines saying, 'Watkins, this is your time, man. This is your time. Go after it.' To see him go out there and play today was exciting."

On the decision to hold out Christian McCaffrey from contact in the spring... "My thought process is this: I've been around putting a lot of carries on a lot of running backs. And I'm convinced, we start spring now so early, there's no way that he's physically ready for what we do in practice. There's no way - 400-plus touches and how physical he runs, how hard he runs. We took care of Toby Gerhart in the spring, we took care of Stepfan Taylor in the spring. We didn't really have to worry about Gaffney because he was always playing baseball. And I kept looking at how many times he touched the ball and how physical he was - he got through all of the practices, did really well in all of the practices. We'll get him back and he'll do some tackle stuff in training camp. For me it's just a mileage thing - we try to make sure we get him completely recuperated before we start beating him up again."

On inside linebackers who impressed... "Kevin Palma this spring has been the most consistent that he's been. He played well last year. I thought this spring he's really kind of stepped his game up. I've been excited about what he's done. The rest of them, honestly, they all have their days. Bobby Okereke does some great things but he has a lot to learn. But he's long and athletic and explosive. Noor Davis made some plays today in pass coverage, which is one of the things he's really worked on, getting better in pass coverage. But he's physical against the run. Sean Barton makes some plays. I'm excited to see Sean. We hadve high aspirations for Sean. He's back off of his mission. Last year he redshirted and has got back in the weight room. He's starting to get bigger again. And he's starting to play like we know he can play. He's an explosive, physical football player. Mustafa Branch is coming along. He's got a lot to learn but he's a fast, explosive player that helped us on special teams that hopefully will have a role at some point on defense. But we have a lot of guys rolling through and we'll continue to roll them through in training camp. And I said this last week, but what I'm excited about with that group in particular is nobody should get worn down. We'll be able to rotate those guys in. Jordan Perez, one other guy that has a lot of football under his belt. We can roll those guys through and keep them fresh and keep them healthy and have a nice battery of guys."

On Zach Hoffapuir's play in the spring game... "I thought he did well. We talked a little bit afterwards - he's still getting back into football. But the guy is brilliant - he just comes back off of baseball, some different terminology, he picks it all up. He can play safety, he can play nickel, he can play dime. He plays with passion and energy. He has that chip on his shoulder that we always have. We had a conversation 10 minutes ago about having the chip on your shoulder. I said I've got mine. He said, 'I've got mine, too.' I said, 'Alright, let's go.' That's how he is. And that life that he brings back in to the team, I just love him. I've always loved him - I'm excited that he's back. He's going to help us."

On having the desired number of offensive linemen ready to play... "I think we're close. By the end of training camp I think we should be there. I think we're seeing glimpses of what we want to see from the group. We still might shuffle the lineup a little bit through training camp and make sure we have the right combination of guys. One guy whose name doesn't really get mentioned very much but is the guy that's helping me sleep at night right now is David Bright. I know David Bright can play left tackle, I know he can play right tackle, I know he can ply guard. However the rest of it shakes out, if we leave Casey at left, great, if we put him at right, we're OK. If we get a guy that's solidified at guard then we can leave David at tackle. But if David has to come in and play guard, great, I know he can come in and play guard. David is just one of those guys that's really smart, he knows all of the positions and he's physical. Dave right now is helping me feel good about how this line is going to take shape."

On the change in venue from Stanford Stadium to Cagan Stadium... "I thought this was awesome. It was awesome. I'm really excited about this and hopefully we'll continue to do this if the spring sports - I know lacrosse is excited because they're going to play Monday in our stadium, so I'm going to come by and check those ladies out. That will be fun to see. But this is great. Close environment. Second half I didn't call plays - I passed it off to the staff. I was able to walk around and shake people's hands and thank them for coming. So I think this is a great environment. Hopefully we continue to do it here."