WATCH: Darius Muasau on Key Interception to Help UCLA Beat Stanford

The Hawaii transfer co-led the Bruin in tackles while also forcing an early interception that the offense converted into points.

UCLA football linebacker Darius Muasau spoke with the media following the Bruins' 38-13 win over Stanford on Saturday night. Muasau talked about picking off Tanner McKee in the first quarter, what it was like to play without defensive coordinator Bill McGovern, how the Bruins bounced back from their loss to Oregon and what the defense did to change its ways.

Interception?

I’ve been waiting for that play since the beginning of the game. I saw that on film. Actually on the bus ride here I was watching the film they ran against ASU the previous game. I was waiting for that. They ran that a couple times. They tried to run a little power, get the linebackers to bite on the run, and they just do a little pop pass over the linebacker. But I was waiting for it.

Playing without Bill McGovern at defensive coordinator?

We played well. Coach Clancy stepped in. Just like nothing happened.

What did you fix from last week's performance?

We emphasized this whole week, just going back to fundamentals. Tackling, stopping the run. Pretty much just keep it simple. Last week we were thinking too much, I would say. We just went back to the fundamentals, and that’s exactly what we did tonight. Just went back to fundamentals. Tackling and stopping the run, which I think we did fairly well.

Coming in as a transfer and being trusted to be the middle linebacker?

It means a lot to me, taking this role. The mike backer. I see it as the quarterback role. The defense. I take a lot of pride in that. I lead this defense. They call on me and I call on them. It’s a brotherhood relationship. Just being able to take this role, being given this role by the coaches and my teammates really means a lot to me. I really try to show up every game for them. Not just for myself, for my teammates.

Defense feel any pressure to bounce back from last week?

Yeah for sure, I feel like we’re walking in with a big chip on our shoulder. We had to. We knew we had to show up. Our offense was keeping us in the game throughout the whole week last week. So we knew we had to carry our weight for the team. And I feel like we did a great job tonight.

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