MacIntyre, Oliver, Lindsay Preview Washington Game

Colorado Head Coach Mike MacIntyre

Opening Statement
"Our guys had a good practice today. We're getting ready for Washington and watching them on film. I definitely believe they are better than they were last year. Their quarterback's throwing the ball better. He was a little banged up going into our game last year I thought. Watching him as the season's gone along, he's throwing it really well. [Dante] Pettis is a weapon and a half. Defensively, they lost some guys in the secondary, but No. 99 [defensive lineman Greg Gaines] and No. 50 [defensive lineman Vita Vea] are so powerful inside and with No. 36 [linebacker Azeem Victor] back at linebacker they look really good. I like [Taylor] Rapp, the safety; he's all over the place. They're an excellent football team. [Running back Myles] Gaskin can really run it and their tight ends are blocking well. I've been impressed with how they're clicking and how they're doing in every phase."

On Using The Pac-12 Championship As Motivation
"This is definitely a new team, but I'm pretty sure the kids that played in the game last year definitely have to be thinking about that. If they didn't, they're not really competitors. All the new guy playing have no recollection of that. I think our guys that played in the game would like to play a lot better than we did last year when we played them."

On Whether The Difference In The Pac-12 Championship Was Physicality
"In the first half it was 14-7, we could have had a play go either way there. We got behind at the beginning of the third quarter and then basically with about 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter until the end of the game they just ran the ball down our throat. They feasted on us when we got down since we had to throw it. They pretty much dominated us for the last 25 minutes of that game. For the first 35 minutes I thought we were pretty much toe-to-toe with them."

On Playing At Night On National Television In A Pac-12 Game
"Any time you step up in the Pac-12 there's more added to it. The game counts toward a conference championship, there's more at stake and the kids know more on those teams if they played against them before. That's why they came here. They came here to be a Pac-12 football player and play in big games, play on Folsom Field, play on national television and play against the best. That's what you want to do. You want to step up play against the best and see if you can beat."

On What It Takes To Win Multiple Road Games In A Row
"Well it takes good players, number one. Number two, they have a quarterback that understands how to manage a game in close situations. Number three, they have a head coach that has done that. I think at Boise State, they won 30-something games in a row. I don't know if they lost a road game in the WAC (Western Athletic Conference) for a while. He knows what he's doing. He has them prepared, he knows how to travel, he knows how to prepare them for night games and big games. To me, you've got to have an experienced team, a quarterback who knows what he's doing and a head coach that knows what he's doing. You've got to have a tremendous players."

On The Growth Of Inside Linebacker Drew Lewis
"The thing that I was really pleased with is that he's playing fast. He is fast, not just athletic. He's playing fast as far as executing and all that. I was pleased to see that, to see him settle down and play the same speed. Sometimes guys at linebacker for their first few games they get paralyzed by everything and they don't play as fast. I know he'll be excited about playing in this game. He knows a lot of guys on that team. He'd like to play better playing against them. There will be a lot of friends and family watching it all over Washington that know him. I'm sure he'll be excited to play."

On Teaching The Running Backs To Not Fumble
"We do a tremendous amount of drills with it every day. We call it the 'Winning Edge'; it's a ball-security period. We do it every single practice and even do it before every game. It's a consistent thing to stay after that. We're always trying to get our guys to grab and punch at the ball on the running backs and receivers. That's important. We had a big fumble last week going in that hurt us. You're going to throw an interception every once in a while. You'd like not to, but balls get tipped or somebody runs the wrong way. You can control fumbles if you're carrying it correctly. Every once in a while the helmet goes right on the ball and there's nothing you can do about it. If you're carrying it correctly, you've got a great opportunity not to fumble. That's what we do and I'm pretty sure that Washington does something like that. We constantly stay on it. It's something you can't stop. It's kind of like brushing your teeth. You better be brushing your teeth every day or nobody will talk to you. It's the same thing for carrying a football correctly."

On Recruiting Drew Lewis
"Ours is an interesting situation. We were recruiting Juwann Winfree from Coffeyville [Community College]. When we were talking to the coach from Coffeyville, he said, 'We got a linebacker that just got in here that we think is really good and that's a great kid.' We watched some high school film and watched the first few games of his redshirt freshman year in junior college. He looked really good. One of our coaches went and watched him play a game and thought he was really good. We started recruiting him and found out the story about it. His dad works for the Kansas City Chiefs, so we knew some people in that circle and started recruiting him and found out a lot about him. He wanted to be here and liked his fit for us and our jack linebacker. We liked his ability to run and liked his size. We thought he could be a jack linebacker for us and he has been. That's how it worked out. If we hadn't been recruiting Juwann, we might not have gotten on him as quick. We would have eventually found him. He was excited about us for sticking with him. He's an excellent student, so it all worked out."

On Evan Worthington's Value
"He's extremely vital to us. He's an excellent player. He has all the skills and all the athletic ability. He's really matured as a person too which is very fun to see. He's done the same thing on the football field. He's a big guy, six foot two and two hundred fifteen pounds and he can run. He can play our nickel backer, our buff back, our safety. We're able to move him around and utilize him. He's a huge key for our success on defense."

On If Beating Washington Is A Step To A Pac-12 Title
"Different kids believe it at different times. I hope the guys that have played quite a bit already know it. It's the kids that step out there that haven't done it yet. Those are the guys that we're going to need to step up. Both teams have guys like that. That's where I see the difference will be made with those guys."

On Coach MacIntyre's Thoughts On The NCAA Targeting Rule
"I think the line is clear. They review it, they look at it. Number one, I like the rule because I think it protects everybody and it's a good rule. I did not like the way we implemented it when we first put it in, that the ruling on the field always stands because so many of them are bang-bang plays. With the 'ooh' and the 'ah' of the crowd. When they go and review it now they see it from all different angles. They come back and say, 'Hey it was targeting or no it wasn't targeting.' The other day we had two calls that were targeting and we had another one that wasn't targeting. I think that's a good way to do it. We've got to just teach our guys how to hit lower. It's a fine line and it's hard, especially when you're going after a quarterback or a receiver. If the ball is coming in the air you see it coming and you're going up to try and get it, you're up in that area. And if he catches it, you hit in that area. What they're looking for is in those plays you're going for the ball, and they know you're not trying to hit him. What they want to see is that when the receiver is catching the ball, you're launching and hitting him. On the quarterback it's tough too because a lot the time you're trying to get there as he's passing. When he lets it go, you've got to hit him low. We need to do a better job on coaching our guys on that."

On The 3-0 Start And The Criticism Of Performance Through The First Three Games
"It's great that we have high expectations. My wife was teasing me about that the other day. She said, 'A few years ago we'd just be happy if we won!' I think that's a great thing for our program. It shows that we're at a different level as far as the expectations are concerned. When you're trying to reach those expectations as an individual, a program, a company, etc. you push yourself to get there. You're not settled, and that's definitely a good thing there's no doubt about it. Some people thought we would be one and two right now. A lot of people didn't even think we'd beat CSU. That's what everyone was talking about. Now we're 3-0 and the narrative is, 'did we beat them bad enough' and 'did we do this'. To me that's a good thing. Everybody is talking different about us. There might be a negative thought or a negative vibe. I'm glad that we're not having parades in the street after going 3-0. We want to do something better than that. Hopefully we can and that's what we plan on trying to do just like everybody else in the Pac-12 does. But, I'd rather be 3-0 than 0-3."

On The Changes He's Seen In Quarterback Steven Montez
"The one thing about Steven is that I don't ever have to worry about him worrying about being on stage. He's ready to go. What Steven has done in the last six quarters is that he's taken a step in the right direction. You can see him sitting in the pocket looking down field, stepping up and making throws. If he sees pressure, he comes out looking down field. He's making plays with his eyes downfield now. In the first couple games, sometimes his eyes were looking at the rush and then looking downfield. When he was in high school, he had to do that a lot. He was the biggest, fastest, most athletic guy on the team. He'd make them all miss and throw it. Now he doesn't have to do that all the time. He has matured in that area. He can make all the throws and make all the plays. I'm excited about watching him Saturday night against a really good defense that will be challenging. I hope he plays well."

On Replacing Defensive End Chris Mulumba For The First Half
"We've got Jase Franke and George Frazier. We've got all those guys in there that we can use, so we'll be in good shape."

On Growth Of Quarterback Steven Montez In The Running Game
"He's good at that and has gotten better at that. I'm excited about it. That's a weapon that he has that we will continue to utilize. It helps slow down the rush and helps the offensive line. I've just got to teach him to slide better, which I am. We're going to keep working on it. He's got to get the first down or get out of bounds sometimes we know that, but he's got to get down sometimes too. We've been working on it and we worked on it today. Eventually he'll get it."

On The Journey Of Washington Head Coach Chris Peterson From Boise State
"Chris is an excellent coach. I started as a head coach at San Jose State and we were in the WAC and they (Boise State) were in the WAC. That's right after they won the Fiesta Bowl and they had all these dudes. It was like watching magic, they were unbelievable. Someone asked me if there was any comparison from Boise State to Washington and I said, 'Yeah.' To me, they had the quarterback, Kellen Moore, who could just dissect you. He wasn't a great runner, but he was really unbelievable. Jake Browning is just like him except that he's right handed. They played multiple tight ends and shifted, just like they did at Boise. They have a Pettis, just like they did at Boise. They both are receivers who return kicks. They're cousins. On defense, they always had a good defensive lineman who could rush. The only thing that they did a little bit differently at Boise that they don't do now is that they played a lot more quarters coverage than zone. I'm not knocking Boise State's corners, but they've got great corners at Washington, so they're able to play more man and play tighter. I also see Chris Peterson's hands all over everything they do and how the team is really disciplined always plays well. It's amazing to me, on offense, how many different sets they can do and they do it each week. They just changed the uniforms from orange to purple. He's got really good players and they do a good job."

On Reaction To Playing Washington In Pac-12 Home Opener
"I was excited. They had beat us so bad at the end of the season there. We have a chance to play them here at home, and hopefully we can bounce back and redeem ourselves. I was excited about that game being here early in the season, and I thought it would be a great matchup. I was hoping that both of us would be undefeated walking in here, I think it makes it even more special."

On Whether He's Had Any Moments Of Realization Of What This Team May Be Capable Of
"You do see different moments like that and I have seen that out of this team. I've seen it out of a lot of different individuals. You kind of know certain guys, and you're pushing other guys. You're putting guys in situations and seeing how they respond. Once you start seeing that on a consistent basis, you know that they can handle it. I have seen that. I keep seeing a hunger in this team. When they look at you and they're focused and they're into it and they're asking questions, you know they're going to get better. Over the last couple of years as you build a program and keep that culture, I see that all the time. To me, that gives you great understanding that things are going to click the way you want them to."

On Moving Aaron Haigler To Right Guard And Inserting Josh Kaiser Into The Lineup At Right Tackle
"We've been experimenting with that, we thought Josh can play all the spots (on the line), Aaron could be good inside at guard. We needed a little more size across there, so we made a couple moves there. At the same time, you do that because down the road you have different types of injuries. We're trying to get the best guys out there and the best combination of guys we have healthy. I thought that was a good move that Klayton [Adams] to try, and I think it's worked out well.

On Adjusting To Night Kickoffs Against Washington And UCLA After Having Noon Kickoffs The Past Two Weeks
"On game day of the noon games we don't meet in the morning, they just get up, have a pregame meal, we have a little walk-through, then we get on the bus and go. With a late game, we'll have breakfast, have meetings, have a walk-through, then a break, then we come back and have the pregame that afternoon. Old guys like me can take about an hour nap in the afternoon getting ready for those late games. Mark Johnson definitely needs one before that late night game."

Cornerback Isaiah Oliver

On Washington Receiver Dante Pettis
"I see that they're trying to get him the ball a lot more. Last year they also had John Ross so it was a little more of spreading the ball around, trying to get them both touches. Now he's the number one guy so he definitely is a threat. He has a lot of speed, good size. He is, in my opinion, one of the best receivers in the Pac-12. It's always good to have a little bit of experience with receivers, including him, just to know their releases and what they like to do and what they don't like to do and how they react when you press them and things like that. So that was good experience last year."

On Being Ready For Conference Play
"I wouldn't say this game is about revenge. I think it's about proving to ourselves that we're capable of playing in the Pac-12 and we're capable of playing for a Pac-12 Championship. That starts this Saturday. Opening up Pac-12 play, we know that we have to take our game to the next level. We're not really looking at it as a big game against Washington, we're looking at it as a big game in the Pac-12 as a whole. It wouldn't matter which team we're playing, just opening up Pac-12 play is a big deal for us. I feel like we've been preparing for Pac-12 play ever since we lost last year against Oklahoma State. This is something we've been working for, getting ready to get back to the Pac-12 Championship. All of the guys are excited and fired up and ready to go."

On When Last Year's Team Knew They Could Get To A Pac-12 Championship
"I would say it was probably the win at Stanford or the win we had here against UCLA. Those were the times that everyone in the meeting room believed that we were going to go to the Pac-12 Championship and be able to compete for a Pac-12 Championship. I mean, I feel like that could happen again this year and it starts with this game this year."

On The Gap Between Washington And Colorado Last Season
"I would say the biggest gap was physicality, physicality from all phases of the game and all positions. They came out more physical than us. We knew what they wanted to do, we knew they wanted to run the ball, and they were able to. And they were able to stop our run game. So I'd say that's what hurt us the most, that they were just much more physical than us. We were able to look at the schemes to see what hurt us. I feel like that was good for us. Going into that game we felt like nothing could hurt us just because it hadn't yet. Now we know and we were able to really work on it this week so that we can get ready and go forward."

On The Team's Performance Against UNC Last Weekend
"I'll tell you that it wasn't good enough. That wasn't a complete game by any means. We felt like as a defense that they shouldn't have scored on us. We got beat on a couple of plays scheme-wise that we weren't prepared for well enough. So that's something that we're going to work on this entire week so that we can go in and be able to play football."

On Washington QB Jake Browning
"I would say his decision making is what makes him a great quarterback. He rarely ever makes bad decisions. He puts the ball where it's supposed to be, usually where only his receivers can get it so he doesn't have a lot of turnovers. That's something that we saw a lot of last year. If we're going to take advantage of him we're just going to have to play great defense, lock onto receivers and hope that he makes mistakes."

Tailback Phillip Lindsay

On The Gap Between CU And Washington In Last Year's Pac-12 Championship Game
"It came down to (them) being more physical. They had a great scheme and they came out there ready to play. We learned from it, it was a good learning experience for all of us. It was our first time going to the Pac-12 Championship, we hadn't played Washington because they're on the other side. It was a good game to learn from. Now it's time for us to go out there and show what we've got."

On Whether He Uses Last Year's Game As Motivation Or Has Tried To Move On
"We always have (last year's game) in the back of our heads because we felt like we got embarrassed out there. At the end of the day, our goal is to be Pac-12 Champions and we know that they're in the way of us achieving that goal."

On The Offense Taking A Step Forward In Last Week's Game Against UNC
"I definitely think we did take a step. It all starts up front; if those boys are being physical and moving people, it's easier for me, Montez, and the other running backs to find holes. We have to run hard. It definitely helps us when we're able to run the ball."

On Whether It Feels Different Preparing For A National TV Game Against A Pac-12 Opponent
"It definitely is (a little different). Now that we're in Pac-12 play, we know we need these games in order to get to your goal. You're closer to where you want to go and for us it's the Pac-12 Championship game. It's a night game. It's going to be exciting. Folsom field is going to be really crazy, the fans are going to be loud, so it's going to be a great feeling. You're going to be able to see the Folsom Magic play out at 8 o'clock. It's a later game, but we're going to be ready for it. Last year we had a lot of late games, and this year we're expecting to have a lot more late games."

On Whether He's Seen The Physicality It Takes To Compete With Washington Out Of This Year's Team
"I'm starting to see it a lot more. Especially playing against Northern Colorado and having as many knockdowns as the offensive line did. We're only going to get better and this game is a great opportunity to show it. There will be a lot of NFL talent on the other side, and we've got a lot of NFL talent on this side. We've got to go out there and be more physical."

On Whether This Team Is Ready For Primetime
"We're always ready for primetime. Last year we were doing the same thing, and this year we're ready. To us, primetime is every time we step on that field. That's how we look at it, period."

On How This Year's Washington Team Compares To The One He Faced Last Season
"When you have a great quarterback like they do, a lot of the offense back and some defensive players back, they're going to be a solid team. They got a linebacker back that wasn't playing (against us last year). They handle business. At times it's hard to see because they score so fast. At the end of the day, we have to worry about ourselves. They have to come get us too. At the end of the day, they've got be ready."

Colorado University Athletics

Colorado Head Coach Mike MacIntyre

Cornerback Isaiah Oliver

Tailback Phillip Lindsay

Players Mentioned

Jase Franke

George Frazier

Aaron Haigler

Josh Kaiser

Drew Lewis

Phillip Lindsay

Steven Montez

Chris Mulumba

Isaiah Oliver

Juwann Winfree

Evan Worthington

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