Colorado University Athletics
Colorado-Colorado State Postgame Quotes
vs
Arizona
Nov 1 (Sat)
5:00 p.m.
Colorado Head Coach Mike MacIntyre
General
“I thought we played great tonight; there was a great crowd at the game with a lot of excitement from both schools. Coach Mike Bobo does a great job with his guys. We got off to a really fast start which is what we wanted to do. I was really proud of those guys and how they played. I was really proud of Sefo Liufau in his first game back; also proud of Jeremy Irwin and Addison Gillam in their first games back as well. It was fun to see them do well and see us be able to run the football the way we did which is something we’ve been working on hard. I tip my hat to Colorado State who’s going to have a good year, and I bet they go to a bowl game again. They’ve got some good football players and I’m very impressed with how hard they kept playing.
On the Team’s Performance
“It’s just one game, and we had too many turnovers. We haven’t fumbled the ball like that in the past. We have to go out and fix that which is something we’ll do this week I promise you. Our young men know where we’re heading and what we’re doing and they know that’s one of a lot that we have left.”
On Having A Good Start to the Season
“You always want to win your first game. It’s one out of eleven regular season games, and hopefully we’ll have a lot more after that. It’s always good to come out and do well, which gives a lot of momentum to those young men. We’ve been coaching them for 29 practices and they’ve gotten tired of hearing it. Now it validates what you’ve been telling them and what you’ve been teaching. They’ll come back ready to listen hard on Monday, because we’ve got a lot of things that we’ve got to correct.”
On Keeping Sefo in the Game Late
“We were moving the football, and we haven’t been in that situation a lot. There was still a whole fourth quarter left in the game. He should have slid on the hit he took in the fourth quarter, which is something we’ve been working on with him. I guess he just won’t slide.”
On the Team’s Depth Being a Difference
“This is the best football team we’ve had since I’ve been here. We’ve got good depth and good football players. We’ve just got to keep them healthy and keep working in the right direction. On Thursday we had a walkthrough, which is by far the best walkthrough we’ve had in three years. I was watching the walkthrough from the perch in our Indoor Practice Facility, and I kept going ‘Wow it’s amazing how well they’re doing at this.’ The players were communicating with each other and our special teams went really smooth. Our kickers are completely healthy, which you saw tonight; Diego Gonzalez has a leg and a half. I think tonight Gonzalez really showed what he has which really helps our football team.”
On the Team’s Execution
“I thought we did some good things, but when we watch film there will be a lot to correct. The fumbles we just can’t have period. We’ll fix that and we won’t do that anymore. The good side was that we actually performed our field goals really well, since last year we had some blocked early in the season. We didn’t have any blocked today, as our protection was excellent. We had a true freshman as our holder for the first time, and we had a redshirt freshman snapper so I thought that all of that was positive. We were 100 percent in the red zone but we want to be 100 percent in touchdowns.”
On Alex Kelley Scoring the Season’s First Touchdown
“I thought that was really good; we’ve been working on that play. Again, when we’re reaching for the end zone we need to keep it high and tight and make it to the end zone. We were very fortunate there that we came away with that football. Alex scrambled for it and got it, and he’ll remember that for the rest of his life. But I’d rather have Sefo hold onto it and score.”
On Coming Out of Halftime with a Large Lead
“We talked to them hard and they were ready to come back out. It’s the first time we’ve been in that situation against a good team. We did come out and answer the bell, kicking two field goals, and we did move the football. We still kept playing hard on defense. I was pleased with their effort, and I didn’t feel like there was a letdown. We just had to settle for a couple of field goals.”
On the Team’s Demeanor
“It’s been changing. We just need to keep doing it on the field and that’s what everyone needs. I see it every day, and I’ve seen the change there’s no doubt. Now we’ll see how we handle having a little bit of success really early. We’ve got to handle that correctly and we’ll see what the guys are made of on Monday.”
“I thought we played great tonight; there was a great crowd at the game with a lot of excitement from both schools. Coach Mike Bobo does a great job with his guys. We got off to a really fast start which is what we wanted to do. I was really proud of those guys and how they played. I was really proud of Sefo Liufau in his first game back; also proud of Jeremy Irwin and Addison Gillam in their first games back as well. It was fun to see them do well and see us be able to run the football the way we did which is something we’ve been working on hard. I tip my hat to Colorado State who’s going to have a good year, and I bet they go to a bowl game again. They’ve got some good football players and I’m very impressed with how hard they kept playing.
On the Team’s Performance
“It’s just one game, and we had too many turnovers. We haven’t fumbled the ball like that in the past. We have to go out and fix that which is something we’ll do this week I promise you. Our young men know where we’re heading and what we’re doing and they know that’s one of a lot that we have left.”
On Having A Good Start to the Season
“You always want to win your first game. It’s one out of eleven regular season games, and hopefully we’ll have a lot more after that. It’s always good to come out and do well, which gives a lot of momentum to those young men. We’ve been coaching them for 29 practices and they’ve gotten tired of hearing it. Now it validates what you’ve been telling them and what you’ve been teaching. They’ll come back ready to listen hard on Monday, because we’ve got a lot of things that we’ve got to correct.”
On Keeping Sefo in the Game Late
“We were moving the football, and we haven’t been in that situation a lot. There was still a whole fourth quarter left in the game. He should have slid on the hit he took in the fourth quarter, which is something we’ve been working on with him. I guess he just won’t slide.”
On the Team’s Depth Being a Difference
“This is the best football team we’ve had since I’ve been here. We’ve got good depth and good football players. We’ve just got to keep them healthy and keep working in the right direction. On Thursday we had a walkthrough, which is by far the best walkthrough we’ve had in three years. I was watching the walkthrough from the perch in our Indoor Practice Facility, and I kept going ‘Wow it’s amazing how well they’re doing at this.’ The players were communicating with each other and our special teams went really smooth. Our kickers are completely healthy, which you saw tonight; Diego Gonzalez has a leg and a half. I think tonight Gonzalez really showed what he has which really helps our football team.”
On the Team’s Execution
“I thought we did some good things, but when we watch film there will be a lot to correct. The fumbles we just can’t have period. We’ll fix that and we won’t do that anymore. The good side was that we actually performed our field goals really well, since last year we had some blocked early in the season. We didn’t have any blocked today, as our protection was excellent. We had a true freshman as our holder for the first time, and we had a redshirt freshman snapper so I thought that all of that was positive. We were 100 percent in the red zone but we want to be 100 percent in touchdowns.”
On Alex Kelley Scoring the Season’s First Touchdown
“I thought that was really good; we’ve been working on that play. Again, when we’re reaching for the end zone we need to keep it high and tight and make it to the end zone. We were very fortunate there that we came away with that football. Alex scrambled for it and got it, and he’ll remember that for the rest of his life. But I’d rather have Sefo hold onto it and score.”
On Coming Out of Halftime with a Large Lead
“We talked to them hard and they were ready to come back out. It’s the first time we’ve been in that situation against a good team. We did come out and answer the bell, kicking two field goals, and we did move the football. We still kept playing hard on defense. I was pleased with their effort, and I didn’t feel like there was a letdown. We just had to settle for a couple of field goals.”
On the Team’s Demeanor
“It’s been changing. We just need to keep doing it on the field and that’s what everyone needs. I see it every day, and I’ve seen the change there’s no doubt. Now we’ll see how we handle having a little bit of success really early. We’ve got to handle that correctly and we’ll see what the guys are made of on Monday.”
On Keeping the Team Level After Getting the Big Lead
“One thing we talk to them about in those situations is: number one, keep playing like its zero-zero, which is what you always say. The other thing is to find a way to finish the game and to put them away. We had a chance to put them away a little quicker than we did and I’d like for us to be able to finish off teams a little quicker than that. We had a couple of opportunities where we could have scored touchdowns, but we had to kick field goals. We keep preaching to them to finish every play.”
On How Big of a Weapon Gonzalez’s Touchbacks Are
“It’s a huge weapon. If we can kick the ball off as much as we did and only have them return one, your percentages are really good and it’s something that we need to make sure we keep doing.”
On Leading the Entire Game
“Tasting winning is important and doing it like the way we did is important as well. The thing that we teach them is that they can keep doing it in back-to-back plays in a game which we did there. I was concerned since we got up so quick and I wasn’t sure how we would handle this; we haven’t dealt with this before. We kept on it and I could see it in the kids’ eyes that they weren’t going to back down. They weren’t goofing off, they were in it. I felt like that’s what I would see, and I did see that. It was very encouraging.”
On Idaho State Being a Possible Trap Game
“We’re going to enjoy this one tonight, and then we’re going to get ready to play Idaho State and that’s what we’ll do.”
Colorado State Head Coach Mike Bobo
(opening Statement)
“First off, I would like to give Colorado credit. They were very well prepared, very well coached, ready to play this game and we were not. That starts with me. I did not have this team ready to play. They were ready and they came out hot and they had the momentum and we were unable to do anything to slow it down. It’s one of those things, it’s embarrassing. That’s what I told them. We embarrassed our name but there is only one way that we can do (this) and we have to go back to work. We can talk about a lot of things and what-ifs but the bottom line is we got our tails whipped tonight. We have to realize that, we have to look deep down within each other as coach and player and figure out a plan to move forward in eight days.”
(on the Rams offense being forced to three-and-outs)
“There is no question, obviously they came out and they have always been a no-huddle spread team but it was extremely fast tonight and we could not settle down defensively. Really could not get them in any third downs, and when you’re a no-huddle team you’re getting first downs on first and second down, and it allows you to go a lot faster. They had the momentum, and offensively we needed to do something to slow that momentum down, and it was three-and-out, after three-and-out, after three-and-out, after three-and-out. It might have been five or six three-and-outs. It’s a poor job of execution, a poor job of play-calling. They just took the momentum and seized it and really took control of the game in the first quarter.”
(on the offense’s slow start)
“Sometimes things happen like that you have to come to the sideline, regroup and go back out there with the mindset that you are going to get a first down. I have to look at the tape. I thought we had some things that were there. We had some execution problems, we had some poor throws on some third downs, on critical possession downs. We had guys open and we had just one first down. You know how kids are, ‘we have to take this ball and score,’ when we just need a first down. We were unable to do that. It’s disappointing. I thought we had a good plan but they were playing faster than us, they were tackling and had a lot of hats to the ball. You have to give their defense a lot of credit.”
(on the quarterback situation)
“We have to reassess the quarterback situation. We gave Faton (Bauta) a series in the first half. We had a third and three there, with an option route to (Dalton) Fackrell and he bounced it to him. Nick (Stevens) had one the series before where he bounced one to Olabisi (Johnson). We were not really executing anywhere, not just at quarterback position. We have got to be able to throw the ball more than we did tonight, at a higher percentage, and be able to stress the defense. We were unable to do that. We will reassess it, and we will figure out who gives us the best chance to win next week.”
(on the defensive performance)
“It is a team game. We have to help each other out to build momentum by doing that. Defensively the thing I was disappointed with, we talked about it at halftime, we were not getting lined up, and we were not getting off blocks on passes in the perimeter. They did a great job blocking in the perimeter and you have to give them credit. We have to get off blocks, we have to hat and hands them we have to shed the blocker, we have to cover down inside out and we did not do that defensively. We did not tackle well. When we tackled them they were going forward almost the whole night. We have to be able to knock people back and there were times we had guys in the hole that were hitting edges, and not taking shots and knocking them back. They were doing a good job of fitting up and (running) backs were running hard. When it looks like a two-yard gain it’s a seven-yard gain. When you are going fast and going no-huddle second-and-three is a lot better than second-and-seven, second-and-eight.”
(on the number of players who played their first game tonight)
“That’s going to help them. Michael Gallup in the first half had some critical errors on some pass plays, some on execution, which we knew would happen. As he played more you saw his talent come out. Detrich Clark had a couple plays, Anthony Hawkins, some guys that I believe have talent. Marvin Kinsey got to play a bit tonight and I thought he missed some runs from the sideline but he will see that from the tape. These are guys that are going to have to play for us, defensively we have to play more guys. Second half, we put Demontrie Taylor in at safety because he will run, he will hit, and he will compete. He is a guy that might get more playing time. We have to figure out who is going to do what the coaches ask and who is going to work extremely hard. I am terribly disappointed and embarrassed by the showing by our football team tonight but we have a long season. We will get better. There is no doubt in my mind.”
(on the importance of moving on to next week)
“You’ve got no choice. That’s how we handle every day and that it’s a new day and a new challenge and we have to win that day. Now, they are 18-22 (years old), when you get embarrassed like we did tonight by your in-state rival, that’s when things are said. That’s when people start taking shots, that’s when people outside the program question what we are doing. We talked about being a family and families stick together. This is when we have to be tighter than ever and this is where the leadership has got to step up and like I told them that one guy in the leadership role is me. I have to do a better job.”
(on the defense’s ability to continue to work hard after being down)
“I will take one positive from the game and it’s a small one, but they did not quit. They kept fighting, they kept playing hard. You heard guys encouraging each other on the sideline and that’s a positive. We will look at the positives on tape, and we will point out those positives and we will correct what we did not do well. You can’t be sensitive, cannot think someone is picking on you and you have to accept it like a man and take ownership. That’s coaches and players.”
(on CU’s offensive success)
“Well, I said it earlier, and first of all we did a poor job of getting off blocks and their screen game or bubble game with some third downs and they were running that shallow. We had two third downs they were kind of blocking down field but they were throwing the ball behind the line of scrimmage and it is one of those, you have to get off the block. It’s like hitting a check-down and we did not do a great job at getting off blocks. We did not play the ball in the air very well. I thought the second half, coach (Terry) Fair started subbing some guys…Shun Johnson played a little a little bit more, Kevin Nutt. I have to look at the tape and see how those guys played in the game. But we have to get off blocks. We have to play the ball in the air and I thought the second half we got more pressure on the quarterback. We were hitting him a couple of times which caused some inaccurate throws.
(on missing the opportunity to recover a fumble in the end zone in the first quarter)
“That’s one of those momentum plays that you have a chance to make. Even though they just drove the ball down our throats you have a chance right there to have a stop. A big stop that can get some momentum. It’s one of those where he’s in-between trying to scoop it and dive on it. But we always talk about the recovering the ball. You recover the ball. You don’t just try to scoop the ball unless you’re in the open field. That’s a learning lesson for our guys. That’s a learning lesson for us as coaches and myself. I did not do a good enough job at teaching that.”
(on the defense)
“We were not getting lined up. They were going extremely fast, and we weren’t getting lined up. Guys were looking to the sidelines. You have to give them credit, they were doing a great job of changing their formation from trips looks to doubles looks to empty looks. We weren’t getting adjusted. They had a great plan, but again, we have to play better in the 1st and 10. In terms of, my history, when you’re running no huddle and you’re trying to go fast it only works when you’re getting positive plays and you’re able to keep the defense on their heels. We had how many third downs in the first half, four or five. We weren’t giving them any third and longs, they were all third and shorts. So they were able to keep that tempo. When you have a no-huddle team, you make a stop on first down for one or two yards. Second and long and even third and long, they tend to slow down when it’s third and long because they bring a different package for third and long and we weren’t able to do that.
(on comparing this Colorado team to last year’s)
“They’re a talented football team. They got a lot of great skill, a four-year starter at quarterback, I think their defense is very stout up front. They’ve got good secondary players. If you look at their season last year, they were in a lot of ball games. They just gave away their close ones, except ours early in the year. They’re experienced. They’ve been together through a lot of wars. They faced what we’re going through right now, losing and how to respond. You have to give them credit. I knew it was going to be an extremely, extremely difficult challenge for us because of the experience they had coming back but I thought we would have played a little bit better than we did but we didn’t and you have to give them all the credit in the world. Coach MacIntyre and his staff did a great job.”
“First off, I would like to give Colorado credit. They were very well prepared, very well coached, ready to play this game and we were not. That starts with me. I did not have this team ready to play. They were ready and they came out hot and they had the momentum and we were unable to do anything to slow it down. It’s one of those things, it’s embarrassing. That’s what I told them. We embarrassed our name but there is only one way that we can do (this) and we have to go back to work. We can talk about a lot of things and what-ifs but the bottom line is we got our tails whipped tonight. We have to realize that, we have to look deep down within each other as coach and player and figure out a plan to move forward in eight days.”
(on the Rams offense being forced to three-and-outs)
“There is no question, obviously they came out and they have always been a no-huddle spread team but it was extremely fast tonight and we could not settle down defensively. Really could not get them in any third downs, and when you’re a no-huddle team you’re getting first downs on first and second down, and it allows you to go a lot faster. They had the momentum, and offensively we needed to do something to slow that momentum down, and it was three-and-out, after three-and-out, after three-and-out, after three-and-out. It might have been five or six three-and-outs. It’s a poor job of execution, a poor job of play-calling. They just took the momentum and seized it and really took control of the game in the first quarter.”
(on the offense’s slow start)
“Sometimes things happen like that you have to come to the sideline, regroup and go back out there with the mindset that you are going to get a first down. I have to look at the tape. I thought we had some things that were there. We had some execution problems, we had some poor throws on some third downs, on critical possession downs. We had guys open and we had just one first down. You know how kids are, ‘we have to take this ball and score,’ when we just need a first down. We were unable to do that. It’s disappointing. I thought we had a good plan but they were playing faster than us, they were tackling and had a lot of hats to the ball. You have to give their defense a lot of credit.”
(on the quarterback situation)
“We have to reassess the quarterback situation. We gave Faton (Bauta) a series in the first half. We had a third and three there, with an option route to (Dalton) Fackrell and he bounced it to him. Nick (Stevens) had one the series before where he bounced one to Olabisi (Johnson). We were not really executing anywhere, not just at quarterback position. We have got to be able to throw the ball more than we did tonight, at a higher percentage, and be able to stress the defense. We were unable to do that. We will reassess it, and we will figure out who gives us the best chance to win next week.”
(on the defensive performance)
“It is a team game. We have to help each other out to build momentum by doing that. Defensively the thing I was disappointed with, we talked about it at halftime, we were not getting lined up, and we were not getting off blocks on passes in the perimeter. They did a great job blocking in the perimeter and you have to give them credit. We have to get off blocks, we have to hat and hands them we have to shed the blocker, we have to cover down inside out and we did not do that defensively. We did not tackle well. When we tackled them they were going forward almost the whole night. We have to be able to knock people back and there were times we had guys in the hole that were hitting edges, and not taking shots and knocking them back. They were doing a good job of fitting up and (running) backs were running hard. When it looks like a two-yard gain it’s a seven-yard gain. When you are going fast and going no-huddle second-and-three is a lot better than second-and-seven, second-and-eight.”
(on the number of players who played their first game tonight)
“That’s going to help them. Michael Gallup in the first half had some critical errors on some pass plays, some on execution, which we knew would happen. As he played more you saw his talent come out. Detrich Clark had a couple plays, Anthony Hawkins, some guys that I believe have talent. Marvin Kinsey got to play a bit tonight and I thought he missed some runs from the sideline but he will see that from the tape. These are guys that are going to have to play for us, defensively we have to play more guys. Second half, we put Demontrie Taylor in at safety because he will run, he will hit, and he will compete. He is a guy that might get more playing time. We have to figure out who is going to do what the coaches ask and who is going to work extremely hard. I am terribly disappointed and embarrassed by the showing by our football team tonight but we have a long season. We will get better. There is no doubt in my mind.”
(on the importance of moving on to next week)
“You’ve got no choice. That’s how we handle every day and that it’s a new day and a new challenge and we have to win that day. Now, they are 18-22 (years old), when you get embarrassed like we did tonight by your in-state rival, that’s when things are said. That’s when people start taking shots, that’s when people outside the program question what we are doing. We talked about being a family and families stick together. This is when we have to be tighter than ever and this is where the leadership has got to step up and like I told them that one guy in the leadership role is me. I have to do a better job.”
(on the defense’s ability to continue to work hard after being down)
“I will take one positive from the game and it’s a small one, but they did not quit. They kept fighting, they kept playing hard. You heard guys encouraging each other on the sideline and that’s a positive. We will look at the positives on tape, and we will point out those positives and we will correct what we did not do well. You can’t be sensitive, cannot think someone is picking on you and you have to accept it like a man and take ownership. That’s coaches and players.”
(on CU’s offensive success)
“Well, I said it earlier, and first of all we did a poor job of getting off blocks and their screen game or bubble game with some third downs and they were running that shallow. We had two third downs they were kind of blocking down field but they were throwing the ball behind the line of scrimmage and it is one of those, you have to get off the block. It’s like hitting a check-down and we did not do a great job at getting off blocks. We did not play the ball in the air very well. I thought the second half, coach (Terry) Fair started subbing some guys…Shun Johnson played a little a little bit more, Kevin Nutt. I have to look at the tape and see how those guys played in the game. But we have to get off blocks. We have to play the ball in the air and I thought the second half we got more pressure on the quarterback. We were hitting him a couple of times which caused some inaccurate throws.
(on missing the opportunity to recover a fumble in the end zone in the first quarter)
“That’s one of those momentum plays that you have a chance to make. Even though they just drove the ball down our throats you have a chance right there to have a stop. A big stop that can get some momentum. It’s one of those where he’s in-between trying to scoop it and dive on it. But we always talk about the recovering the ball. You recover the ball. You don’t just try to scoop the ball unless you’re in the open field. That’s a learning lesson for our guys. That’s a learning lesson for us as coaches and myself. I did not do a good enough job at teaching that.”
(on the defense)
“We were not getting lined up. They were going extremely fast, and we weren’t getting lined up. Guys were looking to the sidelines. You have to give them credit, they were doing a great job of changing their formation from trips looks to doubles looks to empty looks. We weren’t getting adjusted. They had a great plan, but again, we have to play better in the 1st and 10. In terms of, my history, when you’re running no huddle and you’re trying to go fast it only works when you’re getting positive plays and you’re able to keep the defense on their heels. We had how many third downs in the first half, four or five. We weren’t giving them any third and longs, they were all third and shorts. So they were able to keep that tempo. When you have a no-huddle team, you make a stop on first down for one or two yards. Second and long and even third and long, they tend to slow down when it’s third and long because they bring a different package for third and long and we weren’t able to do that.
(on comparing this Colorado team to last year’s)
“They’re a talented football team. They got a lot of great skill, a four-year starter at quarterback, I think their defense is very stout up front. They’ve got good secondary players. If you look at their season last year, they were in a lot of ball games. They just gave away their close ones, except ours early in the year. They’re experienced. They’ve been together through a lot of wars. They faced what we’re going through right now, losing and how to respond. You have to give them credit. I knew it was going to be an extremely, extremely difficult challenge for us because of the experience they had coming back but I thought we would have played a little bit better than we did but we didn’t and you have to give them all the credit in the world. Coach MacIntyre and his staff did a great job.”
Colorado Players
DB Afolabi Laguda
ON STARTING TONIGHT’S GAME--“It was a great feeling to get out there with the defense; it’s a great feeling to be out there representing the University of Colorado. We just wanted to make a statement tonight. It’s not about me getting the start, we knew who was going to play, we knew what we needed to do.”ON DEFENSIVE FOCUS--“Our focus was on great tackling and great effort. Coach Mac always says ‘put up or shut up’, so we wanted to put-up and show everyone that the Buffs have arrived. We talk about the rise, we’re trying to rise this year.”
ON NOT KNOWING WHICH CSU QUARTERBACK WOULD STATRT--“It didn’t really affect us at all. Our coaching staff does a great job preparing us for anybody. We thought we might see some wildcat, and our coaches kept us prepared for 7 (Nick Stevens) and 5 (Faton Bauta).”
ON DEFENSE MAKING A STATEMENT--“We haven’t even made a statement yet. We made plenty of mistakes, we want to set the bar high. We’re chasing that PAC-12 Championship, nothing less. We don’t want to go to some random 6-6 bowl game, we want to get to a championship and (to do it) we need to play championship level football.”
WR Shay Fields
ON THE OFFENSE– “I felt we did great. Coach Chev (Darrin Chiaverini) and Coach (Brian) Lindgren they’ve been working with us trying to get tempo, and we saw it today.”ON EMPHASIS ON BLOCKING--“That’s one of the things we focus on. We have a ‘Knockdown Board’ in our room, we’re probably going to go home and tally those to see who got the most.”
ON TEMPO--“I felt it put them on their heels a lot. They probably haven’t seen an offense that moves that fast. We just wanted to come out and push the tempo and do what we did today.”
OL Tim Lynott Jr.
ON FIRST CAREER START “It was awesome. In the beginning it was pretty nerve-wracking. Once I got the first play out of the way it just felt normal to me, it just felt like another game.”ON EXPERIENCE PLAYING RIGHT GUARD--“I played there my sophomore year of high school and the rest I played right tackle so this is the second time in my life playing guard. I felt pretty comfortable. Coaches had us really prepared for this so I felt good in the game.”
ON TEMPO--“We’ve been doing it ever since the coaches came back and we got the offseason going so we’ve been working on it for a while now. It’s taken a while, but we’re getting the hang of it.”
ON TEAM CHEMISTRY--“I really think (we’ve gelled.) We hang out outside of just football. It’s nice to be able to bond with these guys and be with them all the time.”
ON ALEX KELLY TOUCHDOWN--“Honestly I didn’t even know who recovered it. I don’t know if it’s his first touchdown, but it’s pretty cool.”
LB Kenneth Olugbode
ON PRIMARY FOCUS--“Stop the run and play physical.”ON KEYING ON DALYN DAWKINS--“Absolutely (we did.) We were ready for both of their running back. Even #5 (Faton Bauta) coming at quarterback, we expected . ”
ON DEFENSIVE LINE PLAY – “I’m excited. I’m really happy. I think (Josh) Tupou and all those boys did a good job. Everybody that subbed for them did really well too.”
WR Bryce Bobo
ON HIS ONE HANDED CATCH IN THE SECOND QUARTER - “A couple of plays before that I dropped a wide open pass. It hit me dead in the hands. We have a motto on the team which is ‘one snap and clear’ so when we lined up, coaches and guys on the sidelines were just telling me, ‘one snap and clear.’ Sefo [Liufau] gave me another chance to go deep and threw me the ball again. I guess it was more of a trust factor and him wanting me to redeem myself on that dropped pass. It just happened to be a one handed catch. I’ve been working on my one handed catches in practice and it finally paid off I guess. It was the best catch I’ve made so far.”
ON SEFO’S SETTING THE ALL-TIME PASSING RECORD TONIGHT - “That’s dope! He looked great. I think our offensive line did a really great job tonight. There were a few times where Sefo got hit and stuff like that but for the most part, he was making plays and our linemen were making big blocks.”
ON THE FACT THAT CENTER ALEX KELLY HAS MORE TOUCHDOWNS THAN HIM - “Isn’t that something? I wasn’t expecting him out of everyone to get a touchdown before I did but teamwork makes the dream work!”
C Alex Kelley
ON SCORING THE FIRST TOUCHDOWN FOR AN OFFENSIVE LINEMAN SINCE 1995 – “Honestly, I did not know I scored until I ran off of the field. There was a big old pile and everyone was saying I scored and so I celebrated then. I’ve never had a touchdown before, not even in practice. I was just doing my job and I’m glad it worked out the way it did.”
ON SEFO’S PERFORMANCE TONIGHT - “This version of Sefo that we have right now is way better. His passion for the game has never been this high. His work ethic has never been this high. You could see it tonight. He was on point most of the night tonight and he is better than before.”
ON THE OFFENSIVE LINE’S IMPRESSIVE PEROFRMANCE TONIGHT - “Throughout camp, our entire thing has been that this entire season has been on the offensive line. It’s a good statement. We’re still nowhere near where we want to be. We need to continue to get better but I think this was really good for our confidence as the o-line and we’re building that from here.”
TB Kyle Evans
ON HIS TOUCHDOWN IN THE FOURTH QUARTER - “I was really excited. I knew I had to get into the end zone. The first time I thought I should have jumped. The second time I was thinking ‘no way, I’m just going to go for it and see what happens.’ I ended up jumping over the top and in the end zone.”ON TONIGHT’S VICTORY - “It means a lot to me and the rest of the team too. I watched the first episode that our CU video staff made last year going into the CSU game in 2015. It put me in that mind set to go into this game with a chip on our shoulder because last year was such a good game. We just came out and played our best and we put up a pretty good game.”
ON GETTING BACK TO PRACTICE ON MONDAY -“Our coaches tell us to take it one game at a time. We beat CSU in a big way, they’re our rivals but come Monday, we get ready for Idaho State and Michigan the week after that. But honestly, I have my mind focused on next Saturday so I’m just getting ready for that.”
QB Sefo Liufau
ON CENTER ALEX KELLEY FUMBLE RECOVERY--“No, we didn’t practice it; I have to do a better job of taking care of the football.ON A LINEMAN GETTING A TOUCHDOWN—“Coach [Mike MacIntyre] announced it in the locker room afterwards too, “Alex Kelley scored a touchdown.” So, I am happy for him but I need to take care of the football.”
ON HIS EMOTIONS—“I think two times, both fumbles. You know on the first one, especially, I just tried to do a little too much instead of just putting my head down and getting in there to get the touchdown. I thought I was short of the sticks when I fumbled the second one. I don’t think my emotions got the best of me. I just think it is a little bit of rust that I’m knocking and I think I will be ten times better next week.”
ON FEELINGS AFTER COMING OUT DOMINATE—“It is just a surreal feeling being able to put one of those games out there like that. But there are a lot of things we need to work on, especially coming out in the second half. I think our offense dropped especially. I think we could have put a lot more points on the board. CSU is a great defense but I just think we were not executing as well as we should have. Overall, we are really happy as a team to get one of those wins.”
ON SIDELINE DISCUSSION ABOUT SENDING HIM BACK OUT THERE—“I don’t think we had any conversations to be honest. We just wanted to keep going out there and putting some drives together. We were for the most part our biggest enemy tonight as an offense. I think we stopped ourselves the most. And we never really talked about me coming out.”
ON TAKING A BLOW TO THE HEAD—“I didn’t. I should have gotten up faster. I was just really upset with fumbling the ball because that will really cost us in a bigger game. So, I will definitely cut back on those. I shouldn’t have anymore.”
ON WHAT TONIGHTS GAME MEANS FOR THE PROGRAM—“It means a lot. To be able to go out there and put up a performance like that. You can do all the talking that you want as a team, but once the real bowls start flying it’s really put up or shut up. I think for the most part tonight we did a really good job of going out there and putting our best foot forward and taking what the defense gave us and playing just a really great game overall.”
ON FAST TEMPO—“Especially in the first quarter they couldn’t handle our tempo. We got to a really quick start, 21-0, and it all comes down to getting the first first-down. We can sustain that tempo throughout the whole game. Teams haven’t really seen that kind of tempo, especially out of us. So, if we can keep that tempo up than I think a lot more good things are going to come.”
ON TONIGHTS MOMENTUM CARRYING OVER TO NEXT WEEK—“It’s a great way to start the season. To come out 1-0 and to come out the way we did is great. Each week you want to go 1-0, it’s basically a championship game. So, it’s good going into next week but we have to get ready starting tomorrow for Idaho State.”
ON DEFESNSE TEMPO—“The defense did a phenomenal job tonight. They kept getting three-and-outs and I think that as an offense we should punch the ball in a little more. I know we had a couple of field goals as well and that’s a little frustrating as an offense. We just hold ourselves to a higher standard this year. We are proud for the most part of what we put out there. Our offensive line did great. Our receivers did well. We left a lot out there as an offense, so we will look to fix those and be ready for next week.”
ON PLAYING AFTER INJURY—“My goal was to come back and play. I wanted to play with these seniors and the guys I came in with. I just wanted to take it one day at a time in the rehab process. To be back out here and playing again is really surreal. But that feeling is over now. My foot feels great and I just want to go out there and play and win some more games with these guys.”
ON WHAT NEEDS TO IMPROVE FOR NEXT WEEK—“Ball security, both Phillip [Lindsay] and I need to focus on it. Then, finishing drives because we had a couple of field goals. When you play good teams and you kick field goals you’ll lose games.”
ON DIFFERENCES IN THE RED ZONE - “We didn’t really change anything. It’s just missed assignments really as an offense. George Fraizer says it best, ‘everyone do your 1/11.’ There are 11 guys out there on the field and if one guy doesn’t do his job then ultimately you’ll have the end product that you really wanted. It wasn’t really us doing differently. It was just us hurting ourselves and that comes down to being consistent.
ON RECEIVERS PERFORMANCE – “Those two, [Devin Ross and Bryce Bobo] had great games. Devin really impressed me, coming from the end of last season to tonight. He’s done a really good job of running routes and making plays. Bryce Bobo especially, I left him out to dry a couple of times but he made some big plays today and I expect a lot from both of them in the season to come.”
DB Chidobe Awuzie
ON CONSECUTIVE THREE AND OUTS – “As a defense, that’s what we expect. We work hard and do a lot of things in the offseason. We work on communication and things; we expect that. Honestly, we expect more than that. I’m sad that we let them score seven points. They’re a great team but we have high goals and expectations for ourselves
ON HAVING A DOMINATING PERFORMANCE- “It means a lot especially since it’s my senior year so it’s my last time playing Colorado State. They’re a heck of a team; they got us two years ago. Coming out there and being dominant like that has really made me proud of my teammates. I think our front seven got after them. There’s been a lot of talk about our front seven. We have some guys back. Last year our run defense wasn’t great but this game, they really showed a glimpse of what they could do and how great they could be.”
ON HIS INTERCEPTION – “I just wanted to try to score six. I ended up getting tackled but Kenneth Olugbode had a tip on a really great pressure, so it was a team effort play. I really enjoyed doing that.”
ON ASSESSING TURNOVERS – “The people that follow us know that two years ago, we only had about three picks during the season. I think we got two interceptions today and two forced fumbles. So, it’s really good to see that going on. The defensive coaches really emphasize turnovers every day in practice. So, going into the game and being able to execute that and catch the ball and get it out of the offense’s hands means a lot to us.”
ON TEAM CONFIDENCE IN ACHIEVEING GOALS – “We’re really confident. Like I said, I’m a senior so a lot of stuff that happens is because of senior leadership. We know that it’s our team and we need to put that in motion that we want to be Pac-12 Champions. That’s it. We’re trying to go 1-0 every week and we need to keep doing that to achieve our goals.”
TB Phillip Lindsay
ON SCORING – “It means a lot. It means that we came a long way. We’ve been working so hard during fall camp. Coach Chiaverini has been hard on us; Coach Lindgren has been hard on us. It’s paid off. We know we won the game but it’s time to clear our heads and go 1-0 next week.”ON THE TEMPO – “The tempo is a lot faster. The goal is to get the first first-down. If you do that then we can raise the tempo and it starts to mess with the defense because they can’t sub people out. We have all of these talented receivers and it’s great to have Sefo back because he’s a born leader.”
ON ELIMINATING FUMBLES
“We need to continue to practice. I’m not much of a fumbler but I let a couple go today and that’s on me. Coach MacIntyre believes in me and I’m going to continue to work on it. I’ll probably go around school with a football in my hand now.”
WR Devin Ross
ON FIRST DROP OF THE GAME- “Drops are my biggest pet peeve. It makes me so mad every single time. It’s a matter of focus because it was just a little bubble route. It motivated me for the next play to get my focus back and get all of the excitement out. Get back to the game and focus on what I know I can do which is making plays and having Sefo trust me and my teammates. So, that’s all I was focusing on after that drop.”ON HOW THIS WIN FEELS DIFFERENT THAN OTHERS - “It always feels good to play in the CSU game and beat them, of course. But, our motto right now is ‘The Rise’ and that was a good statement to start the season. It’s good to show what we’ve been working on and on what’s to come. That’s just a little start of what’s coming. It’s not anything close to where we’re going. I’m ready for the rest.”
ON RECEIVERS BLOCKING - “Coach Chiaverini stresses that more than catching the ball or running the ball. We have a board in our meeting room for knock downs and for blocking. We put all of our numbers up and whoever has the most at the end of the season gets a reward or something. Bryce had a great block on my touchdown so I give him props for that and I appreciate him because it would not have happened without him.”
ON THE OFFENSE’S TEMPO - “It was just like we envisioned. Coach Chiaverini preaches that we’re going to move really fast and we saw that on the first drive. We felt kind of winded at first but we got used to the game and the tempo. I appreciate our offense and I love it and I can’t wait to see how much better we are going to get. Just imagine how it’s going to be when we get in sync and continue to grow. It’s going to be great.”
Colorado State Players
QB NICK STEVENS
(general)“We were never able to get it back or slow them down. I know it took us at least a few drives to get a first down on offense. It just went downhill from there. It definitely wasn’t our best showing. This wasn’t the team you’ll see the rest of the season but unfortunately it was tonight. We’ve just got to try rebound and come back next week.”
(on whether this shake his confidence)
“No, I don’t think so. I just made some stupid decisions. I think a big part of it was it was hard to get the ball rolling a little bit. I think we prepared well but not good enough. I just need to have a better week in practice and make better decisions during the game.”
(on how much this one stings because all of the work put in)
“Yeah…definitely hurts to come out and play the way we did as a team. We were definitely expecting to play better. We put in the work to put us in the position to do well but we just didn’t play well tonight.”
(on how the team will recover)
“I think we can absolutely recover from it. I think we just have to look at it as one game and not our season. Emphasize that and we don’t think the season is over because we lost one game and I think we can come back and rally.”
(on where the offense goes moving forward)
“I think we need to just refine and execute. I think we had the right schemes and the right people in the game. We just took turns mis-assigning stuff and I think the scheme is sound and effective. We’ve just got to execute better.”
(on CU defense being better)
“They were definitely good. I think that they made improvements all around. They played hard. They disguised pretty well. I mean, I got hit a couple of times. They hit hard and really flew to the ball, so credit to them. I think they are going to do really, really well in their conference this year. I guess we’ll see, but they came out and had a great game tonight.”
(on everything going CU’s way)
“We took a little while to get a first down and then they were executing on offense and they had pretty good field position all night. I think that definitely hurt us. But it definitely didn’t feel like anything was going right for us until we got our first first down, which was probably 4 or 5 or 6 drives in, which is really not good.”
(on Dalyn Dawkins’ performance)
“I think he did a good job and staying true to who he is as that effort guy. Not once did he look up at the scoreboard and say ‘why should I run hard right now.’ He ran hard every single play and I think that’s what we expect from him. But, it is definitely a positive thing that you’ve got a back who is not going to give up when it’s going wrong and always going to try to drive on.”
(on how disappointing the outcome was)
“It was absolutely not what we were looking for. I think it was disappointing because I really, really think we felt good about the offseason. We put in really good work from January up until now and we really didn’t execute like we have all year. This was a test, per se, and we studied really, really hard for it and bombed it. I think there is still hope for us. I think that we…because we did put in good work in the offseason that we are going to be able to rebound from this easily. I don’t think anyone is going to get their head down or give up on the season. I think that we have a lot of guys in that locker room who are resilient and come back and try twice as hard I guess.”
C JAKE BENNETT
(on what the team has to do to get back on track)
“We are going to have to get in there this weekend, see what we did right and what we did wrong, get better from it and move on.”
(on the lack of running game for the Rams)
“I think we all thought we were going to get out there and kind of impose our will a little bit but it really didn’t go our way. Hats off to those guys. They brought it to us and we didn’t really show up.”
(on how this experience can help the younger players on the team)
“They just played in front of the biggest crowd they’re going to play in front of, and it’s a decently sized game for us but I think they are going to have to learn to get back to work and go get a win next weekend.”
LB KEVIN DAVIS
(on if the defense was surprised by CU’s hurry-up offense)
“We talked about it during the week that they do have a tempo and will go hurry-up every once in a while but you just have to get the signal and play.”
(on what the team can do after a big loss)
“Just go back and watch the film. We’ll definitely have a salty taste in our mouth and we’ve got to get back to work and worry about UTSA.”
(on if he is surprised as to how the game started)
“Yeah, that was unacceptable the way the defense played in the first half especially. We slowed it down a little bit in the second half but the first half that was unacceptable.”
(on how tough it is to lose this game in your senior year)
“It’s hard. I was able to go two-and-two against them but to lose it my senior year is hard but it’s over with. We’ve just got to worry about next week.”
RB DALYN DAWKINS
(on the feeling of losing to CU)
“It hurts, it hurts a lot. Especially losing two years in a row. We’ve just got to bounce back because we’ve still got to play, we’ve still got a season ahead of us.”
(on how fast CSU can get over this loss)
“I think real fast. It’s the first game of the season and we need to figure out what we did wrong and get better.”
(on if it felt like if everything was going right for CU)
“Yeah that can happen. They were just executing and we didn’t execute.”
(on his feeling about his performance)
“I am never satisfied with my performance, especially after a loss. Maybe I felt like I left some yards out there but you know there is always something and I am going to learn from my mistakes as well but as far as not giving up, I’m never going to give up. I’m never going to quit.”
QB FATON BAUTA
(on when he came in and what he was trying to do)
“Just get a first down, honestly. I told the guys before I got in there…I was like what we’re going to do right here is get a first down. Got a first down and just kept going.”
(on how disappointing the loss was)
“It hurts. It does hurt but Colorado is a great football team. Very stout both on offense and defense. They came out to play today. We didn’t. It is as simple as that. They executed their offense very well. We didn’t execute ours very well and that’s what it comes down to…that’s football.”
(on this being just 1 of 12 games)
“I think so. You know it happens. You’re not going to win every game. But as long as we come in tomorrow with our hard hat and lunchbox and go back to work because that’s all that matters.”
(on him and Nick pushing each other in practice.)
“For sure, that’s all you can do. Push each other and keep going. I told him (Nick Stevens) right as we got in the locker room I said “We’ve got a long way to go. Let’s keep pushing” and that’s about it. I was glad I was able to say that to him and we’re going to see where it takes us.”
(on him and Nick Stevens missing throws)
“Yeah…I am not going to make the first game an excuse because you’ve got be ready to go right away. Was it because it was jitters or first game excited…maybe…but that doesn’t matter. You have to find a way to put that aside and do your job the way it’s supposed to be done.”
(on how bad the loss hurts)
“It hurts. I am new to CSU and knew how important this game was to my teammates ever since I got here. And all I ever tried to do is help us…help them to get to a better place where we could come out and win this game. Colorado played pretty well today. They are a great team and we didn’t come out and execute like we should have.”
(on if it was an embarrassment to the CSU name as Coach Bobo stated)
“Absolutely. Coach Bobo is my dude. I would honestly go to the end of the Earth for him because all of the things he taught me and done for me. Just an incredible man and incredible coach. If it’s embarrassing it is embarrassing. I don’t think anybody here would want to lose by 40 points at anything. Like I said, Colorado is a great team and we didn’t come out and play Colorado State football like we should have.”
(on his scoring drive)
“I think you absolutely have to take some pride and positives away from it so you can build on it. If you don’t, you are just going to start from zero. I just went in there and tried to get something going. First down…another first down and then a touchdown. That was one positive but that wasn’t good enough from anybody today.”
(on the QB competition still being open)
“That means tomorrow, I am going to have my hard hat and lunchbox and going right back to work. Doesn’t change anything.”