Colorado Texas A&M Quotes
October 08, 2005 | Football
Colorado Head Coach Gary Barnett
General
“It was obvious that our team was ready to play tonight. I'm extremely pleased with the focus they had going into this game--they had it all week in practice. I knew they really wanted this football game for lots of reasons. We had a great plan. I thought (offensive coordinator) Shawn Watson called a great game tonight. We were able to take advantage of some things that we saw on film with our offense. Our tight ends got involved. We just had one of those days where we had a great plan that worked. Joel (Klatt) got in the zone tonight. Our offensive line, again, just did a great job protecting him. It let us convert some third downs and get some throws in there.”
“Our defense did a good job against (QB Reggie) McNeal. The game did get a little sloppy there in the last third of the game and that happens when somebody gets a lead like that.”
“We got to play a lot of guys and that's always great. I thought we did a decent job on special teams but I was disappointed in the long punt return. We have to get better than that -- it's not like us. Overall it was a pretty solid game; I'm really proud of the way the guys prepared and they way they came out. For them to focus and get at it the way they did early on -- it was impressive to me. It says a lot about the leadership on this football team.”
On Game Plan
“You design it so it works, but you don't use the whole offense. You use pieces that work like they should into the game against the defense. It all starts with protection of the quarterback. We were able to protect Joel and give him a chance.”
“We thought we could do some things with play-action -- and we did. We especially got our tight ends involved and we had them hidden most of the night. They came up with some big plays for us.”
On Play of Joel Klatt
“Statistically, maybe (it was his best game as a Buff). He sure was sharp tonight. I can't remember those other games but he was pretty good tonight.”
On team goals
“We've known all along that our goal is to win the (Big 12) North, play in the championship game and win the championship game. We have a lot of games to play before then. This was just the next one. We are trying to get batter every week and we got better last week. That's what is important to a coach in a program. At this point in time, we've made a nice improvement since the first game.“
On game plan against A&M QB Reggie McNeal
“Tonight we were able to tackle him decently but he's a heck of a player. You saw him back there and we were trying to tackle him -- it looked like we were trying to swat flies. Offensively we were so dominant, it forced them out of what they wanted to do.
Texas A&M Head Coach Dennis Franchione General “I just think we don't block and execute very well. As much as anything, “I don't think we ever got ourselves in down and distance to control the tempo. We just didn't put ourselves in better situations with the chains and things like that. I thought they covered well, they rushed well, they protected well from the early part of the game. I thought their secondary did a good job.” On Expectations “Well I don't think you can expect anything like that. They've got a good football team. They played very well and we didn't have a lot of answers for them. On the Mobley Fumble “Its one of those things. You can't miss opportunities like that when you're playing a good football team.” On Joel Klatt “They played well and he was hot as a pistol. They were moving him around a lot with naked boots, and we had a hard time getting pressure on him. The whole football game played about as good the first quarter or half as you could play. On the CU Defense “We expected the defense to play well. They've had two shutouts in four games now, and I don't know if there's another team in Division I who has got that.” On Recovering “You have to put it behind you and go on. You cannot let a win affect the next game and you can't let a loss affect the next game.” Colorado Buffalo Players QB Joel Klatt GENERAL ? “Coaching staff did a tremendous job this week, we owe our success to them. Coach Watson called an extremely aggressive game early on and it got us going. We were able to isolate some guys and get some plays allowing us to do whatever we wanted to do. It wasn't like we were scoring quick TDs, we just had a good game plan and executed with attention to detail.” ON LINE BLOCKING WELL - “We got off early on them and those big old ON TD PASS TO QUINN SYPNIEWSKI ? “I was just happy that I didn't over throw him. When they are wide open like that it is the toughest throw to make during a game.” IN FIRST DOWN EFFICIENCY ? “They never really jumped any eight-yard patterns; we started picking up eight or nine yards on first downs. After that it was really hard to stop us when you have players like Hugh Charles and Lawrence Vickers.” TB Hugh Charles ON CATHCING THE BALL OUT OF THE BACK FIELD ? “This whole week during practice we were trying to add a new dimension to the offense. Getting the ball into Byron Ellis' hands and my hands is one way to do that because were able to make some moves after we get the ball.” ON TD RECEPTION ? “Joel (Klatt) and I discussed connecting for a play like that before the game; we decided to try and get me the ball if there was anyone but a cornerback covering me. My eyes lit up when I saw someone besides a corner on me, and it was just a matter of getting to the end zone.” ON CONTROLLING THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE ? “With our big line pushing hard we knew we could get them tired by pounding at them early, and then it was just a matter of taking the game over.” ON JOEL KLATT'S LEADERSHIP ? “His leadership is so big to this team and especially this offense. Every down and every play we rely on him to be our leader.” ON PLAYING IN HOME STATE NEXT WEEK ? “Going and playing in my home state will be great because my family and friends will get to see me play.” WR Evan Judge GENERAL ? “We really came out firing tonight--we were able to get out there early and from that point on it was just a matter of keeping it going.” ON PLAYING NO. 2 GENERAL ? “I think that you have to credit Coach Mike Hankwitz for what he did all week. He had us mentally prepared and all we had to do was take what he said and execute. You also have to credit the scout team because they did everything they could to make us prepared for this game.” ON STOPPING REGGIE MCNEAL ? “We just tried to take McNeal out of the game every play that we executed. We didn't give him any options for him to beat us with his feet.” ON PLAY OF THE RESERVES ? “A&M may have scored some points on reserves, but there were just a few break downs that caused that to happen. They are really good and we all have confidence in their play.” DE Alex Ligon ON HAVING DE ALONZO BARRETT GO DOWN WITH INJURY ? “As a defensive unit we all have to be prepared when someone goes down. All the defensive ends really had to pick it up and make plays especially playing against a quarterback like Reggie McNeal.” ON HOLDING REGGIE MCNEAL TO NEGATIVE RUSHING YARDS ? “McNeal is a great player and last year he absolutely killed us with his feet. We really concentrated on containing him and not allowing him to make any plays.” ON STIFLING REGGIE MCNEAL ? “McNeal was flustered out there because we were able to stop his game. He started making bad decisions and it made us excited. Early on in the game he had a few chances to run, and I really don't think that he wanted to run against us.” DT James Garee ON STOPPING REGGIE MCNEAL ? “The biggest key was closing the door on him early, we did such a good job of stopping him before he could get to the corner and scrambling too much. Guys on this defense are really jelling together.” ON PLAYING NUMBER TWO ON BEING WIDE OPEN ? “It seem like our running game was successful in the beginning. It is never that easy, things just popped open, wide open. Their defense over pursued the run and we were able to get behind them.” ON THE PLAY OF JOEL KLATT ? “He played a great game tonight, he executed the offense very well.” ON MATCHUP WITH GENERAL ? “It wasn't an easy win for us at all. They have a good defense but our plan was to be physical with them. It was one of those days where we just clicked. Our eyes are on Texas A&M Aggies Players DB Jordan Chambless “Pretty much they came out and did exactly what we thought they would do. They bootleg well, they roll out well, and today they did both of those and in general played well. From the beginning of the game they controlled the tempo.” ON CU'S TIGHT ENDS ? “We knew coming into this game that 45 (Quinn Sypniewski) and 89 (Joe Klopfenstein) were there best receivers. We had some schemes to cover them, but they threw some new stuff at us, crossing routes and such, and did what we didn't want them to do which is get the ball in their hands.” ON 55-YARD PUNT RETURN ? “We talked all week about some of their punt coverage's. They run some different stuff, and in particular a trips punt set. On the play the trips was to the right side of the line and I got the ball on the other side of the field, and once I got past that first man I had quite a bit of blocking ahead of me.” WR Jason Carter ON FIRST DROPPED BALL ? “When you come into an opposing teams house you just have to make plays, and tonight we didn't make any plays. We knew they were a good team, and tonight they played well, so there is no telling what would have happened if we caught that first ball.” “We have to come back tomorrow and try to get our guys going. We have to be optimistic all the time. If you let a bad thing get into your head, then it stays a bad thing that will bother you all season. If you let that happen then you are going to lose a lot of games. We just have to forget about the bad things that happened in this game and get better.” ON TEXAS A&M TEAM PLAY ? “ We still haven't played a complete game yet. One night the offense plays well and the defense does not, and the next week we come out and the defense plays well, but the offense doesn't. We have to work as a team to get better.” QB Reggie McNeal “We need to practice hard and get better. ( “We felt good in practice, we just couldn't translate it into the game. We are a better team than this, I don't know what happened tonight, I don't have anything left to tell you.” “We have to stay positive and just go out and get better. There are a lot of games left to play this season.” ON INJURED RB COURTNEY LEWIS ? “Courtney can always make a difference, we missed him a little bit, but the next man has to step in and play.” DB Jaxson Appel “It's going to be a quiet plane ride home. We came out and didn't play well. ON CU TIGHT ENDS ? “They are athletic and are very good football players. They felt they had a mismatch with our linebackers, and they executed well.”
