Colorado University Athletics
Arizona State-Colorado Post Game Quotes
September 16, 2006 | Football
Colorado Head Coach Dan Hawkins
General
“We're making strides, but, dog gone it, that game right there was one where you feel like you get a couple plays here, a couple plays there and get it going. We're making strides, but, again, we know the competition is going up. Those strides need to be bigger, faster and harder, and there are life lessons and tough football lessons.”
“You can stand on the sideline. But when you're on the field and living in the fire, that's living. That pain (of losing) drives you to a better day, and we will do that.”
“I know it's big boy football, and it's a loss, but the other reality is you do the things on a daily basis that winners do, and I have 100 percent confidence in the end what they are. And we're going to keep doing it, correcting, educating and coaching our guys, and teaching our guys.”
“Morale gets bad when people point fingers, and morale gets bad when you think it's some mystical thing that causes wins and losses, but I've been in this thing long enough that I know what it takes and I know what happens. And the Buffs will be in the sun.”
On close games
“I know it's close, but we've got to cinch it up. We're going to have a day here when we do win, and you guys will say ?What's the difference?' And I will say ?Two plays.'”
On team defense
“They had some great moments, and then they had some moments where, particularly in one drive, a couple calls here, there, not getting lined up.
“There was no question that, in the second half, they were awesome, and they really rallied when we needed them to rally. Getting turnovers, making stops, and we had a little momentum going on offense, but they just couldn't quite finish it. But they (the defense), in that second half, were pretty stellar.”
On team youth
“It's education of a bunch of new guys in new spots. And some of those guys are starting from ground zero. Bernard (
On RB Hugh Charles getting playing time
“He's showing up. I would've liked to see him score on that run and I told him. Let's score that thing.”
“I thought Hugh had a good day. He ran really well and did some good things. But that's what we're about, taking everybody to the next level.”
On if another QB than Bernard
“I like Bernard (
“That's the nature of being a quarterback, and that's the nature of being the new guy. But we believe in him and our team believes in him.”
On whether PK Mason Crosby might not get any more long field goal tries
“No. Not at all. When you get inside of the 70 (yard line), you have a chance. We've got to get with our guys and talk about his ability, his range and really see what we can do with him.”
Arizona State Head Coach Dirk Koetter
On The Defense
“Tonight was about the Sun Devil defense. When you can hold any team on their home field to three points, you're going to win a lot of games. My hat is off to the Sun Devil defense, they dominated tonight; they did a great job. “
On Running Back Shaun DeWitty
“Shaun DeWitty is one of the most coachable players on our team. He'll play any role necessary; he can run, block, catch, and play on special teams. We are deep at running back and Shaun is one that can play his role. Shaun is going to be a heck of a player for us in the future.”
On the Play of the running backs
“I thought both of our running backs played well tonight. Let me say this about Keegan [Herring]; he is one of the best teammates and keeps our team pumped up all the time. He made a great tackle on kickoff coverage and its nice to see Keegan get some success because he's worked so very hard. [Ryan] Torain ran well to the outside, that is a specialty. He ran really hard and you can see why we brought him out of Junior College to join us here. All of our running backs played their roles tonight and played them well.”
On what was said to Dan Hawkins post-game
“I just told him to hang in there. I've been where he's at and I know what he's going through. Dan Hawkins is a heck of a football coach. Colorado made a very wise choice when they hired him and he's just got to keep doing the things that he's doing.”
On the offense
“We've been so good at finishing drives in the red zone in the past few years and tonight we were just horrible. In past years when that would have happened, we were always in a fight for our lives. Tonight I was angry a few times, but I was never worried about the game because our defense had everything under control. I am very pleased with how our defense was playing and I'm sure that we're going to play a lot better offense starting next week.”
On the play of Quarterback Rudy Carpenter
“Rudy is one of the best quarterbacks in the country. That guy can play. I'm always going to be harder on Rudy than I am on any other player because I know how well Rudy can play. When we can win 21-3 on the road at a Big 12 school and not play our best on offense because Rudy doesn't play his best, I think that just shows a lot for where we are at. Everyone here has seen Rudy play a lot better than he has tonight. He puts a lot of pressure on himself and we give him a lot of stuff to handle mentally, but he's a stud at handling it. Rudy did not play his best tonight, but he is still 7-1 as a starter and I'll take that guy as our quarterback any day of the week.”
Colorado Players
GENERAL-“Week to week, we just continue to try and get better. We are getting better, just unable to do all of the things that we need to do. We just have to continue to get better, we had some exceptional plays and some others that weren't so good. Its just my first two starts at quarterback and I have two losses. Obviously I can get better it took me four years just to get here and I'm getting better every week, I have to continue to improve.”
ON THE PLAY OF HUGH CHARLES- “We need our running game, no offense is going to be successful without a successful running game. Tonight, Hugh (Charles) played great, it really helps when you have a running back or a running game that really gets into a rhythm.”
ON PASSING-“That is (a lot of completed passes) is the quarterback's dream. Get back there, read the defense, and be able to throw the ball when we want to. Throw it on first down, third down, or whenever. We need to be able to throw whenever we want to.”
ON GOING TO ATHENS GEORGIA-“ Extra extra film, work, preparation and practice. We just need to get better because Georgia is a good team and a great place to play.”
TB Hugh Charles
GENERAL-“As a team we just need to keep building on the positives, we continue to fight. We fought harder this week than we had in the previous two. We just need to continue to improve and limit our mistakes.”
ON HIS PERFORMANCE TODAY-“You have to have a rhythm, and that's what happened to me tonight. Past few weeks, we've had a good rotation going and that helps keep me fresh. But when you get in a good rhythm, good things happen. Every good team has their one workhorse back, and that's what I strive to be for this team.”
GENERAL-“We did good on the defensive side of the ball, we forced some turnovers and have to continue to do that to help our offense out. Turnovers are big, we emphasize them in practice, trying to get the ball out and force the turnovers. We just have to do that to continue to help our offense out.”
ON PREPARING FOR GEORGIA-“We have to go out tomorrow, everyone on the same page, with great effort and a great attitude. We need to keep working and preparing to go to Athens because every week we need to improve because the competition is improving.”
ON TURNOVERS-“We finally did (forced some turnovers), finally the secondary picked it up, we're not done yet. We just need to keep improving.”
ON HIS INTERCEPTION-“I jumped the route and he (ASU QB Rudy Carpenter) under threw it. The receiver went for the curl, I jumped it a little bit early and actually lost the ball for a second. The QB under threw it and I was able to recover it and force the interception.”
ON ASU-“They are a good team. They have a good offense and good wide receivers. An overall good team. Their receivers are really big and from my point of view they are the best wide receivers we've faced all year.”
ON ASU QB RUDY CARPENTER-“He's pretty mobile. And they have a good set of lineman. I almost got to him a couple times when I was sent on the blitz, key word there is almost. His mobility and the offensives line doing work in the film room played a large role in that. The offensive line called my blitz every time.”
ON TEAM IMPROVEMENT-“You always want to go out and improve in every aspect of the game. Tonight, the defense helped the offense by forcing turnovers and the offense helped the defense by moving on the field.”
ON HIS INTERCEPTION-“The receiver ran a post corner and I broke on the post. The ball seemed to just float in the air, I've seen the replay and it looks like I over jumped the route but I got the interception and that's what matters.”
GENERAL-“Everybody is pretty frustrated, especially the seniors. We never thought our senior season would begin like this. As a team, we need to stay together, keep working, and wait for it to turn around.”
ON GOING TO GEORGIA-“I don't really know (the team morale), everybody's been real quiet tonight. Tomorrow, I'll see where everybody's head is at. As a senior, I'm not going to quit, and neither are any of the other seniors. We aren't going down like this, just keep working and this will turn around. We are not going to have a losing season.”
ON OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES-“There is always a transition period when you switch coaches as an offense, we have to come out and move the chains, keep the defense off the field so they can rest and we haven't done that yet.”
GENERAL-“This is hard for all of us, but we're not quitters. We just have to kick and scratch our way back up. We are improving, we had our chances tonight to leave with a win, we had plays out there to make and we just didn't make all of them.”
ON PERFORMANCE- “There were some things that I did well and some things that I did poorly. There were some drives that I thought I moved the ball pretty well. [The defense] is slowing down to me and now it's a matter of executing and getting the ball in the right places and getting the right reads.
“I think I'm anticipating too early. I know what they're going to do so I tend to rush it. I just need to be patient with those types of things.”
ON FUMBLE AT GOAL LINE- “I thought I was in there. I was down, the ball was caught.”
ON EXECUTION- “Our execution was questionable. There were some drives where I missed possibly two touchdown passes. There's a lot we have to work on. The biggest thing is us continuing to work.
ON LEADERSHIP- “It took me four years to get here. It's my second start and I just want God to feel comfortable with me, allow me to make plays and hopefully good things will come from that.
ON WHAT HE CAN WORK ON- “I think that being more patient at time. There were times where I was rushing things and other times where I took too long with things. I have to be patient and make sure I'm making the right reads and execute the way things are supposed to be executed.
ON MOVING FORWARD- “Our heads are still high. We just have to bounce back and get some wins put together. Some how, some way, we'll get a win.
ON INTERCEPTION- “It was a third and long that I had and I wish I could have back. I threw an interception. It was tough.
LB Jordon Dizon
ON GAME PLAN- “We tried to put a rush on them. We tried to put a break on the outside and in the middle, but just weren't successful. We didn't have the best day today, but our plan is to put a rush on them and get them uncomfortable in the pocket.
ON ARIZONA STATE-“They have a tremendous passing game and when you have that it opens up your running game.
ON DEFENSE- “The D-line did their job tonight. The linebackers made some mistakes but we have to work on the little details. It's the little things that are so minute that are killing us. It might sound clich? but it's a team effort and going off of what Bernard (Jackson) said, the offense doesn't owe us anything
ON FORCE FUMBLE- “Going to that play I didn't know that I was going to make it or not and I guess he fumbled. It's just a break and it goes with the game.
ON WHAT TO WORK ON- “It's the little things that are killing us. Us slipping on plays when we're not supposed to slip up and missed tackles are killing us. We've got to work on the minute things and we have to fix them.
ON LOCEKROOM MORALE- “It's great. After we come out from a loss, Coach Hawkins and his words are so contagious. He comes out and picks us up. My heart is full of love for him and for this game. It doesn't feel like I lost tonight. I want to back out tomorrow and prepare for the next game. It's like what he said, you learn the most from when you lose. You're getting the biggest experience. Every game we're getting better.
ON GOAL OF TEAM- “The Big 12 is still up there. It's a longshot but it's up there. You have to go in there thinking that. Our goal is definitely to get better in every aspect of this game and our goal is to become a family and a better team and ultimately win the Big 12 in one way or another.
Arizona State Players
LB Beau Manutai
ON TEAM DEPTH -- “It's really tremendous to have the kind of depth that we do this year. It's a big difference from last year's squad. Its great to be able to get fresh legs on the field so that we can run at 100% speed on every play. Not only that, but it gives a lot of our younger players much-needed experience for the future.”
ON WINNING A ROAD GAME -- “Winning on the road in Division I football is one of the most key ingredients to being a championship caliber team. It's a really great feeling to come on the road and get a win especially against a team like Colorado. Wins like this can really springboard your season.”
“We felt like we did a really great job this week, better than we have in the previous couple games. The coaches prepared us for everything, Colorado didn't throw anything at us that we didn't expect. Our D-Line really excelled and allowed them nothing. If the front guys on the D-Line play like they did today, then all the back seven can play man coverage with more confidence that they won't have to play the run.”
ON TEAM CONFIDENCE -- “We're starting to believe in ourselves as a team. Today our defense played as a team for the first time this season, and we picked up the team when the offense was struggling. It was our goal not to let Colorado and especially Bernard (Jackson) make any big plays that would affect the outcome of the game. You can credit a lot of that to the pressure that our D-line was able to put on them. And lot of that credit goes to our coaching staff for preparing us for this game.”
“We'll be playing the best teams in our league over the next few weeks so we have to come out even more prepared than we were today. We have finally started to solidify as a team, but I'm sure it will take more to beat these teams (Oregon, USC) in our league.”
QB Rudy Carpenter
ON THE GAME -- “The defense played great but the offense played terrible. There were way too many penalties. I don't know why we had all those false starts but that is something that we have to work on.”
ON THE INTERCEPTION -- “We had man to man coverage on Jamaal (wide receiver, #82), and I knew that he was a lot taller than the defender. I couldn't get enough into the throw because I didn't have my feet under me because of the pressure. It was a stupid mistake but I don't make those anymore.”
ON THE TEAM -- “We can't be satisfied where we are as a football team. We will see how good we are next week against California.”
ON HIS PLAY -- “I'm just trying to make plays and win games. I want to play the best I can every week.”
DT Jordan Hill
ON HIS INTERCEPTION -- “It felt good in coverage, like four years ago when I was playing linebacker. Even though I wasn't able to get one when I played linebacker.”
ON TEAM PLAY -- “We just have to come in and take care of our thing and the offense has to do theirs. We have to be more consistent next week, we were not as crisp as we would like to have been. They got some plays on us in the first half because of our mental errors.”
