Colorado-Nebraska Quotes
November 23, 2007 | Football
Colorado Head Coach Dan Hawkins
On halftime adjustments
“We showed a little more zone coverage, and got away from the man, which allows you to see the ball and break on the ball a little better. I thought [Defensive Coordinator] Ron [Collins] and [Secondary Coach] Greg [Brown] did a great job of helping with those adjustments.”
On Meaning of Win
“We will see. Our team has done a nice job through this whole thing, and they also continued to battle through all of our injuries. I think that our young guys have done a nice job of coming along and learning the things that they need to learn in order to have long term success. Beating
On Team Performance
I have had a lot of special teams over the years. People always think that the 13-1 [teams] were the most special, but I am not sure that this team hasn't endeared itself to me more than any other team that I have coached. The things that they went through before I got here, and despite the way it went last year, they have continued to hang in there. It is a credit to those guys to see it through. I think that is an important message in football and in life. When you set your sights high and you do the right things, and you keep banging away on the sidewalk, you will get there.”
On Becoming Bowl Eligible
“That is up to them to decide. We beat a good Texas Tech team that will go to a bowl game. We also beat a good
On LB Jordon Dizon
“He has been such a strong stable person and football player. For those people that know him outside of football, they have an appreciation for the kind of person he is. He is obviously a tremendous playmaker, but what most don't see is how he is such a humble guy, and a hard worker. He puts the team before himself. He is very tough, and this might actually be one of the first games that did not have something messed up anywhere on his body. He is everything that you want in a young man and in a player. I hope that everybody votes right, because every scout that has come in here says he is the best line backer in the country.”
On Finishing Season With a Win
“It means a lot when you win your opening game, a start fast. That means that when the season starts you're ready to go. No matter what happens, it is important that you finish well. I told this team that all that matters is that you are a finisher. Be a guy that finishes. It is what good football teams are made of and also what good people are made of as well.”
On Beating
“We just wanted to win. The most redeeming thing for me was that we were down at halftime and struggling a little bit to stop them, and then coming out in the second half and showing incredible resolve. I thought that our offense did a great job in the second half, and stared wearing on them. Also, our defense came up with some turnovers which was big. The thing that I am most proud of is seeing those seniors in the lockerroom pull this team together and come out in the second half strong. That was huge.”
On TB Hugh Charles
“He did a good job, and I was alerted that that he was close to the 1,000-yard barrier, but unfortunately we were unable to get him there. He did a nice job, and our offensive line did a nice job in chipping away.”
On Nebraska Coach Bill Callahan
“I have a lot of respect for him, and what he has had to endure and go through. He has handled this tough situation with class. His starting quarterback goes down, and they gave
Nebraska Head Coach Bill Callahan
General
“It's a real tough way to end a difficult season. I'm just really proud of our players and the effort they have shown through the duration of this year. It's tough on everybody; fans, players, coaches, family. I'm just proud of the way that they've played. Especially the last two games we played as well as we could. The second half kind of got away from us with the turnovers, getting steamrolled and we couldn't get back into it in the fourth quarter. That being said, our football team had a good opportunity, you have to give
On QB Joe Ganz
“He is a little banged up but he came back and finished well in the second half.”
On His Coaching Future
“I'm not going to speculate on that whatsoever.”
On What He Told His Team Post-Game
“I just told them I'm disappointed in what occurred today. It was a tough season but I love each and every one of them individually, they're great kids and you learn life lessons going through a season like this. They gave everything they could and it wasn't enough. As a coaching staff, you do the best you can. These are lessons you learn now and you take them with you forever.”
On
“That's college football -- you can score from anywhere. They were trying to run the ball; it's our job to defend it. It's our job to defend the run and we didn't do that and they scored. “
On
“It was a weird game; we got off to a good start in the first half. I talked to the team at halftime and told them it wasn't enough. The turnovers definitely hurt us, [the turnovers] gave them a short field. The blocked punt hurt us, they had three quick scores, that gave them the momentum and that swing occurred which definitely hurt us. It was a tough third quarter for us.”
On What He Expects from Tomorrow's Meeting With Tom Osborne
“I don't know what to expect, I'm just going to wake up tomorrow and deal with whatever I have to deal with. It was my intention to be here from the get-go, it's been a tough season. I wanted to be here from the on-set, that's why I signed an extension after our first game.”
On What Changes Need to be Made
“I'm not going to speculate on anything of that nature at this time.”
On What He Learned From This Season
“You learn a lot of things. First off, you have to reflect back on it and I haven't had time to reflect on it. It's just not the time to look back on it right now, but I'm sure I'll look back and take a lot of positives from it.”
On If His Uncertain Future Affected His Players
“The players play and I don't think they were thinking about that. I don't think kids are affected by those types of things that go on. They just go out and play. They're a resilient group, this question has been posed to me several times in the past seven weeks and my response has been consistent in that the players are resilient. These are young men and it's the coaches job to help them during difficult times, to lead them and be a model example for them. They just want to play football, they love the game and everything about it or else they wouldn't be doing it.”
On His Message to
“We have the greatest fans in the country and I'm disappointed in myself that I didn't reach my own expectations and goals. I'm more disappointed than anybody. I think they've just been terrific and I wish I could've given them a better season.”
Colorado
GENERAL?“In the first half he [Nebraska QB Joe Ganz] was getting the ball off pretty fast, we weren't really making a lot of plays on the field. In the second half, it was a combination of us getting more pressure on them and them making a few bad decisions and our defensive backs making a few plays on them.”
GENERAL ?“This was the kind of game where we tried everything and it isn't that our calls weren't working, but we weren't executing on the field. We came in and said ?Let's run our base stuff; if they're going to beat us we're going to go out doing what we do,' and all year long that's what we did and worked out today.”
ON THE DEFENSE?“We've just got to make some tackles; they hit us up for a few big plays and we didn't play very good red zone defense. We still scored 14 points on defense; scoring on defense is always great because you get the ball back for your offense. Sometimes the defense isn't always clean and perfect but you have to stop their offense from scoring more than your offense and that's what we did today. You can't really argue or debate over what happened you have to learn from it and we're going to attack in the bowl game.”
GENERAL?“Obviously we showed that we can score some points through the season; we've shown that we can beat some good teams if we can quit this “Dr. Jekyl-Mr.Hyde” act and go out every week doing what we do and doing what we're good at. Maybe we are a bowl team or a national championship contender team but hopefully we'll get placed somewhere so that we can show our skills.”
ON
QB Cody Hawkins
GENERAL?“They were telling us all week that we had to finish this ball game if we wanted to win. They started doing some things that we hadn't seen before or expected there. We made a lot of adjustments at half and guys started talking, saying ?Hey lets finish this game.' I think we did an awesome job in the second half being persistent.”
GENERAL?“It means a lot for the seniors and for the program and everybody on this team and on this staff. This team has been through a lot this year, beating
ON THE OFFENSE?“I'm used to seeing a lot of points so it was nice to finally go out there and score some. We know that if we do our job we can do that against anybody. Our line played awesome today, one of the best games they've played all year. [TB] Hugh [Charles] ran his butt off and it paid dividends.
ON WINNING FOR THE SENIORS?“Folsom Field is one of the best places to play in the country if not the best. The seniors have been here for a long time and have really tutored us young guys very well and they've given us everything, even if young guys take over their spots, they've given everything. Beating
ON GOING TO A BOWL GAME--“When you're sitting at home for the holidays, watching everybody else play it's definitely a bummer. Instead of singing Christmas carols you're saying, ?Coulda, woulda, shoulda.' We want to win the bowl game now because finishing with a winning record is very important to us. “
ON COMING BACK?“We had a couple miscues and ended up punting. The offense did a great job of coming down and scoring right before the end of the first half. We kind of opened our eyes again when they went down and scored. We did an awesome job at putting one in at the end and hopefully we can carry this momentum on.
ON BE
TB Hugh Charles ON THE RIVALRY?“I came in here my freshman year not really knowing how big this rivalry really was but after this game my freshman year I realized how big it was and how important it is to come away with a victory. With it being my senior and winning today, I couldn't be happier than I am today.” ON COACH HAWKINS AND THE DEFENSE?“He rallied the team, the other coaches did a great job of rallying everybody else. The defensive coaches did a great job. They came out a little flat, but the coaches picked them up and they did what they knew they could do and got those interceptions to spark this team. ON WHAT THE WIN MEANS?“This win really boosts the program, it boosts next year and gives the fans and the community something to look forward to for next year.” ON PERSONAL ADVERSITY?“I've had to fight through a lot and overcome a lot and prove myself after every week. It's just something that you learn from, life is about lessons, you learn from the good and you learn from the bad and I've learned a lot of lessons- to keep fighting and never give up.” ON WINNING ON SENIOR DAY?“It couldn't have ended any better, especially putting up as many points as we did. It's such a great feeling, everybody is sticking together, listening to what the coaches have to say and us taking it and applying it to the field and doing our jobs.” ON THE OFFENSIVE PERFORM GENERAL?“We just kept rolling all day. We had a good game plan, the whole deal with these games is ?Who is going to execute and who is going to make the plays?' A lot of guys played really well today.” ON BEHING BEHIND AT HALFTIME?“We've been down 17, we've been down 21 this year and we've come out in the second half of those games and won them this year. We knew we could do it and it's about how you want to be remembered with this team.” ON HIS COWBOY H ON HIS RUNNING PL ON HIS REVERSED TOUCHDOWN C ON THE SECOND H ON POTENTI TB Byron Ellis GENER ON HIS TOUCHDOWN?“We were just running our four-minute offense, which is basically just trying to waste time. I saw an opening and just took it, I got through the hole and there was no one around. It feels great to go out with a touchdown in front of our home crowd.”
CB Jimmy Smith
ON HIS INTERCEPTION?“The coaches called us out at halftime and told us to force some turnovers. The ball was just in the air for me and I caught it and took it to the house.”
ON H
ON THE SE
ON HIS PL
ON TODAY'S G
ON HIS TOUCHDOWN RECEPTION?“It was an option route, I change my route based on what I see. I ran a comeback route and the guy covered me well, Cody just threw a great ball and I held on tight. I really think that Hugh's touchdowns and Byron's [Ellis] touchdown really helped us put the dagger in the game.”
ON THE OFFENSIVE PERFORM
TB Byron Ellis
GENER
ON HIS TOUCHDOWN?“We were just running our four-minute offense, which is basically just trying to waste time. I saw an opening and just took it, I got through the hole and there was no one around. It feels great to go out with a touchdown in front of our home crowd.”
LB Jordon Dizon
ON HIS CAREER AT CU?“It [the Buffalo Heart Award] means a lot to me, I was brought here to play football and I've just been doing what they tell me to do for four years. I get to go to school because of football and I am really grateful for the opportunity and am proud of how we played today.”
ON THE NEBRASKA OFFENSE?“They kind of dinked us in the first half, then they hit us for a few explosion plays (20 yards or longer). In the second half we settled down, got that glazed look out of our eyes and played steely-eyed the rest of the game.”
ON HIS PERSONAL SUCCESS?“First off, I have to give it to my defensive line they take up those blocks for me and keep those 300-pounders off of me, so I really have to give it up to [DT] Brandon Nicolas and [DT] George Hypolite. They keep them off me?that keeps me healthy and free to make plays.”
ON HIS FUTURE?“When that stuff happens [the possibility of playing in the NFL and being a Butkus Award finalist] it happens, right now I am just ready to hopefully start preparing for a bowl game. I get one more game with my family, my brothers and it has been a pleasure to play with them. I love them all and am just happy to have one more chance to play with them.”
GENER
ON HIS INTERCEPTION?“I'm not sure who tipped it but someone did and the ball was just floating in the air. I had to make the play and I was able to leave an impression on the game.”
ON THE DEFENSE'S SECOND H
TE Tyson DeVree
GENER
ON HIS TOUCHDOWN RECEPTION?“Cody read the coverage and the middle was pretty closed so I kept it skinny and he threw a great ball. We needed all the points we could get today and I'm glad I was able to contribute.”
DE
ON THE G
ON HIS BLOCKED PUNT?“I was out there because we were watching for a fake, but I knew that if they punted it I would be able to block it and I did that. I was able to duck under my man and just got in there deep enough and blocked it.”
Nebraska
QB Joe Ganz
GENERAL--- “Second half was tough, there were those two balls that I want back, the interceptions let them back in the game and gave them life.”
ON INTERCEPTIONS--- “It was my fault; I thought the first one was pass interference. I feel I let them back in the game.”
ON RUMORS SURROUNDING COACH CALLAHAN---“It can be a distraction if you let it, but you can't let if affect you and your game. I hope he stays but it is out of my control.”
ON SEASON--- “It's tough to go 5-6 and not make a bowl game. We let a lot of people down. It makes me sick that we didn't make a bowl game. It's really tough and I wish we could have gotten one more win.”
NT Ndamukong Suh
GENERAL--- “The defense needed to get a stop. We had some unfortunate turnovers on offense, and that's when we nned to get turnovers on defense. Mistakes will happen we just need to prepare better.”
ON SEASON--- “It is very disappointing, we never came together as a team. It's a huge disappointment considering the talent we have on the team. It's time to get back to work.”
WR Maurice Purify
ON GAMEPLAY & COACHING SITUATION?“It's not the coaches fault we don't play good, I feel we just didn't play well.”
FRUSTRATION ? “We went from potential big 12 champs to no bowl game, it's not hard to believe because its football. We didn't play as well as last season.”
SS Larry
ON SEASON OUTCOME ? “This year we felt we had a team that could compete with anybody. The balls just didn't fall our way.”
LB Bo Ruud
ON THE PREPARATION FOR THE GAME FROM THE COACHING STAFF ? “They told us the same type of things about preparing for the game. Coach [Bill] Callahan told us also that he cares for us and he is behind us 100 percent.”
ON THE SATURDAY PRESS CONFERENCE IN LINCOLN ? “I try and stay out of that kind of stuff. I just play ball and play for my teammates and coaches. I just feel terrible right now.”
ON THE FEELINGS OF PLAYING HIS LAST COLLEGIATE FOOTBALL GAME ? “I feel badly because of the way it ended. When I began playing football at
ON THE MOMENTUM SHIFT IN THE SECOND HALF ? “I thought the game was over when we got the momentum because usually when we get the momentum in the second half, the game usually turns our way. Then we had a couple of turnovers that hurt our chances, and we never recovered from that.”
ON HIS THOUGHTS ON HEAD COACH BILL CALLAHAN ? “It has been through with all of the scrutiny from the media but not once did Coach Callahan blame anything on his players. I was really impressed about how he always backed up his players.”
Senior LB Corey McKeon
ON HIS THOUGHTS ON THE SEASON ? “I thought going into the season we had a solid base of seniors and lots of experience. I think we drained ourselves a little bit and that hurt us in the long run. I am proud of these seniors and what they have done. They fought to the very end and to have a losing season is a disappointment.”
ON HIS THOUGHTS ON THE COACHING STAFF ? “I think they did a great job. They played with the cards they were dealt. They did what they could do.”
ON DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR KEVIN COSGROVE ? “I could not play for any other coach. Coach Cosgrove treated me like family. He was a great coach and a great man. If I asked any more from him I would be selfish.”
ON THE DISTRACTIONS ? “I thought that the distractions were a factor this season, especially with the media coverage in
ON THE TURNING POINT OF THE SEASON ? “I think that game against
