Colorado-Oklahoma State Quotes
November 20, 2009 | Football
Colorado Head Coach Dan Hawkins
On if the defense got tired
"No. They're a good football team so I thought our guys battled and scrapped, and I'm really, really proud of them. They are very electric on offense and have a lot of skill players, and it's tough to keep a group like that bottled up the entire time. But they battled. They did a good job."
On if he knew much about Oklahoma State's Brandon Weeden
"No, not really. You see those guys a few snaps here or there."
On Colorado's kickoff return for a touchdown
"Well those guys have been doing a great job. Those guys up front have been doing a great job all year, and B-Lock's (Brian Lockridge) got speed so they did a nice job. That was a huge, huge momentum shift in the game so it was nice to see because they've done a nice job all year."
On having a good start on the road and the future of Colorado
"They were better, yeah. I think that was a lot of it. I love these dudes. They bring it every day, they do. They believe, and they keep fighting and keep learning. These guys are going to be a good football team. They're going to be good."
On what he told his team
"I tell them, 'Hey that was great effort. Could you have a play here or there and would you love to win that football game? Sure you would.' Those guys shouldn't hang their heads. They battled, and they brought it like a good football team's supposed to and they did everything they're supposed to do. We came up on the short end. They feel bad. They do, but I love those guys and I love their effort and I love their intensity and I loved the way they competed. They did everything right. They've got nothing to hang their head about that way."
On Alex Cate and when Brandon Weeden completed a pass and the Oklahoma State offense improved
"We've talked about that before. This game's so funny. Mike (Gundy) and I talked before the game. You get a little momentum. That's all it is. You get a little wind underneath your wings and you get a little confidence, you get going, a guy makes a play. Had Alex (Cate) made a play in there, in might have been different."
On if he thought about sticking with Cody Hawkins when he was playing well
"Totally. You're always thinking about that. You are, but Tyler came in and made a nice throw, and Markques made a nice catch."
Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy
On team's effort
"That's quite an effort by our team. We made a number of mistakes tonight. We had three fumbles and the interception. It was really a good team effort. We showed a lot of heart tonight in coming back. Obviously, the first half wasn't very good."
On Alex Cate's first-half struggles
"I know there will be some talk about Alex Cate not playing real well. And he really didn't play that well, he understands that. He had some situations that didn't go his way. He's very much part of this team, and he's worked very hard. He deserved the right, and he had an opportunity to play. He's been in this program a number of years, and we felt like he was next in line so he's who we went with. That falls on me."
On switching to Brandon Weeden
"At halftime, we felt like we needed a spark, so we made the change and put Brandon in. Brandon made some nice plays for us. He put us in position and gave us a chance to win the game, which we did."
On coming out flat
"Perrish Cox had the big return to start the game. From that point on, not only in special teams, but in all three phases, we were pretty flat for about two quarters. I was a little concerned about that. Throughout the season in college football, it's difficult to get these guys to play at a high level so many weeks in a row. That's our job as coaches. We have to do a better job of getting them ready to play."
On Brandon Weeden's performance
"He did play well. Surprised may be the right word. He's shown signs of that, but he just hasn't been out there enough. The last time he was out there was against Grambling, and the game was somewhat put away. You're not really sure how a young man is going to react. He performed pretty well tonight. He ran around and made a couple plays when protection broke down. Obviously, he gave us a chance to win the game."
Colorado Players
QB Tyler Hansen
On how frustrating it is to getting so close to almost beating the #12 team on national television--"It's real frustrating. We were so confident in the first half and third quarter, we played real well tonight. It's real disappointing we were that close."
On why the team isn't making the plays necessary to finish games-"Some of it is experience, some of it is people doubting themselves because of what has happened in the past. It just comes with getting experience - the more we play, the more plays we'll make."
On going for it on 4th-and-2 instead of kicking the game-tying field goal in the fourth quarter-"We all knew as a team if we got that fourth down, we were going to score and seal the game. There was no hesitation, we were going for it. I was going to the sideline saying we're going for it. It didn't work out that way, but we still had confidence in our defense to make a stop. But if we had made that fourth down we would have won the game."
On if he knows that the team is playing for their coach's job-"We don't look at it that way. We always hear that Coach Hawkins is solid right now and his job is pretty certain, and he's going to be here. We're playing for ourselves and for the team and for some pride right now."
On the sideline being more excited than it has been in recent game-"Even though we're not getting the wins, we still have plenty of pride. We're trying to stride off of it, even though we're still losing games, we have pride. We still want to go out there and perform at a high level. We want to do our best and play and win."
On his kickoff return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter-"I had some great blockers, I just ran as fast as I can and made a play on the kicker. I owed one to the team and it was a pivotal time in the game, and that's what we needed in a response to their score. I was grateful to give the team a score, but it didn't end quite the way we wanted it to."
LB Patrick Lavine
On the defense-"It's a good feeling because we've made a difference since I first came in. Now Coach Gundy will tell us we're going for it on fourth down, and that shows how much confidence he has in us. We have come a long ways, and we'll continue to get better."
On the Cowboys' offense-"It's just one of those games. We're a team, and we're going to have days like this. The defense is going to be down, and they're going to have to put more points on the board. It just worked out for us, and we stepped up and played big."
"We try to go out there and play like the offense is going to have the best game every night. That's how we look at it. We have faith in them just like they have faith in us. As long as one of us is doing well, we're going to be able to win the game."
S Markelle Martin
On the Bedlam game-"It's a fun atmosphere with the fans. You feed off the fans and it's just one of those things you just can't wait because you know it's going to be exciting."
WR Justin Blackmon
On a possible BCS berth for OSU-"We hear about the chance (of a BCS berth), but we try not to listen to it. We try to take it a game at a time. You can't overlook anybody or else you're going to get beat."
On the game against Colorado-"Very glad this game is over and excited to get a little break this weekend."
Oklahoma State Players
