Sacramento State-Colorado Quotes

Colorado Head Coach Jon Embree

On Not Being Able to Build Off Early Lead
"I don't know, we got up, our defense was playing well and then we struggled a little bit offensively and then we couldn't stop them running the football. You can't win if you can't run, and if you can't stop them from running. And we did not do a good job defensively stopping the run. We had a couple opportunities on a key third down at the end, and we got stopped."

On Defensive Struggles Being Fault Of True Freshmen
"You know what, they're our guys, I don't care what year they are. They are going to make mistakes, but there's other guys playing (too). We knew coming in that we were going to play a lot of young guys… it is what it is with that. They also made some plays too."

On How To Pick Team Up
"Were going to get together as a staff here in about 19 minutes. There are 10 games left, as I told (the players) in there, they are going to come after us, everybody. So we got to figure out a way."

On Playing 'His Guys'
"It's not necessarily my guys, or someone else's guys, we're just trying to play our best players and get guys going that we feel give us our best chance (to win). In some cases, it's true freshmen. It wasn't like 'my guys' or 'their guys', were all University of Colorado football players and it's about trying to play the guys that give us the best chance. I thought those young kids played well."

On Play Of QB Jordan Webb
"We missed some throws, we missed some critical throws. I'll have to see the tape overall, but there were two that really jumped out that were big time plays for us and we weren't able to make the throw."

On Thinking They Would Be Able To Dominate An FCS School
"I did not come into this game thinking we were going to dominate, I came in thinking this was going to be a football game we were going to have to fight and win. And that is how they were coached all week, and how they were talked to, no one thought we were just going to come in and win."

On Deciding To Use FB Christian Powell As Starting Running Back
"It was during the week, we felt like he had enough tailback in him to be effective back there in the right situations, and so that's why we went with him. I thought he did a lot of good things."

On Defensive Performance
"Last week, I thought our defense played well. I know we gave up 125 yards rushing, or 2.8 per carry, and this week we just couldn't stop them running the football."

On Whether Sacramento State Did Anything Unexpected Offensively
"No, they did zone-read, and a little bit of one-back power, that's what they run and that's what we worked on (defending) all week. It was everything we practiced for."

On What Was The Turning Point In The Game
"There were a couple of them. When we didn't pick up the first down with three or four minutes left, I thought that was obviously one. Second half, when we gave up the throw back after we talked about that play that should have been stoned. Those were two critical points with lack of execution."

On What He Has To Say To Fans
"I'm sorry, and I'm going to do everything we can to make it right and fix it, just like I tried to do last week. You guys that know me, know that I'm a competitor and I'm going to fight until there is nothing left. It will start here in 14 minutes when we as a staff try to figure it out."

On Getting On Same Page
"Were on the same page, we have to get a different book. Were on the same page, but the book has got to change."

On This Loss Being Tougher Than Others
"It doesn't matter who it is, it's tough when you lose, period. It's never fun, or easy to lose."

On Difference Between Practice and Games
"For whatever reason, the team that is practicing isn't necessarily coming consistently every week for Saturday, and that is another one of those things we need to look at and figure out why."

Sacramento State Head Coach Marshall Sperbeck

General
"I'm kind of speechless; it was a great football game. Our kids, I give them all the credit, they got down early and they battled back and really showed a lot of resilience."

On The Teams Slow Start
"Well they're a big physical football team that runs the ball well and they came at us and we knew that they were going to do that. It takes us time to get used to the size and speed of these kind of teams but I think once we settled down and got comfortable with the speed of the game we were ok."

On The Final Drive
"Well obviously we wanted to score but we knew a field goal would do it and if we got down inside the 25 we would have a shot at it. But they played good defense in the second half and kept us in check really, but I give (QB) Garret (Safron) credit he put together a nice drive on that last series and did a good job."

On The Offense
"Coach (Paul) Peterson our offensive coordinator did a great job. His feel for the game late in the game was great."

On The Referees
"It works both ways and I think the refs did a great job today of calling the game. There were missed calls on both sides but that's just how the game goes."

On What The Win Means For The Program
"It's a great day for Sac State today but it's what we do next week and down the road that matters. Last year after we beat Oregon State we kind of stumbled the next couple weeks. Our kids understand that this was a great effort and great job today but we need to make it a great season."

On The Teams Defensive Adjustments
"I think more than the adjustments we made was that we settled down more. We kind of figured out what they were trying to do, they lined up in point three personnel and a lot of double tight stuff so we knew they wanted to pound it so I guess we just got a better feel of what direction they were going."

Colorado Players

DL Chidera Uzo-Diribe
ON IF HE FEELS THAT THEY DON'T PLAY AS WELL AS THEY PRACTICE – "Definitely. The kind of things that we do in practice against our offense, and no disrespect to the Sacramento State offense, they are nowhere near our offense. For them to go out there and do what they did to us today, it is embarrassing."
ON HOW SACRAMENTO STATE PLAYED AS WELL AS THEY DID– "They came in here with an attitude, they had nothing to lose. This was a game that they were not supposed to win, so they came out here and gave it their all."
ON HOW COLORADO ALLOWED SACRAMENTO STATE TO RUN AS WELL AS THEY DID – "I would say we missed assignments. The main thing on defense is for us to stay disciplined in all areas. They caught us with guys out of place and it hurt us."
ON HOW THE TEAM FEELS – "This one hurts, a lot. All of the other guys, they feel the same way."
ON IF THE DEFENSE WAS CONCERNED ON THE LAST DRIVE OF THE GAME – "Not at all, earlier in the half we held them to a field goal and a three-and-out, so we were very confident that our defense was going to make a stop and we were going to win the game."

QB Jordan Webb
ON IF HE MISSED ANY THROWS – "Yeah I missed a couple, but every quarterback does."
ON IF SACRAMENTO STATE MADE ADJUSTMENTS TO TRY TO STOP THE RUNNING GAME – "Well whenever you start off a game with three rushes for 80 yards you never expect to keep that going. I think we tried to keep them honest in the passing game, I think we did that well early, but you have to do that all four quarters."
ON IF SOME OF HIS MISSED THROWS WERE TIMING ISSUES – "Yeah I guess, they were holding our receivers a little bit. But a couple of them I was just trying to get the ball out of my hands to avoid a sack. A few times the receivers were not even breaking into their rout and I had to get rid of it. It is hard to be accurate and I guess I missed a couple."
ON FRUSTRATION OF BEING 0-2- "I mean whatever you lose the first two, that's how it's going to be. You can't expect anything else. I guess the level of frustration is really high. Emotions are that of being pretty pissed off. And you know, we just have to come ready to work next week."
ON CHRISTIAN POWELL'S PERFORMANCE- "Whenever his first two carries go for 70-plus yards then you can't ask for much more of a freshmen running back playing a new position. I think he played a pretty good game the rest of the game. We will just have to go back to film. This is exactly where we are going to make improvement."

OLB Jon Major
ON HOW THEY WERE ABLE TO THROW THE BALL AS WELL AS THEY DID – "I am not sure. It doesn't have anything to do with our preparation or our leadership. It has to do with how we play out there."
ON IF THEY WERE A LITTLE OVER CONFIDENT AFTER THE 14-0 START – "That is part of the human condition. But we still needed to play. Give the credit to them."
ON HOW THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO STOP THEM ON THE LAST DRIVE – "I think we were really close. I will have to watch the film to see how close we were. But it is tough on the defender because he can't take away everything just one side. You pick your spots as a quarterback when the defense is in man coverage and that's what he [Garrett Safron] was able to do today."
ON WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN AFTER THIS – "Just a lot of hard work. Our goal coming into this week was to win three of the next four. We now need to win the next three. There is not anyone in that locker room that won't come to work hard and expect to win from here on out."
ON HOW FRUSTRATING IT IS TO LOSE GAMES LIKE THIS – "It is frustrating. It is the beauty of the game, I say it all the time, it is a team game. There is only so much a certain individual can do."

FB Christian Powell
ON WHEN HE KNEW HE WAS GOING TO PLAY TAILBACK AND HIS PERFORMANCE – "We were working on it all week. I guess I knew for sure today. I did the best that I could."
ON IF HE LIKES PLAYING TAILBACK OR FULLBACK MORE – "I like getting the rock. That doesn't really happen as much when you are just playing fullback. But whatever they ask of me, whether it's playing tailback or fullback, that is what I am going to try to do."

DB Richard Yates II
PLAYING ON BIRTHDAY- "It was awesome. It was a dream-come true. The only thing that could have made it a better birthday would have been pulling out the win today. I only got in on three plays but that was the first three plays in a Buff jersey for me.

QB Connor Wood
ON FIRST PLAY- "I looked at the sticks and it was third-and-long. That's how it is and it was fun being out there and throwing a pass and almost getting a touchdown there. It was fun."
ON COMPETING FOR THE STARTING JOB- "I have always been competing for the starting job, since I have been here. It did not stop when Jordan was named the starter. I'm going to keep on doing what I am good at and continue to try and get better each day. We will see what happens."
ON JOB SAFETY- "There is no one that has empowerment to position, especially after that. Personally, I am going to go into practice on Monday and do the stuff that I have been doing. I'm still going to work hard and push myself and the rest of the guys and just be a good leader out there."
ON LOSS- "I tell you; it's rough. It is a rough deal to lose to a (FCS) team. I have never done that before. The guys are pretty dejected but I think we need to have some resolve. We can't step back. We have to move forward; it's a long season. So that's what we are looking for, just getting back to work and grinding.
ON TAKING THE LOSS PERSONALLY- "Everyone is. Especially in that team meeting we just had. The guys are taking it personally and they are sick and tired of it. I am confident that they are gonna come back with grind from now on and through the rest of the season.

ILB Derrick Webb
ON INEXPERIENCE WITH TEAM- "(The) freshmen played well enough for us to win in my eyes. It is a group thing. It is a team thing. We just gave up too many plays out there. It should not have come down to the last drive. Those penalties hurt but I cannot fault them."
ON DEFENSIVE COHESIVNESS- "We will bounce back. We have a lot of guys who can play. Those freshmen, they got thrown into the fire a little bit. Yuri Wright, this is his first game starting. I feel like he did alright though. We are expecting Doug (Rippy) to get back. He is a tough guy. You can't keep him away too long. I'm not worried about Doug. I believe he is going to be good. We are going to come back from this loss and we are going to get better from it."
ON IF CSU LOSS STILL AFFECTED THE TEAM - "We had to prepare for Sac State, Sac State, Sac State. This loss was not because of CSU. Point blank, what happened out there is we left too many plays out on the field. They made more plays than we did. That's a football game."
ON LAST DRIVE- "I feel like we played a little zone. We know that just because they got the ball they had to drive the ball almost 80 yards. We want to make them eat up a little clock and close the gate to field goal range. They were able to convert some early first downs. Everything came down to the details. That is pretty much it."

DB Yuri Wright
ON LAST DRIVE- "I think it was good execution on their part. They happened to be calling the right plays at the right time."
ON DEFENSIVE INEXPERIENCE- "We have a lot of really good young players. There are just a couple of things we still need to learn and improve on. We have a lot of veterans that go out, like Ray Polk. He is down and we just needed to improve. We can improve on everything."

Sacramento State Players

BS Ryan McMahon
ON THE LAST DEFENSIVE STAND -"That was the mentality the entire third and fourth quarter, it was three and out to give our offense the ball back. It just so happened that my number got called on that play and that's the way I picked it up."
ON BREAKING TACKLES -"When something happens like that, it's make or break and it was time to make and I had the opportunity to make the tackle."
ON COLORADO'S FIRST TWO DRIVES – "It was more their attitude, they're coming off a tough loss. The only way they were going to relinquish their loss was to come pound our faces in. Our coach said they were going to come out swinging and if you weather that storm it's going to be a good game. And we weathered that storm, came back, and I don't think it's anything we did different, I think they came out a little hot. We just played our game and settled in."
ON THE MENTALITY OF THE TEAM IN THE REDZONE – "Just complete faith in our offense and do what they've been practicing. With Coach P calling plays and knowing we're going to get what it takes. We caught a couple breaks with pass interferences and hey our guys were interfered on."
ON BIG CONFERENCE WINS – "I mean it's big, but we need to show we can do it every week. We need to come back next week and do the same thing in Northern Colorado because they're going to come out just as tough."

QB Garrett Safron
ON HIS MINDSET ON THE FINAL DRIVE -"It's time to win a ball game. It's go time, we got to win right here."
ON THE OPENINGS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD -"Actually that was our game plan going in to it. We just tried to attack that area."
ON GETTING FIELD POSITION FOR THE FINAL KICK – "The second to last drive, I thought that was it. But my team stuck with me and believed in me. And once the defense made the stop, I got them the route. I told them it was go time and got the ball to my playmakers. And my line did a great job of protecting and we just drove it down the field."
ON BEATING A HIGHER DIVISION SCHOOL – "It really hasn't hit me yet. I'm still trying to take it all in, it's a great feeling. We're going to go out there and enjoy this win. But I'm going to enjoy it for a little bit and move on to the next game."
ON REGROUPING AFTER A SLOW START – "Last two games we came out with a little bit of the jitters. But we came out strong and relaxed. Once we get relaxed, everything just comes to us. And taking our poison and delivering the ball."
ON THE REDZONE PASS INTERFERENCE CALL – "Whenever we can gain yards; it's always a big plus, just keeping the drive going. I believe in my team and I'm glad they believe in me also."
ON TRYING TO GET A TOUCHDOWN ON THE LAST DRIVE – "Nah, I was just trying to move the ball, keep the ball secure. The kicker did a great job today."
ON THE FINAL KICK – "I knew he was going to make it. I was getting hyped and holding everyone's hand."

PK Edward Ruhnke
ON KNOWING HIS NUMBER MIGHT BE CALLED -"I was just glad they could do their job and I'm just glad I could do my job. I'm really happy my team could put up with everything and step it up. They were there for me and I was there for them. "
ON HOW HE PREPARED FOR THE FINAL KICK – "Just be relaxed and calm. Don't pay attention to the [fact that it's] a game winning field goal, but it's just another kick. Right before I kick, I just take a deep breath. Right when it went off my foot, I just saw it go through."
ON HIS FIRST GAME-WINNING FIELD GOAL – "It was actually my first time because I transferred from San Francisco City College. So it was just huge coming from JC (junior college) and then coming here and then playing in this really big stadium. I just focused on making the kick and didn't pay attention to the crowd; I just focused on myself."
ON BEATING A BIGGER CONFERENCE TEAM – "It's just going to have our team do a better job the next few games. Our defense stepped it up and our offense [did also]."

WR Morris Norrise
ON HIS MENTALITY ON THE FINAL DRIVE -"We just wanted to make sure we caught the ball and secured it. Don't let people strip you when you catch it. "
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF BALL MOVEMENT – "It was very important because we were low on time. We made sure that we got a field goal to win the game."
ON OVERCOMING THE EARLY DEFICIT – "We just stuck together and kept fighting. One thing that the coaches always preach is to always believe. As long as we believe, we know we can come through with the victory."
ON THE FINAL DRIVE – "Last week I dropped the ball for an interception on a similar drive so I just made sure I kept the ball and secured it."
ON PLAYING DEFENSE AS A WR – "Yeah, I hit it out so there couldn't be an interception. [The opposing player] had a better angle because they were going to intercept it if I didn't come back."
ON WHAT WIN MEANS TO THE TEAM – "We need to work harder and so we can beat the team next week also. We don't want to have the same thing happen [losing after a big win]. And we want to come out and beat Northern Colorado next week."
ON THE CELEBRATION POSTGAME – "We came into the game as underdogs and when you come out on top it's very exciting."

Players Mentioned

Yuri Wright

Related Videos