Colorado University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Colorado-Colorado State Game Quotes
August 30, 2014 | Football
General
"First of all, I would like to start by congratulating CSU on playing a heck of a football game. They beat us tonight, but it's one game. We've got 11 more to go. So our kids will bounce back, keep working and keep finding ways to get better."
On CSU Running Attack
"One thing that I saw was a bunch of missed tackles out there. We've been working on that extremely hard. You all that have come out to practice have seen how hard we work on tackling. But we'll keep working on it and get better at it. I think a lot of it was missed tackles. Some were in the backfield even a few times. So we have just got to keep working, keep improving and look at it on film and see what happened there. I think we got cut out of the gaps some of the time. Sometimes when they came free instead of going flat down the line we went up the line and they sprung it us. We'll look at it and figure out what's going on. We have got to fix it, that's for sure."
On CU Defense
"We have just got to keep getting better, we're really young. We'll keep playing hard and we'll keep fighting. That's all you can do. It's one game."
On The Physicality of the Game
"I think in the first half we played really well. In the second half they hit a couple runs. Some of them weren't the defensive line's fault. They're cutting back and we have guys there to make a tackle and we just have to make them. We have to do a better job coaching that and do a better job of tackling."
On The Play of Sefo Liufau
"I thought he battled hard. I thought he made some good plays. We had a chance to score some more points there in the first half and we didn't get that done. In the second half we had a few miscues here and there but we'll find out how to fix it and go back to work."
On The Hits on Sefo Liufau
"One of them I'm going to definitely turn in. There was a helmet to helmet and that's how we saw it. I'm going to look at it hard on film and see what the situation on that was. But he keeps battling and keeps fighting."
On The Performance In The First Quarter
"I was pleased with it. I just wish we could've punched one of those in. We have a heck of a field goal kicker, he just pushed one a little to the left. In the second half we had a couple of opportunities but didn't get them out on third down a few times. Those were critical plays for us. They were things that we have done in the past and have done in practice. So a few little errors that we need to sharpen up on."
On The CSU Goal Line Stand In First Half
"I decided to kick a field goal there because we were up seven to nothing and I thought the 10-0 was better than up 7-0 with them having a lot of energy. Up 10-0 we were playing good and then we had a penalty-ridden defensive set. With all of the new touching rules, it got a little bit of a drive going for them. They did a good job of punching it in."
On How The Team Will Bounce Back
"We'll keep fighting and keep pushing. It's one game. We have a bunch more to go and we'll keep fighting."
On How The Youth of The Team Affects Bouncing Back
I think the youth helps in a lot of regards and it's tough in a lot of regards. They know they've been working hard and we came up on the short end. Now they've got to find a way to regroup and I definitely believe that they will. We have got a heck of a coaching staff that will do a heck of a job of motivating kids and inspiring them. We'll just go back to work tomorrow and get after it."
On How Young Defensive Ends Played
"I thought Derek McCartney made a couple of real big time plays. He had the sack-caused fumble and one time he looked like he shot out of a cannon. It looked like a guy was going to break away and he ran them down. Those plays stood out to me."
On CU Running Game
"I thought we were doing really well there and then they had a couple of long drives and we had to start throwing it more we had to get away from it a little bit. If we hadn't let them get into the end zone and get up a little bit, I thought we would have been able to keep running it pretty consistently."
On CSU Offensive Line
"They have some good football players. They did a good job of running the football and didn't put themselves in a lot of passing situations. They did good running and blocking."
On Shay Fields and Bryce Bobo
"Shay's pretty good and Bryce is good too. Shay's done a lot in practice that I think is pretty good and Bryce has too. I think they're both pretty good."
Colorado State Head Coach Jim McElwain
(On the performance of his young offensive line)
"Let's give credit to Nick Callender. He came in when Ty Sambrailo, a great player, went down and we didn't miss a beat. I thought the running backs ran pretty hard, and you know other than that it was a good win. One we should be excited about."
(On Ty Sambrailo's injury)
"Ty will be about three weeks. MCL, whatever that means, it doesn't require surgery so I guess that's a good thing. It'll be one of those deals that we're probably without him next week when we go to Boise. But we're gonna get our tails ready. Open conference play, and that'll be a big miss. But as we always say, 'next guy up,' and we've gotta go play. I thought we did that."
(On rushing for 279 yards)
"Yeah, that's not enough. But you know, we feel good about those numbers. We never doubted them (O-line). We knew we had some more athletic guys up front, and those guys were able to learn from some really good players. That's something good. The thing I think probably had the biggest effect on the game was the physical nature we handled that goal-line situation. Our guys worked their tails off in the weight room, and you know we've got some physical guys. So I feel like that triggered a little bit more, and said 'let's not shoot ourselves in the foot.'"
(On running backs Treyous Jarrells and Dee Hart)
"I thought they were pretty good. I know a couple times Dee should've picked his legs up and finished, which I've seen him do before. And Treyous, as you guys know, I felt really good about our running back situation, and they didn't disappoint. I think that they have some explosive playmaking ability to them, and thought the third-down angle route Dee Hart caught, that was a big, big play. They're guys that can not only run the ball, but catch the ball, and they obviously did a pretty good job of that.
(On CSU's last two wins being of the comeback variety)
"There's just never any panic on our sideline. It was like, 'come on,' we let these guys hang around and I thought that they played the way a good, confident football team plays. There was never any looking around, but I'm just disappointed by the way we started the game. We've got to play a much better game next week to go beat Boise."
(Did Grayson have a better second half)
"I think so. We'll have to go and look at some film, but he did some good things. He never threw it to the wrong color jersey, and that's a positive. But we'll have to go and look at the film on that fumble. He missed that outlet there to Rashard (Higgins), and he could've run forever. He tried to make too much of it. But a lot of the runs and the things we do are QB-check driven, and he did a good job of that. And you know, that's just as important playing the position as throwing the ball."
(On the win)
"It's a huge win. I can't tell you how happy I am for the people of Colorado State University. Those kids in that locker room, that prepared to go win a football game like a good team should. There wasn't any talking or any of that stuff. They just went out and played good football. The way Colorado State Rams should. And let's give them credit, they played their tails off and I can't tell you how excited I am. But, it's what I expect from them. Am I surprised No. This is the way it should be."
"I thought up front, we did some really great things. It'll be interesting to look at the film, but Bryan Ohene on that pass rush, I think he kind of caught them off guard with that speed off the edge."
Colorado Players
QB Sefo Liufau
ON OFFENSE LETDOWN AFTER SPRUCE TD--"It was just a play here or there. I've harped on it since last year and it's all about consistency. We had good drives; it was just a matter of finishing them, and we didn't do that tonight. We can't blame the defense or special teams; you put all that on the offense. That goes on me and we have to be able to punch it in on those drives, especially the three times we were in the red zone."
ON NOT BEING ABLE TO FINISH DRIVES IN RED ZONE- "I do whatever the coach calls. He is the one up in the box and he knows what he is doing. We are just out there trying to run the play for him. I trusted the offensive line and the backs to punch it in and we didn't this time. We are going to go look at that and fix it for next week."
ON KEEPING UP WITH CSU IN SECOND HALF-"Yes. They did a really good job of running the ball, timed possession, keeping it away from us, and waiting until the shot clock went down to two or three seconds. I would say yes, it definitely hurt us in our rhythm game but we should not let that affect us. We should be able to come out there every time and take the ball down the field."
ON CSU's OFFENSE ENGERGIZING DEFENSE-"Yes. I think their whole team did. Their offense was doing really well. They had a slower start but their running game got going and obviously that is going to spark your whole team. You can't just say 'that's because of their offense'. If your offense is doing really well or vice versa it's going to spark your team and get you excited. I can't just say 'the defense got amped up because of the offense'. I think we were picking them a part for the most part but we couldn't finish drives."
ON BOUNCING BACK-"We will go over film and get ready for next week. People are going to make a big deal out of this, and rightfully so. CSU is a good team and it was a big game. But, we can't just sit on this game like the season is over. There are still twelve games left, hopefully more, and we just have to go back in, put in the work and get ready for next week."
ON WHO WAS THE MORE PHYSICAL TEAM- "I would say it went back and forth. I think at the beginning we were more physical. We had more push up front, especially on defense. But then the tide turned and they started out-working us. If you want to win football games talent doesn't always get you a win. It's about hard work and they out-worked us today. I'll say that. They out-worked us and they're a good team."
ON WHY THE BUFFS WERE OUT WORKED "I could not tell you. I was trying to go out there and lead the offense and out-work them. We just need to be self-motivated and that self-motivation will turn into team motivation. I think we had self-motivated guys today, I really do, but I don't know if we were there to make all of the plays. There were too many missed tackles and too many missed throws. All of the little things accumulate and it's something that we need to fix for next week."
ON BIG HIT AT THE END OF THE GAME-"It bothered me and it was a little bit of whiplash. It was a big, clean hit but it's just a part of the game. I'm standing here before you guys and I'll be ready to go next week."
ON SPECIFIC THINGS TO FOCUS ON FOR NEXT WEEK "I think that we are going to look over the film first and if you guys want to come hear me on Tuesday I can tell you about it. I think from my point of view could've hit [Nelson] Spruce in the corner of the end zone in the third quarter and threw it out a little more for him. It's just the little things and side plays that people don't see that I have to fix."
ON WHY CU LOST THE GAME-"I couldn't really tell you. It's kind of something new to me and it sounds crazy and you never want to say this but I think most of the second half, we got outplayed in all phases. That rides on the captain's shoulders. I'm going to put that on us, especially myself being offensive captain and quarterback so I just think we got outplayed most of the second half."
ON THE FG AT THE END OF THE FIRST HALF_"It's a really big drive. Big plays by them. Congrats, hats off to them. They stopped us three or four times down there. We just have to be able to punch it in. I think that's something we had a problem with last year and you know, this game, we had a problem with it as well."
ON THE HITS HE SUSTAINED DURING THE GAME_"I definitely did [feel it]. You could see some of the bigger hits. Clean hits, nothing against them. But definitely big hits. But it's part of the game and you just fight through it."
ON SHAY FIELDS "He's a good player. He's going to have a good career here as long as he keeps his head on straight and keeps working hard. I've been impressed with him this year. He doesn't act like a freshman and that's what we need out of him and the rest of him."
ON NELSON SPRUCE-"That's just natural out of him. Spruce, that one handed catch in the end zone. That's what he does every day. He's a good playmaker and hopefully he can get him the ball more."
ON STEPPING UP IN THEIR RUNNING GAME - "Definitely. You don't want to be a one pronged attack. People can just key in on that so we'll go in and look and see what we can do better but we definitely want to be able to run the ball and pass."
DL Juda Parker
ON HIS FEELING FOLLOWING TONIGHT'S GAME "It's tough, you know, coming off a loss this whole offseason and fall camp, coming into it, this team is set up to win, we want to win. But it doesn't always go your way, it's tough, we don't ever expect to lose so we will deal with it. Coming into next week, we are going to prepare the right way. It's only going to last 24 hours and then we are going to focus on the next game, that's how we are going to look at it.
ON MOMENTUM SWITCHING AT THE HALF- We had our gameplan coming into this and there's the ebb and flow of the game, it goes up and down, the momentum shifts and our coaches set us up in the right spots so as players we just need to execute and we didn't do that to the best of our ability and that's on us. So we have to go back to the drawing board and look at it and go from there.
ON THE FOCUS GOING INTO THE NEXT GAME- We're probably gonna look tomorrow and tonight at the game, we are gonna review it and we are going to see what we need to correct and go from there.
ON WHERE HE CAN PERSONALLY IMPROVE- Personally I can improve on my pass rush, the little things like my footwork, and anything that can set me up for success.
PK Will Oliver
ON IMPROVEMENTS GOING INTO THE NEXT GAME- I think we just got to be a little more focused across the board, me included. It's a game, it's one game. I don't think that determines the future. Same thing with kicking, the next kick is the most important, the next game is the most important. We have a long week to prepare so we are going to head out there and prepare our best.
ON HIS PERFORMANCE AND MISSED FIELD GOAL- "It's part of the game, you miss-hit one every once in a while, so it's on to the next."
RB Michael Adkins II
GENERAL - "I thought we did a pretty good job [getting things moving on the ground]. There were some missed opportunities on my part but I thought we did a pretty good job."
ON HIS PLAYING TIME-"I didn't know what the game plan was going in. Coach kept putting me in. I didn't know what the rotation was going to be before the game so, yeah. I didn't know what it was going to be."
ON HIS INJURY - "It [my ankle] is doing fine. It's my right ankle. It was good. I just went up there and taped it up and it was fine."
ON THE LOSS - "It was tough to not be able to increase the lead or get in the end zone but it happens and we just have to move forward. It's just one game. It's just one game. We just have to regroup and come together as a team. It's a tough one to lose. We feel this hurt and we feel that and we have to say we don't want to feel this again and keep moving forward in the season."
DL Justin Solis
ON WHAT WENT WRONG DURING THE GAME - "I don't' know. We played a great team. CSU did a good job. I just think we came out a little bit flat. It was a tough second half."
ON NEXT WEEK'S PREPARATION - "The good thing it's only the first game. We're going to shake this off and continue on and prepare for our game against UMASS next week."
WR Nelson Spruce
ON TURNING POINT "At half time they made a necessary adjustment so I will have to look at the film to see to what happened but they came kind of a different team in the second half and they were able to do what it took to get the win."
ON WHAT DID THEY DO TO THE OFFENSE "Again I'll have to look at the film they didn't come out in any surprise coverages from my prespective I know they started to get some pressure on Sefo the second half so maybe they were switching it up with some blitzes but we will have to look at the film."
ON PERFORMANCE "It's just a result of the offense working well together the first half. Me and Sefo have kind of our built a chemistry this year and I think that kind of showed a little at times. We need to execute on a way higher level as a whole team."
ON HAVING TO SETTLE (For FG) "Looking back obviously its big. We had another drive I think that we didn't get a touchdown on. I mean if we want to win these types of games we got to be able to put those points on the board and score touchdowns."
ON FRUSTRATION IN SUSTAINING DRIVES-"I think that was a problem we weren't finishing the drives. So that first half we were putting together great drives we just could get the points out of them so that's a problem."
ON DISAPPOINTMENT "I mean it hurts, we were just talking about in there (locker room) it's one game, it's a huge game for the state of Colorado and its one we aren't going to forget, but you know we can't let it determine our season. So we got to come back to work next week."
BEING ON THE LOSING SIDE- "It's sickening almost you know it's the first game of the season and we were talking about it all offseason. But at the same time we can't let it determine the rest of our season; that is a huge game but we can't let it affect our work next week.
THE FUTURE "We just talked about its one game. Our goal is still a Bowl game and if cannot let this affect us we come back to work next week We got eleven more so we just have to learn from it; it's going to be hard to forget about but we have to bounce back."
WR Shay Fields
ON GOOD START "Coach Mac was preaching all week to start fast. We started fast we just didn't execute as well as we wanted to in the second half.
ON PRESSURE ON SEFO "I mean I seen it, we kind of talked over it we just couldn't make the adjustments we needed to."
ON SECOND HALF DISAPPOINMENT "It was kind of disappointing knowing that we had chances and didn't execute. We just have to go over it and get ready for UMass now."
ON LOSS OF MOMENTUM "A little bit we wanted to get into the end zone, that would of brought a big momentum to the team to put six points on the board but it was a coaches descision.
ON DEBUT "It's what any Freshman wants but we also want to come out with a win."
ON PERSONAL IMPACT "It feels good to actually kind of come in goive what the fans want and just play as great as I can and just help the team out."
ON BEING BIG IN THE OFFENSE "I felt I was going to do good when my number was called and just try to make the best out of it actually.
ON SHORTER VS LONGER ROUTES "I mean both. I mean just when we have the shorter routes guarded, if he throws it and throw it I try to do what I do. If a long pass comes I try to haul it in.
ON BUILDING TRUST "It feels good to be a true freshman and handle business like I did.
ON SPRUCE AND THE OFFENSE "We have so many receivers in this receiving core especially when we switch up we have so many weapons that we just have to utilize them to the best of our ability. "
ON CHEMISTRY WITH SEFO "During practice we tried to click as much as we could. After practice he kind of takes me into the locker room and talks with me and goes over plays with me; just tries to make a good connection with me."
RB Phillip Lindsay
ON PLAYING AGAINST A FORMER TEAMMATE -"It felt good you know I guess I wasn't thinking about it at the time. After the game it's always fun seeing your former teammate."
ON BEING A NATIVE "It was exciting for me, it was exciting but it's not how I wanted it to end.
ON ATTEMPTED TD "They got a good push. Our offense lineman pushed I just didn't get over and that's my fault. "
ON WHAT TO IMPROVE ON "We are going to learn from what happened today, we're going to take it and continue to get better. Every practice we are going to continue to work on things that we didn't do well and we got to go back to film and see what we have to do better."
Colorado State Players
RB TREYOUS JARRELLS
(on Nick Callender's performance after replacing injured senior left tackle Ty Sambrailo)
"Once Ty went down, Nick came in, and he put it together and everybody did a good job up front."
(on being a 1-2 punch with Dee Hart)
"We've been talking about that since camp. We're both from Florida. We come from the same place. I feel like he's an older brother to me, so he coaches me up with a lot of things and we said we're going to try to make it happen this year."
(on if he minds being the second part of the 1-2 punch)
"No sir, I don't mind. At the end of the day it's a team effort, so whatever I can contribute to the team, whatever I can contribute, I'm fine with that."
(on the energy the offense received from the goal line stand by the CSU defense)
"That was awesome. We fed off of that. We came out a little slow, but when we got that stop, everybody was fueled up and ready to go."
(on what he can learn from Dee Hart)
"I can learn a lot, and that's what I do. Everyday when I'm in the film room, I go in there and we go over plays and reads and things like that so I can get better."
(on the importance of winning in this rivalry)
"It feels good. CU's a great opponent. I tip my hat off to them, but it feels good to get a win."
(on the performance of the CSU offensive line)
"It gives us reassurance that we're going to be good. The front, they showed up, and we had a good game. I'm small, so I can hide behind them. Like I said Callender we got some good guys up front. They're nasty. "
(on if it's a relief to have another running back supporting his role on the team)
"It's a relief, but it's more picking each other up. When he's tired, needs a breather, I run in and pick up the slack, and vice versa. When I'm tired, and I need someone to come in, he comes in and picks up the slack. It's a good combo."
C JAKE BENNETT
(on Ty Sambrailo's injury)
"Sambo's a good friend, so obviously I was worried for the guy. We just had to move on, and just go."
(on how much the offensive line proved themselves)
"That's up to you guys. We've got a lot more to do as far as improving ourselves throughout the season. One game isn't us. That first half definitely isn't who we want to be. We want to come out faster than that."
(on the feeling of beating CU)
"Growing up, as a CSU fan, I've seen the balance switch a few times, so seeing it sway back toward us is definitely a plus."
(on the performance of the running backs and the multiple 100+ yard performances)
"That just shows you the versatility we have. Throw 'em in, and we're going to get some yards. They're all great guys.
(on how holding CU to a field goal switched momentum)
"That just swings the pendulum of momentum, you know We know our defense can do that on a consistent basis, so when they do that we know we've got to help them out and get a score.
(on walking out of the tunnel instead of sprinting)
"That was just a decision we had made to walk out and show that we're prepared and we're ready to go."
(on Dee Hart)
"I've definitely seen some things he's done in practice, that you kind of sit back and go, 'OK.' I've seen that for the last three or four weeks now, and for him to get out there and do it finally is just awesome."
(on the postgame celebration)
"Growing up a Colorado kid, it's just awesome, because before I came here, I was here for when they won it the last time, and finally getting down there to experience that was something I'm sure I'll remember."
RB Dee Hart
(On being a 1-2 punch with Treyous Jarrells)
"I played against Trey in high school and then for us to end up here against Colorado, it was great. It was a great victory."
(On transferring from Alabama and his performance tonight being what he envisioned his college career to be)
"I always want to be the best I can be. Alabama was great. They had a lot of great running backs. I wanted to go somewhere where I could show what I could do and Colorado State was a great place (for that). Coach Mac has always been a father figure to me."
(On him having doubt and having to prove to himself he could perform)
"As a team, we wanted to come out and get a win. I never doubted myself."
(On the team's attitude when they were down 17-7)
"We told ourselves that we were going to face a lot of adversity this game. Going down 7 points was a big blow and losing Ty (Sambrailo) made things kind of shaky at first. But we pulled it together. In that second half we came out and took care of business."
(On what this game does for the team moving forward)
"It does a lot for us. We have a lot of young guys up front that stepped up and did a great job. For the CSU program and school as a whole, it was a great start."
(On what it's like running behind this offensive line)
"It's great. I like running behind them and it was great getting the victory."
LB Max Morgan
(On how the win feels)
"It's great getting off to a fast start. It's definitely where we want to be."
(On what sparked the run in the second half)
"It was really the offense. They really got things going in the second half and we made a couple defensive stops."
(On the goal-line stand and what it meant to the team and for momentum in the game)
"Any time you can have a stop like that, especially after they rolled down the field on us especially with the big hit by Kevin Pierre-Louis, it really set the tone for us. It gets everybody fired up."
(On whether or not he was surprised by the offensive line's performance)
"Not at all. I'm just so glad to see them beat up on somebody else."
QB Garrett Grayson
(on his own first-half performance)
"To be honest, it was a terrible first half by me. It's not something I am going to do every week. Hopefully it was a lot of the first-game jitters and things like that."
(Did you rely on your senior experience for the second half)
"Obviously I wanted to go out and play better in the second half. The first half was something I was not hoping to go out and do. I was making the right reads, I just wasn't putting the ball where it needs to be. I don't know if it was first-game jitters, or whatever it was, there's a lot of adrenaline going on in your first game, especially in an atmosphere like this. It's something I hope that doesn't happen again and I'll make sure it doesn't happen again. Whether it's watching film or practicing but like I said, the right reads were being made, my accuracy just wasn't there for some reason. We will get it fixed."
(on having both Dee Hart and Treyous Jarrells in the backfield as a "security blanket")
"It's huge for us. Everybody was kind of worried after losing Kapri and our o-line that we had. Everybody was questioning what we were going to be able to do this year and I think it's pretty evident what we are going to be able to do and I don't think we are going to be missing a beat really. It will be fun to have those guys back there. Like you said, it is a huge security blanket for me to know that we can run the ball like that."
(on what it means to beat CU)
"It's huge. Especially for the people of Colorado, I know how seriously they take this game. To make Ram Nation and Fort Collins happy, to please those guys, it's huge for me. It makes me feel good; it makes the whole team feel good. To bring the trophy back... It's a good feeling."
(on what was said in the locker room at halftime)
"We knew we just shot ourselves in the foot over and over in that first half, me especially. I was kind of all over the place throwing the ball and we had some penalties that killed us. You know, emotions, things weren't really clicking and that's something that's going to happen in a first game when you've got an atmosphere like this, you can't simulate it. No matter what you do in practice, you can't simulate a game like this. We came in at halftime and said 'you know We're beating ourselves, they're not beating us.' So we came out in that second half and we came ready to play."
WR Rashard Higgins
(on whether this was a huge step for CSU after last year's loss)
"Yes sir. It's the beginning of the climb. It's a big game!"
(on his touchdown catch)
"He press covered me, I worked him at the line, gave him a little move and made him open his hips. Me and Garrett have been working on back-shoulder throws all week and that's what he did and I came up with the touchdown."
(on how important it was to start the season with a win)
"It's the beginning of the climb. It sets the tone for the rest of the season."