Colorado University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Colorado-Hawai'i Quotes
September 20, 2014 | Football
Colorado Head Coach Mike MacIntyre
General
"Our kids played extremely hard, fought, fought, fought. I was really pleased with every phase of our game. Offense got it going, defense played well, and we did what we've been working on. And thank goodness it kind of came to fruition; we kind of made them kick field goals. I think the turning point in the game is when we had a pick we had a guy wide open and then [QB Sefo Liufau] got hit and they got the pick we had a guy run him down, no one laid around we got up and got him down and then we made them kick a field goal (on the preceding series). That was a huge play in the football game and I was pleased with our effort, and our intensity. Offensively, we were moving the ball really well. Second half it was a bunch of little things, and I always say little things are big things. Give credit to Hawai'i, they did some good things defensively, but we were getting pretty good first down plays we just kind of shot ourselves in the foot and we'll fix that and move on."
On Defense Continuing To Show Improvement
"Yeah, since the second half at UMass. You know, ASU got us in that third quarter (of last week's game) there is no doubt about it. But, if you really go back and watch it they hit us on a screen pass and another one. We have to do a better job of coaching that as coaches, and we have. They tried two of those [plays] today and we tackled them for losses. So, that's a good job of our guys (coaches). But our kids, are playing harder and tackling better, pursuing the ball better, their eyes are in the right place. There were two plays out there today that Hawai'i put in because ASU had hurt us a little bit with them. Our kids played them both just like that. We do a correction period every week, and they are just learning to play. They are tackling well and playing the ball well. We just have to keep fighting. Thank goodness [DT Justin] Solis is not hurt, that's good."
On Defense Making Adjustments
"That's exactly what happened. On two exact plays that ASU made a 30 yard run on one, and another big run. Our guys made those plays, corrected it and worked with it. A couple screens that [ASU] did that hurt us, we tackled them for losses (today)."
On Punting Game Today
"Both punters I think punted nine times and had one yard off their average. One had 413 and one had 414, I think that's correct. But [P] Darragh [O'Neill] stuck the dagger in them when he downed it on the 9-yard line. Great play by [DB] Marques Mosley and those guys getting down there. We didn't let them go score, but they had to go [91] yards with two minutes and they had to score twice to beat us and that was huge. Our team did a really good job protecting. We had some good kickoff returns, and some good kickoff coverage. So, I think we are getting better in those phases, too."
On Play Of QB Sefo Liufau
"I thought Sefo made some good plays, and he missed a couple just like I'm sure he told you the same thing. He just keeps battling, keeps battling. We'll just have to keep working with him and keep improving. In doubt, throw it to [WR Nelson] Spruce."
On Playing Four Complete Quarters
"I think we are real close, it's just the way football goes. You just have to find a way to win. Last week we had some opportunities to come back, and this week we kept battling we got up and that was kind of more of an exhausting win if that makes sense, because we had them but you're all thinking, 'they're (Hawai'i) hanging around and one screw up and it could be right here.' But our kids just kept battling and battling, and battling, and battling, and didn't play like that (with a negative mindset) at all, which was great to see. Because I was wondering if they were going to and they just kept fighting. Dog-gonnit, we did the fake punt and we didn't score and that was a shame. I thought for sure we would at least get a field goal there, but we didn't credit to [Hawai'i] they did a good job."
On Holding Hawai'i To Four Field Goals In Red Zone
"Yeah, I think that's a big deal. That's the way college football is, to me, you have to make teams kick field goals in the red zone. If we do that on defense, if we're making teams 50 percent scoring when they get inside the 20, and half of those are field goals, then we are going to be OK. We would like to be like how we were today, I consider that 100 percent stops in today's football, I really do. And [Hawai'i K Tyler Hadden] made 4-of-4 field goals, I was hoping he would miss one. Usually a kid will miss one and he'll be 3-of-4, typically with college kickers. We don't want to let them get down there, but a couple times they're going to get down there, and we have turnovers. But, that was the first time we've done that where a team gets a turnover and gets the ball inside the five or inside the 10 and we stop them. That's the first time we've done that and that was exciting to see."
On WR Nelson Spruce
"Nelson is a great competitor, he does a phenomenal job, he's a great leader and one of our team captains. I look forward to watching him break every record there ever was at the University of Colorado over the next two years."
On 'Matching Wits' With Hawai'i Coach Norm Chow
"I had met Norm when he was coaching with the Tennessee Titans when I went over there to visit when I was coaching with Dallas [Cowboys]. He's got a great mind, has great history. I remember when I was in my early coaching career and he was offensive coordinator at BYU, and just watching the BYU offenses and all that type of thing and I was just really impressed with all the things that he did. He's doing a good job [at Hawai'i] with the quarterbacks. His quarterback is more of a guy that has to run and move, so he has adapted to that and found a way to use the abilities the best he can with the people he has. He does a good job. They were missing their big running back today (Joey Iosefa) that's Sefo [Liufau's] cousin, I don't know if you guys knew that but he's a good player also for them. [Chow] does a really good job, though, he's a heck of a coach."
On The Way Nelson Spruce Runs His Routes
"Nelson does a great job I've said it so many times, he's so strong if a guy is leaning on him, he'll lean forward and when he comes back the guy bounces off of him and there's always room. If you watch, he always catches the ball out here where guys can't get it and then he puts it away and he's excellent at that. Everyone says he's not fast, but he runs 'bomb two', so he's got deceptive speed. The thing he is able to do on the deep ball is again, he's so strong, he's able to run and stack the guy and hold him until the last second and then just go (makes motion of reaching his hands out to catch it), and that's a talent, most guys drop those and he doesn't drop those."
On Greg Henderson vs. Nelson Spruce In Practice
"It's 50-50. They really compete well. Greg did a heck of a job today, there was one play that got called back and that was a big play, but you have to let them keep playing, and keep playing, and keep playing. We are contesting so many more balls and that's how you play good defense because if you play off him too much this world and time, they get in a rhythm and it's over. We just have to keep working at it, keep playing and keep pushing, and we'll keep improving."
On ILB Brady Daigh Filling In For Addison Gillam
"I'm glad you mentioned that, because I should have mentioned Brady. We talk all the time about our young men playing roles and you never know when your role is ready. I even brought it up in front of the whole team, I said, 'Brady could hang his head, he has a freshman All-American playing in front of him and he's a senior.' The guy in front of him is a really good player and Brady is our special teams captain, he won an award last year for special teams, and he plays on every special teams unit. He comes to practice every day and he comes to work every day and I said it was going to happen and he got his chance. I went up to him and said, 'Here you go!' And he took it and ran with it and did some really good things. I'm excited for Brady getting to do that and that was a big key in the football game for us."
On If He Saw Enough Improvement From Last Game
"'W'. That's getting a 'W.' Finding a way to win. Every game is different, just find a way. Defensively, it probably gave our defensive kids some more confidence and gave our offensive guys some more confidence knowing that we could stop people. So we will just keep fighting and keep pushing. But yes, just keep moving down the road and finding a way to get it done. When you are a head coach all you care about is getting one more point than the other [team]. Coordinators, they worry about all the other stuff. We just keep fighting. Like I said, since the second half of UMass, I've seen a whole different fight, a whole different mentality, a whole different stage to handle everything that is thrown at them. Now will we win every game, I hope so, but I definitely feel like they feel like they can, for sure, for the first time that they can win every game."
Hawai'i Head Coach Norm Chow
On Gameplay
"We hung in there and we fought. We need to make plays on offense and we didn't do it. I thought our defense did a nice job in the second half. You can't fall behind like that to a good football team."
On the Hawai'i Offense
"We obviously have to get better. We needed to win some more one-on-one routes outside and they took care of that. Once you can't win that, we struggled to run the ball because they loaded the box."
On How the Offense Faltered
"I wish I knew, if I knew we wouldn't be bogged down. We'll get better at it. We thought we had some things down, we missed an early throw that we thought we had on that first drive, but we overthrew it. We knew the coverage's that they were doing, but we just have to get better."
On QB Jeremy Higgins Providing a Spark
"He looked good, yeah."
On the Hawaii Defense
"We played well. We got on them at halftime, but we need to put more pressure on their quarterback. If you give any quarterback time he'll get you."
On the Play of Nelson Spruce
"He's a good player. I tried to recruit him when I was coaching elsewhere"
On the Hawaii Fan Support
"We have tremendous fans, but they want to see a winner. It's difficult, but we have good fans and we need to win some ball games to make them feel better about us."
On How the Altitude Affected the Game
"There are no excuses."
On Quarterback Situation
"We'll find out about Jeremy [Higgins] and what his hand situation is. We'll have to go with what we have, we have another backup in Taylor [Graham]. So we'll make that decision, we have a good idea, we'll just look at the tapes."
On Whether Higgins Hand was Broken
"You said it, I didn't."
On Taking a Look at Beau Reilly
"We haven't thought about that yet. We're trying to get to the next level that we need to get to. See what Ikaika [Woolsey] likes, see about Jeremy's [Wiggins] hand and see what we can get from Taylor [Graham]."
On Colorado's No-Huddle Offense
"We expected it, we knew they would go no-huddle. Just like they knew that we would. That's what we always try to do and we just have to get it done."
On the Play of Ikaika Woolsey
"He didn't score many points when we had him in there, that's why we made the change. Jeremy [Higgins] gives you a good spike once in a while, but he bogged down a little bit as well."
On the Play of Steven Lakalaka
"He has a shoulder problem, but he hung with it and performed well today."
Colorado Players
QB Sefo Liufau
ON HAWAI'I PLAYING AT ALTITUDE "Coming from an eight hour flight and coming from sea level and going up 5,000 feet, it takes a toll on the body. It affected me somewhat when I first came here so I definitely think it affected them."
ON HIS AND Nelson Spruce'S RELATIONSHIP - "We have a good bond. He's a safety blanket and he's a really big time receiver so you need to get him the ball and you don't want to take credit away from anyone else but Spruce is a special player. The progressions are whatever the defense gives me. Spruce just happens to be in those spots and that's not by design or 'hey we need to get Spruce the ball every time.' That's just what happens. After going through 1, 2, 3, sometimes it's the fourth route, sometimes it's the first route, it depends on the play. But it's not 'get Spruce the play.' We have amazing receivers in Shay Fields and D.D Goodson and all of those guys but, congrats to Spruce for getting that record. I think he does a really good job of getting off of whoever's guarding him. We've played four different games now and whatever DB they tried to put on him, he's gotten off of their coverage and that's just a testament to his hard work during the off season."
ON NELSON SPRUCE'S FIRST TOUCHDOWN - "That's just him, trying to get free and trying to get open and that's just him. I just have to get the ball to the playmakers."
ON HIS PHYSICAL HEALTH - "Sometimes, it's a little stinger, hurts a little bit afterward, but it's nothing. We'll be ready to play Cal next week and that's it."
ON HIS PERFORMANCE TODAY - "I'd say it was an up and down game on the two picks, you get (pass interference) on the first one and on the second one, you get hit. I had Nelson Spruce open 20 yards down the field but it's just a matter of being consistent. Like I said, it's little things and I wouldn't say it was the best performance but by no means was my performance today terrible."
ON HAWAII'S INABILITY TO SCORE A TOUCHDOWN - "That's a testament to our defense and all they did and all of the preparation they did this week. That game could have easily been 28-21 but the defense rose to the occasion and helped us out a lot."
ON HAWAI'I'S DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE - "They didn't do anything crazy. You know, we were ready for everything that we did. We just didn't execute. But, you can't put that on a single person. That's just the offense as a whole."
ON HIS STRUGGLES THROUGHOUT THE GAME -"Just the little things. A block here, a pass there. You can't put it on one thing. It's just a matter of being consistent during the entire game. I have to give a shout out to the defense for holding them."
ON THE INTERCEPTION THAT HE THREW - "I thought we had a pass interference on Shay Fields so I thought we had a free play. I'm not going to just throw the ball up there if there's no foul. I thought we had a PI but that's it, that's the end of that. We're moving on."
DB Tedric Thompson
ON THE DEFENSIVE EFFORT "We worked the whole week on the red zone in practice. Coach said that was something we needed to work on, and I think we did really well.
ON SUCCESS OF THE SECONDARY "It was fun. It gave us a lot of motivation to have the success we did. Hopefully we can carry that forward to next week."
P Darragh O'Neill
ON THE PUNTING GAME "I'm pretty happy. There were a few punts I wish I had back...There will be highs and lows, you just have to try to stay even through the game."
ON THE PUNT FAKE "That was awesome. I thought it was a really good call. The guys did really well blocking and left me a massive hole. Once I got the first down, I was trying to see how much we could get out of it."
ILB Addison Gillam
ON THE INJURY "They were testing my eyes, and confirmed it was a minor concussion. I'm hopeful it will work out."
ON THE DEFENSE "It was awesome to watch them in the second half. I was super stoked to see our defense play so well. It was also great to finally get some turnovers."
DT Clay Norgard
ON FIRST CAREER SACK "It was unreal. I can't even explain it. I never dreamed it would be like that. Honestly though, it was a collective effort today. It was a great day for all of us."
ON BEING IN THE ROTATION "I'm having a blast. I just like to play football. I like to make plays. I just like being out there on the field flying around."
DB Greg Henderson
ON THE SUCCESS OF THE DEFENSE "Coach MacIntyre and Coach Baer emphasized the field on third downs and stopping them in the red zone so that's what we were trying to do, hold them to three points as much as possible. We wanted to play with confidence and play physical and that's what we did."
ON THE FUMBLE HE RECOVERED - "They had a wing TE who attempted to block me but we've been working on our pass runs as cornerbacks which is funny but I just gave him a move and went straight for the ball."
ON HIS GOAL FOR TODAY'S GAME - "I was just trying to come out here and play with confidence. I felt that I came off of a good game last week against the wide receiver at ASU so I just want to keep going, keep playing hard and finish through the season. This is my last year, my last go at it so, I might as well go hard. I was pressing the whole game so I was just trying to be physical with them at the line, disrupt the timing with the quarterback and I feel like I accomplished that."
ON TODAY'S AGGRESSIVE GAME - "It was definitely aggressive. We were just trying to get after the quarterback and make him rattled so that he would throw incompletions and interceptions."
ON HOLDING THEIR OFFENSE AT THE RED ZONE - "We work on that during the whole fall camp and practice. Now, we work on short yardage, goal like, and we just have to toughen up down there and be extra focused and you know, play hard and do our jobs with extra intensity."
ON HAWAI'I'S QUARTERBACK CHANGES - "It really didn't make any difference. They let us know. Some of them liked to run more and the other ones liked to throw. We were just seeing who was out there and whoever came out there, we're going to play our hardest against them"
ON BRADY DAIGH - "Brady is a great player too. It would be nice to have all of the linebackers on the field but he stepped up. He does that in practice too and he's a great, great, player. I'm proud of him."
ON DEFENSIVE PENALITES - "I always feel like they're quick to call penalties on the defense but I just have to play through it, keep fighting. Eventually we got off the field on that drive so, I just have to be more disciplined and try not to hold them. And not face mask as well."
ON THE DEFENSE'S GROWTH SINCE THE FIRST GAME - "I think we improved tremendously. Each week we're getting better and better. We're gaining more confidence. The freshmen and sophomore are maturing more and I feel like we're making progress and taking strides each week and we just have to keep moving forward."
ON NELSON SPRUCE'S TALENT - "It's great [having Nelson Spruce]. We just have to get him the ball but I tell Sefo to throw him the ball every time you can because he's always open. So, why not throw him the ball He's not open against me in practice. Maybe once in a while I'll let him get open you know, to help his confidence."
DB Chidobe Awuzie
ON THIS WEEK'S PRACTICES "It was preparation all through the week. On the ASU week, we kind of started a tradition of practicing well so we just kept that going this week and obviously, it showed up during the game."
ON HOW THE DEFENSE IS GROWING - "We're building identity. We're trying to play tough and we're trying to cause turnovers and we're trying to play fast. This is just the start of it. In many more things we're going to do great on defense."
ON HAWAI'I'S QUARTERBACK CHANGES - "The first quarterback [Ikaika Woosley] was a little more mobile so he was getting more sprint outs and boots. The second quarterback [Jeremy Higgins] stayed in the pocket and he was throwing it up there for us to get. And that third quarterback [Taylor Graham] obviously, Ted (Tedric Thompson) got a pick off of him so that was good too. But they're all good quarterbacks and we're going to keep this thing going."
WR Nelson Spruce
ON HIS 71 YARD TOUCHDOWN - "It was more judging the ball, I guess it kind of worked out as juke. The ball got underthrown so I kind of hesitated to slow down to read it but as I sped up, I was able to pull away with it. It was nice. "I talked about it, it was a bit underthrown so I hesitated. But, at the last second, I was able to run under it, go up for it, and run for the end zone."
ON HIS PERFORMANCE SO FAR THIS SEASON - "It's been nice on an individual level to execute at this level. I put in a lot of work in the offseason and all of the production that I've been able to have with the rest of our receivers is a product of our whole offense working well. I think we're all on the same page as an offense."
ON LEADING THE COUNTRY IN TOUCHDOWNS - "Someone told me that. I guess it is, you know weird, shocking to hear. I don't pay attention to it when I'm on the field."
ON THE SLOW SECOND HALF - "Something we talk about a lot, either we've been struggling from the start which wasn't the case today. We got off to a good start but weren't able to carry it for all four quarters. So, if we want to win some of these Pac-12 games, we're going to have to execute at a high level for all four quarters. I think as an offense, our defense played lights out in the second half, but our offense had such a good first half that we wanted to carry it in for all four quarters but we couldn't. We got the win, which is obviously the most important thing but we would have liked to finish the game off strong offensively. We tried to get it going every time, every series on the sideline. But their defense came out ready to play in the second half and we just missed a throw, missed a block here and there. We weren't able to put a complete game together which is something we need to do if we want to have sustained success."
ON HIS ABILITY TO CONSISTENTLY BE OPEN - "I fight to get routes, that's something I pride myself on; sharp routes, getting separation from the DB and even if there is tight separation, I feel confident that I can make the tough catch. That's kind of an advantage I have."
ON THE PHYSICALITY HAWAI'I'S D-LINE - "[Hawai'i's Ne'Quan Phillips] was playing pretty physical at the line and he's more of a bigger guy that they tried to press at the line. [Dee Maggitt] is more of a quick guy. He was off floating around back there. They were good DB's. I think they were the best we faced this year."
ON GREG HENDERSON - "Greg Henderson's one of the best corners in the Pac-12. Going against him day after day kind of sharpens both of us. We get after it at practice. Greg's a great player. You saw that today."
ON SETTING THE SCHOOL RECEIVING RECORD - "You don't even realize, I'm not keeping track of that during the game. We've had guys like Paul Richardson and Scotty McKnight so it's a cool list to be on.
"I didn't even realize it until coach told me. At the same time, it was a little bittersweet just because in the second half offensively we weren't putting up any points, which is kind of frustrating, but we got the win.
ON GOING INTO PAC-12 PLAY "The Pac-12 is a passing league, so you have to have top corners, and that's what we'll be facing. I think our offense is prepared, and I think I'm prepared to face that type of talent. I think we have the receiving corps to stack up to other Pac-12 teams. I think we have a lot of depth this year, so there are always guys that can step-in. That's why you play in this league though; to play the best.
DL Juda Parker
ON PLAYING AGAINST HIS HOME STATE "It was really great to play against a lot of guys I've seen over the years. There's a little extra intensity when you're playing against guys you know."
ON THE DEFENSE "We played really well. Zero touchdowns, 2 or 3 sacks in the red zone, and we got some turnovers. That was a really successful job. We did our part today."
ON THE TEAM MOVING FORWARD "We've been laying the foundation ever since our first loss. We've been continuing to build on what we have. Our foundation is strong and our coaches and doing great coaching us up and getting us to the right places. These guys believe. We have a chance to do well this season. The door's open."
Hawai'i Players
P Scott Harding
ON TOUGH LOSS "Yeah, it really was. Our defense did really well in the second half to stop them and for some reason our offense just couldn't convert in the red zone. It killed us in the end."
ON OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES "We have to watch the film and have a look at it. It's always tough to see it from the sidelines and really pick it a part. We can move the ball really well 20-to-20 but that last little bit is what we struggle with. We have to get back to the drawing board and see what we can do about it."
ON BIG HIT DURING PUNT "I'm kind of used to it, as soon as I get outside of the box it's fair game. I know that those are the rules and I try to hold it as long as I can. Sometimes they can beat me up a little bit after the punt but that is just part of it and I will be fine."
ON GETTING BALL INSIDE THE 10 ON PUNTS "I try to aim to get at least one down on the one or two every game. It really boosts our defense and can sometimes change the momentum of the game and that's what I'm trying to do as much as I can."
ON MESSAGE TO UH FANS "Just stick with us. It's been a long run and we've had a lot of ups and downs. I hope that we have shown the fans that we can match up with the best teams, including Pac-12 teams. We are almost there. We are kind of shooting ourselves in the foot; so stick with us and we will start to get put together."
ON ALTITUDE AFFECTING PLAY "I don't think the altitude affected our play. We played in Wyoming last year and that is a little bit higher. It was a beautiful day and it was not really cold so that was no excuse."
LB Julian Gener
ON TOUGH LOSS "I'm up and down about how we played. The second half we played lights out but in the first half we were making mistakes and they were capitalizing. We have to come out the same way for the entire game. The second quarter killed us. I think they had two touchdowns that quarter and that really hurt us. I think we need to collectively play as a unit from the start and we can make things happen."
ON DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FIRST AND SECOND HALF "After playing slow I think we got hit in the mouth and realized that we were in a dog fight. We were in the alley, just one-on-one, and we knew we had to win. I think that's when we woke up. We came together as a unit and our coaches said some things in the locker room. They told us to let our swag hang out, just play and have fun out there. I think that's what we needed to do from the start."
ON NELSON SPRUCE "I'm playing linebacker so it's a little hard for me to look at him the whole time. He made his catches but I think we should have had more opportunity to shut up down than we did."
ON FEELING GOOD ABOUT SECOND HALF "We've had like three moral wins. We are tired of them and we need wins in the win category. We just have to find a way to start from the beginning. Once we start from the beginning we should be able to shut every team out, lights out. That's how I feel."
ON MESSAGE TO UH FANS "We are going to go back to work. It's a bye week, but it is by no means a week off. We are going to take it as if we have a game this week and we are going to prep like nothing else. We have Rice in two weeks and we are going to be ready to go."
ON TURNOVERS "We did have some big time turnovers. TJ [Taimatuia] has been playing phenomenal lately. He had a pick and I wish he could have made it to the end zone but he's not as fast. It's alright because we got that and we had a fumble or two. I think we might have won the turnover battle in this game which is big for us. A focal point of our defense is trying to win the turnover battle because the majority of the time when you win that you have a good chance of winning the ball game."
RB Steven Lakalaka
ON HIS WORKLOAD FOR THE GAME "I expected that because of the way their defense plays and the situations we were in, but we just got to get better."
ON HIS CONFIDENCE FOLLOWING LONG RUN- "After that long run I just had that confidence in myself. I just wanted to bring that energy to the team."
ON FRUSTRATIONS OF BEING UNABLE TO CONVERT IN RED ZONE- "It was very frustrating. As long as we put points on the board and keep pushing that's all that matters. When we are in the red zone we got to score. "
ON PLAYING ON HIS SORE RIGHT SHOULDER- "Coach told me that I could play so I told myself to fight up and man up. In the beginning of the week it looked like I was going to be questionable but as I got more treatment and ice, it got a lot better. My adrenaline kicked in and after that I felt no pain on me until after the game."
ON HAWAII'S PLAY SO FAR THIS SEASON- "We got to get better, we have a long season to go but we just got to stick with it and stick together and don't give up."
PK Tyler Hadden
ON HIS PLAY TODAY "Credit due to coach and our full unit and the 10 guys in front of me, I had solid protection all day and I just put the finishing touches in."
ON HAVING SO MANY ATTEMPTS TODAY IN ELEVATION- "I just go out there and do my job. Actually it was really nice kicking here. I came out here and warmed up and kicking really well. I actually hit the cross bar on a 67 (yard attempt) warming up, so that was a big confidence builder warming up. It would be nice to kick in this weather all of the time.
ON HOW LONG HE THINKS HE COULD KICK- "As I said earlier in the week, I believe 55 (yards), just with the thinner air and kicking the ball well."
ON POTENTIAL FRUSTRATIONS AT THE END OF THE GAME- "You never know what's going to happen. We could have put together a drive in the last two minutes there and scored a touchdown and kicked an onside and now we are back in the game. So you never know the situation, you just go out there, do your job and execute and you will be good."