Tuesday Press Conference Quotes

Head Coach Mike MacIntyre

Opening Statement
"First of all, you can't ask a question if you didn't vote. Seriously. I think all American citizens should vote. Our guys worked hard today and I'll tell you one thing, our guys are excited about playing in this game on Saturday at 1:30 in Boulder on ESPN against the No. 8 team in the country. It's going to be a fun day."

On difficulty of reversing fortunes during four-game losing streak
"It's been tough. We set the expectations high, we played really well (early in the year). I cannot control game day injuries. We've had one injury in practice (all season) that was a tweaked calf. We've practiced well, we've done well, we've just had a rash of injuries. That makes it tough when you're playing really good football teams and you have key players go down. But as I've always said, nobody cares. You still have to find a way to win. We've been close in the last three and just didn't get it done. Hopefully we will get it done Saturday."

On Health Of CB Delrick Abrams
"He's back to 100%. The first game he came back, he didn't practice until Thursday so he hadn't gone completely full speed until we threw him out there. He was free, the trainers and doctors released him, but he hadn't done a full-fledged hard practice. He went out there and did okay during the game, but he's healthy and ready to roll."

On Washington State QB Gardner Minshew
"He's done really well. He makes all the right throws. He's from Brandon, Mississippi, I know right where he's from, I used to recruit in that area when I was at Ole Miss. That's a football area right there, right outside of Jackson. He has mobility, he's making throws. His offensive line is really good. I think their offensive line has gotten better every year. I think their offensive line is the best they've been since we've gone against Washington State. Overall I think their team is really good, and he's executing their offense really well. He makes a lot of plays."

On Defensive Backs Learning How To Finish At The End Of Routes
"You've got to be able to do it under pressure, it's kind of like finishing a layup under pressure or making a three-pointer under pressure. It's that type of situation. We've seen glimpses of it where they've done well, we've seen others where they haven't. It's just been a little bit hit or miss. Hopefully we hit more this week than we miss."

On Any Extra Juice Playing A Top-10 Opponent
"I think last week they came out with tons of energy and played extremely hard. They just made more plays than we did. We needed to make more plays. This team has always come out and played hard. I expect them to do that and they have great energy with each other, they care about each other and I think they'll play extremely hard. Our goal is to play extremely hard and to get one more point that the opponent has."

On Stopping Air-Raid Offense
"I think No. 1, the quarterback is the key, he knows where to go with the ball, he can make all the throws from one hash to the other sideline. He can make the deep throws. And No. 2, they're very good at executing what they do. Again, with their offensive line, nobody hardly gets near him very much. They do an excellent job. The offensive line is big and athletic, they've done a good job with those guys. I've been very impressed with their offensive line, that's helping it flow like they want it to."

On What He Can Change From A Coaching Standpoint
"Every game is different because you play different offenses, you play different defense so you scheme up what we feel like will attack their schemes the best. That's what we've done this week. Hopefully it works well. We've changed up different schemes to effect the air raid, we've changed up different schemes that effect their blitzing, stunting defense. (We use) stuff that's within our system, we don't create anything brand new because if you do that it falls apart on Saturday."

On How Different Team Is When Star WR Laviska Shenault Is Healthy
"I think when you take a Heisman trophy candidate out of the picture, it's a big deal. If you had taken [Heisman-winning RB] Rashaan Salaam off the '94 team, I don't know they might still have been really good, they had a lot of great players. But you take a Heisman Trophy candidate out at the time he left, he was leading the country in every category kind of like [Washington State QB Gardner Minshew]. If you take Minshew out, it might change Washington State. We haven't had our best football player on the field since halfway through the USC game, so he only played five and a half games."

On Whether The Team Overachieved Early In The Year
"No. I don't think we were overachieving at all. I think we have a really good football and we've lost three close games. We got beat up a little bit in the USC game, but the other three games, I definitely think we could have won. If you watch the games(against Washington, Oregon State and Arizona), we could've won all three games. We didn't. The Nebraska game was a heck of a game, but if we don't have Viska (WR Laviska Shenault) and [WR] Jay [MacIntyre], we don't win that game. We don't have those guys right now, so we've got to find different ways and other guys have to step up. That's part of life, that's part of football. In '16, the only guy that got banged up a little bit was [QB] Sefo [Luifau] and Steven [Montez] was good enough to come in and take care of us. Nobody else got banged up the entire year. Every one of the pro players, they didn't miss a game. You've got to stay healthy the best you can but like I said, nobody cares. You've got to find a way to win. Hopefully we'll find a way to win Saturday. I think the kids that have played more (the past few weeks) have gotten a little better. I think [S Derrion] Rakestraw's gotten a little better, I think that [WR] Juwann [Winfree] is back healthy and better, [TE] Brady Russell's gotten better. I could keep naming different guys who have all gotten a little bit better. [WR] Kabion [Ento] has gotten better having to play more, [WR] Jaylon Jackson's gotten a little bit better. Hopefully all of their games have gotten a little bit better and that will help us get over the hump."

On Not Having A Long Clock-Killing Drive Since The Arizona State Game
"With that situation we were trying to run the clock out. That was the premise of that situation and we were able to do that. Chris Bounds was out there, a healthy tight end, along with Brady [Russell], then Viska (WR Laviska Shenault) made two big third-down catches to keep that drive alive. I thought the offensive line did a good job in there. We mixed it up. We were trying to run out the clock. We had a pretty good drive against Oregon State there, then had the holding call where the game was over. If you don't remember, the quarterback scrambled and the game's over, got the ball on the 3-yard line and can run the clock out. Then we have holding called on the back side and changed it. We kept the ball on that drive. I think we got it with nine minutes and I think there were two minutes left (when we gave it back), if we would've done that we would've kept the ball for nine full minutes. I'd like to be ahead to try and do that again. I think we can, we've done it twice now in those types of situations, we just had the holding penalty that hurt us (against Oregon State.) The other games we've been trying to come from behind in a situation to try and go score."

On Getting Back To Finishing Out Games
"You need to play well in the fourth quarter if you want to win tight ballgames. We haven't played as well in the fourth quarter for one reason or the other. That is something we need to do. We need to finish off a game. We are going to have some opportunities here in these last three games. We need to come through and do that. There will be a time we need to hold the ball and finish the game off. There will be a time where we need to come from behind and go score and win it. We need to do that and we haven't done that the last few weeks. We have done it in the past and we need to do it again. We came from behind against Nebraska. We held it against ASU. Those were examples where we finished games. We need to do in one way or the other in these next games. That will be big for us to win them."

On ILB Nate Landman Coming Off The Field On Third Downs
"He doesn't come off the field every time. Also, Nate Landman is really beat up. He doesn't even practice all week. He has to wear a blue jersey and he can't touch anybody or hit anybody. We are trying to preserve Nate Landman. I don't want to lose Nate Landman too. There are reasons we do it. He doesn't come out every third down, but he does come out some in those situations. Drew Lewis is a 10.8 100-meter guy, and has really played well for us in the nickel package at JACK backer. He can cover wide receivers and backs, you have seen him do that. That is a strength of Drew. Nate plays so many plays and we'd like to get Rick [Gamboa] out a little bit because he plays so many plays. We try to rotate those guys and that is one way we felt like we could preserve Nate. He is hitting so many people. You can only dish out so many hits and take so many hits and stay healthy for what we hope to be a ton of games. That is one of the reasons. Also, keeping Drew available inside which we've needed to do when we've had injuries. That keeps him fresh in there to get our next best player on the field if something happened to one of our inside guys."

On Election Day And Encouraging His Players Take Part In Democracy
"You need to play well in the fourth quarter if you want to win tight ballgames. We haven't played as well in the fourth quarter for one reason or the other. That is something we need to do. We need to finish off a game. We are going to have some opportunities here in these last three games. We need to come through and do that. There will be a time we need to hold the ball and finish the game off. There will be a time where we need to come from behind and go score and win it. We need to do that and we haven't done that the last few weeks. We have done it in the past and we need to do it again. We came from behind against Nebraska. We held it against ASU. Those were examples where we finished games. We need to do in one way or the other in these next games. That will be big for us to win them."

Quarterback Steven Montez

On Washington State Defense
"They are doing a few different things, but mainly the same things they did last year. They've got some good athletes in the secondary. They are a little bit smaller than what we've been playing up front, but they are still a very good defense. We need to prepare very hard if we want to be successful against them."

On Washington State Head Coach Mike Leach
"He is a great coach. He does a great job in that system. They air the rock out all the time. They have had great quarterbacks. Luke Faulk was a great quarterback last year who played for them and then Gardner Minshew is a very elite quarterback. They have a good offense and a good defense. They are a very good team. We have to be prepared for them to come into Folsom and we have to play our best football."

On Washington State's Pre-Snap Movement
"They do a lot of movements, stunts and twists on defense before we snap the ball. It is more difficult for the offensive line. A lot of the time when those guys are moving and stemming they are saying things like, 'Move! Stem!', or something to get those guys to go. It is tough to sit there and hold your water when they are yelling all of that stuff in your face. It is going to be a challenge for our guys, but we have some guys that have plated a lot of football. I think they are up for the challenge."

On Adjusting As Wide Receivers Have Gone Down With Injuries
"I just go through my progressions and go through my reads and throw to the guy that is open. Throw to where the defense tells me to throw the ball. It doesn't really matter who is out there. We've got a lot of capable receivers that can go out there and make plays. Whenever they are open I am going to give them the ball."

On The Offensive Line
"People think O-line is an easy position. The reality of it is that it's not. It is a very difficult position to play. Those guys are wrestling and wrestling is difficult. They are doing it every single play and they aren't doing it with small guys. They are doing it with big, D-linemen. They have a difficult job. I have to do a better job of staying in the pocket. There were times where they were giving me a good pocket and I was getting a little quick-footed and trying to get out of there. I need to do a better job of keeping my eyes down field and then delivering it. A lot of it is on me as well."

Linebacker Rick Gamboa

On Facing A Top-10 Team In Washington State
"It is always a good opportunity. Everybody is excited. It is one of those big games that we always have on the wall. Everybody is very excited to have Washington State come in. Playing in Folsom with that crowd definitely does help."

On Key To Getting Back On Track
"The main thing is to keep pushing and keep grinding. All four losses were close games. It's not like we've gotten blown out or anything. In all games, we had a chance to win. Just little things and corrections we need to make. We are preaching that in practice. Making sure everybody is doing the right things, focusing in meetings and asking questions, and not making the same mistakes of and over again. Just making sure we keep improving. We've had a chance every week. We just have to keep grinding."

On Washington State's Offense
"Their quarterback (Gardner Minshew) is one of the best quarterbacks in the country right now. He is playing lights out. Everybody in their offense is a weapon, they get everybody the ball. They rotate receivers in and out so anybody on the field is a threat. The O-line is good and gives the quarterback time to make throws. The quarterback leads the offense. He gets the receivers in the right positions and throws good balls where their receivers are going to catch it. He controls the game for them."

On Washington State QB Gardner Minshew's Ability To Avoid Sacks
"He is not the biggest threat running, but he is being able to avoid sacks which makes it a threat. When he gets into a scramble, receivers start following the quarterback instead of running their typical route. They find a window and find a space to get open. That can turn into a problem. We need to make sure we latch on, stay in coverage, and do our job. Same thing with the D-line. Whenever they get a chance to get a sack they have to stay in their rush lane and not let him out of the pocket and prevent giving him a lot of time."
On Mindset Of The Seniors In Final Stretch
"There is a big sense of urgency. We have three games left. Us seniors have two games left in Folsom. There is a big sense of urgency of what we want to do and what we want to accomplish in these last three games."

Head Coach Mike MacIntyre

Quarterback Steven Montez

Linebacker Rick Gamboa

Players Mentioned

Chris Bounds

Rick Gamboa

Jaylon Jackson

Nate Landman

Drew Lewis

Steven Montez

Brady Russell

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