Colorado University Athletics
Player and Coach Quotes
Colorado Head Coach Gary Barnett
General
“I feel like we’re a better team than we were nine or 10 weeks ago. We’re closer and our young guys aren’t young anymore. I think this was our most complete game this year. I though Torp’s punting was outstanding and we kicked-off well. It was good to get this win,
“I think we’re having more fun now than at any other point in the season. The kids are great, the locker rooms are great and the coaches are great.”
On MU QB Brad Smith
“Well you probably don’t need me to tell you that Brad Smith is the real deal. The future is bright for that team because of him. They played like a team that was in the hunt for the Big 12 North.”
“I think we put more pressure on him in the second half. We tackled better and we knew we just had to keep him in front of us.”
On Team Chemistry
“I think our players are pulling together and growing together, especially in the last two weeks. That
On QB Joel Klatt
“He’s just got a bruised contusion on his hand. I don’t think it affected him in the second half, I think it was more what they (
On S Dominique Brooks
“He just loves to play the game and he plays it one way. He’s a playmaker. We keep putting him in there and his tackling is getting sharper and he’s getting an idea of where to be and when to be there.”
On DE James Garee
“James is just a blue-collar, hard-working son of a gun. If you let down you guard for just a second, he’s going to take advantage of you.”
On Continued Improvement
“I think the week of the OU game, the defensive guys got it. The offense is starting to get it, but we’re still not running the ball like we should. That takes more time.”
On Matching Up with MU’s Lines
“I think we did really well on defense. On offense, we still had trouble with the movement. We were fine playing man-to-man but we had trouble with the movement. They were doing the things that Texas Tech did last week. We finally got it figured out on the last play.”
On MU Turnovers
“We had four the other way today. That always seems to be the difference when you have two evenly matched teams. That’s part of the game.”
On His Record Against
“It’s special to me (beating them). I don’t know what else to day. It’s just more special.”
On the Turning Point
“We won the third quarter and I think that was critical. I think their turnover on about the 40 was huge, Torp’s punting was huge, but really I think it was our drive in the third and their turnover.”
On Looking Ahead
“We haven’t been winning the games that we’re supposed to win. Right now, we’re glad to have four wins and not three and hopefully we’ll be able to get another one (next week).”
FS
General - “Each win is important. We’ve got to go out and fight hard to win. We did a great job. We still made some mistakes, but you make mistakes every week and just have to come back and work hard.
On Play of Brad Smith ? “It’s hard to stop a mobile quarterback like that. He did a great job, but we just kept fighting and fighting.
WR DEREK McCOY
General ? “It was great to get a team win, because everybody was playing well and with emotion. It’s been a lot of hard work. It feels good to get this win, because we’ve waited a long time for it, and we finally got it.”
On The
On The Offense ? “I thought we played well. We took a lot of time off the clock, we gave the defense some rest so they could contain Smith. It was great to see everybody contribute. When it goes like that, it keeps the defense off balance.”
On The Defense ? “They have been playing good the last two weeks, and we feed off their emotion.”
WR D.J. Hackett
General ? “We know that we have the ability to do it, we just need to do it. We needed to win bad, and it was just a breath of fresh air. We can beat anyone we play, if we play to our potential.”
On The Defense ? “They have stepped up in the past couple of games, and that just gets us excited.”
On Big Plays ? “I always tell (Klatt) different reads I see and he comes through when we need it.”
On The
FS Dominique Brooks
On His Hail Mary INT ? “Against
On Overcoming Adversity ? “Usually we don’t win the third quarter and that was something that we wanted to make sure we did today. You can never keep your head down; you always have to keep your head up, because when your head is down, that is when bad things happen. We’ve always kept our heads up this season, and now the hard work is paying of.”
On His Interception - “We had man coverage, and I knew that they were going to throw for the sticks either inside or outside. He broke out, and I broke with him, and made the play.”
On The Tip - “He (Brad smith) was either going to run it or toss it. I saw that he was going to throw it, I just jumped, and I tipped it. This win gives us momentum, and we really needed it.”
FB
On His Touchdown ? “I really didn’t see or feel anybody until my teammates hit me in the end zone. After that it was just beautiful. It felt really great to be in there and I am so happy that I could contribute in the scoring game.”
On His Running Style ? “A lot of people say when I play tailback, that I kind of run like Chris Brown. I am not close to Chris Brown, but I would love to be like him someday. He was a marvelous back.”
DE JAMES GAREE
General- “We went into this game expecting 60 minutes of inside run, and that’s what we got. They are a physical O-line, but our defense stood up to the challenge.”
On The Last Defensive Series - “ We wanted to give pressure, and keep containing to make sure that Smith couldn’t role out, because that’s when he’s most dangerous.”
QB JOEL KLATT
On McCoy Touchdown - “The pass was a common route that we usually call in the red zone. Derek (McCoy) was the third option, and he came open on the outside. I flipped my hips, and was able to get him the ball. Derek (McCoy) made a real nice catch.”
On The Offensive Line - “The O-line did a great job today. We felt like we could do a lot of three step drops, and role outs, and we were able to accomplish that. The guys did a great job protecting me all day.”
On Vickers Touchdown - “That drive was big for us to get another touchdown, and gain the momentum. Lawrence (Vickers) made a nice play. Our defense held them to a field goal, and kept us in the game. We were able to do what we prepared for all week.”
General - “It feels great to win a game like this. I feel like we came together as a whole team, and we had a great time out there today. Of course winning doesn’t hurt.”
On The Forced Fumble - “I saw him (Brad Smith) running toward me, and I had the tackle wrapped up. I was fortunate to get the ball after it popped out.”
WR JEREMY BLOOM
General - “Our offense is best when we utilize all of our weapons. When we get tentative, we don’t do well, and we weren’t tentative today. When we spread the ball around we are hard to stop. The hardest thing is that we are a great team, and have so much talent, but we haven’t played great this year. When things are clicking I feel that we are one of the best teams in the nation.”
Missouri Head Coach Gary Pinkel
General “I thought that half the time we came out an played with intensity and half the time we looked lackluster. I can’t tell you how disappointed I am as a coach. You have to give
On QB Brad Smith “Brad is not superman, so you can’t blame this on him. He can’t do everything on the football field and this was a team effort. Brad does a lot more good things than bad. He made some mistakes in today’s game but he’ll learn from them and grow as a player.”
On Playing On The Road “This was a test for our guys. We had to come into
LB James Kinney ON FOURTH QUARTER ? “We was stopping them and making them punt. We just wanted to stop them so we could get the ball back and get some points on the board. We felt like we had all the momentum after our touchdown, but we just couldn’t finish.” OS Dedrick Harrington GENERAL ? “I don’t know what went wrong today. We are going to have to answer a lot of questions this week. We need to keep our focus and try to regain our winning ways. OL A.J. Ricker GENERAL ? “We didn’t play very well today. We had some mistakes and they played with more intensity than us. I really don’t know what happened today, but something went wrong. We have to point the fingers at ourselves and I’m pointing the finger at myself. We feel that we lost this game rather than them winning, but give them credit.” QB Brad Smith GENERAL ? “We just had to make plays and I didn’t do that. I put this loss on my shoulders. They played harder than us, so they deserved this win more than us. To win games like this, you have to take it to another level. We didn’t play hard enough today to do that. We have to take the good with the bad.” ON GOAL LINE FUMBLE ? “I thought I was in, but they (referee’s) must have thought that I wasn’t. That’s the way this game goes. I was surprised, I thought it was a touchdown. (The ball) got knocked out and the ref’s called it the way they did.” ON SEASON OUTLOOK ? “We are going to do what we have to do to finish the season strong. We can’t worry about the Big 12 Championship or even the Big 12 North. We just have to play our remaining games and try to win each one.” OL Rob Droege GENERAL ? “It all comes down to preparation and execution. We prepared hard all week, but today, we just didn’t execute. We didn’t play well enough at times, and to be a great team, that’s what you have to do. We’ve got to bounce back this coming week against Texas A&M. This one is over now and we just have to move on.” ON QB BRAD SMITH ? “Brad played well today. He played his hardest all game, trying to make plays and make things happen. He’s our leader and carried us this far. You can’t put this loss on anybody. This is a team game and we just didn’t get it done today.” TB Damien Nash GENERAL ? “It’s a tough loss, but we didn’t get it done today. Things just didn’t click when we needed them to. What’s done is done. We’ve got to look ahead to next week.”