Colorado University Athletics
Colorado-USC Quotes
vs
Weber State
Sep 12 (Sat)
TBA
Colorado Head Coach Mike MacIntyre
On The Strategy Fourth-Down Attempt In The Second Quarter
“We were in-between kicking it. Distance-wise, we were kicking into the wind there. That’s what we decided to do. We thought we had a play called, but they played a different coverage and got us.”
On If The Pick-Six Was The Turning Point Of The Game
“Yeah. We had some critical mistakes and kind of gave them the game. They’re the most talented team in our league year in and year out, no doubt about it. We had some opportunities tonight and squandered it away.”
On Tailback Phillip Lindsay
“Do we have all night to talk about him? His unbelievable passion for the state of Colorado, for the University of Colorado and his passion for playing with his teammates and for his family; his inner drive is probably the best I’ve ever seen and been around. It’s not just game day, it’s every day of the week how he’s able to do that. His attitude and perseverance has got him to this point. He’s a really good athlete and he’s done a lot of great things, but the thing that separates him from most people is his perseverance and his positive drive and attitude. It’s amazing.”
On The Final Offensive Play
“We thought it was fourth down. It was fourth down all the way.”
On If The Team Battling Back Will Carry Over To The Utah Game
“We need it to carry over some. We shot ourselves in the foot two games in a row and you just can’t do that. We need to find a way in the bye week to come back and hopefully do something that hasn’t been done around here in 14 years and that’s what we’d like to do.”
On If Cornerback Isaiah Oliver Was Healthy
“He said he was 100 percent and the doctors said he was 100 percent, but he didn’t play quite like Isaiah and he’d tell you the same thing, so I guess he wasn’t 100 percent mentally ready for it. That’s always tough when they come back and we’re playing really talented receivers and a really talented quarterback. They can kind of exploit that. He’s a great player and he tried to fight through it, but he wasn’t able to go in the second half. We’ll see how he’s able to hopefully bounce back and play against Utah.”
On Play Of Wide Receiver Juwann Winfree
“Juwann played well. His knee injury set him back last year and he was a little slow in fall camp. He had gotten his legs back under him as the season’s gone along. He made some good plays tonight. I was glad to see him make those.”
On The Injury To Wide Receiver Shay Fields And How It Cut Short His Senior Day
“They just said he had concussion symptoms. That’s all I know. I imagine it’s very disappointing. I haven’t had a chance to talk to him about it, especially with him being concussed a bit. It wouldn’t be a great conversation. I’ll talk to him about it on Monday or Tuesday.”
On The Message To The Team With The Bye Week
“We ought to utilize it well. Hopefully we’ll get a couple guys back. Hopefully Isaiah can recover completely. Hopefully Shay can come back from the concussion protocol. That gives us 14 days to come back from that. We’ll get back some legitimate, big-time players for that last game, because we’re going to need everybody. They understand what’s at stake and they’ll be motivated during the open date. A late open date is sometimes rough, because it’s so late in the season. I don’t think it will be with these guys. They’ve always come to practice and play hard. I think they showed that the way they came back out in the second half after the first half that didn’t go well and the demoralizing play at the end could really sting. It was good to see them fight through that. Then, we got the field goal blocked again and we could have just tanked and they didn’t, which I thought was impressive. I’ll see a great fight out of them and be ready to play Utah. It’s always a good game, so hopefully we can come out on the upper end of that.”
On The Blocked Field Goals
“He (kicker James Stefanou) kicked both of them low. He said it hit his ankle. That hasn’t happened all year long. We went over there and worked on things. He kicked it better after that. I can’t tell you right now until I watch it on film and see his plant-foot and see what happened on the placement. That’s something we haven’t done. It’s extremely unfortunate to say the least.”
On Phillip Lindsay’s Passion Affecting The Team
“It has bled over to his teammates. The passion of them fighting tonight was a part of him. He keeps running hard and keeps going. He came out and ran hard in the beginning of the second half. His fight and effort is big. It does bleed over. He was talking to them at halftime and on the sidelines. His isn’t just words, he brings it when he does it. It’s oozed throughout our whole team.”
On If He’s Worried That He Won’t Have An Emotional Leader Next Year
“Sefo [Liufau] was the guy last year and Phillip was this year. They’ll be another guy that has played and will step up and do some things. As they get older, you’ll start seeing it more and more.”
“We were in-between kicking it. Distance-wise, we were kicking into the wind there. That’s what we decided to do. We thought we had a play called, but they played a different coverage and got us.”
On If The Pick-Six Was The Turning Point Of The Game
“Yeah. We had some critical mistakes and kind of gave them the game. They’re the most talented team in our league year in and year out, no doubt about it. We had some opportunities tonight and squandered it away.”
On Tailback Phillip Lindsay
“Do we have all night to talk about him? His unbelievable passion for the state of Colorado, for the University of Colorado and his passion for playing with his teammates and for his family; his inner drive is probably the best I’ve ever seen and been around. It’s not just game day, it’s every day of the week how he’s able to do that. His attitude and perseverance has got him to this point. He’s a really good athlete and he’s done a lot of great things, but the thing that separates him from most people is his perseverance and his positive drive and attitude. It’s amazing.”
On The Final Offensive Play
“We thought it was fourth down. It was fourth down all the way.”
On If The Team Battling Back Will Carry Over To The Utah Game
“We need it to carry over some. We shot ourselves in the foot two games in a row and you just can’t do that. We need to find a way in the bye week to come back and hopefully do something that hasn’t been done around here in 14 years and that’s what we’d like to do.”
On If Cornerback Isaiah Oliver Was Healthy
“He said he was 100 percent and the doctors said he was 100 percent, but he didn’t play quite like Isaiah and he’d tell you the same thing, so I guess he wasn’t 100 percent mentally ready for it. That’s always tough when they come back and we’re playing really talented receivers and a really talented quarterback. They can kind of exploit that. He’s a great player and he tried to fight through it, but he wasn’t able to go in the second half. We’ll see how he’s able to hopefully bounce back and play against Utah.”
On Play Of Wide Receiver Juwann Winfree
“Juwann played well. His knee injury set him back last year and he was a little slow in fall camp. He had gotten his legs back under him as the season’s gone along. He made some good plays tonight. I was glad to see him make those.”
On The Injury To Wide Receiver Shay Fields And How It Cut Short His Senior Day
“They just said he had concussion symptoms. That’s all I know. I imagine it’s very disappointing. I haven’t had a chance to talk to him about it, especially with him being concussed a bit. It wouldn’t be a great conversation. I’ll talk to him about it on Monday or Tuesday.”
On The Message To The Team With The Bye Week
“We ought to utilize it well. Hopefully we’ll get a couple guys back. Hopefully Isaiah can recover completely. Hopefully Shay can come back from the concussion protocol. That gives us 14 days to come back from that. We’ll get back some legitimate, big-time players for that last game, because we’re going to need everybody. They understand what’s at stake and they’ll be motivated during the open date. A late open date is sometimes rough, because it’s so late in the season. I don’t think it will be with these guys. They’ve always come to practice and play hard. I think they showed that the way they came back out in the second half after the first half that didn’t go well and the demoralizing play at the end could really sting. It was good to see them fight through that. Then, we got the field goal blocked again and we could have just tanked and they didn’t, which I thought was impressive. I’ll see a great fight out of them and be ready to play Utah. It’s always a good game, so hopefully we can come out on the upper end of that.”
On The Blocked Field Goals
“He (kicker James Stefanou) kicked both of them low. He said it hit his ankle. That hasn’t happened all year long. We went over there and worked on things. He kicked it better after that. I can’t tell you right now until I watch it on film and see his plant-foot and see what happened on the placement. That’s something we haven’t done. It’s extremely unfortunate to say the least.”
On Phillip Lindsay’s Passion Affecting The Team
“It has bled over to his teammates. The passion of them fighting tonight was a part of him. He keeps running hard and keeps going. He came out and ran hard in the beginning of the second half. His fight and effort is big. It does bleed over. He was talking to them at halftime and on the sidelines. His isn’t just words, he brings it when he does it. It’s oozed throughout our whole team.”
On If He’s Worried That He Won’t Have An Emotional Leader Next Year
“Sefo [Liufau] was the guy last year and Phillip was this year. They’ll be another guy that has played and will step up and do some things. As they get older, you’ll start seeing it more and more.”
On Fixing The Blocked Field Goals
“You keep working at it. You work it all the time. He (kicker James Stefanou) has great lift on all his kicks that I never thought he’d get one blocked up the middle on him ever. His ball gets up so high and so quick, so something happened tonight with that. He was really upset about it himself. You just go back and work at it harder and hopefully we can get that corrected.”
On Linebacker Trent Headley’s Proposal
“He came and talked to me about it this summer. I said, ‘You better make sure she says yes in front of all those people.’ That was a great moment for Trent and everybody there. That’s something that they’ll always remember. Every time I’ll think of Trent Headley, I’ll think of a lot of things, but I’ll remember that for sure. That was a great moment for him and exciting to see. I assumed she said yes, because she was crying and hugging him.”
On The Play Of Freshmen Laviska Shenault And Nate Landman
“We needed them in there. We started getting more reps and playing faster. We had that orchestrated to do. We got some more reps in the second half than the first half. We knew they could make plays. Nate went in there since we weren’t doing so good against the run. We stuck Nate in there to see if he could do better. He made some good plays. He has a nose for the football. He’s done that all through fall camp. He’ll flash in there on a short-yardage play and make a tackle. He has that unique way of finding the football. We’re excited about his future too.”
USC Head Coach Clay Helton
General
“Players win ball games and our kids won this game. I thought Colorado played valiantly defensively. They played a ton of man coverage, a ton of one-high coverage and really challenged our receivers to make plays, and I thought tonight both Sam [Darnold] and the wide outs did a tremendous job of executing. Defensively, our guys had an unbelievable first half, and when plays needed to be made at the end, the love of my life here (embracing Ajene Harris) did an unbelievable job. I told them in there that it’s a player’s game and they won it.”
On Today Being An Important Step On Greater Journey
“I think each year you try to improve. We weren’t in this position last year, and now we are. Credit goes to a bunch of great kids and the staff working together. Now we have an opportunity to represent the South in the Pac-12 Championship game. We have a fierce rivalry game next week to prepare for, there’s still a lot that we have to get ready for, so we’ll celebrate tonight and get back to work tomorrow.”
On Colorado’s Halftime Adjustments
“I think they started making plays. I thought their wide receivers made a couple deep ball plays on some double moves. We are an aggressive defense, and we had a lot of guys in the box, our goal was try to stop [Phillip] Lindsay tonight, and hold up in the back end. When you do that, you know they’re going to catch you once or twice, and they got us twice and got back into the game.”
On Offensive Progress
“I think the wide receivers have matured and grown and it’s helped the quarterback. They’re really coming together and playing great football. That was a great performance by Sam [Darnold] tonight, I thought he delivered the ball where his receivers could make plays. They had the mentality that, ‘if I touch it, I catch it.’ When you’ve ran for 300-yards the past few weeks, you have to expect Colorado to come in and try to shut down the rushing attack. That’s what we said (to the wide receivers) during the game, you’re going to get your one-on-one shots. You’ve got to make the plays.”
On Sam Darnold’s Improvement
“I have really enjoyed his leadership through good times and bad, the poise and the character he has. When you’re the quarterback at USC and have that much pressure on you, and to perform with so much class and character on a weekly basis, and perform for his brothers, he’s the definition of believing in team success over individual success. That’s what I appreciate most about him.”
“Players win ball games and our kids won this game. I thought Colorado played valiantly defensively. They played a ton of man coverage, a ton of one-high coverage and really challenged our receivers to make plays, and I thought tonight both Sam [Darnold] and the wide outs did a tremendous job of executing. Defensively, our guys had an unbelievable first half, and when plays needed to be made at the end, the love of my life here (embracing Ajene Harris) did an unbelievable job. I told them in there that it’s a player’s game and they won it.”
On Today Being An Important Step On Greater Journey
“I think each year you try to improve. We weren’t in this position last year, and now we are. Credit goes to a bunch of great kids and the staff working together. Now we have an opportunity to represent the South in the Pac-12 Championship game. We have a fierce rivalry game next week to prepare for, there’s still a lot that we have to get ready for, so we’ll celebrate tonight and get back to work tomorrow.”
On Colorado’s Halftime Adjustments
“I think they started making plays. I thought their wide receivers made a couple deep ball plays on some double moves. We are an aggressive defense, and we had a lot of guys in the box, our goal was try to stop [Phillip] Lindsay tonight, and hold up in the back end. When you do that, you know they’re going to catch you once or twice, and they got us twice and got back into the game.”
On Offensive Progress
“I think the wide receivers have matured and grown and it’s helped the quarterback. They’re really coming together and playing great football. That was a great performance by Sam [Darnold] tonight, I thought he delivered the ball where his receivers could make plays. They had the mentality that, ‘if I touch it, I catch it.’ When you’ve ran for 300-yards the past few weeks, you have to expect Colorado to come in and try to shut down the rushing attack. That’s what we said (to the wide receivers) during the game, you’re going to get your one-on-one shots. You’ve got to make the plays.”
On Sam Darnold’s Improvement
“I have really enjoyed his leadership through good times and bad, the poise and the character he has. When you’re the quarterback at USC and have that much pressure on you, and to perform with so much class and character on a weekly basis, and perform for his brothers, he’s the definition of believing in team success over individual success. That’s what I appreciate most about him.”
Colorado Players
RB Phillip Lindsay
ON HIS EMOTIONS DURING TODAY’S GAME- “My emotions stayed the same during today’s game. We have to focus on being bowl eligible. I know that, our seniors know that, everyone knows that. For me, when I’m done, I’ll look back at everything and cherish every moment of it. All you have to do is play a game, execute, and go to a bowl.”
ON WHAT THE TEAM WILL DO TO PREPARE FOR UTAH- “Just work hard, work hard, stay consistent. Everyone just needs to buy in. If we do that, good things will happen. Utah’s a good team, we’re a good team too. Every year it’s a dog fight, so we have to come out ready or else we’re going home so it’ll be tough.”
ON RECEIVING THE BUFFALO HEART AWARD- “It was very special, it is an honor. I am happy that the fans think so highly of me and this is something I will be able to cherish for the rest of my life.”
ON IF THERE IS ANY MOMENTUM TO TAKE TO UTAH-“It just goes to show you that everybody’s following our offense and we’re going to be tough to beat. If we came out and played in the first half like we did in the second, we wouldn’t have this problem right now. We have to come out strong, execute when we need to, and that’s what we’re going to have to do for our bye week. We’re going to go hard, and there’s no time to risk, we have to get a bowl. Come Utah, we’re going to be polished and ready to go.”
ON IF HE PREFERS BYE WEEKS EARLY IN THE SEASON-“I mean you definitely want to have your bye week at the right time. I think it would definitely help to have your bye week in the middle of the season. We’re not the ones making the bye weeks, I don’t know who does but we’re going to do what we can and get ready for our bye week.”
ON WHAT THE TEAM WILL DO TO PREPARE FOR UTAH- “Just work hard, work hard, stay consistent. Everyone just needs to buy in. If we do that, good things will happen. Utah’s a good team, we’re a good team too. Every year it’s a dog fight, so we have to come out ready or else we’re going home so it’ll be tough.”
ON RECEIVING THE BUFFALO HEART AWARD- “It was very special, it is an honor. I am happy that the fans think so highly of me and this is something I will be able to cherish for the rest of my life.”
ON IF THERE IS ANY MOMENTUM TO TAKE TO UTAH-“It just goes to show you that everybody’s following our offense and we’re going to be tough to beat. If we came out and played in the first half like we did in the second, we wouldn’t have this problem right now. We have to come out strong, execute when we need to, and that’s what we’re going to have to do for our bye week. We’re going to go hard, and there’s no time to risk, we have to get a bowl. Come Utah, we’re going to be polished and ready to go.”
ON IF HE PREFERS BYE WEEKS EARLY IN THE SEASON-“I mean you definitely want to have your bye week at the right time. I think it would definitely help to have your bye week in the middle of the season. We’re not the ones making the bye weeks, I don’t know who does but we’re going to do what we can and get ready for our bye week.”
ILB Nate Landman
ON HIS BLOCKED PUNT TONIGHT-“Oh it felt great, coach always says to play one for the team and by doing that, I felt like I gave my team a chance.”
ON WHAT THE TEAM DOES TO BLOCK A PUNT-“We’re trying to get as many people as possible to the shield. The shield being those three guys in front of the punter. While doing that we also want a good return out of it, and for that we need guys blocking down field. If we get guys on the shield, good things will happen.”
ON IF CU EXECUTED THAT TONIGHT- “Yeah we watched a lot of film on them, so we got to know some tendencies and we were able to take advantage of that.”
ON LANDMAN’S PLAYING TIME INCREASING-“Playing behind Rick Gamboa and Drew Lewis helped me a ton. They’re great guys, they play the game right and that really helped me step up my game.”
ON IF THE EXTRA WEEK OFF WILL HELP- “Yeah of course, it’s always nice to have an extra week to prepare. We can study the team, see what they did in the past, and see what they’re going to do next week so we can prepare. It’s also good to have some extra time for our bodies to heal.
ON WHEN HE PREFERS THE BYE WEEK TO BE- “It doesn’t really matter but I feel like the prime time for the bye week is right in the middle of the year. You know? Get a feel for the first six games and then take a break and get ready to finish out the season strong.”
ON WHAT THE TEAM DOES TO BLOCK A PUNT-“We’re trying to get as many people as possible to the shield. The shield being those three guys in front of the punter. While doing that we also want a good return out of it, and for that we need guys blocking down field. If we get guys on the shield, good things will happen.”
ON IF CU EXECUTED THAT TONIGHT- “Yeah we watched a lot of film on them, so we got to know some tendencies and we were able to take advantage of that.”
ON LANDMAN’S PLAYING TIME INCREASING-“Playing behind Rick Gamboa and Drew Lewis helped me a ton. They’re great guys, they play the game right and that really helped me step up my game.”
ON IF THE EXTRA WEEK OFF WILL HELP- “Yeah of course, it’s always nice to have an extra week to prepare. We can study the team, see what they did in the past, and see what they’re going to do next week so we can prepare. It’s also good to have some extra time for our bodies to heal.
ON WHEN HE PREFERS THE BYE WEEK TO BE- “It doesn’t really matter but I feel like the prime time for the bye week is right in the middle of the year. You know? Get a feel for the first six games and then take a break and get ready to finish out the season strong.”
OLB Derek McCartney
ON HIS LAST GAME AT FOLSOM-“It was a lot of fun being out there with my teammates. That’s what I’m going to miss the most, being out there with my guys. Some of the things that I’ll take away from tonight that don’t have to do with football include meeting the guy I donated to. That was really awesome that he got to be here, that’s so cool to me. The other thing is one of our teammates, Trent Headley got engaged today, that was pretty cool. We were really high and emotional for both of those things which was cool.”
ON MEETING THE RECIPIENT OF HIS STEM CELL DONATION-“It’s just wild. You don’t really know how you’re going to feel in that situation but it’s almost like you are seeing someone that you know so well and hadn’t met before. There was just a connection there which was really cool.”
ON DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS THIS WEEK-“I think defensively we took big steps this week, got a lot better. We just learned a lot about ourselves in terms of what we’re about. There was a time there in the fourth quarter where we got two big stops in a row and we gave ourselves a chance to win. That was big. Obviously, we have to fix some things from the first half but in the second half, we played hard and that’s what we need to do. We were just trying to be physical and play our game which was working, for a while there.”
ON PLAN FOR BYE WEEK-“We just have to come together and look at the film and see where we can get better specifically. I think it’s going to be good for our guys to get together and get a week of recovery so that we can feel good going into the last game. We just have to take care of business.”
ON MEETING THE RECIPIENT OF HIS STEM CELL DONATION-“It’s just wild. You don’t really know how you’re going to feel in that situation but it’s almost like you are seeing someone that you know so well and hadn’t met before. There was just a connection there which was really cool.”
ON DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS THIS WEEK-“I think defensively we took big steps this week, got a lot better. We just learned a lot about ourselves in terms of what we’re about. There was a time there in the fourth quarter where we got two big stops in a row and we gave ourselves a chance to win. That was big. Obviously, we have to fix some things from the first half but in the second half, we played hard and that’s what we need to do. We were just trying to be physical and play our game which was working, for a while there.”
ON PLAN FOR BYE WEEK-“We just have to come together and look at the film and see where we can get better specifically. I think it’s going to be good for our guys to get together and get a week of recovery so that we can feel good going into the last game. We just have to take care of business.”
QB Steven Montez
ON HOW THE TEAM MANAGESS TO KEEP PLAYINRD DESPITE FRUSTRATIONS–“We have a whole bunch of warriors on this team. I think we knew that before the year started. I think we knew that no matter what was going to happen, we weren’t going to give up and we were going to see the game all the way through. We have done a pretty good job all year. We just came up on the short end of the stick.”
ON HIS MINDSET BEORE THROWING THE INTERCEPTION BEFORE HALTIME–“We ran a pick route. I was trying to throw it to the flat to get him out of bounds. I thought the guy had gotten picked but he played over the top of it and jumped it. He picked it and took it the house. I really didn’t even see him. I thought he was with the pick guy. I thought they ran into each other. He made a good play.”
ON MISSED OPPORUNTIES IN TODAY’S GAME–“We had tons of missed opportunities. We couldn’t get anything going. I think that their corners and safeties were playing all of the underneath stuff. We didn’t take them deep until the second half. I think they were just waiting for all of that underneath stuff that we were throwing.”
ON WHAT HE CAN LEARN FROM [RB] PHILLIP LINDSAY AS A LEADER–“Phil is probably the best player that I have ever been around. Last year it was Sefo [Liufau]. No offense to Sefo, but you all have heard Phil talk. Just listening to Phil talk gets you fired up, gets you motivated, and gets you wanting to go out there to play for him. I feel extremely bad that we sent him out on senior night like this. Phillip Lindsay is something special. I think Colorado has come to realize that. I definitely have come to realize that – even not being from Colorado. He and I were sitting in the pools the other day and we had a conversation about his ride through his time here at Colorado. It was definitely something special.
ON WHAT HE ANTICPATES FROM THE UPCOMING BYE WEEK – “I anticipate the bye week to be a whole lot of work. We are going to come in, work every day, try to get Utah schemed up. We are going to get our game plan ready for them and hopefully will be ready to take it to Utah and get a win.”
ON THE CONFUSION OF THE DOWN AND DISTANCE ON COLORADO’S LAST OFFENSIVE PLAY–“I definitely thought it was first down. I thought [WR] Jay MacIntyre got the first down when we threw it to him. USC brought a zero pressure. That is smart on their part. They brought a zero pressure and they caught us. They knew it was fourth down.”
On battling back from 27-0 deficiT–“I think the way we battled showed a lot of grit, and definitely think that will carry over into the bye week and the Utah game. We’ve got some work to do, but this game is definitely still within our reach and we definitely still control on our destiny in getting into a bowl game.”
ON HIS MINDSET BEORE THROWING THE INTERCEPTION BEFORE HALTIME–“We ran a pick route. I was trying to throw it to the flat to get him out of bounds. I thought the guy had gotten picked but he played over the top of it and jumped it. He picked it and took it the house. I really didn’t even see him. I thought he was with the pick guy. I thought they ran into each other. He made a good play.”
ON MISSED OPPORUNTIES IN TODAY’S GAME–“We had tons of missed opportunities. We couldn’t get anything going. I think that their corners and safeties were playing all of the underneath stuff. We didn’t take them deep until the second half. I think they were just waiting for all of that underneath stuff that we were throwing.”
ON WHAT HE CAN LEARN FROM [RB] PHILLIP LINDSAY AS A LEADER–“Phil is probably the best player that I have ever been around. Last year it was Sefo [Liufau]. No offense to Sefo, but you all have heard Phil talk. Just listening to Phil talk gets you fired up, gets you motivated, and gets you wanting to go out there to play for him. I feel extremely bad that we sent him out on senior night like this. Phillip Lindsay is something special. I think Colorado has come to realize that. I definitely have come to realize that – even not being from Colorado. He and I were sitting in the pools the other day and we had a conversation about his ride through his time here at Colorado. It was definitely something special.
ON WHAT HE ANTICPATES FROM THE UPCOMING BYE WEEK – “I anticipate the bye week to be a whole lot of work. We are going to come in, work every day, try to get Utah schemed up. We are going to get our game plan ready for them and hopefully will be ready to take it to Utah and get a win.”
ON THE CONFUSION OF THE DOWN AND DISTANCE ON COLORADO’S LAST OFFENSIVE PLAY–“I definitely thought it was first down. I thought [WR] Jay MacIntyre got the first down when we threw it to him. USC brought a zero pressure. That is smart on their part. They brought a zero pressure and they caught us. They knew it was fourth down.”
On battling back from 27-0 deficiT–“I think the way we battled showed a lot of grit, and definitely think that will carry over into the bye week and the Utah game. We’ve got some work to do, but this game is definitely still within our reach and we definitely still control on our destiny in getting into a bowl game.”
DB Afolabi Laguda
ON HONORING [DB] RYAN MOELLER WITH THE NUMBER ‘25’ WRITTEN ON PLAYERS’ ARMS–“Ryan would have definitely made plays out there. I feel like his presence was felt in every game he played in and we definitely missed him today. Just being a senior, those emotions in Folsom for the last time, I definitely felt it in my heart to at least get him a win so he could have something to hang his head proud about. Regardless, Ryan Moeller has been a stud here for years. I think he will hang his head proud regardless. “
On inability to stop the run in the second halF–“[Ronald Jones] is just a player, he made plays. I don’t feel like any of the guys out there were worn down, college football has it’s ups and downs. We all know 25 is a great back, so we expect a great back to make plays.”
On emotions playing last game at FolsoM–“I just wish I could send out the rest of my brothers, the rest of our senior class with a win. Losing at home on senior day is tragic, there’s no words for that. It hurts. It hasn’t even hit me yet, I haven’t cried yet but when I get in closed quarters, I’m sure I’ll have some emotions. This is a special place to play, there’s so much history here. That feeling when you play here, I feel like other teams can feel it too. It’s definitely irreplaceable.”
On approaching bye week with bowl game on the line – “I’m approaching it like it could possibly be my last college game. I’m going to wear myself out, there’s nothing left to keep in the tank. I’m going to enjoy these next two weeks and enjoy every practice. When we play Utah, that’s the last time this team will have a regular season game together. The future is unknown, nobody knows what will happen after that, but that’s our last guaranteed one. I’m going to empty it out these next two weeks.”
ON CONFIDENCE GAINED FROM BATTLING BACK FROM 27-0 DEFICIT–“I definitely saw some young guys step up. That punt block team was a lot of young guys coming in clutch on a big time play. I think it’s definitely momentum for those guys, it’s momentum for special teams. Showing that we can battle back is good momentum, but it’s bittersweet because we lost of course. It’s good momentum for next week and for next year’s team.”
ON PERFORMANCE OF [LB] NATE LANDMAN–“Nate is just a flat out football player. It’s in his genes, when he’s on the football field he’s a fiery guy but if you catch him outside he’s quiet, but those guys are special. I feel like Nate’s time is coming and one day he’ll be something special at this university.”
On inability to stop the run in the second halF–“[Ronald Jones] is just a player, he made plays. I don’t feel like any of the guys out there were worn down, college football has it’s ups and downs. We all know 25 is a great back, so we expect a great back to make plays.”
On emotions playing last game at FolsoM–“I just wish I could send out the rest of my brothers, the rest of our senior class with a win. Losing at home on senior day is tragic, there’s no words for that. It hurts. It hasn’t even hit me yet, I haven’t cried yet but when I get in closed quarters, I’m sure I’ll have some emotions. This is a special place to play, there’s so much history here. That feeling when you play here, I feel like other teams can feel it too. It’s definitely irreplaceable.”
On approaching bye week with bowl game on the line – “I’m approaching it like it could possibly be my last college game. I’m going to wear myself out, there’s nothing left to keep in the tank. I’m going to enjoy these next two weeks and enjoy every practice. When we play Utah, that’s the last time this team will have a regular season game together. The future is unknown, nobody knows what will happen after that, but that’s our last guaranteed one. I’m going to empty it out these next two weeks.”
ON CONFIDENCE GAINED FROM BATTLING BACK FROM 27-0 DEFICIT–“I definitely saw some young guys step up. That punt block team was a lot of young guys coming in clutch on a big time play. I think it’s definitely momentum for those guys, it’s momentum for special teams. Showing that we can battle back is good momentum, but it’s bittersweet because we lost of course. It’s good momentum for next week and for next year’s team.”
ON PERFORMANCE OF [LB] NATE LANDMAN–“Nate is just a flat out football player. It’s in his genes, when he’s on the football field he’s a fiery guy but if you catch him outside he’s quiet, but those guys are special. I feel like Nate’s time is coming and one day he’ll be something special at this university.”
WR Juwann Winfree
ON BEING ABLE TO BREAK AWAY ON BIG PLAYS THIS GAME–“They were off the whole time. They weren’t really pressing us. We just tried to take advantage of that. We worked all week on these plays so we just tried to make the most of our opportunities out there – that’s all.”
ON STEPPING UP AFTER SHAY FIELDS LEFT THE GAME–“Seeing him go down was pretty sad for us. He is a senior. He wanted to go out strong. I had to do that in his honor. I played for him and all of the seniors out there. They preached all week how important this game was for them - not beating USC since we have started playing them. In fact, that is their last game at Folsom. It meant a lot. I just wanted to make the most of my opportunities for the seniors.”
ON THE RUSTRAION OF LETTING THIS WIN SLIP AWAY–“It was frustrating. We wanted this win really bad. We gave our all for it. To see it slip like that, it kind of hurts. All it does is prepare us for the future and more to come. We see where we lack, things we can do better, and missed opportunities. It is just more motivation. We have to pick it up next week and work harder.”
On whether second half performance will carry over into the future – “I definitely think it will carry over. I felt that it was a confidence booster. We can hang in with all these teams we’ve lost to by an inch, it shows the potential that we have. We need to work on the little things. It’s the little things that could all translate to a better game for us. I feel like our team is going to have a different attitude approaching next week.”
ON STEPPING UP AFTER SHAY FIELDS LEFT THE GAME–“Seeing him go down was pretty sad for us. He is a senior. He wanted to go out strong. I had to do that in his honor. I played for him and all of the seniors out there. They preached all week how important this game was for them - not beating USC since we have started playing them. In fact, that is their last game at Folsom. It meant a lot. I just wanted to make the most of my opportunities for the seniors.”
ON THE RUSTRAION OF LETTING THIS WIN SLIP AWAY–“It was frustrating. We wanted this win really bad. We gave our all for it. To see it slip like that, it kind of hurts. All it does is prepare us for the future and more to come. We see where we lack, things we can do better, and missed opportunities. It is just more motivation. We have to pick it up next week and work harder.”
On whether second half performance will carry over into the future – “I definitely think it will carry over. I felt that it was a confidence booster. We can hang in with all these teams we’ve lost to by an inch, it shows the potential that we have. We need to work on the little things. It’s the little things that could all translate to a better game for us. I feel like our team is going to have a different attitude approaching next week.”
USC Players
QB Sam Darnold
ON HIS FOCUS ON BEING ABLE TO THROW DOWN THE SIDELINE- “I think it’s just preparation and practice in throwing more deep balls. Continuing to work on the red zone. I’m finally starting to get a good groove and a good rhythm with my receivers, and it’s really comforting. “
ON HAVING A TURNOVER FREE GAME-“It means a lot. Whenever I can play a really clean game, it’s always nice. I’m sure that the defense loves it too, being able to know that there’s not going to be a quick turnaround, and that they won’t have to sit down on the bench and then get right back up. It was good to sustain some drives there in today’s game and not turn the ball over.”
ON IF MAKING COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF IS IN THEIR MIND- “Yeah, 100 percent. Anytime we have a big win on the road in the Pac-12 it says a lot for our team. However the committee decides to place the four teams, we are going to sit back and do what we can to win every game from here on out.”
ON IF AJENE HARRIS IS HARD TO GO AGAINST IN PRACTICE- “Yeah, Ajene (Harris) has made a couple plays. It’s always good to have someone like him on defense, and really everyone for putting up a great game. Whether it’s going to tutoring, going to class on time, he is on time to everything and it means a lot. Ajene is the epitome of one of those guys you can trust in any aspect of life. “
ON HOW HARD IT IS TO LEAD THROUGH ROUGH TIMES- “It’s pretty natural for me to keep my poise and be able to rally the troops, even if we’re down. At Notre Dame, we just kept fighting and fighting. Obviously it didn’t end the way that we wanted it to, but that’s how the game goes sometimes, and I think that the way that we’ve been resilient all year has been really comforting as a quarterback.”
ON WHERE HE HAS GROWN THE MOST- “I think my leadership, being able to pull guys aside or be able to talk to the whole squad offensively. As we’ve seen tonight, I think my deep ball accuracy has really grown, and being able to stay calm in the pocket. There is still some room to grow, obviously, but I’m pretty happy with my performance tonight.”
ON HIS INCREASE IN SPEED- “It’s a credit to our strength and conditioning staff. The way that they get me ready, and the way that they keep me healthy throughout the week. I am able to put a lot of time and effort into my strength and conditioning, and trusting what the strength and conditioning staff is telling me to keep myself healthy over the course of the 12 game season.
ON IF HE FEELS LIKE HE IS PUTTING TOO MUCH PRESSURE ON HIMSELF- “No, I don’t think so.”
ON HAVING A TURNOVER FREE GAME-“It means a lot. Whenever I can play a really clean game, it’s always nice. I’m sure that the defense loves it too, being able to know that there’s not going to be a quick turnaround, and that they won’t have to sit down on the bench and then get right back up. It was good to sustain some drives there in today’s game and not turn the ball over.”
ON IF MAKING COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF IS IN THEIR MIND- “Yeah, 100 percent. Anytime we have a big win on the road in the Pac-12 it says a lot for our team. However the committee decides to place the four teams, we are going to sit back and do what we can to win every game from here on out.”
ON IF AJENE HARRIS IS HARD TO GO AGAINST IN PRACTICE- “Yeah, Ajene (Harris) has made a couple plays. It’s always good to have someone like him on defense, and really everyone for putting up a great game. Whether it’s going to tutoring, going to class on time, he is on time to everything and it means a lot. Ajene is the epitome of one of those guys you can trust in any aspect of life. “
ON HOW HARD IT IS TO LEAD THROUGH ROUGH TIMES- “It’s pretty natural for me to keep my poise and be able to rally the troops, even if we’re down. At Notre Dame, we just kept fighting and fighting. Obviously it didn’t end the way that we wanted it to, but that’s how the game goes sometimes, and I think that the way that we’ve been resilient all year has been really comforting as a quarterback.”
ON WHERE HE HAS GROWN THE MOST- “I think my leadership, being able to pull guys aside or be able to talk to the whole squad offensively. As we’ve seen tonight, I think my deep ball accuracy has really grown, and being able to stay calm in the pocket. There is still some room to grow, obviously, but I’m pretty happy with my performance tonight.”
ON HIS INCREASE IN SPEED- “It’s a credit to our strength and conditioning staff. The way that they get me ready, and the way that they keep me healthy throughout the week. I am able to put a lot of time and effort into my strength and conditioning, and trusting what the strength and conditioning staff is telling me to keep myself healthy over the course of the 12 game season.
ON IF HE FEELS LIKE HE IS PUTTING TOO MUCH PRESSURE ON HIMSELF- “No, I don’t think so.”
NK Ajene Harris
ON HOW SWEET IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IF INTERCEPTION TOUCHDOWN WAS UPHELD- “It would have been really sweet for the whole squad. What a great win for us, we are going to go back to Los Angeles and get ready for UCLA. We are going to continue to work hard.”