Colorado University Athletics
Colorado-Texas State Quotes
vs
Weber State
Sep 12 (Sat)
1:30 PM
Colorado Head Coach Mike MacIntyre
General
“What a gorgeous day out there today, it was a great day for football. I thought our guys started out a little slow, but Texas State, their linebackers are really good. They made a lot of stops on us on the run. We couldn’t really have a break away in there. I thought in the third quarter we were really hitting at all cylinders offensively and defensively. In the fourth quarter, we just shut it down a little bit to make sure we stayed healthy and played some young guys that will play six, seven, eight games when we’re hopefully making a deep run in the Pac-12. I would have liked to have started out a little bit better, but I was proud about how we came out in the second half, that showed a lot to me.”
On The Offense’s Slow Start
“We sputtered a little bit here and there and then in the second half we I felt like Steven [Montez] sat in the pocket, was able to see the field better and make some throws. Our line held up and we were able to run. We got to play at a high tempo. I think that was the difference than in the first half. He’s still pretty young, but I thought he made some big strides in the third quarter.”
On Defensive Back Isaiah Oliver’s Improvement
“He’s basically always been close to that good. He’s gotten stronger and faster, gained weight and gotten more confident. He’s out there all the time. The other guys we had last year, Ahkello [Witherspoon] and Chido [Awuzie] will both be starting tomorrow, and we had him too. I’ve always thought Isaiah was a phenomenal corner, not a great one. He’s special. He’s seen everything that can happen to him. He has great ball skills. The thing I’ve always said that makes a corner excellent is can he play the ball in the air? Can he knock the ball away from the guy; can he make the pick? Can he run the route for the guy? So many guys can do it, but it’s end of the route that matters, because that’s when everything happens. He can finish plays and that’s what makes him special.”
On Getting Younger Players Playing Time
“We got ‘Viska’ [Shenault] in there, and K.D. [Nixon] and Nate Landman. We got some other guys in there on special teams. It was good. They got their feet wet, because there will be situations when they’ll get more plays as the season goes along. It was good to see Juwann Winfree out there. Every week he’s seems like he’s getting back to his old self again.”
On Outside Expectations Of The Offense
“I still think we’re going to be really good. We’ve shown really good glimpses of it. We’ll put that together for the whole game and do some really good things. We’ll make some plays; we’ve got some really good players across the board. We’ve got a really good offensive tackle now in Isaac Miller. We’ve been waiting for him to come along, because he’s been hurt. I saw some really positive things there. I try to speak the truth on that and I think we’ll be a very good offense.”
On The Defense Answering Questions
“It’s week-to-week. I thought we’ve always had good players, we’ve developed them and signed them. We’ve stayed in the same defense, so there’s not a big learning curve. I’ve always said on defense, we know how to fit the run. They made a big run on us early – they did a different blocking scheme but we caught them from behind. We pretty much stopped that run the rest of the day and they ran it probably six or seven more times. We knew how to fix our fits, because we’re very sound in what we do. I was pleased with how they’re playing. The thing I like about our defense is when teams get down in our red zone, we don’t flinch. We rise to another level. Our guys keep playing. We did that last year and these young guys are doing it even better this year.”
On The Key To Keep The Offense Rolling
“It’s being consistent. We had 430 total yards and 37 points. If we would have hit a couple throws here and there we would have had 50 points and 600 yards. It’s just off by a foot. A misread here and a missed block there. We’ll get it and you’re seeing glimpses of it. We have situations where if we have a bad play, we need to regroup from it. One thing the offense has done really well is when we’re backed up, we don’t blink there. We take it and go score. We need to do it more often. We do have a good offense and we’ll have an even better one as the year goes on.”
On Play Of Defensive End Leo Jackson III
“Leo’s a phenomenal young man. He started for us when he came in as a sophomore and he played on and off last year. He played well for us. This year he’s gotten a bit bigger and stronger. He’s a multidimensional lineman. He can play in the 3-4 (defense) and when we’re in nickel he can pass-rush too. He has a great ability now – he weighs 285 and he’s stouter now. I knew Leo would have a great year this year. He’s such a team-player, he’s athletic, he’s got long arms. He’s got good potential to play after this level.”
On Missing Offensive Tackle Jeromy Irwin And Tight End/Defensive End George Frazier
“I would say it’s disrupted our offense a little bit, and having George has disrupted our offense when we play with a tight end, even though Chris Bounds has done well. When we have them back I think that will definitely help our offense, when you lose a left tackle for one or two games that’s really good. Him and George will be back this week; we’re excited to have them back. I think that’ll definitely help our offense.”
On Play Of Defensive Back Evan Worthington
“Can he fly or what? He’s always been like that, but he’s gone to another level. Maturity is an interesting thing. When young men mature and they see what they can be, it’s always exciting. Evan does so many things. You all laughed at me when I said he reminds me of Chido [Awuzie]. He does. He’s that fast and that athletic. He’s not a corner like Chido, but he’s a nickel, safety, blitzer like Chido was. He’s a big add for us. I don’t think anybody saw that coming. I have though. He’s a really good player.”
On Isaiah Oliver Leaving Early For The Next Level
“Isaiah is a great, great player and I’m sure people are looking at him. We’ll see what happens with that. Hopefully he’ll stay and run track and play another year, but we’ll see what happens as the rest of the year goes along. He’s a great player.”
On Today’s Attendance
“We want 50,183 people, but 43,000 at noon is really good. I liked the student section out there. I’d like to have seven more thousand in there, but that’s a lot better than we’ve had in the past for a noon, non-conference game. I think that shows the loyalty of what our players are doing. That’s exciting.”
On Play Of Kicker James Stefanou
“I told y’all he can get it up. Isn’t it amazing how he high he can get it up and how quick? He’s an excellent kicker, I was really pleased with how he played today. That’s what we’ve been seeing. He has a powerful, powerful leg. Davis Price has really gone to another level the way he’s kicking off. That one kickoff was like a 4.4 (second) hangtime – which is ridiculous, that’s like a punt – and it went eight yards deep in the end zone into the wind. If he keeps doing that, we’ll be in good shape on all year long. I’m excited about those guys. Alex Kinney, he’s doing what I told you he can do. Those guys kept maturing.”
On If He’s Relaxed On The Play Of The Special Teams
“I never relax. We’ve got some great special teams that we’re going to play in the future. We’re going to have to really cover well and kick well. Ross Els and those guys have really done well with those guys. We’ve got to do it every week. The thing is, you’ve got to have a lot of cover guys. You can kick it perfect, but you’ve got to cover in our league. We have enough talent to do that, but we’ve got to get guys ready when we get nicked up.”
On Players Whose Families Have Been Affected By Hurricanes
“We’ve had them call their parents and we’ve talked to them. Right now, as far as we know it everybody’s okay and safe. We’re constantly keeping in contact with those guys about that and try to help every way we can.”
On The Center Position
“Jonathan [Huckins] is going to be fine. It was late in the game and we were going to put another center in there anyway in the fourth quarter. He got hit in the thigh. He’s an offensive lineman. He’ll do fine.”
“What a gorgeous day out there today, it was a great day for football. I thought our guys started out a little slow, but Texas State, their linebackers are really good. They made a lot of stops on us on the run. We couldn’t really have a break away in there. I thought in the third quarter we were really hitting at all cylinders offensively and defensively. In the fourth quarter, we just shut it down a little bit to make sure we stayed healthy and played some young guys that will play six, seven, eight games when we’re hopefully making a deep run in the Pac-12. I would have liked to have started out a little bit better, but I was proud about how we came out in the second half, that showed a lot to me.”
On The Offense’s Slow Start
“We sputtered a little bit here and there and then in the second half we I felt like Steven [Montez] sat in the pocket, was able to see the field better and make some throws. Our line held up and we were able to run. We got to play at a high tempo. I think that was the difference than in the first half. He’s still pretty young, but I thought he made some big strides in the third quarter.”
On Defensive Back Isaiah Oliver’s Improvement
“He’s basically always been close to that good. He’s gotten stronger and faster, gained weight and gotten more confident. He’s out there all the time. The other guys we had last year, Ahkello [Witherspoon] and Chido [Awuzie] will both be starting tomorrow, and we had him too. I’ve always thought Isaiah was a phenomenal corner, not a great one. He’s special. He’s seen everything that can happen to him. He has great ball skills. The thing I’ve always said that makes a corner excellent is can he play the ball in the air? Can he knock the ball away from the guy; can he make the pick? Can he run the route for the guy? So many guys can do it, but it’s end of the route that matters, because that’s when everything happens. He can finish plays and that’s what makes him special.”
On Getting Younger Players Playing Time
“We got ‘Viska’ [Shenault] in there, and K.D. [Nixon] and Nate Landman. We got some other guys in there on special teams. It was good. They got their feet wet, because there will be situations when they’ll get more plays as the season goes along. It was good to see Juwann Winfree out there. Every week he’s seems like he’s getting back to his old self again.”
On Outside Expectations Of The Offense
“I still think we’re going to be really good. We’ve shown really good glimpses of it. We’ll put that together for the whole game and do some really good things. We’ll make some plays; we’ve got some really good players across the board. We’ve got a really good offensive tackle now in Isaac Miller. We’ve been waiting for him to come along, because he’s been hurt. I saw some really positive things there. I try to speak the truth on that and I think we’ll be a very good offense.”
On The Defense Answering Questions
“It’s week-to-week. I thought we’ve always had good players, we’ve developed them and signed them. We’ve stayed in the same defense, so there’s not a big learning curve. I’ve always said on defense, we know how to fit the run. They made a big run on us early – they did a different blocking scheme but we caught them from behind. We pretty much stopped that run the rest of the day and they ran it probably six or seven more times. We knew how to fix our fits, because we’re very sound in what we do. I was pleased with how they’re playing. The thing I like about our defense is when teams get down in our red zone, we don’t flinch. We rise to another level. Our guys keep playing. We did that last year and these young guys are doing it even better this year.”
On The Key To Keep The Offense Rolling
“It’s being consistent. We had 430 total yards and 37 points. If we would have hit a couple throws here and there we would have had 50 points and 600 yards. It’s just off by a foot. A misread here and a missed block there. We’ll get it and you’re seeing glimpses of it. We have situations where if we have a bad play, we need to regroup from it. One thing the offense has done really well is when we’re backed up, we don’t blink there. We take it and go score. We need to do it more often. We do have a good offense and we’ll have an even better one as the year goes on.”
On Play Of Defensive End Leo Jackson III
“Leo’s a phenomenal young man. He started for us when he came in as a sophomore and he played on and off last year. He played well for us. This year he’s gotten a bit bigger and stronger. He’s a multidimensional lineman. He can play in the 3-4 (defense) and when we’re in nickel he can pass-rush too. He has a great ability now – he weighs 285 and he’s stouter now. I knew Leo would have a great year this year. He’s such a team-player, he’s athletic, he’s got long arms. He’s got good potential to play after this level.”
On Missing Offensive Tackle Jeromy Irwin And Tight End/Defensive End George Frazier
“I would say it’s disrupted our offense a little bit, and having George has disrupted our offense when we play with a tight end, even though Chris Bounds has done well. When we have them back I think that will definitely help our offense, when you lose a left tackle for one or two games that’s really good. Him and George will be back this week; we’re excited to have them back. I think that’ll definitely help our offense.”
On Play Of Defensive Back Evan Worthington
“Can he fly or what? He’s always been like that, but he’s gone to another level. Maturity is an interesting thing. When young men mature and they see what they can be, it’s always exciting. Evan does so many things. You all laughed at me when I said he reminds me of Chido [Awuzie]. He does. He’s that fast and that athletic. He’s not a corner like Chido, but he’s a nickel, safety, blitzer like Chido was. He’s a big add for us. I don’t think anybody saw that coming. I have though. He’s a really good player.”
On Isaiah Oliver Leaving Early For The Next Level
“Isaiah is a great, great player and I’m sure people are looking at him. We’ll see what happens with that. Hopefully he’ll stay and run track and play another year, but we’ll see what happens as the rest of the year goes along. He’s a great player.”
On Today’s Attendance
“We want 50,183 people, but 43,000 at noon is really good. I liked the student section out there. I’d like to have seven more thousand in there, but that’s a lot better than we’ve had in the past for a noon, non-conference game. I think that shows the loyalty of what our players are doing. That’s exciting.”
On Play Of Kicker James Stefanou
“I told y’all he can get it up. Isn’t it amazing how he high he can get it up and how quick? He’s an excellent kicker, I was really pleased with how he played today. That’s what we’ve been seeing. He has a powerful, powerful leg. Davis Price has really gone to another level the way he’s kicking off. That one kickoff was like a 4.4 (second) hangtime – which is ridiculous, that’s like a punt – and it went eight yards deep in the end zone into the wind. If he keeps doing that, we’ll be in good shape on all year long. I’m excited about those guys. Alex Kinney, he’s doing what I told you he can do. Those guys kept maturing.”
On If He’s Relaxed On The Play Of The Special Teams
“I never relax. We’ve got some great special teams that we’re going to play in the future. We’re going to have to really cover well and kick well. Ross Els and those guys have really done well with those guys. We’ve got to do it every week. The thing is, you’ve got to have a lot of cover guys. You can kick it perfect, but you’ve got to cover in our league. We have enough talent to do that, but we’ve got to get guys ready when we get nicked up.”
On Players Whose Families Have Been Affected By Hurricanes
“We’ve had them call their parents and we’ve talked to them. Right now, as far as we know it everybody’s okay and safe. We’re constantly keeping in contact with those guys about that and try to help every way we can.”
On The Center Position
“Jonathan [Huckins] is going to be fine. It was late in the game and we were going to put another center in there anyway in the fourth quarter. He got hit in the thigh. He’s an offensive lineman. He’ll do fine.”
Texas State Head Coach Everett Withers
On finding measured improvement on this trip
“We wanted to make sure we got better this week than we were last week. We talked all week about being better each day. With a young team that’s what you have to do, you have to find the small victories every day you go to work. That’s what we’re trying to do with this football team.”
On Colorado’s special teams touchdown
“It was big obviously, there was a momentum swing there. We were playing pretty well and that was kind of a freak play. I think our kids played hard, they battled back after that.”
On whether his team felt the impact of altitude
“I think our kids are used to the weather, maybe the altitude effected them some. I still saw a lot of effort from our kids today.”
On showing well in first game against a Pac-12 opponent
“You want to win the game, but there were enough positives out of this game that we can start preparing to be better next week.”
On holding OLB Easy Anyama out for much of the game
“Whether it was altitude or a tweaked groin, we felt like we wanted to hold him. He’s too valuable to our football team to stick out there today. Hopefully we can get him back and get him ready to go next week.”
On whether he had to rest any other players
“We tried to rotate linebackers in there in the second half. We tried to get some more guys time but we really didn’t hold anybody out but Easy [Anyama].”
“We wanted to make sure we got better this week than we were last week. We talked all week about being better each day. With a young team that’s what you have to do, you have to find the small victories every day you go to work. That’s what we’re trying to do with this football team.”
On Colorado’s special teams touchdown
“It was big obviously, there was a momentum swing there. We were playing pretty well and that was kind of a freak play. I think our kids played hard, they battled back after that.”
On whether his team felt the impact of altitude
“I think our kids are used to the weather, maybe the altitude effected them some. I still saw a lot of effort from our kids today.”
On showing well in first game against a Pac-12 opponent
“You want to win the game, but there were enough positives out of this game that we can start preparing to be better next week.”
On holding OLB Easy Anyama out for much of the game
“Whether it was altitude or a tweaked groin, we felt like we wanted to hold him. He’s too valuable to our football team to stick out there today. Hopefully we can get him back and get him ready to go next week.”
On whether he had to rest any other players
“We tried to rotate linebackers in there in the second half. We tried to get some more guys time but we really didn’t hold anybody out but Easy [Anyama].”
Colorado Players
PK James Stefanou
ON HIS CONFIDENCE MOVING FORWARD – “We’ll enjoy it tonight and then move on to next week. Confidence will bring guys up a little bit, you just have to keep doing it week in and week out.”ON ALTITUDE AFFECTING HIS KICKING –“I have not kicked in altitude my whole life so really I think you still have to be accurate. It does help but you still have to be accurate.”
ON HOW FAR HE CAN MAKE A FIELD GOAL FROM-“I don’t know, I really don’t know. I think in a game situation it would be different. If Coach Mac puts me out there to make a long one then I’m going to do my best to make it so I don’t know how long I can go but hopefully long.”
WR Devin Ross
ON LOOKING FOR AN OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION-“Yeah definitely, we didn’t come out the way we planned and they just came out in different looks then we had planned for so it’s kind of hard to adjust at first but we just have to get back to how we were in the second half. Just continue to do that for the beginning of next game and for the rest of the season.”ON WHAT TEXAS STATE DID TO SURPRISE CU-“They showed looks of more man coverage on film so we practiced more against that but they came out in more zone and they don’t want to get beat deep so they just showed us different looks then we were used to. We had to adjust and we did.”
ON REACHING 100 CAREER RECEPTIONS-“Oh really? I didn’t even know that, that’s cool. I wish I would have caught that ball on the sideline. That’s all I cared about but I didn’t, I’ll get it next time though.”
ON WORKING WITH HIS OTHER RECEIVERS-“Yeah we’ve all been here for four plus years so I mean all three of us work every day and we push each other every day and it’s been showing on the field. We just have to keep going and hopefully we all hit two hundred soon.”
ON RECEIVING IN THE FLAT-“Yeah I like those better actually it’s just no route you have to run downfield, it’s just instincts. It’s almost like a handoff which is better for me just being fast and everything. I like everything honestly but those are good for me too I like those.”
ON WHAT THE OFFENSE NEEDS TO DO GOING FORWARD-“I think we all just need to play with confidence and keep up the tempo that we’ve had and always played with and we just have to be more comfortable up front and the quarterback (Steven Montez) needs to be more poised because he knows he has the ability to be great so we just have to be comfortable with him. We have to let us make plays and we’ll be fine.”
DE Leo Jackson III
ON HIS THREE SACK PERFORMANCE TODAY-“That’s the main reason why we come and play this game. To make plays out here and I’m thankful that I have the teammates and coaches I have to put me in the position to make plays.”ON THE DEFENSE ALLOWING ONLY THREE POINTS-“I mean for the most part I’m happy but I mean it shows us that we have a lot to work on and the biggest thing is we’re happy where we are right now but we’re not getting comfortable. We know that we have a long way to go so I mean it feels good but we have a long season ahead of us.”
ON THE KEY TO MAKING THIRD DOWN STOPS-“Playing our technique and being confident and trusting the guys around you because if you even have one guy that’s not doing his job or trying to do someone else’s job then the chemistry is off. The biggest thing is that we just trust every guy to do his one out of eleven on the field and we know we can make it through.”
ON GIVING UP NO TOUCHDOWNS BEING A GOOD PROBLEM-“Oh yeah definitely, it’s definitely a good problem. You know there’s still a lot of room for improvement and we’re happy where we are right now but we have to make strides.”
ON THE DIFFICULTY OF UPCOMING GAMES-“Oh definitely I mean we know Pac-12 play is right around the corner. The biggest thing is we’re taking each game and really trying to dial in on our technique and everything. That’s our biggest thing that’s going to win us games and getting better wins.”
DB Isaiah Oliver
ON THE MAGNITUDE OF THIS MOMENT - “Just to see Laviska [Shenault Jr.] pick it up, I saw him from the back and I saw him running and I knew he was going to score which made me happy. But I’m definitely going to clean that up moving forward. It brought us together, it hyped us up getting on the board, maybe not in that specific fashion but just getting points on the board was good for us, kept us rolling for the rest of the game.”ON THE OFFENSIVE SPEED - “As a team we always have the upmost confidence in our offense. I’m a firm believer that it takes offenses a couple of games to get rolling. You can see that across the nation. It doesn’t matter how many great athletes you have, it takes time. It’s a really big system. Once they get clicking, I know they’re going to be capable of scoring however many points we need each game. They’re getting rolling and I know they’re going to be better next week.”
ON THE NEW DEFENSIVE SYSTEM - “What Coach [D.J.] Eliot, Coach [Ross] Els, Coach [ShaDon] Brown have brought, they understand the system, they understand the defense. We play as fast and as hard as we can every single play. If that’s we can keep up like that then that’s great. Going on in the season, it’s obviously not realistic to give up zero touchdowns for the rest of the year but anything that the offense gets, one catch or one big run, we take that to heart. We try to stop that from happening at all.”
ON HIS INTERCEPTION - “It was much like the play from last week where I broke it up against Colorado State. This time I was just able to catch it. It was an inside release. The ball was pretty well thrown to the outside, could have been a little better I think. But I knew I wouldn’t be able to get two hands on it so I kept it to myself and it worked out well. It felt good. Being able to hold the ball in your hands is always a good feeling when you’re playing football."
DB Evan Worthington
ON TEXAS STATE’S OPENING 55 YARD RUN PLAY - “We just knew we had to be ready after that. That was a mess up on the defense. After that we just picked it up and were ready for anything.”ON PLAYING AGAIN AFTER A YEAR OFF - “It feels great being out here and playing football again. This is what I love doing, coming out here and doing what I’m supposed to be doing. It feels amazing. I have that drive. I’m trying to do what I need to do. I have to always be playing 100 percent. I can’t mess up and always go full speed.”
QB Steven Montez
ON ANY CONCERN WITH THE OFFENSE'S ABILITY TO SCORE – “I don’t think there is any concern. I think like Isaiah [Oliver] said, it takes a couple weeks to start clicking. I think we are just starting to get that chemistry going in the offense. I think a lot of the problem with the offense not getting going enough the first half was definitely my fault. I was getting out of the pocket way too soon. I think we cleaned that up in the second half and started sticking to the pocket. On the sideline Tyler Lytle was saying to me, ‘Just pretend you are me.’ Because Tyler is not a very good runner. It is kind of known to the team. So he said to me, ‘Pretend you are me and stay in the pocket. Then you will start delivering the ball.’ Sure enough, I took his advice, stayed in the pocket, and I started delivering the ball.”ON HIS DECISION MAKING – “In high school, I had to run around a lot and make plays. So I think I revert back to that whenever I’m in the game. Now that I am conscious of it, I just need to keep working at it and hopefully we can make it habit of staying in the pocket then getting out of the pocket to make plays only when I have to.”
ON MISSING JEROMY IRWIN – “I don’t think so. I think a lot of it has to do with me putting both of our offensive tackles in a very hard spot with me dropping so far out of the pocket. That allows the defensive ends to rush up the field. In the minds of our offensive tackles, I am sitting in the pocket like I should be – but I was drifting out. So a lot of that is my fault.”
ON WHAT IT WILL TAKE FOR THE OFFENSE TO GET CLICKING – “I don’t know if you can ever chalk it up to a specific play. But I think people can see the progress that we have been putting on the field. I think it is only going to continue to get better as the year goes on.”
ON COLORADO'S DEFENSE – “That defense is nasty – I’ll tell you that much. Isaiah Oliver is one of the best cornerbacks in the nation. I like our defense to do big things as the year goes on. I think they are very good and they were very underrated before the season started.”
LT Isaac Miller
ON DIFFFERENCE IN THE SECOND HALF - “I think it was us coming together and playing as a group. Coach Mac told us we have to play as a unit, and in the second half I think we did a good job of that. Hopefully in the future we’ll get going in the first half because there’s a lot of teams we’ll play where we have to get it going right away.”ON FIRST EXTENDED GAME ACTION - “It sure does [feel good to play meaningful snaps], it’s been about four years since I’ve played in a game so it feels good to get my feet wet a little bit. I have a lot to work, I can’t get complacent. I’m going to go back, hit the meeting room and get better by next week.”
ON WHAT HE HAS TO IMPROVE ON - “There’s a lot to work on but at the end of the day, we got the win. It’s a team sport and the score board showed 37-3, so I’m happy about that. I will get my part fixed and everyone else out there will get their part fixed, and we’ll keep rolling.”
ON MINDSET GETTING PUT IN NOT KNOWING HE WOULD PLAY - “I was going to be nervous regardless. A lot of people say if you’re nervous it means you care. Once you get that first play under your belt, you feel better and you can just play football. I’ve been playing this game for a long time, since I was a little kid, and even if it gets a little faster it’s still the sport of football.”
ON HIS ASSESSMENT OF THE OFFENSE - “There is a lot of room to improve, we have a lot of weapons on offense, we have great coaches, we have talented players. We’ll get back in the playbook, keep working, come back on Monday, and keep it going.”
ON KEY TO A COHESIVE OFFENSIVE LINE - “Being together a lot. Communication is key and I think we did a better job communicating this week than last week, but we need to keep improving in that aspect.”
G Tim Lynott
ON DIFFFERENCE IN THE SECOND HALF - “In the first half I didn’t feel like we were communicating as well. I feel like in the second half we executed, we got back to playing more Folsom Fast like Coach Mac always talks about. That’s what I feel like we did in the second half, we started getting explosive. The second half was better (the first), but we need to be better than we were in the second half.”ON KEY TO A COHESIVE OFFENSIVE LINE - “It’s just practice, basically just learning and working on our craft all together. You have to do your ‘one-fifth’, you have to figure out what you’ve got to do, communicate, and execute.”
ON TAKING SNAPS AT CENTER IN SECOND HALF - “I’m more comfortable at guard. I haven’t played center in a while, I guess that was a practice run more than anything. It was a little difficult, I haven’t played (center) in a while but it’s something I need to adjust to in practice too, especially as a backup.”
QB Sam Noyer
GENERAL - “It was great getting my feet wet a little bit and get used to the speed of the game. Texas State is a great team with a good defense.”ON ANY JITTERS - “Honestly it was more excitement. Obviously there’s going to be some jitters, but I think overall it was more excitement. It was great to just be out there, I haven’t played in a real game in like two years now.”
ON HIS MINDSET AS A BACKUP QB - “Going into each game, I look at it like I am the starting quarterback, and prepare like I am. Whenever the time comes, I am ready to succeed and help my team win. I think it’s just working every day, taking it one snap at a time, and preparing like I am the starting quarterback.”
ON ANYTHING HE LEARNED FROM TODAY’S GAME - “I’ve got to get the ball out quicker on some of those routes, but overall I think we did a good job and ran the offense pretty smooth.”
TB Phillip Lindsay
ON TAKING MORE HITS THAN USUAL – “Sometimes it’s like that. You have to understand it’s football. They came to play. They are human beings too. They didn’t want to get embarrassed. What you guys have to understand is, you have to be patient. Everyone has to be patient because as an offense, everything is going to start rolling. Offense is one of the hardest things to get going. It is going to get going but at the end of the day, as long as we are okay with it in that locker room and we know what we can do, that is all that matters.”ON THE PHYSICALITY OF TEXAS STATE – “They are Division I athletes as well. They went out there and they played ball. We knew what they were going to do – they were going to fly around. That is what they did. For us, we just have to continue to be physical and move the ball. When we start moving the ball and start getting comfortable with each other again, we are going to make a lot of plays.”
ON THE TEAM'S LEVEL OF PLAY TO START THE SEASON – “I feel like we are in a good spot. We will continue to improve. Our defense is doing a great job. We just have to have confidence to go out there and make plays. We want to make plays for the defense. Not everything is going to be pretty. It is football. You are not always going to score a hundred points. I think that is what people tend to forget.”
ON THE DEFENSE HOLDING TEAMS TO THREE POINTS THE FIRST TWO GAMES – “They work hard. We have some big boys up front. You guys sat here and penciled them off when they first started. You guys don’t understand the caliber of players and talent are doing what they are supposed to do. That’s their job. And we will do our job.”
Texas State Players
LB Gabe Loyd
ON PLAYING PAC-12 OPPONENT - “I’m so proud of my guys. As a team I thought we played pretty good. There’s a lot of stuff we’ve got to work on, of course you always want to go out there and win the game, but we fought to the end, I’m really proud.”ON WHETHER TEXAS STATE CAN TAKE A MORAL VICTORY FROM THE GAME - “I don’t know about a moral victory, but I do know that for the entire game my guys just went out there and played hard. It meant a lot to me that we never gave up, we never put our heads down and kept fighting during every play.”
ON WHAT THEY DID TO FRUSTRATE COLORADO - “I don’t know if we frustrated them or not, we just kept playing our game. It was working out for the most part so we just kept trying to read them.”
ON SACKS EARLY IN THE GAME - “We always try to put on pressure. I don’t know if we proved ourselves, we’ve really got to keep working to get better, to prove that we’re a contender.”
ON TOUGH SECOND HALF - “That’s a great team. But we’ve been hydrating really well all week and I feel like altitude wasn’t that much of a factor. They just played a great game, they kept going all the way until the end of the game. We kept making the plays we made, but they just made more plays.”