Colorado-Arizona Quotes
vs
Delaware
Sep 6 (Sat)
1:30 PM
Colorado Head Coach Mel Tucker
General“We have a very disappointed locker room. We have to give Arizona a lot of credit. They made more plays than we made. They executed more often than we did. We felt like in the first half that we left some plays on the field on both sides of the ball. Offense had penalties and on defense we were stopping the run, but weren’t able to get off the field on third down early in the game when we gave up some big plays. We were able to get off the field on third down and stop the run game in the second half, but still we gave up some big plays. We were able to move the ball and run the ball. We had some guys open and missed some plays. When you play a good football team you can’t afford to leave plays on the field. That is what happened today. Give those guys credit. They are a good football team. They have good players on both sides of the ball. They have a great coaching staff. They are getting the most out of the guys they have. I really felt like they just made more plays than us.”
On What Wasn’t Clicking Offensively
“Penalties. Those are self-inflicted type of deals. Maybe it was some of what they were doing, but in our mind it is more execution, technique, and fundamentals. When you are behind the sticks like that it those are drive killers. We all know that. That was really the story of our first half.”
On Injuries
“Injuries are a part of the game. ‘Next man up’ is not a cliché. It is what is required. We had enough guys to finish the game. We were able to put 11 out there on every snap. There is no excuse.”
“We are hoping to get some guys back. We will have to see how the week unfolds. Our trainers are going 100 miles per hour working to get our guys back. Our guys are doing a great job with treatment and recovery. This is a human performance game. Injuries are a part of it. They will be ready when they are ready.”
“I have to talk to the trainers and get more information on guys. When our guys aren’t in there, it’s not because they don’t want to be there.”
On If There Is An Extra Level Of Disappointment After This Game
“I don’t know if there is an extra level of disappointment, but there is disappointment on the coaching staff side and the player side. We can feel it. We thought we had a really productive bye week. We had a good week of preparation this week. We felt good going into the game. I told the guys before the game, You did what we asked you to do in the bye and this week. Now what’s left is to perform.’ Our performance wasn’t good enough today. You want to take care of home (field). You have your home fans. We had a great turnout. Our fans were great. There was an electric atmosphere. That is what we expect here in Boulder. There are a lot of folks who left disappointed, but there is no one more disappointed than us. At some point between now and tomorrow, we are going to have to get over that and turn the page. We will evaluate film. Win or lose we evaluate the film and figure out where we need to get better, figure out where the breakdowns were, and figure out how to clean up the penalties and things like that. We will look at the injury report and figure out who we have ready to move forward. We will put together plans to put those guys in positions to make plays.”
On What Wasn’t Clicking Offensively
“Penalties. Those are self-inflicted type of deals. Maybe it was some of what they were doing, but in our mind it is more execution, technique, and fundamentals. When you are behind the sticks like that it those are drive killers. We all know that. That was really the story of our first half.”
On Injuries
“Injuries are a part of the game. ‘Next man up’ is not a cliché. It is what is required. We had enough guys to finish the game. We were able to put 11 out there on every snap. There is no excuse.”
“We are hoping to get some guys back. We will have to see how the week unfolds. Our trainers are going 100 miles per hour working to get our guys back. Our guys are doing a great job with treatment and recovery. This is a human performance game. Injuries are a part of it. They will be ready when they are ready.”
“I have to talk to the trainers and get more information on guys. When our guys aren’t in there, it’s not because they don’t want to be there.”
On If There Is An Extra Level Of Disappointment After This Game
“I don’t know if there is an extra level of disappointment, but there is disappointment on the coaching staff side and the player side. We can feel it. We thought we had a really productive bye week. We had a good week of preparation this week. We felt good going into the game. I told the guys before the game, You did what we asked you to do in the bye and this week. Now what’s left is to perform.’ Our performance wasn’t good enough today. You want to take care of home (field). You have your home fans. We had a great turnout. Our fans were great. There was an electric atmosphere. That is what we expect here in Boulder. There are a lot of folks who left disappointed, but there is no one more disappointed than us. At some point between now and tomorrow, we are going to have to get over that and turn the page. We will evaluate film. Win or lose we evaluate the film and figure out where we need to get better, figure out where the breakdowns were, and figure out how to clean up the penalties and things like that. We will look at the injury report and figure out who we have ready to move forward. We will put together plans to put those guys in positions to make plays.”
Arizona Head Coach Kevin Sumlin
On What Worked Today
“It was across the board, we had to make stops on defense, we held them on third down, we gave up some yards but made some critical plays down the stretch. Offensively we had to put some points on the board. We had some problems running it in the first half, they basically loaded the box and put some big dudes in there. We weren’t getting the 5-6 yard runs that we are used to getting, we were only getting 2-3. So we threw it a lot more in the second half and got the ball on the perimeter, I think Khalil went 23 of 27 in the second half which opened up some things for our running game. Because we couldn’t run it we had to move the ball, getting the ball on the perimeter and hitting some deep shots down the field. I think that loosened things up a little bit and we were able to run it in the fourth quarter.”
On the Defense Making Big Stops in the Fourth Quarter
“It was really critical, really the whole fourth quarter. Getting the fourth down and the fourth down stop is the one that everyone is going to point to but there were other plays made early in the game to keep this a close game while we struggled on offense. And then finally being able to get some things done offensively and they got some things done themselves. Heck of game but you don’t win a game like that without everybody. We weren’t moving the ball in the first half, we gave them short fields. We deferred (the opening kickoff) for really the first time, I was worried about the wind a little early in the game. We have been here before and the late afternoon winds kick up around here so we wanted to try and use that in the second half but that never really happened. Lucas (Havrisik) had a nice night tonight, they didn’t have a kickoff return tonight so that helped us a lot. He made all of those extra points and he also averaged 40 yards a punt which is better than it has been. So all three phases had a lot to do with this win.”
On The Advantage of the Team Receiving Only One Penalty
“We have been on both sides of that. The one we had today wasn’t on the kids, it was on the coaching staff. We were trying to substitute when they didn’t substitute and went no huddle so that’s on us. It’s not the players. Does it have a factor? You know it does. When you get behind the chains or off schedule it puts pressure on your offense and your defense.”
On When He Knew Khalil Tate Was Going To Play This Week
“He practiced all week so I think it showed today. He wanted to play the week before, he just wasn’t right and we went through that last year. I knew a little more when he wanted to see the design quarterback runs later in the week and that is when I knew he was ready to go. He wasn’t talking like that the week before. Once he asked me about those (plays) then you knew he was planning on playing and was ready to go.”
On The Decision-making on Last Play Of The Game
“We got extra hats and extra blockers. We needed to get a first down and they were out of time outs at that point. We needed five or six, handed off and he put his head down and got some lead blockers in front of him to get the safest play. So we just snapped it to the quarterback and ran for the sticks with everybody else blocking for him. So he put his head down, got the first down and we ran it out.”
On Whether or Not He Thought They Would Win Pre-Game If He Heard His Leading Rusher Would Only Run For 27 Yards
“Yeah if your quarterback goes 23 for 27 in the second half. This game, like I said, it was a situation where they loaded it up. There were big players where we couldn’t move them and we had to. We had to throw it in order to move the football and spread them out, we got the ball to the perimeter a lot to get some guys out there. The little screen passes that people get mad about, there is a reason for them. In essence that became our run game – they are all loaded up in there so you flip it out to the perimeter to a bunch of running backs out there who make guys miss to get five or six yards.
On Holding Colorado To A Field Goal In The Fourth Quarter
“I think you saw a couple guys make some big plays. They went up-tempo. Trevon (Mason) made a play to make them a little bit off schedule and then Colin Schooler makes a play. We had some negative yardage plays down there. When that happens, somebody’s got to make a play. In that situation we did. It led to a field goal which ended up being the difference in game really.”
On Everyone Being Involved On The Sideline
“I think that is a big deal about this team right now. It has been like this ever since we left Hawaii. Guys cheering for each other at practice. I have never questioned these guys’ effort. They play hard every game. We just have not been the smartest. We weren’t great today running the football, but we executed in the passing game. When you get one penalty or one turnover, you are going to take that all the time.”
“It was across the board, we had to make stops on defense, we held them on third down, we gave up some yards but made some critical plays down the stretch. Offensively we had to put some points on the board. We had some problems running it in the first half, they basically loaded the box and put some big dudes in there. We weren’t getting the 5-6 yard runs that we are used to getting, we were only getting 2-3. So we threw it a lot more in the second half and got the ball on the perimeter, I think Khalil went 23 of 27 in the second half which opened up some things for our running game. Because we couldn’t run it we had to move the ball, getting the ball on the perimeter and hitting some deep shots down the field. I think that loosened things up a little bit and we were able to run it in the fourth quarter.”
On the Defense Making Big Stops in the Fourth Quarter
“It was really critical, really the whole fourth quarter. Getting the fourth down and the fourth down stop is the one that everyone is going to point to but there were other plays made early in the game to keep this a close game while we struggled on offense. And then finally being able to get some things done offensively and they got some things done themselves. Heck of game but you don’t win a game like that without everybody. We weren’t moving the ball in the first half, we gave them short fields. We deferred (the opening kickoff) for really the first time, I was worried about the wind a little early in the game. We have been here before and the late afternoon winds kick up around here so we wanted to try and use that in the second half but that never really happened. Lucas (Havrisik) had a nice night tonight, they didn’t have a kickoff return tonight so that helped us a lot. He made all of those extra points and he also averaged 40 yards a punt which is better than it has been. So all three phases had a lot to do with this win.”
On The Advantage of the Team Receiving Only One Penalty
“We have been on both sides of that. The one we had today wasn’t on the kids, it was on the coaching staff. We were trying to substitute when they didn’t substitute and went no huddle so that’s on us. It’s not the players. Does it have a factor? You know it does. When you get behind the chains or off schedule it puts pressure on your offense and your defense.”
On When He Knew Khalil Tate Was Going To Play This Week
“He practiced all week so I think it showed today. He wanted to play the week before, he just wasn’t right and we went through that last year. I knew a little more when he wanted to see the design quarterback runs later in the week and that is when I knew he was ready to go. He wasn’t talking like that the week before. Once he asked me about those (plays) then you knew he was planning on playing and was ready to go.”
On The Decision-making on Last Play Of The Game
“We got extra hats and extra blockers. We needed to get a first down and they were out of time outs at that point. We needed five or six, handed off and he put his head down and got some lead blockers in front of him to get the safest play. So we just snapped it to the quarterback and ran for the sticks with everybody else blocking for him. So he put his head down, got the first down and we ran it out.”
On Whether or Not He Thought They Would Win Pre-Game If He Heard His Leading Rusher Would Only Run For 27 Yards
“Yeah if your quarterback goes 23 for 27 in the second half. This game, like I said, it was a situation where they loaded it up. There were big players where we couldn’t move them and we had to. We had to throw it in order to move the football and spread them out, we got the ball to the perimeter a lot to get some guys out there. The little screen passes that people get mad about, there is a reason for them. In essence that became our run game – they are all loaded up in there so you flip it out to the perimeter to a bunch of running backs out there who make guys miss to get five or six yards.
On Holding Colorado To A Field Goal In The Fourth Quarter
“I think you saw a couple guys make some big plays. They went up-tempo. Trevon (Mason) made a play to make them a little bit off schedule and then Colin Schooler makes a play. We had some negative yardage plays down there. When that happens, somebody’s got to make a play. In that situation we did. It led to a field goal which ended up being the difference in game really.”
On Everyone Being Involved On The Sideline
“I think that is a big deal about this team right now. It has been like this ever since we left Hawaii. Guys cheering for each other at practice. I have never questioned these guys’ effort. They play hard every game. We just have not been the smartest. We weren’t great today running the football, but we executed in the passing game. When you get one penalty or one turnover, you are going to take that all the time.”
On The Importance Of This Win
“They are all important. There is no secret. I said it last week at the press conference, but we struggled on the road last year. I told the team that we are not talking about last year. This team is different. The mentality is different. They have shown that. They are growing. In critical situations they have made the right decisions. Last year we did not. We played a bunch of games like this last year and lost a bunch of close games. That comes down to making good decisions in critical moments. They have been doing that for the last couple of weeks.”
On RB J.J. Taylor
“He wanted to get going, but we didn’t want to risk it too much. He wanted to see how it was. He is going to be fine. We are going to need him down the stretch. Bam (RB Darrius Smith) got nicked up tonight so I have to check on that.”
On Closing The Game
“The last couple series we moved the ball, ate the clock up and closed it down.”
On Going Up-Tempo
“They went up-tempo too. That is where we got the penalty. They were trying to keep their personnel on the field. They changed pace a bunch. They held the ball in the first half and ran the clock down with less than four seconds every time they had it. In the second half they were changing speeds and getting us in personnel. Both teams were going fast. In the third quarter everyone was trying to snap the ball as fast as they could. The D-linemen on both sides were getting tired. It turned into one of those games. It turned into a basketball game in the third quarter.”
On The Decision To Blitz On The Last Defensive Series On Fourth Down
“In that situation we are talking about everything. It was fourth and five. Do we heat it up? Do we play coverage? My concern was he had scrambled and made first downs. The thing about blitzes is, yeah you get pressure, but we pressured him a couple times and he got loose on us. He was moving around all over the place. He threw a touchdown before the half on a scramble situation. Pressure is one thing, but we were moving him off the spot and he was still making plays. That was the concern. If we’re going to pressure him, we have to be gap sound and rush all the gaps to try to pin him in there. Then you are exposed playing man-to-man.”
Colorado Players
WR Tony Brown
ON THE DIFFICULTY OF PLAYING WITH NEW GUYS-“You know, it's just a big step for me. There’s a lot of expectations from me, a lot of guys were going down, you know, this is next man up, I'm going to continue doing me.”
ON FUN FROM HIS TOUCHDOWN RUN-“It’s pretty fun. I wasn’t really expecting a rushing touchdown, but I’ll do what I can to contribute, do what I can to help the team out until I had to make a big play and that’s what I did.”
ON FUN FROM HIS TOUCHDOWN RUN-“It’s pretty fun. I wasn’t really expecting a rushing touchdown, but I’ll do what I can to contribute, do what I can to help the team out until I had to make a big play and that’s what I did.”
QB Steven Montez
ON THE DIFFICULTY OF LOSING PLAYERS TO INJURY- “Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's definitely disappointing because we don't practice our butts off all week to go out there and lose. I think it definitely can be taken as a learning experience for us. I mean, I think there's a lot of things that we can clean up, especially on offense specifically. And there's a lot of things that we need to clean up. I think we did a lot of good things today, though, too. So just not all bad. But yeah, man, I mean, injuries are a part of the game. So I'm not going to sit here and act like that's going to be an excuse that we're going to use. I mean, it's football, you play football and you play at a high level. I mean, there's going to be injury so no excuses there.”
ON LOSING DESPITE A PRODUCTIVE BYE WEEK-“I think I think early we just made some mental mistakes, we had a few which was kind of stalled a few drives. And I think later in the game, we had just a few mistakes that we made. I mean, just easy mistakes to clean up easy to fix. We'll see them on film, and we'll get them corrected.”
ON IF HE’S FEELING GOOD, ESPECIALLY IN 4TH QUARTER-“Yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean, we were matching plays a little bit, but I mean, I was I was confident that we're going to go make something happen all the way until the clock hit triple zeros. I mean, that's the way you have to think about it. That's the way you have to play the game. So anytime we go out there, and we have an opportunity to put points on the board, that's what we want to do, and that's our goal for that drive.”
ON IF THE LAST PLAY OF THE FIRST HALF OPENED UP-“Yeah, initially everybody was covered, so I just kind of figured I would scramble around. I knew we had 11 seconds, so we had some time I could still throw it out of the back of the end zone, we can get a field goal or get points before half. So I scrambled around a little bit, I knew all I need to do is not take a sack, and so I avoided a couple defensive lineman, saw Brady (Russell) sitting in the corner with his hands up and I just tried to give him a quality catch.”
ON LOSING DESPITE A PRODUCTIVE BYE WEEK-“I think I think early we just made some mental mistakes, we had a few which was kind of stalled a few drives. And I think later in the game, we had just a few mistakes that we made. I mean, just easy mistakes to clean up easy to fix. We'll see them on film, and we'll get them corrected.”
ON IF HE’S FEELING GOOD, ESPECIALLY IN 4TH QUARTER-“Yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean, we were matching plays a little bit, but I mean, I was I was confident that we're going to go make something happen all the way until the clock hit triple zeros. I mean, that's the way you have to think about it. That's the way you have to play the game. So anytime we go out there, and we have an opportunity to put points on the board, that's what we want to do, and that's our goal for that drive.”
ON IF THE LAST PLAY OF THE FIRST HALF OPENED UP-“Yeah, initially everybody was covered, so I just kind of figured I would scramble around. I knew we had 11 seconds, so we had some time I could still throw it out of the back of the end zone, we can get a field goal or get points before half. So I scrambled around a little bit, I knew all I need to do is not take a sack, and so I avoided a couple defensive lineman, saw Brady (Russell) sitting in the corner with his hands up and I just tried to give him a quality catch.”
ILB Nate Landman
ON THE DEFENSE STOPPING THE RUN BUT STILL LOSING-
“Yeah, you know, I think we did a great job up front. And as a whole defense, stopping the run. The numbers don't lie. And I think we do a great job being gap sound and you know, everybody doing a job and counting and all 11 to get gang tackles and get some knock back tackles. As for Khalil [Tate] you know, he's gifted athlete, great quarterback, and, you know, he took advantage of what we're in and they just made more plays than us at the end of the day and credit to him and that offense and their coach, were scheming it up. And you know they're a great team, but like Steven (Montez) said, we're going to take it as a learning experience and move on and focus on next week.”
ON THE DIFFICULTY OF PLAYING WITH NEW GUYS-“If you asked me that three weeks ago, I would have said it's tough. Now I don't really see that as an obstacle just because those guys have, you know, so much coaching under them over these weeks and having that bye week. I trust every single one of those guys, I love every one of those guys. And they'll find me and I'll fight for them. And I have no doubt in my mind that they, I mean, they're here for a reason, and you know they're Division 1 athletes and you know, they're worthy to play it. That's why they're playing so I don't take that as, you know, falling on the young guys and playing with the young guys and a lot of new faces, because the way we practice and the way that coaches get us prepared, it's next man up and everybody's ready to play.”
“Yeah, you know, I think we did a great job up front. And as a whole defense, stopping the run. The numbers don't lie. And I think we do a great job being gap sound and you know, everybody doing a job and counting and all 11 to get gang tackles and get some knock back tackles. As for Khalil [Tate] you know, he's gifted athlete, great quarterback, and, you know, he took advantage of what we're in and they just made more plays than us at the end of the day and credit to him and that offense and their coach, were scheming it up. And you know they're a great team, but like Steven (Montez) said, we're going to take it as a learning experience and move on and focus on next week.”
ON THE DIFFICULTY OF PLAYING WITH NEW GUYS-“If you asked me that three weeks ago, I would have said it's tough. Now I don't really see that as an obstacle just because those guys have, you know, so much coaching under them over these weeks and having that bye week. I trust every single one of those guys, I love every one of those guys. And they'll find me and I'll fight for them. And I have no doubt in my mind that they, I mean, they're here for a reason, and you know they're Division 1 athletes and you know, they're worthy to play it. That's why they're playing so I don't take that as, you know, falling on the young guys and playing with the young guys and a lot of new faces, because the way we practice and the way that coaches get us prepared, it's next man up and everybody's ready to play.”
TB Alex Fontenot
ON HIS RUNNING EFFICIENCY-“Yeah, I guess like whenever you’re able to run the ball and pound it, that just opens up the passing game for everybody else. We were able to catch it every now and then, being able to do that really put us in a good position on offense to get everything going.”
CB Delrick Abrams Jr.
ON THE DEFENSIVE PLAY IN THE SECOND HALF-“We should have communicated better and executed the plays that coach called. We wish we could go back, but we can’t, so we just need to keep moving forward, We’ll start back up again tomorrow and prepare for Oregon.”
ON NOT KNOWING WHO THE STARTING QUARTERBACK WOULD BE FOR ARIZONA-“We didn’t know who was going to play, but we prepared for both. Khalil Tate is more of a dual-threat quarterback while Grant Gunnell is more of a pocket-passer, but we practiced and prepared for both.”
ON HIS ROLE INCREASING WHEN THE STARTING SAFETYS ARE OUT-“We all believe in each other. Wall put in the extra time and watch film, so they trust in me and I trust in them. We just need more communication and to keep on working hard.”
ON OVERCOMING THE ADVERSITY FROM TODAY’S GAME-“The best thing to do is to forget about this game and move onto Oregon. We’ll restart tomorrow and start preparing for our game against Oregon on Friday.”
ON IF THERE WERE ANY SUPRISES DEFENSIVELY-“Nothing surprised us, our coaching staff does a good job of preparing us and showing us what we need to do on the field. We just need to execute better next time.”
ON NOT KNOWING WHO THE STARTING QUARTERBACK WOULD BE FOR ARIZONA-“We didn’t know who was going to play, but we prepared for both. Khalil Tate is more of a dual-threat quarterback while Grant Gunnell is more of a pocket-passer, but we practiced and prepared for both.”
ON HIS ROLE INCREASING WHEN THE STARTING SAFETYS ARE OUT-“We all believe in each other. Wall put in the extra time and watch film, so they trust in me and I trust in them. We just need more communication and to keep on working hard.”
ON OVERCOMING THE ADVERSITY FROM TODAY’S GAME-“The best thing to do is to forget about this game and move onto Oregon. We’ll restart tomorrow and start preparing for our game against Oregon on Friday.”
ON IF THERE WERE ANY SUPRISES DEFENSIVELY-“Nothing surprised us, our coaching staff does a good job of preparing us and showing us what we need to do on the field. We just need to execute better next time.”
S Sam Noyer
ON SEEING HIS FIRST ACTION ON DEFENSE-“It was good, obviously there’s some things we need to clean up, but we just need to come back and get better.”
ON WHAT HE TOOK AWAY FROM HIS FIRST DEFENSIVE GAME-“Just the speed of the game. Once I got used to that, things felt good. But, like I said, we just need to get better.”
ON SHAKING OFF THE LOSS AND MOVING ON TO OREGEON-“We’re going to prepare just like how we would prepare for any other week. We just need to come in tomorrow, put this game in this past, learn from it, and just be ready to go.”
ON SWITCHING FROM OFFENSE TO DEFENSE-“I don’t think mentality is that different. It’s a new position, so I just need to get used to everything. The speed of the game and playing live-action defense are the big things I need to get used to.”
ON IF HE WAS NERVOUS PLAYING IN A NEW POSITION-“I wouldn’t say I was nervous, I felt confident through preparation. I think I prepare pretty well throughout the week and I think we, as a team, prepare well. It was a tough one today, they are a good team, but we just need to come back and get better.”
ON THE IMPACT OF MIKIAL ONU-“He’s a great player. We know he makes plays, is always in the right position, and is a smart guy. We’re all trying to learn and get better, and he does a great job of helping all of us. He’s definitely a crucial part of this team and to this defense.”
ON SEEING HIS FIRST ACTION WITHOUT A VETERAN SAFETY IN THE GAME-“I don’t think it’s tougher. I think we just need to play it as it is. We’re out there with whoever is out there. I think we can all make plays, and I think we all will make plays, but we just need to learn from the tape.”
ON WHAT HE TOOK AWAY FROM HIS FIRST DEFENSIVE GAME-“Just the speed of the game. Once I got used to that, things felt good. But, like I said, we just need to get better.”
ON SHAKING OFF THE LOSS AND MOVING ON TO OREGEON-“We’re going to prepare just like how we would prepare for any other week. We just need to come in tomorrow, put this game in this past, learn from it, and just be ready to go.”
ON SWITCHING FROM OFFENSE TO DEFENSE-“I don’t think mentality is that different. It’s a new position, so I just need to get used to everything. The speed of the game and playing live-action defense are the big things I need to get used to.”
ON IF HE WAS NERVOUS PLAYING IN A NEW POSITION-“I wouldn’t say I was nervous, I felt confident through preparation. I think I prepare pretty well throughout the week and I think we, as a team, prepare well. It was a tough one today, they are a good team, but we just need to come back and get better.”
ON THE IMPACT OF MIKIAL ONU-“He’s a great player. We know he makes plays, is always in the right position, and is a smart guy. We’re all trying to learn and get better, and he does a great job of helping all of us. He’s definitely a crucial part of this team and to this defense.”
ON SEEING HIS FIRST ACTION WITHOUT A VETERAN SAFETY IN THE GAME-“I don’t think it’s tougher. I think we just need to play it as it is. We’re out there with whoever is out there. I think we can all make plays, and I think we all will make plays, but we just need to learn from the tape.”
S Isaiah Lewis
ON IF BEING SHORT HANDED WAS OVERWHELMING- “No, not at all. It's always about being ready. And I think in the secondary, we're all trained to be ready. So, you know, when your name is called, you're ready to go and especially seniors the same way. You might be needed anyway, especially to yourself.”
ON GETTING SOME SIGNIFICANT PLAYING TIME-“Obviously, everybody wants to get out there as soon as possible. So it felt great, but it was a loss so you know, we're going to go back. We start back tomorrow and we’ll be working as hard as ever to beat Oregon.”
ON KHALIL TATE’S SUCCES –“Well it (wasn’t) necessarily him, it was more of us. It was kind of just some minor things that we need to fix up. Kind of making sure we're fine-tuned and then after that, we're great. You know.”
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF MIKIAL ONU IN THIS DEFENSE– “He’s super important. I would say everybody is just as important but he kills that role. You know, I hope he goes to the league. I feel like he will go to the league. So he kills that role but it’s just as important for everybody to be following in their position.”
ON LEARNING FROM MIKIAL ONU–“Yeah, I mean, I like to call myself a ball Hawk. So watching him I mean, he's a real ball Hawk. So, I'm taking notes every down that he's out there trying to make a tackle, running to the ball. I mean, he's a great example of being a ball hawk for sure.”
ON SHAKING THIS LOSS OFF–“Yeah, we're on to the next one. We're not pointing fingers anywhere. Everybody's trying to, you know, correct the mistakes they made and then we're trying to go to Eugene and get a W for sure. Nothing else in mind.”
ON GETTING SOME SIGNIFICANT PLAYING TIME-“Obviously, everybody wants to get out there as soon as possible. So it felt great, but it was a loss so you know, we're going to go back. We start back tomorrow and we’ll be working as hard as ever to beat Oregon.”
ON KHALIL TATE’S SUCCES –“Well it (wasn’t) necessarily him, it was more of us. It was kind of just some minor things that we need to fix up. Kind of making sure we're fine-tuned and then after that, we're great. You know.”
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF MIKIAL ONU IN THIS DEFENSE– “He’s super important. I would say everybody is just as important but he kills that role. You know, I hope he goes to the league. I feel like he will go to the league. So he kills that role but it’s just as important for everybody to be following in their position.”
ON LEARNING FROM MIKIAL ONU–“Yeah, I mean, I like to call myself a ball Hawk. So watching him I mean, he's a real ball Hawk. So, I'm taking notes every down that he's out there trying to make a tackle, running to the ball. I mean, he's a great example of being a ball hawk for sure.”
ON SHAKING THIS LOSS OFF–“Yeah, we're on to the next one. We're not pointing fingers anywhere. Everybody's trying to, you know, correct the mistakes they made and then we're trying to go to Eugene and get a W for sure. Nothing else in mind.”
WR Dimitri Stanley
ON STEPPING IN-“With the way we train and the way we practice, I feel like I am ready to step in at any time and fill those gaps. We definitely have a lot of dudes on the sideline and in the wide receiver room who can do that too. When plays come up you have to make them.”
ON TOUCHDOWN PASS FROM NIXON-“Me and K.D. (Nixon) already knew. We had been practicing it all week. A couple times it was overthrown or underthrown, but we knew we would have it in the game. When we heard that call, we knew it was time. That ball felt like it was in the air for a couple minutes. I was just waiting for it. Then I got to celebrate with my teammates in the end zone.
“I’ve got complete faith in K.D.’s arm. I don’t know how far he can throw, but he put that ball on the money, spiral and everything.”
“That is just prep in practice. We ran through that double pass play multiple times all week. When it finally comes time in the game to execute, it is just practice for us. Once you hear that crowd roar, you forget that you practiced it. It feels good.”
ON WHERE THEY GO FROM HERE-“It honestly feels like we can go as far as we want right now. What limits us is the mistakes and the penalties. I feel like those plays were there. When Jaylon (Jackson) came in and when Daniel (Arias) came in those plays were getting made. We have enough playmakers to make those plays. We have to be more focused on cutting down the penalties.”
ON OFFENSIVE PLAY CALLS-“I feel like (Assistant HC/WRs) Chev and coach (Offensive Coordinator) Johnson work together so well. They find every way possible to get the ball to whoever can make those plays. That is why when you see Tony (Brown), K.D. (Nixon), Viska (Shenault), Daniel (Arias) when he comes in, those plays are being called for a reason. It is being done my coach Chev and coach Johnson.”
ON TOUCHDOWN PASS FROM NIXON-“Me and K.D. (Nixon) already knew. We had been practicing it all week. A couple times it was overthrown or underthrown, but we knew we would have it in the game. When we heard that call, we knew it was time. That ball felt like it was in the air for a couple minutes. I was just waiting for it. Then I got to celebrate with my teammates in the end zone.
“I’ve got complete faith in K.D.’s arm. I don’t know how far he can throw, but he put that ball on the money, spiral and everything.”
“That is just prep in practice. We ran through that double pass play multiple times all week. When it finally comes time in the game to execute, it is just practice for us. Once you hear that crowd roar, you forget that you practiced it. It feels good.”
ON WHERE THEY GO FROM HERE-“It honestly feels like we can go as far as we want right now. What limits us is the mistakes and the penalties. I feel like those plays were there. When Jaylon (Jackson) came in and when Daniel (Arias) came in those plays were getting made. We have enough playmakers to make those plays. We have to be more focused on cutting down the penalties.”
ON OFFENSIVE PLAY CALLS-“I feel like (Assistant HC/WRs) Chev and coach (Offensive Coordinator) Johnson work together so well. They find every way possible to get the ball to whoever can make those plays. That is why when you see Tony (Brown), K.D. (Nixon), Viska (Shenault), Daniel (Arias) when he comes in, those plays are being called for a reason. It is being done my coach Chev and coach Johnson.”
Arizona Players
RB Nate Tilford
ON WHAT IT TOOK TO PULL OFF VICTORY-“Hard work. We work at practice all week. Grinding nonstop, nonstop no matter what.”
ON HOW BIG OF A WIN IT IS FOR TEAM-“It is very big. Like Tony (Fields) said, we were having fun. It is very exciting.”
ON WHAT PROMPTED HIM TO START CLAPPING WHEN FIELDS WAS TALKING-“What he was saying was true, it’s true.”
ON IF QUICK PASSES HAD POSITIVE AFFECT ON OFFENSE-“I think that it’s just everybody buying in for the second half. Realizing what we had to do. I don’t think it’s one thing or another, we just had to focus and realize what we had to do. We had to focus and get it all together, and we came away with a win in the end.
ON HOW IT WAS HAVING KHALIL TATE BACK-“It doesn’t matter who’s in we just have to do what we have to do. The running backs are going down and different people are coming up. Whoever’s in has to do their job. It doesn’t matter who you are or what position it is.
ON COLORADO’S FEELINGS TOWARDS KHALIL TATE-“I don’t know honestly. I’m not worrying about them, we are moving on to next week.”
ON HOW MUCH MOMENTUM THIS WIN GIVES TEAM-“A lot, but like I said before, we have to continue doing things throughout the whole week. Monday through Friday, staying locked in and paying attention. Watching film, hard work during practice and during conditioning, and all of that stuff.”
ON HOW HE FEELS TO BE FIRST IN THE PAC-12-“I am happy about it, but like I said, we know what we have to work on and what to get better at. We know the mistakes that happened, so I know what I have to work on.
ON WHAT COLORADO WAS DOING AGAINST THE RUN-“They were just stopping me, so we had to figure something out and we did.
ON WHAT GAME SAYS ABOUT THE TEAM AS A WHOLE-“It shows that we’re fighters, that we have heart. That’s what I think it means.”
ON HOW BIG OF A WIN IT IS FOR TEAM-“It is very big. Like Tony (Fields) said, we were having fun. It is very exciting.”
ON WHAT PROMPTED HIM TO START CLAPPING WHEN FIELDS WAS TALKING-“What he was saying was true, it’s true.”
ON IF QUICK PASSES HAD POSITIVE AFFECT ON OFFENSE-“I think that it’s just everybody buying in for the second half. Realizing what we had to do. I don’t think it’s one thing or another, we just had to focus and realize what we had to do. We had to focus and get it all together, and we came away with a win in the end.
ON HOW IT WAS HAVING KHALIL TATE BACK-“It doesn’t matter who’s in we just have to do what we have to do. The running backs are going down and different people are coming up. Whoever’s in has to do their job. It doesn’t matter who you are or what position it is.
ON COLORADO’S FEELINGS TOWARDS KHALIL TATE-“I don’t know honestly. I’m not worrying about them, we are moving on to next week.”
ON HOW MUCH MOMENTUM THIS WIN GIVES TEAM-“A lot, but like I said before, we have to continue doing things throughout the whole week. Monday through Friday, staying locked in and paying attention. Watching film, hard work during practice and during conditioning, and all of that stuff.”
ON HOW HE FEELS TO BE FIRST IN THE PAC-12-“I am happy about it, but like I said, we know what we have to work on and what to get better at. We know the mistakes that happened, so I know what I have to work on.
ON WHAT COLORADO WAS DOING AGAINST THE RUN-“They were just stopping me, so we had to figure something out and we did.
ON WHAT GAME SAYS ABOUT THE TEAM AS A WHOLE-“It shows that we’re fighters, that we have heart. That’s what I think it means.”
LB Tony Fields II
ON PLAYING COLORADO-“I love playing against Colorado because it’s always an intense game. You never know what they’re going to throw at you. They come with a lot of trickery and it always goes down to the wire.”
ON LAST DEFENSIVE PLAY-“We decided to bring heat to them. I talked to my D-Line and I said ‘let’s go, help me out, sweat, we’ll make this play’ and everybody got there and we made the play and I don’t know what happened in the back end I was too busy rushing the quarterback.”
ON MESSAGE FOM DC MARCEL YATES-“While we were at the hotel this morning, he told us that when we get to the field walk around it and visualize. So the whole team we walked the field and visualized ourselves making plays; and when we brought it up in the huddle, each coach individually gave us some words of knowledge & advice for the game.”
ON HOLDING COLORADO TO A FG LATE-“Once you get on that goal line it’s time to tighten up and buckle up and play boys. It turns into a dog fight. You got to play down hill. It was very important to prevent them from scoring a touchdown. You see the difference in the score? It was because of that stand.
ON KHALIL TATE’S PERFORMANCE-“I believe Khalil came today and put on a show. They expected him to run the ball, he showed them that he’s a pocket passer this year. He showed them he can do a little bit of everything.
ON BEING IN FIRST PLACE-“I’m not happy about it. I want us to stay on top. I want us to keep progressing because we haven’t reached our limit yet. We have to clean up all our small mistakes and improve on defending trick plays, lock in on our man coverages, know what;s coming towards us. We need to study film a little bit more so they can’t come at us with anything we’ve never seen before so we can the best we can be for the rest of the year as well as offense.
ON CELEBRATING THE WIN-“It was crazy. Everybody’s jumping up and down, singing a fight song, and coach even came in jumping up and down something that you don’t see often so it was beautiful
ON ROAD WIN-“Honestly, me personally, I want to thank the media. We hear a lot from you and twitter on how we don’t know how to play on the road, that we don’t play good on the road so we made that our point this week to play great on the road and you see [Nate Tilford] clapping because he understand.”
ON LAST DEFENSIVE PLAY-“We decided to bring heat to them. I talked to my D-Line and I said ‘let’s go, help me out, sweat, we’ll make this play’ and everybody got there and we made the play and I don’t know what happened in the back end I was too busy rushing the quarterback.”
ON MESSAGE FOM DC MARCEL YATES-“While we were at the hotel this morning, he told us that when we get to the field walk around it and visualize. So the whole team we walked the field and visualized ourselves making plays; and when we brought it up in the huddle, each coach individually gave us some words of knowledge & advice for the game.”
ON HOLDING COLORADO TO A FG LATE-“Once you get on that goal line it’s time to tighten up and buckle up and play boys. It turns into a dog fight. You got to play down hill. It was very important to prevent them from scoring a touchdown. You see the difference in the score? It was because of that stand.
ON KHALIL TATE’S PERFORMANCE-“I believe Khalil came today and put on a show. They expected him to run the ball, he showed them that he’s a pocket passer this year. He showed them he can do a little bit of everything.
ON BEING IN FIRST PLACE-“I’m not happy about it. I want us to stay on top. I want us to keep progressing because we haven’t reached our limit yet. We have to clean up all our small mistakes and improve on defending trick plays, lock in on our man coverages, know what;s coming towards us. We need to study film a little bit more so they can’t come at us with anything we’ve never seen before so we can the best we can be for the rest of the year as well as offense.
ON CELEBRATING THE WIN-“It was crazy. Everybody’s jumping up and down, singing a fight song, and coach even came in jumping up and down something that you don’t see often so it was beautiful
ON ROAD WIN-“Honestly, me personally, I want to thank the media. We hear a lot from you and twitter on how we don’t know how to play on the road, that we don’t play good on the road so we made that our point this week to play great on the road and you see [Nate Tilford] clapping because he understand.”
QB Kahlil Tate
ON BOUNCING BACK FROM INTERCEPTION-“It’s all about how you bounce back. You can look at it and be down on yourself or you can look at it and do better, so we came back out [in the 2nd Half] and knew I could do better.”
ON PASSING 11 STRAIGHT TIMES TO OPEN 2nd HALF-“Whatever we have to do to keep the offense moving is what we’re going to do. Coach Mazzone did a great job making sure we kept attacking.”
ON SHORT PASSING GAME-“It definitely [had a positive influence]. If you shut down the run, we can throw the ball also. That what football is you can throw and you can run. There are different variables and outlets to succeed. Defense played well also, we played well as a team. It was an away game and its these type of games where we want to take away the momentum.”
ON ROAD WIN-“It’s big, whenever you’re on the road the probability of [your team] winning goes down a lot. So whenever you beat those odds it means a lot. We really embraced that 4th quarter mentality and that’s what we did tonight.”
ON UP-TEMPO OFFENSE-“Up-tempo, slow-tempo, whatever works. However we think can manipulate the defense and move the [football] that’s what we’re going to do. In the 2nd Half we felt that tempo was going to work.
ON DEFENSE IN FOURTH QUARTER-“I put that momentum that the team had on me. I threw the interception and then came back to score on the trick play. So they played well with their hearts out.”
ON BEING IN FIRST IN PAC-12 SOUTH-“It feels good. Whenever you’re in first place it feels good, but we cant be complacent at all. We got Washington next week. We got to get back to the drawing board for those guys and make sure we come out and play all four quarters.”
ON CAREER-HIGH PASSING YARDS-“Whenever I have a career high I don’t know. Whenever we win a game its all about the team.”
ON PLAYING IN COLORADO-“Colorado has a special place in my heart. We were here two years ago and we won close. The last year they came to our place we won close so it’s always great playing against them they always give us great competition. It’s a great look. It’s great that our team went through this. The adversity will help us down in the long run.”
ON PASSING 11 STRAIGHT TIMES TO OPEN 2nd HALF-“Whatever we have to do to keep the offense moving is what we’re going to do. Coach Mazzone did a great job making sure we kept attacking.”
ON SHORT PASSING GAME-“It definitely [had a positive influence]. If you shut down the run, we can throw the ball also. That what football is you can throw and you can run. There are different variables and outlets to succeed. Defense played well also, we played well as a team. It was an away game and its these type of games where we want to take away the momentum.”
ON ROAD WIN-“It’s big, whenever you’re on the road the probability of [your team] winning goes down a lot. So whenever you beat those odds it means a lot. We really embraced that 4th quarter mentality and that’s what we did tonight.”
ON UP-TEMPO OFFENSE-“Up-tempo, slow-tempo, whatever works. However we think can manipulate the defense and move the [football] that’s what we’re going to do. In the 2nd Half we felt that tempo was going to work.
ON DEFENSE IN FOURTH QUARTER-“I put that momentum that the team had on me. I threw the interception and then came back to score on the trick play. So they played well with their hearts out.”
ON BEING IN FIRST IN PAC-12 SOUTH-“It feels good. Whenever you’re in first place it feels good, but we cant be complacent at all. We got Washington next week. We got to get back to the drawing board for those guys and make sure we come out and play all four quarters.”
ON CAREER-HIGH PASSING YARDS-“Whenever I have a career high I don’t know. Whenever we win a game its all about the team.”
ON PLAYING IN COLORADO-“Colorado has a special place in my heart. We were here two years ago and we won close. The last year they came to our place we won close so it’s always great playing against them they always give us great competition. It’s a great look. It’s great that our team went through this. The adversity will help us down in the long run.”