Colorado-Oregon State Quotes
vs
TCU
Oct 4 (Sat)
5:30 p.m.
Colorado Head Coach Karl Dorrell
Opening Statement“What a ball game that was. You know, there's some really good things that happened in that game. We felt that our team grew up from a week prior. I felt like the offense a couple weeks ago was starting to find themselves and that was up there in Eugene. And we challenged them about starting faster and doing some positive things early in the game and I felt they came out and did some really good things at the start of the game. I know the first drive was a field goal. The second drive was a touchdown. Those are things that haven't been customary for us so far this season, so I felt that they did some really good things.”
On Offense
“Brendon Lewis continues to play well. He's getting better, you know, the skill around them is confident, you know, it was good. To see that our run game had some run production today. I felt like offensively, we're really starting to hit our stride a little bit, probably for the first time this season. We put together two back to back games that kind of resemble what our potential could be. “
On Defense
“Defensively it was a tough game. That's a really good offense and rush. They can run the ball as well as anybody in our conference. We knew that was going to be a tremendous challenge for us, obviously with Nate (Landman) not playing and a lot of new players that are playing in different roles at linebacker sometimes that's challenging, just trying to get everybody doing their roles as efficiently and as effectively as they can. But I thought our defense hung in there. There were some big plays out there, it wasn't a ton of big plays that they made, but I felt like those guys battled from a team perspective. 60-minute fight, actually, more than that, it ended up being overtime and I felt like our team grew up a little bit today, they rose to the circumstances. They didn't panic, and were able to finish the game. So that was a big positive. It was a good win for us.
On The Upcoming Week
“Definitely stuff that we can continue to work on and do as we finish up the season. And we'll just see where it takes us. But, we know we got another formidable opponent next week. We'll celebrate this one for tonight, but we'll be going off to UCLA next weekend, so we got a lot of work to do and we can feel good about what we've done at this point. But hopefully we play better and continue to do some positive things as we move through this last part of the season.”
On Team Responding In Overtime
“I think that was a defining moment. Certain circumstances in the early part of this season, that might have been more challenging to deal with. I think this team is starting to realize, the adversity strikes in a lot of moments in the game and their confidence in being able to work through these difficult moments. We've been challenged a lot this season. They're starting to navigate and find a way, they're starting to deal with difficult circumstances and overcoming those things. By no means are we where we need to be. I'm not saying that all of a sudden, we got the answers, but I feel that they're starting to learn how to deal with some stressful moments and how to handle that and tune up their attention to execution in detail and making plays when those opportunities need to be done. There's some progress being made, and we need to build off those things.”
On Offensive Line
“They have responded very well they wiped the slate clean in a way and moved forward with the new process on how we're doing things and they're much more communicative right now. They're doing a lot of stuff that they haven't done the first six or seven games of the season. They're giving us a lot of feedback with what's going on out there. I think William and Donovan have done a great job of continuing that communication and problem solving, and making the proper adjustments, in game adjustments. I think those things have been evident and very impactful for us to continue to have some consistency offensively.”
On QB Brendon Lewis
“I think what's driving the ship is B-LEW though. I think they have a lot of confidence in him. This is his team, his offense. They're, believing in him as the leader and he knows that and he's stepping up his role not only as the quarterback but also the guy that's supposed to manage this offense and he's feeling much more comfortable doing those things right now. There's a lot of defining moments that are happening right now particularly on the offense and on the team, but we're heading in the right direction.”
On QB Brendon Lewis Playing Confident
“He's probably feeling like he felt back in Melissa, Texas, prior to coming to CU. When he was a high school quarterback, he felt he could do anything. This is a next step in college, learning a new offense (with) new players and coaches. Those are steps that he has to overcome as he progresses. I like how we score on a reverse and we get a holding call, which I don't quite agree with, but we came back (and scored). He didn't bat an eye about ‘well, we're going to score another way.’ He makes another play throwing it to Montana (Lemonious-Craig) in the corner of the endzone. His confidence where he can overcome situations is definitely a lot different now than what it was at the start of the season. A lot of that is because the team has pushed him out in front as ‘you’re our leader, we believe in you, let's go. He's taken that and ran with that.”
On Staying the Course Through Momentum Swings
“That was testing for any team even at the NFL level. When you hit a 60-yard (field goal), you don't think there's a high probability (that) would happen? But (OSU kicker Everett Hayes) nailed it. When I saw him hit it, I was right there. I was like ‘wow, I think he has the length’ and it went right down the pipe. The first thing I did was look at our sideline and just to see what (the players’) thoughts were. It wasn't like they hung their heads. They just said ‘oh, we're going overtime.’ That's what I heard on the sideline. This team has grown. They knew this was going to be a tough battle. We talked about it all week long. Oregon State's a well coached team, and they battle with every team that they play against. We knew it was going to be a tough game but our team has really started to feel the confidence and the growth as a team. That's starting to come together right now.”
On PK Cole Becker Bouncing Back After His Second Quarter Miss
“Particularly on the overtime kick to win the game, that helps his confidence. He's always been a confident kid. He wants to be perfect. It's definitely a great moment for him to overcome some adversity and to come back and get himself straightened out for making a 52-yarder on the next kick (after his miss) and then he makes the game winner. I like our kicker. We liked him when we recruited him. We knew what his potential was. We knew he had a strong leg. We think he's going to be one of the great ones when it's all said and done here. We have a tremendous level of confidence in him, just like the team rallies around (Brendon Lewis). They rally around Cole. They have a lot of belief in him as well.”
On Freshmen Defensive Backs Stepping Up in DB Mekhi Blackmon’s Absence
“There were three freshmen out there. Tyrin Taylor, Nikko Reed and Kaylin Moore all out there. (Oregon State) was down there deep in our territory and in the red zone, and we have three true freshmen out there playing in the critical moments of the game. I'm completely confident in those players because they compete with anyone. They battle our guys on offense all the time. I know what their abilities are. I have a lot of confidence in those guys. (Mekhi Blackmon) was a game time decision. He just wasn't well enough (to play). He's been battling some soft tissue injuries all season long. He hasn't been healthy one game this whole season. To his credit, he's battled up to this point where he felt like this was going to be a tough way for him to play at the level that he would normally play. He thought that he couldn't do it today. We felt that it was the right thing to do (to not play him). That also sparked our freshmen about ‘hey, we got Mekhi’s back. We can handle our situations (and) our roles in what we do on defense.’ For the most part they did that pretty well. I know the last touchdown and got them was a receiver screen. I wish they could have played that a little bit better. Other than that, I thought they battled pretty well.”
On Offensive Penalties
“That's something that should be fixed at practice. We talk about those things all the time. It's unfortunate that this has happened, because usually those things really are difference makers in losing games. (Players) know how important that is. We had 11 (penalties) last week and then nine this week. That's not characteristic of our game, in terms of what we've done. That is an issue right now. We’ve got to clean those things up. We'll continue to address those things, and try to play our best football in November. That's the statement I've been talking with the team daily about playing our best football right now when it counts, which is this month. (Winning tonight is) a good start, since the first game in November was today and we ended up finishing the game with a win.”
On the Defense Stepping Up
“It gave us a lot of confidence, because those guys stepped up and made some plays. Not that their play was perfect, but they played better than they played last week. They're going to build off of that. (Linebacker) Robert Barnes had a number of plays. (Linebacker) Quinn Perry has been starting. He's playing a couple different roles for us now. (Linebackers) Jack Lamb and Marvin Ham (have also been playing well). All four of those guys have roles in our team now that they're stepping up. Are they perfect? No, but they are making plays in some moments that are going to help build their confidence to play even better as we move forward. I feel good about that.”
On Not Being Able to Close the Game Out in Regulation
“It was (disappointing). We'll talk about that tonight and tomorrow. We need to have a better plan. We wanted to burn their timeouts, which we did. It would have been nice to get a first down and finish the game by taking a knee, which we failed to do. That's something we'll learn from as coaches. We'll try to have a better plan in the future going into that type of situation. We did the right thing by running the football and (making OSU) burn their timeouts. Unfortunately, that gave (the Beavers) an opportunity to tie the game, which they did.”
Oregon State Head Coach Jonathan Smith
Opening Statement
“Well, tough one to swallow. You know, credit to Colorado and that crowd, great college football atmosphere. We battled back and forth, had opportunities to change the game really when the game didn't do it, and they outlasted us really and made a couple more plays than we did. So, like I said, it's tough to swallow.”
On Poor Offensive Execution
“Starting the game today absolutely, and the last couple. You know, there's not one facet that makes that up I mean, we're on tape now, multiple games. We’ve played some good coaches, good schemes. But yeah, we’ve got to find a way to be more productive, especially early in games.”
On If Teams Are Figuring Them Out
“I mean, I got to watch this tape in particular. Even going back on the last couple though, I think we've got some good pictures to get some more yards and points earlier than what we’ve been doing.”
On Slow Starts
“These guys are prepared and they're excited to play. I don't see anything, again we got down 10 and then got the answer with seven then ended the half with the field goal to have a three-point game. That was a good finish to the half and then, you know, they jumped out to the 10-point lead in the second half. And then we bounce back and take the lead by four and they answer it on the third and long that we got to be able to execute better. We got the ball, down three, go down there, we stall. Credit to them we got to execute better and then awesome job by the D getting a stop with the three timeouts. Gold gives us a chance and then kicks it to tie this game. Overtime, trade touchdowns and then obviously they outlasted us with us not executing on the second overtime and they made their kick.”
“Well a game ago, first play we turn the ball over. Yeah, that's gonna take us off a little bit. Tonight, you know, we didn't get executing early. But oftentimes I want to make a larger thing in the first quarter. Yeah, we want to play well from the get go and we've done that before. But it's not a panic that we got to throw out the offense and change it just for the starts.”
“You know, we look at it. I mean, you're on the road it's not easy to play well and win on the road back-to-back games. This is a great atmosphere and that makes it tough. This crowd had great energy and so communication things so each game is new, each game is gonna be an opportunity to get better and we're gonna be excited again this next weekend.”
On If the 4th-and-2 From The 41 Was The Turning Point
“I don't think it was because later on we did take the lead. And I don't think that was a huge turning point. They did get seven because we didn't get a stop but at that point where we were at offensively I felt like we’d get that, get a little larger spark maybe we'll find our rhythm that was the logic.”
On The Status Of Deshaun Fenwick
“He’s healthy yeah, I mean Trey Lowe got hot and started doing some things and that's how we we've operated, a guy gets hot we're gonna keep giving it to him.”
On Chance Nolan
“Couple misses yeah, he did have a couple misses. I thought he saw the field pretty well, moved his feet, ran physically, got us in a lot of the right plays, managed the crowd pretty well. But yeah, there's always be some games where we go down early on as an opportunity there. So, he missed a couple.”
On Trey Lowe
“Yeah, I think he's getting more and more confident. In this game getting touches and catching the ball out of the backfield. He’s been here on protection. He’s a good player.”
On What The Turning Point Was
“You know, it's tough to go to one single play. I think we matched it all the way throughout until the final overtime and they got three and we didn't. The turning point could have been the third and 14 and they throw a touchdown on that. I mean, we moved the ball pretty well when we were down three. That could have been a turning point too. I mean, there's a bunch.”
On If The Team Is Worried About Reaching Six Wins
“I haven't sensed it. I really haven't. I get it that we want to get to six wins and beyond and we've run into a couple of roadblocks the last two weeks.”
On Colorado’s Confidence On Offense
“Well, you had tape from last week and I think they gained some confidence after the last game against the Ducks and we talked about it a lot. We do talk a lot and we prepare as such that each game is going to be new. You've got to be able to put in your A game and play well against everybody in this league.”
On Colorado’s O-Line
“I didn't see anything dramatic there. You know, we've got to be able to get guys on the ground a couple of times and it's not just gonna be the push and they gotta hold a gap and in the crease, we got to get them down.”
On The 60-Yard Field Goal
“That was a big kick there's no question. I mean, yeah, it's tough to put a guy in that situation but he drilled it.
“He thought he had a chance after the one he missed right before it he had plenty of distance on the thing. Felt like 60 was in pace that's why we tried the little quick out to get another five six yards. We did it and it got executed pretty well.”
On The Stops Before The Field Goal
“That was big. There was an opportunity to extend the game and we got it done.”
Colorado Players
CB Isaiah Lewis
ON INTERCEPTION –“It felt good. It was man coverage and I know the matchup that they're looking for and that's the matchup that I want. Making a read and making the plays is what it came down to. I was looking forward so I didn't get tackled, but obviously I wanted to score so. I was running as fast as I could to get a little cut back and it didn't go, I was definitely trying to score.”ON OFFENSE- “I think they're going to be the leader of this team right now because they're bringing a life that I think we've been needing and they provided. I know that defense is going to follow every time they keep doing what they're doing.”
ON MOVING FORWARD-“Oregon State is a great team. They came out and they did exactly what we thought they were going to do. They were very efficient passers and strong runners. So, we're going to do the same thing when we play UCLA and make sure we're prepared for everything that they got, because they are a really strong running team, and they have threats, so we're going to come in down in the details and try and get the same result.”
OLB Carson Wells
ON TEAM PERFORMANCE- “I feel like it was one of the first times we really played complimentary football because Coach Dorrell talks about offense and when we needed point, they got us points. When we needed to stop some defense, we got stops. When special teams had to make a kicker flip the field on point we did that. I felt like it was a good game all the way around.”ON CROWD-“ It's an amazing. The environment there is one of a kind. Fans are awesome and the students section goes crazy every week. So that was awesome.”
ON MOVING FORWARD-“ It always carries over. UCLA is a good team, so we are going to have to get right this week and try to stop the run again next week.”
WR Brenden Rice
ON FINDING THE END-ZONE-“ It feels great, but I should have had two or three tonight. I put that on myself honestly because I could have gotten space and I can make that impact and to make that impact and not not perform how I want to perform sucks. It sucks but I'll do better next time.”ON OFFENSE-“ We said it before that we had to start fast, we had to deliver fast and we had to set the tone. From that you saw the defensive energy get a weight lifted off their shoulders. Just like we did with Oregon with defense solid fighting back the we went to fight too. We just had to finish out the game with Oregon State and we prevailed, finished, and I'm happy for us.”
ON LEWIS AND RECEIVERS- “ We’ve built a lot of chemistry over the past couple months. But was it was about making those changes to show that chemistry and truly develop off of it. And now you can see like our young cats as Chase, Ty, even Vontae, Daniel and Montana. You see everybody's getting the ball, and that's what it's about because we need to spread the ball around. We can't be singled out on one guy because that's how our defensive will stop us.”
WR Montana Lemonious-Craig
ON HIS GO-AHEAD TOUCHDOWN CATCH- “When needed a play. I was in the game and I had to go in there and just execute and make the play. So I mean at the end the day we got the job done, and I feel like that was a big turning point in the game. I'm just happy I was able to make the play.”ON SEVERAL YOUNG RECEIVERS MAKING PLAYS- “Regardless of the grade level, all of us have talent and skill, and we all go hard every day in practice. At the end of the day it’s football, we make plays, we're growing as a team, we're going as a close-knit team. At the end of that it makes a difference and we're just executing. At the end of the day it comes down to execution.”
ON EXECUTING WELL ON THE OPENING DRIVE- “It feels good. We had a great week of practice and I mean preparation is key. So at the end of day if we’re executing every day in practice it should run over to the game that's exactly what it did.”
ON CARRYING MOMENTUM TO UCLA GAME- “It’s back to work. We got to go back to the drawing board, watch tape and just go in the Rose Bowl handle business.”
CB Christian Gonzalez
ON MAKING BIG STOPS AS A DEFENSE- “It was great. That's what that's what we do. That's what we pride ourself on is coming up to play big and that's what we did. ”ON HAVING THE ENERGY OF THE CROWD BEHIND THEM- “We have one of the best fan groups in the nation. They're always out no matter what. It's just great playing at home with them and them giving us energy and all that.”
ON USING MOMENTUM FOR UCLA GAME- “Yeah, we're going to celebrate tonight have fun, enjoy the win and it’s back to work tomorrow, it’s getting the playbook watching film of this game, but using momentum to practice, have a great week of practice and go out and do the same thing next week.”
WR Daniel Arias
ON FINDING THE END ZONE- “Oh, it's been a while. It's been a long time, but it felt really good to finally be in the zone today. I've been working hard, you know, been going through adversity been just going through a lot of stuff so it just feels good to finally just get in there today so just got to keep working hard.”ON OREGON STATE’S DEFENSE- “We noticed with their DBS they like to jump a lot of routes. They like to jump a lot of routes so Chavy just had a couple of double move plays for us to do and my play seemed to just work. I didn't know he was going bite that hard but he did and I was able to get into the end zone.”
ON BUILDING GOOD MOMENTUM TOWARDS THE REST OF THE SEASON- “I think it does. It was a really good team win so we just got to keep working hard, just keep getting better every single week. So we have UCLA next week so onto the next one, but it was a really good team win today.”
PK Cole Becker
ON HITTING THE GAME WINNER - “That’s the moment all young kickers dream about. It was just cool to see my team rally after my miss. I stepped off the sideline and I was down on myself but nobody else was and everybody just kept picking me up. I think that’s really what helped me get back into the right mindset to hit that ball.”ON OSU’S 60-YARD FG - “I thought it was incredible. I think if I’m right he hadn’t hit one over 50 in his career? So when he lined up for 60 I was like, ‘No shot!’ I was standing on the bench and it went in - probably would have been good from 65 I would say. But I thought the same thing as Brendon [Lewis], ‘Have to go out there and do it again.’
RB Jarek Broussard
ON HIS PERFORMANCE COMPARED TO OTHER GAMES - “There was really no difference because I’m never the type to brag on my stats. I was just happy that the o-line opened up some holes and I made the most of it. That’s what we plan on doing week after week.”ON HOW THE WIN FEELS FOR THE TEAM - “As a team, to come into this game and slug it out for four quarters, it just shows a lot. The past few weeks haven’t been going as well and we came out here and fought hard for four quarters and pulled it off. It kind of just brings a lot of hope to a lot of our guys to just keep believing and trusting the process.”
ON TEAM’S MATURITY - “We went to Oregon and that was arguably one of the best defenses in the Pac-12. We put up some points on them, so it was like, ‘If we could do that, let’s do it again!’ That’s what we stuck to - going out there and scoring points.”
QB Brendon Lewis
ON HIS PROGRESSION AS A PLAYER - “I feel good. I feel like I’ve been progressing every week and I feel like my teammates are a big part of that. They’re going out there and making plays for me. The line is holding up well. I just feel like we’re all progressing as a unit.”ON WHAT HELPS HIM OVERCOME ADVERSITY - “My teammates. My teammates never gave up on me, they always told me that they still believed in me each and every game - even when we weren’t playing well. I feel like they’ve done a great job of lifting me up and helping me progress as a player. My coaches too, coach [Karl] Dorrell, coach [Danny] Langsdorf, coach [Darrin] Chiaverini. Practices have also been a lot better so I feel like it all starts in practice. Every week we keep progressing and it’s a good feeling.”
ON HIS CONFIDENCE - “My confidence has skyrocketed. I feel like if we hit plays early in the game then my confidence goes up from there and the rest of the game is a breeze. When I see my teammates make plays it makes me want to keep going. I feel like they’ve done a good job stepping up for me and I’ve done a good job stepping up for them.”
ON OSU’S GAME-TYING FG - “The mindset was go out there and score again. That’s what we had to do and we did a good job doing that. We all stepped up. When they hit that field goal we were like, ‘Forget it. We’re going to score again and put the team on our back.’ That’s what we did and we came out with the win.”
ON THE TEAM’S MATURITY - “I feel like we’ve done a great job maturing. The past couple of weeks haven’t gone the way we wanted but I feel like we’ve done a great job of not letting that get to us and not giving up. Each and every week we go back to practice and work harder than the last week. I feel like we’ve really matured doing that. No one wants to quit or has gotten pouty. I think we’ve done a good job of keeping our head up and continuing to grind every week.”
ILB Quinn Perry
ON DEFENSE BOUNCING BACK FROM OREGON LOSS - “Last week we left plays on the table so we knew that if we tightened up our scheme that we could fill the gaps properly. We fixed the game plan a little fit to free ourselves up in the gaps and let the safeties rotate a little bit more. We know what we’re capable of doing so we just had to focus up and take our opportunities that presented themselves.”ON PLAYING WITHOUT NATE LANDMAN - I take it upon myself to fill that role. Nate and I have talked about it a bunch. This is a big game for me to seize the opportunity. The defense played a collective game. Everyone did their job. Obviously they made some good plays that they earned, but I feel as a collective unit, we were locked into our assignments more than usual. Especially in this last week of practice we had a big emphasis on stopping the run because that’s their ‘MO’. They’re (Oregon State) the top rushing offense in the Pac-12 so we knew they were going to put an emphasis on it and we all did our jobs. The DBs played great, the line played great, all the linebackers played great - me, Jack [Lamb], Marvin [Ham II], and Robert [Barnes]. It was a collective effort, it wasn't just one individual.”
Oregon State Players
ILB Avery Roberts
ON FEELING THE LOSSES OF THIS YEAR- “Definitely it hurts. It's a very winnable game. It came down to the very end losing overtime so that's always tough.”ON EARLY ISSUES IN THE GAME- “They came out with tempo and then we pretty much had penalties. We were giving them plays and they really took advantage of them”
ON IF COLORADO SURPRISED THEM- “Not really. They ran plays that we knew they were going to run. We just weren't sound in our jobs and it hurt us.”
ON FRUSTURATIONS OVER SLOW STARTS- “That’s something that we have to change. We have to come out and come out fast and get on top.”
ON HOW TOUGHT IT IS LOSING IN OVERTIME- “It’s super tough. You want to win every game and win over time. You want it to go your way and it hurts when it doesn't.”
ON THINKING ABOUT BOWL ELIGIBILITY- “We want more than that. That's not even our goal. That's something we expect and we're not thinking about that.”
ON ALL LOSSES BEING ON THE ROAD- “I honestly don't know. We’ve got to come out on the road and bring your own energy honestly and come out the gate with it.”
ON BRENDON LEWIS- “We kept moving most of the game. He had someone on him at all times on most plays so we did a good job with that.”
ON THE REACTION OF EVERETT HAYES’ 60-YARD FIELD GOAL- “You make a 60-yard field goal and you're going to win the game in overtime. That's another reason why it's disappointing that we didn't come out.”
RB Trey Lowe
ON HIS IMPROVEMENT WEEK TO WEEK- “I just want to do my job for the team. That's all I'm focused on. When the ball finds me, it finds me and I just want to make a play. I think we have got to get things going earlier. These last two games, we've got to get things going faster and just start faster.ON WHAT IS CHALLENGING THEM- “They know we're the number one rushing offense so I think they're going to try new stuff that we haven't seen. That's no excuse. We got to be ready for it. We just got to go out to execute and do our job.”
ON NOT GETTING THE BALL ON THEIR FIRST FOURTH DOWN- “Whatever coaches call that's what I'm rocking with. We didn't get the job done that time but there's next time so.”
ON WHAT IS SLOWING THE OFFENSE DOWN- “I wouldn't say any one particular reason. I think guys are practicing well. Guys are trying to do their job. We’ve just got to execute better as a whole. We just got to get all 11 guys on the same page every play but I think that'll help out a lot.”
ON THE LOSS- “It is very tough. There's no other team I rather go to war with. It's a tough loss, I can't lie. I'm just proud of this team. We keep fighting like we showed today but it's tough.”
ON THINKING ABOUT BOWL ELIGIBILITY- “No. We want to we want to win every game. Our goal is to go 1-0 every week. When we land at six we land at six, but we want to win every game. Six isn't necessarily our goal. I think this team can do better than that. We’re trying to go 1-0 every week so we're not focused on six wins at the moment.”