Colorado-Arizona State Quotes
vs
Iowa State
Oct 11 (Sat)
1:30 PM
Colorado Interim Head Coach Mike Sanford
Opening Statement
“You know, first off, I wanted to just commend our team for the flight that they exhibited throughout the entirety of four quarters and, you know, the resolve. I think we started slow as we know defensively in the first half, built ourselves a bit of a hole. I really think the first half was probably the best offensive football that we've played in the season. I was pleased with some of the playmaking. I was really pleased also with the fact that we had a 100 yard rusher, and a 100 yard receiver. I believe that is the first time in a couple years, at least a year and a half. Right now we're at a place where I believe that the team is fighting. It's showing up I think on Saturdays, the way that they're fighting in practice, the way that they're going about their work every day. But obviously the missing link is playing that type of football when a defense gets to stop, the offense goes in scores. Trevor Woods interception, we need to back that up with seven. You know, our offense goes and it has a tremendous drive, defense has to get a stop. Those are the things right now that I believe we're going to piece together throughout the course of these next four weeks, and we know that challenges get even more significant, but we're up for that challenge. I'm really proud of the resolve and we just got put it all together. And you know, Jordan Tyson today was fantastic. I was really proud of just how he's practiced and how it showed up on game day. And really impacted the game. So with that I'm open for questions.”
On How To Fix Inconsistencies
“I think it's a combination of some factors. I think a little bit of the bump that we got in the Cal game was as a result of Cal not knowing schematically what we're going to do, and there was a little bit of that today as well. You know, you're getting a little bit of a bump when you go out and play no huddle football. We practice and plan but you don't know unless it's on film, and you build your entire plan with what's on film. Obviously we prepared by going back into 2015 to 2018 Chandler High School offense, and it was different than that there were probably more similarities of their offense that they'd done you know, prior to this game, but just in a no huddle manner, hats off to them for getting going early. I think we did settle in, in the second half. Obviously we have a really good opponent coming in. It will be good for us to be able to put our full preparation into what's on tape. I think that is a part of it. You know, college football nowadays is so different. You have two interim head coaches. I was talking to the head coach here at ASU, interim head coach, and, you know, this is college football in 2022. A lot of changes, week to week changes, schematically different coordinators. It's just different football, then probably it's been historically so, but I was pleased with how our defense did settle in. I had the full belief at the end of the game, that we're going to get a stop and that's why we attempted to really blast it off the front line. Got the ball on the ground with the returner. We've handed back deep, you know, in our time chart shows that, you know, if we get off the field in that scenario, which we had the last two drives defensively, then we're in a position to go put one together offensively. So I really do believe we did the right thing and put our trust in our defense and, you know, we just didn't get the stop."
On Deion Smith
“Yeah, Deion looked like that in practice this week. I think I said in one of the press conferences or after Tuesday, he just looked like a guy that was just, I mean, he was running harder in practice than he was before the injury. I think he ran his hardest probably in his entire career. He ran physically. He looked fast. He made plays. He was communicating. It's just so much about number one, how much he loves his game. And number two, just how he loves his teammates. That's what I think we're seeing right now is a whole bunch of fight. You know, for the brotherhood that exists on this team.”
On Staying In The Game And ASU’s QB
“Yeah, first of all I'd say when I went in locker room at halftime you know, it was great to come out the first defensive stand of the second half, and three and out. You know and that's to my point. We need to go score a touchdown there. You know that's the missing link and we didn't get that done. We went three and out matched that, but I went in the locker room and I saw the communication was happening amongst the staff. I see Gerald Chapman working with the front, Rod Chance is up there diagramming all the different looks that they'd shown in the first half, changing some of the calls that we were making. I just had a lot of confidence in what they were going to do in the second half. I think there was a resolve in the coaching staff that I think the players fed off of. I think something that they are really believing in right now is that our coaching staff on both sides of the ball is going to make the adjustments that we need, to give us a chance to make the plays to win the game. You know Bourguet played, I think really courageous football. We were getting some hits on him at times. You know, I mean some of those some of the throws, he's throwing off his back foot. I mean, it looked like there were probably about four of them. Those were really those 15, to 25, to 30 yard throws, the ball was just, flailing in the air. You know, we have a defender there on a majority of them. It's just, the tight end makes a great play, receiver makes a great play. You know, I think we were in position to make some of the plays, but a couple didn't bounce our way. I think our defenders know that when you're in those positions, and you're guarding obviously in a kind of a retreating manner and not facing the ball. You got to play through the catch point, you know, and that's one thing to work on this week.”
On Missed Tackles Extending ASU Drives
“I felt like some of the missed tackle opportunities took place more in the first half, and a couple in the second half. I mean, there's one obviously that jumps out. It was probably four on one play. I think tackling is all technique, it's all fundamentals. It's also the want to. I think we have guys that want to do it, we have to continue to create calls that eliminate space because tackling with a lot of space is a lot more challenging, but different than what I saw earlier in the year. It wasn't like there was a ton of space consistently in the run game and pass game. It was just being in that position, wrapping up and holding on for dear life. I saw Tyrin Taylor grow up in the second half in terms of tackling from the safety position. He's probably been playing the nickel position all year. You know, I saw him hold on, I saw Simeon Harris hold on. There's going to be some stuff that we point to that were positives of guys that hadn't played in those positions. Really, Simeon hadn't played really any nickel minus a couple of snaps, now he's a fulltime starting nickel against 10 and 11 personnel and they have basically three or four wides on the field. I saw him kind of grow up as the game went on. I think that's where we're at. I mean, it's just, it's just growing up through the course of the games, taking the experience of today and knowing I can get some of these big dudes on the ground. That's got to be our mentality, and we got to find a way to get ball carriers and receivers to the Earth. Just we got them to the Earth, however you have to do it, you have to hold on, Tyrin showed that like I said, and I was pleased with Simeon as well.”
On QB Owen McCown And Possible Redshirt
“Yeah, I mean, I think we'll have the discussions. Again, those are ongoing discussions that we're having internally. Like I've always said, I want to do what's best for the student athlete because that's what we're here for, to put those guys in the best positions possible. I will say, the fact that Owen was starting when he was, I don't think that was something that he probably envisioned. To be starting at 167 pounds, 172 pounds depending on the day, he went out and I think did the job admirably and was really pleased with how he did, but his body was starting to break down. So when you get into this type of a stretch and you're already a little bit banged up, we have to think about the fact that he's the type of player that probably traditionally would have redshirted. He's a developmental player, comes from a lineage of Josh and Luke McCown that were both late bloomers. I'm pretty sure Josh didn't really play even at Sam Houston until his fourth or fifth year in a starting capacity. So we're going to do what's best for Owen, and we're going to do what's best for our program going forward. We'll make those decisions and we'll want to be obviously as candid and open about it with the media as possible.”
On QB J.T. Shrout’s Struggles
“Yeah, I mean, what I talked about with him a couple times on the sideline after series’, it's just your fundamentals are non-negotiable. You're standing the pocket, throwing from a great platform, hitting your back foot and letting the ball go. When he does that I think he's really good. He did do some good things outside of the pocket. Obviously, the touchdown to Jordan Tyson stands out and even Montana's play we had ran a new double move to Montana and he created a little bit. But really just trusting your protection, throwing from a base, throwing from a platform and I just think he started faster this game, but the consistency obviously to get the completion percentage numbers up, it's got to go up. We know it's not gonna get easier. But we just got to continue to find those completions and make sure that we're playing with the appropriate fundamentals. The interception to me, that was one where you just got to trust your protection, it was a flea flicker. We had a run action with it and I feel like Jack Hestera really won on the route and that ball requires more of what JT loves to do, his drive, rip a ball with not a ton of air, but I don't think he really truly trust his protection and kind of threw the ball off his back foot, and then it really gave the safety a chance to recover and that was a critical play in the game.”
On ASU TE Jalin Conyers
“You know, it was one of those games. I watched him throughout the course of the year. He's a big tight end and he actually looked like a blocking tight end on the sideline. It was one of those games that truly like he made some tremendous plays and the ball found him. It was almost like some of the plays that he made there was a defender kind of draped all over him and the ball just literally just lodged into his chest and he did a great job making plays. You know, a lot of guys have those types of days. It wasn't like I don't think he was a focal part of their game plan per se, but I think he obviously made the plays and made some spectacular plays when his number was called so I think they obviously found something in him and not really having much to go off of and seven game sample size, you know, it didn't really become a focal part of the game plan.
On WR Jordyn Tyson
“I think Jordan Tyson's a superstar. I think he's gonna be a superstar in this conference for a while and he's gonna have a tremendous career in the game of football. And what I love about Jordan is I think he has kind of embodied a little bit of the culture that we brought forth, just the juice, the joy, the smile that he has on his face at practice. Like he's an infectious guy. And I think that even the fan base and the crowd fed off of his energy today. He's just such a natural route runner. He's got tremendous ball skills, and you know, really his drops this year are a little bit different. They're almost like he might have slipped out of a cut and the ball is just on him. It's not like many of his drops are just fundamental drops. I think he is turning into a short-handed player, an explosive playmaker for us, and, frankly, we need it. I mean, he’s been a great emergence for us, offensively. Because, to be honest, through the first four weeks of the season there were opportunities that were out there. And I was always waiting, wondering who's gonna be the guy, who's gonna make the play, and bust an explosive play and I think tonight was the first time we really stringed together some explosive plays between some of the runs that Dion had, obviously some of the plays that Jordan had and then the punt return was just spectacular.”
On The Program
“I think what I said when I stood up here on that Sunday that I was put into this position is that this is about our student athletes, this is about our players. I'm going to continue to do everything in my power to love these kids, to put them in the best positions to have success and then to create more memories. We got four games left. We're gonna go create some memories out there on that field. We just found out the kick time for Oregon to be 1:30 so we look forward to a packed house again. The student section today was incredible. Even towards the tail end, it was awesome watching those that stayed and they were going to witness what would have been one of the most incredible comebacks, probably in Folsom history, but we just fell short. A big thing for me is just, I really want to care. I want to care for these players, their presence and their futures. In the case of Owen, I think it's less about him saying I want a red shirt, it's like what's best for you. Where he's at in his developmental stage, what is best for him and also what's best for our team? Because you think about it from the flip side, if we just say, Owen you have to play. Right? And then he gets beat up. Then, obviously, I'm not looking out for the best interest of Owen McCown.”
On QB Prep With Limited Film
“There’s some challenges especially when, obviously Emory was a big part of their plans for the majority of year. We knew he was more of a passer and that showed up today. We knew he had exhibited toughness in the Washington game that led to the wind. It was a pretty similar score line, if I'm not mistaken. But, I anticipated him being a guy who can make the throws. I think if we just had tackled better and there were about two significant coverage breakdowns that we had, that I think allowed them to have some explosive plays, but, I thought a lot of the balls that he was throwing up there were off the back foot. You see the ball in the air and you're like, there's no way that's gonna be completed and the ball just kept finding receivers. So, credit to him for showing toughness.”
On Remaining Schedule
"Yeah, I think it is just living in the day. We built this thing all as a process. We've seen the results of those processes in a positive manner. I would say that we saw some results today, not the ultimate result that we all want. Not the ultimate result, certainly I wanted, but we did see it in the fight. So, we hadn't really exhibited that trait, right. You think about the score line being 42 to 20. What's happened throughout the course of this year, when that score line looked like that? That's why a lot of people left. But I'm gonna tell those people that last, this team is gonna fight to the very end, and there will be a breakthrough and I believe that and I think the process that we're going about, the players believe in it, they're seeing some of the fruits of their labor. And I think putting it all together, we're going to see that all come to fruition at some point and obviously we're gonna take it just like we do every single day in our preparation. We're gonna do one day at a time and then we just have to be the better team out there on Saturday. We're certainly not gonna be supposed to beat anybody on the remainder of our schedule, but we're gonna have a mentality that we just got to be the better team that one Saturday and we saw it tonight in glimpses right there's. Like man, if we just piece that all together, you better watch out so I think that that's what we saw some that grow tonight.”
Arizona State Interim Head Coach Shaun Aguano
General
“It was a fun game. I thought our kids did well executing the plan that we prepared for them. Our coaches did an incredible job preparing them on both the offense and defensive side. We give up big plays on all facets, but I thought our guys, especially our coaches, did a great job preparing.”
On the tempo offensively
“I thought we needed to have a change in that, and that was one of the changes that I wanted to get done and the kids were excited just because I think there's so many kids that played in that system prior, coming from high school. I think they're used to that. So, the tempo helped us especially keeping the defensive off balance.”
On the changes made to the offense
“The plays haven't changed; the tempo changed, the play calling changed. It is gratifying. I'm crossing my fingers on the sideline hoping it works. But the kids bought in and they trusted the changes that I made and I'm grateful for that.”
On the changes in play calling and being a head coach
“The play calling and then managing the game and making sure the defense, that's a lot. But, I trusted in things that I put in, I trusted that the kids were going to execute. I trusted that Trenton was going to execute exactly what I wanted. We had those talks don't do more than you needed to do. Just stay with me and I'll kind of guide you through the game. He delivered well. Then the kids in an uptempo, they're running around all over the place, but I thought they did a great job executing what needs to be executed.”
On the Quarterback decision
“I think it was after Thursday practice. I thought they were going evenly. I just thought Trenton’s decision making was quicker and anticipation was quicker that Thursday. That's the choice that I made and it's been it's hard for Emery. We had that talk and the thing about Emery he told me coach, I don't want to do the two series one series. If you need me. I'll be ready. He's an ultimate team player, but it's absolutely difficult for him.”
On winning on the road
‘It's gratifying. They've worked hard this whole week, and then to trust the changes, and the practice changes because the tempo changes. But our guys are fighting through adversity and I want to make sure that our kids are put in a position where they're successful on the field. So sometimes those changes need to be made. It's tough, but it worked out tonight.”
On using the Tight Ends more
“I knew Badger was going to be double teamed and he was gonna be primarily the guy that they were going to focus on. Our tight ends were I think underutilized in some in some instances. I think they're athletic enough and big enough. So I wanted to make sure that there were mismatches and that you saw them all over the field or there was mismatches that we could take advantage of. “
On Jalin Conyers' performance
“Absolutely fantastic. Jalen was a quarterback, he likes to play in that flow. When he went up in the corner and made that play it was incredible to see and he was happy. I saw smiles on their faces. To me, football is football, but when you see smiles on your kids’ faces and they're having fun. That means more to me than anything else.”
On the interception by Chris Edmonds
“Chris has done a great job. He's come up and saved some runs made that interception. He knows we can just put them away. I just want to stay up three scores, but then they come back and it goes down to the wire. These guys are like cardiac kids, but that helped a lot.”
On the decision to throw on the last drive
“You always think, well, you have to run the ball out so the clock is going right. But I also understand that they're on the defensive side, they're going to probably move up from the box and put more guys in the box and I'm always a numbers guy and I thought we had better numbers throwing that to the tight end. Just because if we had to we could go top shelf on him because he's a big guy. So, if we missed I know if we will miss we will miss high. He made the catch and that was incredible.”
On the success of the running game
“With this kind of tempo offense, you're gonna lose a couple but I wanted to make sure that we kept it going, had their two big guys running the whole time. Hopefully by the third or fourth quarter, they'll be tiring out and then we can we can get on them. But I'm a running back coach by trade. So I'm going to make sure that I run the football for sure.”
On using this win going forward
“Absolutely. We've got a tough game coming up against UCLA. It was a disappointing loss last week, and I thought we could have strung out three games winning to UCLA, But, I'll get on the plane, I'll look at the corrections and then we'll get on to UCLA. That's a big game for us. Its parents weekend our guys play up to that level so I want to see what happens come Saturday.”
On the decision to start Trenton
“I trusted his decision making and his anticipation. Quarterbacks have moxie and it's hard to explain because that word is so such a cliche, but you see quarterbacks that have that mental moxie that have something of that it factor. I know that he was comfortable with the system that I incorporated and so that's the reason why I went with him.”
What made Trenton comfortable with the system
“Just the way he understood what I was trying to do. When we had those talks about the RPO game or the passing game, he understands exactly what I was looking for. His progressions were quick his anticipation was quick. When you have almost a coach on the field at the same time understanding exactly what the schematics that I want to get done. It makes it a lot easier.”
On going against a fellow Interim Head Coach
“Absolutely. Coach Sanford and I got together and talked about it. It's always hard. The number one thing that we talked about was making sure that the transition for our kids, we make sure that we're they're taken care of. I told him that transition is hard. I want to win games and put myself in a situation that I could be their head coach. But for me, I want to make sure that our kids have a great experience. I've taken care of them, love them. For some of them. They're seniors, and I want to make sure that they remember that experience.”
Colorado Players
G Casey Roddick
ON THE OFFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT “Obviously it's not the result that you wanted, but from an offensive standpoint, it's nice to see a little bit of some explosive plays out there. Jordyn, Tyson, Montana (Lemonious-Craig), all those guys did their thing on the outside and then on the inside Jayle (Stacks) and Deion (Smith) making some great runs, so I think that it's a step forward for the offense. We’ve got a tough slate coming up so it's going to a challenge, but not only I think it's a challenge, I think that this game shows off what we can do and so we can build off of it.”ON DEION SMITH RETURNING “It was great. Deion, we love Deion so it's great to see him out there running and doing the things that he loves. Whoever's running the ball though it's up to them. They just fine the hole and we're going to open it up for them.”
ON THE DIFFICULT OPPONENTS AHEAD “It's just nameless great faces at the end of the day. It's just another opponent that we're just going to go out and play against at the end of the day. That's how we have to look at it. Going into the next few games that we have, I think the best thing about these next four games is that the adversity that they we may face. No one's going to give us a chance against it, but we have the opportunity to shock people.”
ON OREGON COMING TO FOLSON FIELD “It’s competition at the end of the day, and if you if you don't like competition, then you're in the wrong sport. Oregon's a very tough team, Oregon's a great team and so it's going to be a great challenge next Saturday and we're excited for it.”
WR Montana Lemonious-Craig
ON THE OFFENSE “Honestly that's what we're supposed to be. We’ve supposed to be doing that. We need to have better production and at the end of day it wasn't enough to win so it wasn't good enough.”ON THE PLAN AGAINST THE ARIZONA STATE DEFENSE “I would always say just make plays. They know we have playmakers on offense, in the backfield and outside as well. When we get opportunities, we’ve got to come down with the ball. As long as we do that, do all our assignments, block where we’re supposed to block, we'll be able to get the job done.”
ON CONTINUING TO TALK ABOUT MORAL VICTORIES “I wouldn't say we like talking about more moral victories. We're so close but like I said, it's not good enough at the end of the day and there's no more victories in the losses. We’ve still got to pick the tempo up, pick the energy up and be able to punch the ball in every job.”
ON THE DIFFICULT SCHEDULE AHEAD “These guys in the locker room are going to fight to the end like we did this game. No matter the outcome, no matter nothing, every week in and week out, we're going to go out and play hard. The schedule getting harder doesn't really phase us. We're going to go in there play our game and play hard.”
ON OREGON COMING TO FOLSOM FIELD “The Ducks, it'll be exciing playing. They have athletes, we have athletes, we’ve just got to execute. It's going to come down to execution at the end of the day and offense putting up points.”
LB Josh Chandler-Semedo
ON ADJUSTMENTS MADE FOR SECOND HALF DEFENSE - “We made plays that we were capable of making in the first half. We probably played, to my standard, first worse half football defensively this year as far as tackling. Letting up 28 points is uncharacteristic for the defense we've been playing over the last few weeks. So, we just had to come in and correct those.”ON WHAT ASU’S NEW COACHES “HANDS ON ROLE” - “Not really. They ran a simple air raid offense. Things that we knew. We kind of got some tips that he was going to try to throw in some new wrinkles. So, we were able to practice some. So, they weren't really new things. Just kind of things we picked up through the media through different years, through the grapevine and stuff like that.”
ON THE IMPROVEMENT THROUGHOUT THE SEASON - “It's definitely been an improvement. We see it. We obviously see it, but we can't really hop on it too much. We haven't been having a lot of success outside of the Cal game. Yes, we create negative plays, being able to disrupt more things and at the same time still taking a hit. So, you kind of pay attention to it, but you can't really hop on it too much because it's not necessarily leading to wins.”
ON THE UPCOMING SCHEDULE – “No, not really. You grew up playing ball, got a chance to play two straight top 10 teams, some of the best things in the country, and some of the best players in the country. I know I'm excited for it and I'm going to live for it. It's a chance for me to improve my draft spot. So other guys have that same chip on their shoulder too.”
ON WHAT IT’S LIKE TO PLAY AGAINST A TEAM LIKE OREGON - “It's cool. It'd be cool to play against Oregon. It was my childhood dream to play for Oregon when I was a kid. I'm from Ohio. It was cool. I got to meet Chip Kelly early on in the season. So that kind of scratched the itch for me a little bit. It'd be cool to play them.”
RB Deion Smith
ON RUSHING FOR 100 YARDS TONIGHT AFTER BEING CARTED OFF - “I feel like it was a humbling experience, and kind of changed my perspective on the game. Even though I have been through adversity in the past, I’ve never really been through anything as traumatic or just as instant as that. I had an ACL [tear], and that was a long process. So, that really just changed my perspective of the game and I just saw things differently. So, these past two weeks were kind of a revelation for me, if I’m being honest.”ON PERSPECTIVE AND MENTALITY – “Each play really has a life of its own. Whenever that play is over, it’s over; I can just move onto the next thing. For me, [the injury] really didn’t change my game. I feel like if anything, it made me want to be more physical, because I saw it as: I would rather take the punishment to somebody else, then to take it. In that situation, I was in a vulnerable time, in a vulnerable moment. I felt weird, you know? Things happen, and I feel like for me, I wanted to come out here and turn it up a notch. So, however I was viewing the game, reading my keys and doing the things before, I feel like for me, tonight, it was just about doing things at a higher level than I had done it before.”
ON LEADERSHIP – “At the end of the day, regardless if we are going to a bowl or not, every week is your resume. A good percentage of these guys want to play at the next level, just like I do. So, regardless of if you have a bowl game to expect or another game next week, every time you strap up, you’ve got to put your best on [your] resume. So, these [next] four games, I feel like for me and just talking to the guys, trying to be a leader on the team. I want to spread that everyday is an opportunity. We never really know when we’re not going to be able to play this game again. We’ve just got to keep putting stuff on tape, keep putting stuff on the resume. I feel like that’s the best way to look about it.”
ON BEING DOWN BIG LATE AND MAKING A COMEBACK – “I feel like Coach Sanford has a lot to do with it, just because he kind of spreads that contagious energy, which I feel like you guys have seen a little bit of that. We just come into each week a little differently. We know the game isn’t over until it’s all zeros on the clock. So, you’ve got to keep fighting at the end of the day, regardless.”
WR Jordyn Tyson
ON HIS STRONG PERFORMANCE- “It was a lot of fun. It was actually my first punt return [for a Touchdown] in my career, so that’s real fun. The job’s just got to go; I can’t keep doing that if we want to get to the next level and win some games. I’m just trying to keep my head up and get some more wins.”ON HIS ABILITY TO PRODUCE IN THE UPCOMING GAMES – “I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing, plus even more. I feel like that’s all I can do. Just like [Deion] said, ‘Build my resume.’ So, I could just go to where I want to go, and that’s elite.
ON BEING DOWN BIG LATE AND MAKING A COMEBACK – “I think a lot of that has to do with Coach Sanford too, he brings a lot of energy, a lot of passion to us, and he gave us that spark to want to fight. Even that talk that we had at the beginning of the fourth, he just brought a lot of energy.
DB Trevor Woods
ON CHALLENGES PRESENTED BY ASU’S OFFENSE – “They spread the ball, they changed a lot of things that they do on offense. Obviously, we know their tendencies still, but they did a lot of different things. They even talked about it, and we knew that coming in, so you can’t really get ready for that, but I mean, they spread the ball around well, so you can’t just key in on one guy.”ON HIS FIRST INTERCEPTION OF THE YEAR – “I was already sitting there, we were in man. I was already sitting in outside leverage. And I mean, he kind of threw the easiest route to cover in that. I was kind of surprised when I looked back to the ball to see it coming. I kind of wasn’t ready for it, to be honest, but it was awesome. I immediately tried to get the ball to the sideline, try and keep it, but it’s gone now. It’s nice, something I’ll never forget.”
ON BEING DOWN BIG LATE AND MAKING A COMEBACK – “It really started with our offense. Right after a score, they went down and scored. And then [Tyson] came in, punt return for a Touchdown. I mean, I think [the defense] had one stop in there, but offense kickstarted it though. You just need a big play, and the whole drive together was, but then that kick return was when we were like ’15 point game, we’re in, we have a chance.’ After that play, we really can try.”
ON DEFENSIVE CHANGES IN THE SECOND HALF – “They changed a lot of stuff on their offense. Their tendencies were kind of the same, but the formations, the plays that they were running, a lot of them were different from what they normally do. And we knew that they were going to do something completely different, but we didn’t know what it was. We’ve got to adjust better during the game, but halftime adjustments, we really got to see what they were doing and we could really change it up.”
Arizona State Players
TE Jalin Conyers
ON THE GAMEPLAN - “It wasn't what was said, but getting on the field and looking how they were playing defense, I kind of had a feeling that it meant that we were going to have a good day. I put my faith in Trenton, we all did and he went out and did that and I was able to make plays.”ON THE DIFFERENT OFFENSE – “I think it was just the tempo. I think a lot of us had to get used to the tempo during the week, but as we hit Saturday I feel like we executed really well. Tonight, besides that, offensively we had the same plays and same game plan so it wasn’t much different, but I think the tempo definitely helped us out a lot.”
ON TRENTON BOURGUET – “Yeah, me and Trenton have been throwing together since last year so coming into this game and he’s starting obviously, that confidence level goes up a little bit, especially when you know you've been with a guy for a year. Talking to him after I had a free couple of catches he said, hey, I'm just gonna give you a chance. I said, alright, let me know. Obviously, that worked out and I ended up with three touchdowns so it worked out really well. Good team win for sure.”
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE WIN – “I think it was much needed. I think every game from now on is a must win for us especially if we want to go to a bowl game. I'll say this again, we're probably one of those teams that you look at and we're way better than our record shows. So, coming into this game we knew we needed to win and we were able to go out and do that tonight.”
ON BREAKOUT GAME – “For me, it's just about keep working. I came in to Oklahoma, I was a small-town kid, didn't really have film, but I played against little guys and my whole life I had a lot to prove. So, then I transferred here and I've never played tight end before so I've had to prove myself a lot. I don't think it’s an I told you so, but I just feel like I have worked for this and I've tried to do everything I can to get to this point. I think tonight finally flourished for me, so I feel good.”
ON HIS FEELINGS DURING THE GAME – “It's all adrenaline. When I caught the ball, I didn't realize what had happened. But, yeah it was exciting for me because I've never had a game like this in college, obviously. I don't think I've ever had over three catches in a game so to be able to go do this was huge for me and for the team and I was able to help the team win.”
ON HIS FAVORITE TOUCHDOWN – “Probably the last one. I love when I get a one-on-one and if I'm one-on-one with a safety or linebacker I'm just like please throw it to me. Once he threw it, I saw it up in there and I was like I think I can get this one so that was probably my favorite one.”
ON CONFIDENCE WITH TRENTON – “I mean, I feel like when me being with Emory and Trenton, I was confident with both of them, but obviously being with Trenton longer you always have that little extra thing. So, I feel like he just he operates so well. He's so prepared every week. I don't think you understand how smart this kid is when he is going over the play like he knows everything and when he looks at defense, he literally reads things I don't know if my brain can handle what he goes through. So, all kudos to him, he deserves this win more than anybody else.”
DB Chris Edmonds
ON HIS INTERCEPTION - “I realized how big of a momentum swing that was at the moment. Stop the drive, you know, and get the ball back to the offense. As long as we can get a ball back to offense, that’s good for us.”ON BUILDING MOMENTUM-“I feel like we just got to get back and play how we played against Stanford. We have to trust each other to play together. In the end, we have to be better, because recently we've given up many points and plays, so we need to be better.”
ON IMPROVING-“Watching Film and, and just knowing the situation has helped a lot. Also, before the play my corner let me know to watch out for the trick play Welcome. It just happened so shout out to him on that one.”
ON TODAY-“I feel like we had some dirty plays. We got to have a good mindset. Every time we step on the field, we got to feel like we're the best and keep playing like that.”
S Elijhah Badger
ON THE OFFENSE- “I feel like we adjusted quite well and then we were moving the ball pretty well. I feel like everybody is on the same page and we just kept moving the ball.”ON OPPORUNITIES ON OFFENSE- “I feel like it does something for the defense not to me. Spreading the ball out, it's good for everybody. It makes it hard to stop me.”
ON GETTING DOUBLE TEAMED- “I find it more and more every week. I think I'm just going to keep on it every week.”
ON PLAY WHERE HE BROKE MULTIPLE TACKLES- “I just think not to go down on the first tackle ever. Like you said the crowd was talking about how much I squat. I showed them how much.”
ON TRENT BOURGUET- “I like to see that but frankly, everybody was waiting for it. Like I said he was preparing for this.”
ON THE GAME PLAN- “I feel like the play card for this week was more towards going to everybody and moving the ball and trying to get down the field quicker.”
QB Trenton Bourguet
ON REACTION TO GETTING THE START- “It was super exciting. I had a good week of practice competing with Emory and pushing each other. Whoever is going to go out there, they're going to try their best to get the job done. Just trusting the coaching, I have the players trust and I trusted them to make it easy. Having a back like X [Xazavian Valladay] and Daniyel [Ngata] in the backfield, they just take what the defense gives me. It was a super fun week to get ready. It was a great game.”ON BEING THE FIRST ARIZONA ST. FROM ARIZONA IN 20 YEARS- “I'm just truly blessed. I think Arizona has a lot of great talent that sometimes gets overlooked. I just think it represents how Arizona has some some great talent. Last night I was watching the high school game Basha, and Catalina, watching those guys, ESPN had to put on for the state of Arizona. I'm just trying to do my thing as well.”
ON USING JALIN CONYERS- “He's a big mismatch problem. He's big but he's also fast has great hands. Just trying to give him a chance, a 50-50 ball, I trust him coming down with it. Like you said, just giving them a chance and he did the rest.”
ON THE REASON FOR THE FAST START- “Just a quick one on one. Calling great plays. Trusting everybody's calls. We had a great week of practice. It's kind of new scheme but just trusting in what we practice all week, like you said it translated to the field today and we were able to put up a good amount of points. We still left another, a couple of touchdowns. On the field that I want to take back but other than that, we had a great game. The defense did their thing and it was a complete team win.”
ON HOW BIG THE WIN IS- “It's just another game, my brother Colin was telling me when we were praying before the game, this is another football game. We've been doing this since we were four or five years old, traveling all over the world. This is just a bigger stage. It's still 11 on 11. That field's the same size. I’m just super excited to come out here, get a victory against a scrappy Colorado team that is really good. It was Super great for Coach Aguano to get a win under his belt.”
ON IF HIS PERFORMANCE AGAINST WASHINGTON HELPED- “I don't think so. I'm super confident in myself, not to sound too cocky or anything like that. I have trust in myself and my teammates as well. I think the the coaches trusted me as well. Playing against Washington definitely helped a lot with just getting a rhythm with the game. But I've been playing this game forever. I'm just super excited to get opportunity and to help the team win.”
ON COACH SAYING HE HAS MOXIE- “I've been playing this game my whole life, and just being a competitor and everything, I do, if we're playing checkers, or basketball in the back backyard, I'm going to try to win. It's just super exciting to come out here against Colorado, like, like I said, and get a big win for the team. It was a complete team effort.”
ON THE TIGHT ENDS GETTING MIXED INTO THE GAMEPLAN- “I think it just evolved. They were bringing some pressure and my tight end was my hot reads a couple of times, and Jalin did a good job of finding open spaces. We have a good tight end room, a great running back room and a lot of good weapons, and a lot of good weapons in the wide receiver room. Offensively we just played as a complete unit and the defense had at a big turnover late in the game. and they played a great game as well.”
ON THE BENEFITS OF HAVING TIGHT ENDS INVOLVED- “I think it makes it harder on defenses because they want to key in on X [Xazavian Valladay] and you want to play one high but then if you play one high, I got a tight end running the seam and if you press Badge [Elijhah Badger], I'm going to take the go ball. We have answers for everything. It's going to make defenses really think. Like I said, just control we can and we came up with a great one.”