Colorado-Kansas State Quotes
vs
Houston
Sep 12 (Fri)
5:30 PM
Postgame Quotes
Kansas State vs. Colorado, Oct. 12, 2024, Folsom Field, Boulder, Colo.
Colorado Head Coach Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders
Opening Statement:
“Well coached team; very disciplined team. Ran the heck out of the football. That was the goal, to try to stop the run. We didn't do that whatsoever. They had 224 yards rushing, which they ultimately dominated the time of possession, which is not good, because now we can't get on the field and do what we're capable of doing. Coach Klieman was wonderful. I have a lot of respect, a lot of admiration coming from FCS, as I did, and he is unbelievable. And his team was truly prepared and ready to play this game. We had opportunity tremendously at the end of the game, and we took a shot. We didn't come up with it; game over, but we shouldn't have been in that situation whatsoever. The drive before that, defensively, blowing coverages, we blew some things there, because the running back should never be wide open, running up the sideline in a situation like that, then they take a shot and hit us deep, which is not indicative of who we are. Certainly losing Travis and Jimmy and others was tremendous, because they're a vital part of our team, vital part of our identity, and a vital part of who we are. So that took a blow; that took a lot out of us. But, other guys had the opportunity to step up, and they did. So I'm proud of them.”
Coach on injury updates on Travis, Jimmy, and Omari
“No, not one. I saw Omari in a boot, kind of a cast. I thank God we have everything we need on the second floor here in this wonderful building. But I haven't gotten an update on those particular young men. Hopefully they can get back at it, but we're not going to rush them. Their safety and their health is much more important than this game.”
Coach on emotions following Colton Hood’s late interception
“Tremendous. It was a natural high. That was phenomenal. Big play. I mean, the defense came up with the play when they needed to come up with the play, and that's what transpired. And, you think, and well, you know, we're going to score. You know, with the ball in Shedeur’s hand down there, we’re going to score. And we went on and did what we had to do. We didn't expect them to have a couple of explosion plays to set them up for a touchdown. We didn't even fathom that. I think Coach Rob called a heck of a game as well as Pat, we just came up on the short end.”
Coach on any potential for Travis to reenter the game
“No, not whatsoever. He was just there to support his team, and he did a good job at it.”
Coach on Buff tackling issues and defending DJ Giddens
“He's phenomenal. He's one of the best in the country. I mean, his maneuverability is unbelievable. We didn't tackle well today, whatsoever. We didn't get to the ball as a unit today, whatsoever. We had some busts and a few things. I’m telling you, I hear the calls, and Coach called a pretty darn good game. He called a really good game, and we just got to execute the calls.”
Coach on disappointments from tonight’s game and solace within the team’s resilience
“The big plays and surrendering 224 yards rushing. Come on, because that's clock as well. That keeps our offense off the field. And they need opportunities. We need opportunities. I’m proud of them, man, I'm always proud of them. This is a totally different team. This team has heart. They have integrity, they're tough, and they love to play this game. We just came up short. We got to just learn how to win these particular games. We've done so this year as well. But that was one that we should have got the play in there.”
Coach on the running game
“We didn't execute. I mean, the play calls are there, but we didn't execute. We missed a block here, we missed this there, we missed this there; we just didn't execute. Play calling was definitely suffice. We didn't execute, and I believe we surrendered six sacks to their four, which, you know, in comparison, it wasn't bad, and Sheduer gotta get the ball out of there at times as well. But we're better than that. We're better collectively than what we showed tonight. Hey, coach wants the NPR pleasure.”
Coach on Shilo’s performance
“I thought he played horrible. I thought he was rusty. I thought he didn't have his footing. I thought he wasn't breaking down. He's coming up trying to make the play, but open field; one on one tackle with that kind of back, that ain't an easy task, but he's going to do better. I know what he has in him.”
Coach on the team’s resilience after multiple injuries
“Shows tremendous resilience. It shows you depth. It shows you the recruiting has been successful in the depth of that position. It shows that Pat did a wonderful job. He didn't change, you know, the distribution of the ball and the play calling. We still had a couple big time guys out there that could make plays too. Darryl Timmons, he got hurt too. So let's not forget, because he went down. That's why we had some of the guys in later in the game. But I'm praying for him as well. Hopefully he's okay. I don't know what happened with him as well.”
With potentially a few injuries in the receiver room, how confident are you?
“We’re deep. I mean, that room is deep. Those guys step up tremendously. And we have freshmen that’re able to step up. And Drelon did a wonderful job. Did a wonderful job of coming in there and making plays. So I'm happy with who they are, what they are, and how they work. They do a tremendous job of working in practice, they have leadership by LaJohntay, he's probably their vocal leader in there, but we're deep in that position.”
How close is Cordale Russel (WR, Fr.) to being ready to play?
“I think he’s healthy, yeah, but he’s just gotta do his thing.”
On BJ Green’s performance tonight
“I haven't watched the film, so I don't really know how they performed, but he had a couple sacks, which came at crucial times. I don't know how many tackles he had, but I didn't get that far. I gotta watch film to see who really did what and how they did so but from the natural eye, he had a couple sacks, which was impressive. I think he's capable of that every game. And that's what we're looking for, and that's what we desire for.”
On the breakdowns that led to Shedeur being sacked 6 times tonight
“I can't tell you everything that happens, but you would never guess that some things happen and it happened. So that's why you gotta hear from a quarterback, because I could be upset and get on him. Then he'll tell me what he saw. He tells me what really transpired. So I have to back up a little bit. I learned not to be emotional when it comes to seeing what a quarterback sees. But I'm just happy and elated that we just always feel like if the ball is in his hands at the end, we are going to have an opportunity. And I don't know what transpired at the end and it looked like pass interference to me. But it was, it was tough. I didn't want it to end that way. You know? I just saw us fighting down the field, and then I know once we crossed the 50, its Mata time, so I felt like we were going to be okay.”
His post-game message to the locker room
“Self reflect. Tell them to self reflect. Everybody wants opportunities to be that guy, and oftentimes you get opportunities to be that guy, and you're upset that you didn't rise to the occasion. So just self reflect. Sometimes when you lose in life. You get your butt kicked, you just gotta take it. But sometimes you lose, you say, dang, we should've won that. We should've had that. And that was one of those types of games. That's not taking anything away from our opponents, because they played their butts off, and they're in that locker room right now celebrating having a good time, and they deserve it. But for us, we just felt like we let that one slip away, and we got to do a better job of taking advantage of the opportunities that we had to win that game, because we had several.”
Team’s chances of making a bowl game after tonight
“That's not in our thought process, we're one game at a time. Really, one game at a time. We definitely want to, you know, the goal is to get Miss Peggy to a bowl. You know that. But we're one game at a time. That's the target. You know, you hate dropping those games but you can see that we're trending in the right direction. You can see that we have some capable players. You can see that we have some people that can flat out play this game. We just gotta all show up together. Today, the run defense; we didn't show up collectively.”
What Buffs fans expectations should be from Omarion and Drelon the rest of the way?
“Omarion can just play. I mean, you could just flip a coin, and he could start if you desire him to. It's just the way the chips fall for him, but he is just like a starter. Drelon, I mean, being a true freshman and coming in and contributing as much as he’s doing, it’s phenomenal. Hats off to him. You think you’re going to get those freshman mistakes, but he’s not making them. He's there and he's fighting. He's working his butt off in critical moments. I mean, when Shedeur can trust him in critical moments, that speaks a lot to who he is and how he's risen to the occasion. But you gotta understand, when you lose Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn in ten minutes, that tremendously hurts. But look, 9 receivers had opportunity, nine people caught passes today, which is phenomenal. That keeps your room happy as well.”
Colorado Players
Shedeur Sanders, Sr., QB
On his emotions after the WR injuries
“It's really next man up, honestly. And the guys that got in were able and ready to play. Drelon Miller stepped up and did what he's supposed to do. Jordan O [Onovughe] got in and did what he was supposed to do. So overall, it's a machine. We have to keep going no matter what.”
On not being able to run the ball
“When you're behind, you can't really run the ball like that because then you're wasting time off the clock. It’s really tough, and they did a great job, scheme-wise, to make it difficult to run the ball in those situations. So that's really the thing. When it's an even game and when you're not behind it's real easy to run the ball, but when you're behind, you got to throw your way out of it.”
On recovery after games
“Everybody does their own personal thing, and then we come up here and, of course, meet with coaches and watch the film. But overall, the off days are where you get your massage, where you get everything and take care of your body, specifically on what you need.”
On if there was anything that prevented him from running
“They’re just a disciplined team. They just did their job. That's it. I'm sure every other team’s job is to keep contain, but they just did what their coach told them to do.”
On if the last pass to Will Sheppard was a pass interference
“No, whatever the ref called, he called. I don't know. The call wasn't pass interference so it's okay. We just got move forward and assess what we did wrong, and go into the next week to fix those things.”
On what his game interaction with Pat Shurmur is like
“I can't really disclose too much on what he’s saying in my ear, but a great relationship. We get to the sideline and we understand what I'm seeing, what he's seeing. We get on the iPad. We talk through everything. Other than that everything's good.”
On how he thought he played
“I played alright. There were definitely some sacks I shouldn't have taken, definitely some reads I gotta make. Overall, we didn't get the result that we wanted. So of course, as the quarterback that's going to go on you. So I just gotta assess, watch the film and see where I could improve because I don't think anybody ever plays a perfect game, especially how I played today. It wasn't perfect at all. So just gotta go back watch the film.”
On if this changes how the team prepares for next week
“We just gotta think about this loss for a little bit. Definitely within the 24 hours, win, loss we gotta do that. So that's the thing. Watch the film, see what we got, where we have to get better at. We have to check on the injuries with all the receivers because that's tough. I never thought four receivers would get injured in one game. That’s just ridiculous. But things happen, life happens, so we just gotta roll with it and do what we gotta do for next week.”
Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig, Sr., S
On if the defense was tired at the end of the game
“No, we work out but we weren’t tired. That’s no excuse. They just made a play, it happens in football. They threw the ball and it went their way.”
On what led to less QB runs
“I was just waking up. It's one thing to practice it and one thing to see it in person. He's a phenomenal scrambler, getting out on the bike he got. We really just dialed in and locked in. Coming off the bye week, we didn't expect to start a little slow, but that just happened so we just really nailed down, and then do what we had to do.”
On missed tackles
“I'm gonna give the guy [DJ Giddens] credit when due. He balled out. He had a great game. He’s a great back in this league. We did what we had to do. Do we have to tackle better? Yes, but I give credit to that guy.”
On how much it helps to have Shilo back
“A lot. I mean a lot. It's a guy I played a whole lot of snaps with and I’m very comfortable when 21 is back there with me. So it meant a lot to have him back. I was able to only worry about my half of the field. He had his half of the field. So it was great having him back.”
On Colton Hood’s interception
“That was wonderful. Colton Hood works his butt off. He could start for us, but he doesn't. So I appreciate the guy. He comes to work every day and works his butt off. And he’s never a negative guy. I know he feels like he should be playing more, but he doesn't. He doesn't ever say anything to anybody. He just goes out and handles his business so I was extremely proud of him.”
On if this changes how the team prepares for next week
“You approach every week the same, win or lose. If you change your routine up every week that means you didn’t trust your routine from the beginning. So win or lose, we come back and do the same thing we do every week.”
Kansas State Head Coach Chris Klieman
Opening Statement:
“Okay, incredible game, a really good football game, like, I think all of us knew it was going to be a lot of adversity, a lot of resilience. Some of the things happened that I think will help us down the road. Having to come up with a big scoring drive with Avery, and DJ was a part of that, Jace was a big part of that. But having to do that, especially when he was banged up and beat up a little bit, and then, you know, we get up 31-28 and shoot. They still got two minutes left and a phenomenal quarterback, the best quarterback that I've seen and played against, and they had every chance. Our defensive line, in my opinion, was the difference in us getting a three point win. I think our defensive line played a phenomenal football game, and then two really good teams battled it, and just really excited for the guys come out with a big road win.”
On Kansas State’s defensive line performance:
“Mott played like I know Mott can play, and he needed to have that kind of performance. And he did. The whole players of the game were the D line, and then, you know, we get a couple other awards to Ta’Quan Roberson, because he came in and helped us get a drive. Kendra Steiger, that nobody knows about, that has to play 40 snaps. I mean, they lost two really good players. We lost a bunch of dBs, and we were trying to play six, and then we were down to four. It was a struggle, but we found a way late to make a few plays. And I was really happy, proud of the guys.”
On the injuries and adversity:
“When your opportunity comes, we're counting on you and we believe in you, and you've got to go out there and make plays. It was a chance for those guys to play a lot of snaps against really good wide receivers, even if a couple of their top guys are out, they’re still really good players and really good receivers, and the quarterback can put it on the money. So I'm really proud of those guys.”
On DJ Gibbens performance:
“This is the best he's playing right now. What he did two weeks ago against Oklahoma State, what he did this weekend. He just doesn't go down with first contact. And you're thinking shoot it second and eight, and oh shoot, he got 6 (yards), he got 8 (yards), or he busted out and got 20 (yards). And then he wanted to make amends for the same play that we ran earlier. And great call by Coach Riley, because the second half, they just changed and said, we're just going to play man. We're just going to play cover one. And we were able to denim and a little bit rushing the football. Then they started to do some things, getting more and more guys up there. That's why we had to throw it. And, we had no quarterback run, and that was something that we were hoping we could get to. But once Avery got hurt and was able to go back out there, we knew we didn't have any quarterback run yet.”
On the fans booing the injuries:
“The fans were booing, and it's our best players. We want them to stay healthy, and they're not. And I get it. I mean, that's the human nature to think that guys are faking injuries. They're our best players. We want them to stay in the game. So they were legit. Jacobs was really legit. Cases was, was really legit. And then Keenan Garber, he cramped up. So, yeah, that was that. That was a poor drive by us on defense, after an eight minute drive by us on offense to score. We kind of let him off the hook a little bit. We didn't play very well on that drive.”
On the final moments in the game:
“We're at the 32 yard line, and it's fourth and seven. We could kick a 50 yard field goal. And in my mind, and I knew I would probably kick myself in the butt if we kicked the field goal, they take it down and score, kick a PAT, with the best quarterback in the country, and we lose 28-27 and I wasn't going to let it happen. I've been on that end before, and you don't give that guy the opportunity. They made a great play, and a good ball got tipped, and they got a good return, which probably benefited us, because we got more time. Then we knew we had to score a touchdown. At least we knew what we had to do. Got the touchdown, and I wouldn't have changed it. I really wouldn't have because, maybe we kick the 50 yarder, and they're like, why don't you go for it on fourth and seven? We couldn't punt from the 32 so that was that sequence. That's why I'm so proud of what we did, going down and scoring quickly and then getting a stop in the last two minutes.”
On the touchdown pass to Jayce Brown:
“I have to see it again, because it looked like he kind of went over the top of him and grabbed it. Then I saw the penalty flag, and I was hoping it wasn't on us, but he did. He just went over the top of him and grabbed it. Hats off to Avery going back to him, because there was one that before that was really right on the edge of their (CU’s) sideline, which was close. But we knew it was man coverage, and I know where he's going with the football. He's going to Jace.”
On the Kansas State’s first touchdown:
“It really (settled us in) because it was a fourth down play. You've heard me say this a bunch, field goals typically don't win games, and you've got to be able to score touchdowns. And I was proud of Chris. He banged one when we had to have it. But we need touchdowns. Winning this league, you're not going to win kicking field goals. And we found that out the hard way, a little bit at BYU, that you need to be able to score touchdowns. That was a huge play by our guys.”
On the Offensive Line performance:
“Yeah, we ran block really well. We didn't pass protect in the middle part of the game very well. But we we stepped up late when we had to. And they (CU) laid their ears back, and they were rushing pass hard. But guys, there were not a lot of holes there sometimes. 31 (DJ Giddens) is a dude.”
Kansas State Players
Quarterback #2 Avery Johnson
On team adversity due to injury…
“First of all credit to our coaches, Coach Wells he tells everyone to prepare like you’re a starter. You never known when your opportunity is going to present itself, so take full advantage of it. Credit to number five and all the work he has put in as well. He’s played at a very high level before, so this stage wasn’t too big for him tonight. He has been in that position before, and ultimately, that’s the offense trusting in him and him going out and doing his thing. So credit to him for finishing that drive.”
On finishing the last drive…
“We wanted to put the game away the drive before, but obviously it didn't go our way. And ultimately you just have to make plays in big moments. And Coach Klieman has some of captains and top players on the team, to just make plays in the big moments. And then that's ultimately what our guys did tonight.”
Jayce Brown, So., WR
On keeping the right mindset…
“We try to keep a neutral mindset, to not be too high, or too low. Everybody in that locker room has beliefs. A lot of guys came up to me and halftime, telling me to stay in it and be ready for my moment and I feel like I did that.”
On Dylan Edwards and DJ Giddens…
“I tried to warn everybody before the season started, I told you he was a different animal, and him mixed in with Dylan, those two guys are special, and with me being a little bit banged up, having to go heavier in the run game, those guys took the challenge, and our offensive line opened up holes for them tonight, and they exploited their defense and did a great job. I mean, DJ, 182 yards. It doesn't surprise me, he's doing it week in and week out. The guy is special. And just like I said, him mixed in with Dylan. You know, this was a big, a big week for Dylan. And he showed out. They both did.”
Brendan Mott, Sr., DE
On his defense…
“Watching film, we knew we were able to get after this guy, we were able to extend plays. So having good pass rush lanes was critical for us, but being able to rush four guys, just knowing what moves that we are going to start out with was huge. Also being able to rotate a bunch of pass rushers and keeping us fresh and seeing those young guys make plays was awesome.”
Clinching the game on defense…
“It was huge. Shout out to the offense, they scored. They scored late and Jace Brown with that huge play being able to punch it in was awesome. We had confidence, and there was no doubt that whole game that we weren’t going to walk away with a win and that is something we’ve been preaching.”
On holding the Colorado offense…
“It feels good. And that was huge to make an offense one dimensional. That was our strategy against Oklahoma State and that was our strategy here, so if we can do that and make them have to pass, I think we can be a really good team.”
On the team’s depth…
“Being able to have that depth anfd those young guys being able to step up and make those plays, that’s such a big part of football. Dudes are going to go down and it becomes next man up, so to see those young guys come in and make plays is awesome.”
Kansas State vs. Colorado, Oct. 12, 2024, Folsom Field, Boulder, Colo.
Colorado Head Coach Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders
Opening Statement:
“Well coached team; very disciplined team. Ran the heck out of the football. That was the goal, to try to stop the run. We didn't do that whatsoever. They had 224 yards rushing, which they ultimately dominated the time of possession, which is not good, because now we can't get on the field and do what we're capable of doing. Coach Klieman was wonderful. I have a lot of respect, a lot of admiration coming from FCS, as I did, and he is unbelievable. And his team was truly prepared and ready to play this game. We had opportunity tremendously at the end of the game, and we took a shot. We didn't come up with it; game over, but we shouldn't have been in that situation whatsoever. The drive before that, defensively, blowing coverages, we blew some things there, because the running back should never be wide open, running up the sideline in a situation like that, then they take a shot and hit us deep, which is not indicative of who we are. Certainly losing Travis and Jimmy and others was tremendous, because they're a vital part of our team, vital part of our identity, and a vital part of who we are. So that took a blow; that took a lot out of us. But, other guys had the opportunity to step up, and they did. So I'm proud of them.”
Coach on injury updates on Travis, Jimmy, and Omari
“No, not one. I saw Omari in a boot, kind of a cast. I thank God we have everything we need on the second floor here in this wonderful building. But I haven't gotten an update on those particular young men. Hopefully they can get back at it, but we're not going to rush them. Their safety and their health is much more important than this game.”
Coach on emotions following Colton Hood’s late interception
“Tremendous. It was a natural high. That was phenomenal. Big play. I mean, the defense came up with the play when they needed to come up with the play, and that's what transpired. And, you think, and well, you know, we're going to score. You know, with the ball in Shedeur’s hand down there, we’re going to score. And we went on and did what we had to do. We didn't expect them to have a couple of explosion plays to set them up for a touchdown. We didn't even fathom that. I think Coach Rob called a heck of a game as well as Pat, we just came up on the short end.”
Coach on any potential for Travis to reenter the game
“No, not whatsoever. He was just there to support his team, and he did a good job at it.”
Coach on Buff tackling issues and defending DJ Giddens
“He's phenomenal. He's one of the best in the country. I mean, his maneuverability is unbelievable. We didn't tackle well today, whatsoever. We didn't get to the ball as a unit today, whatsoever. We had some busts and a few things. I’m telling you, I hear the calls, and Coach called a pretty darn good game. He called a really good game, and we just got to execute the calls.”
Coach on disappointments from tonight’s game and solace within the team’s resilience
“The big plays and surrendering 224 yards rushing. Come on, because that's clock as well. That keeps our offense off the field. And they need opportunities. We need opportunities. I’m proud of them, man, I'm always proud of them. This is a totally different team. This team has heart. They have integrity, they're tough, and they love to play this game. We just came up short. We got to just learn how to win these particular games. We've done so this year as well. But that was one that we should have got the play in there.”
Coach on the running game
“We didn't execute. I mean, the play calls are there, but we didn't execute. We missed a block here, we missed this there, we missed this there; we just didn't execute. Play calling was definitely suffice. We didn't execute, and I believe we surrendered six sacks to their four, which, you know, in comparison, it wasn't bad, and Sheduer gotta get the ball out of there at times as well. But we're better than that. We're better collectively than what we showed tonight. Hey, coach wants the NPR pleasure.”
Coach on Shilo’s performance
“I thought he played horrible. I thought he was rusty. I thought he didn't have his footing. I thought he wasn't breaking down. He's coming up trying to make the play, but open field; one on one tackle with that kind of back, that ain't an easy task, but he's going to do better. I know what he has in him.”
Coach on the team’s resilience after multiple injuries
“Shows tremendous resilience. It shows you depth. It shows you the recruiting has been successful in the depth of that position. It shows that Pat did a wonderful job. He didn't change, you know, the distribution of the ball and the play calling. We still had a couple big time guys out there that could make plays too. Darryl Timmons, he got hurt too. So let's not forget, because he went down. That's why we had some of the guys in later in the game. But I'm praying for him as well. Hopefully he's okay. I don't know what happened with him as well.”
With potentially a few injuries in the receiver room, how confident are you?
“We’re deep. I mean, that room is deep. Those guys step up tremendously. And we have freshmen that’re able to step up. And Drelon did a wonderful job. Did a wonderful job of coming in there and making plays. So I'm happy with who they are, what they are, and how they work. They do a tremendous job of working in practice, they have leadership by LaJohntay, he's probably their vocal leader in there, but we're deep in that position.”
How close is Cordale Russel (WR, Fr.) to being ready to play?
“I think he’s healthy, yeah, but he’s just gotta do his thing.”
On BJ Green’s performance tonight
“I haven't watched the film, so I don't really know how they performed, but he had a couple sacks, which came at crucial times. I don't know how many tackles he had, but I didn't get that far. I gotta watch film to see who really did what and how they did so but from the natural eye, he had a couple sacks, which was impressive. I think he's capable of that every game. And that's what we're looking for, and that's what we desire for.”
On the breakdowns that led to Shedeur being sacked 6 times tonight
“I can't tell you everything that happens, but you would never guess that some things happen and it happened. So that's why you gotta hear from a quarterback, because I could be upset and get on him. Then he'll tell me what he saw. He tells me what really transpired. So I have to back up a little bit. I learned not to be emotional when it comes to seeing what a quarterback sees. But I'm just happy and elated that we just always feel like if the ball is in his hands at the end, we are going to have an opportunity. And I don't know what transpired at the end and it looked like pass interference to me. But it was, it was tough. I didn't want it to end that way. You know? I just saw us fighting down the field, and then I know once we crossed the 50, its Mata time, so I felt like we were going to be okay.”
His post-game message to the locker room
“Self reflect. Tell them to self reflect. Everybody wants opportunities to be that guy, and oftentimes you get opportunities to be that guy, and you're upset that you didn't rise to the occasion. So just self reflect. Sometimes when you lose in life. You get your butt kicked, you just gotta take it. But sometimes you lose, you say, dang, we should've won that. We should've had that. And that was one of those types of games. That's not taking anything away from our opponents, because they played their butts off, and they're in that locker room right now celebrating having a good time, and they deserve it. But for us, we just felt like we let that one slip away, and we got to do a better job of taking advantage of the opportunities that we had to win that game, because we had several.”
Team’s chances of making a bowl game after tonight
“That's not in our thought process, we're one game at a time. Really, one game at a time. We definitely want to, you know, the goal is to get Miss Peggy to a bowl. You know that. But we're one game at a time. That's the target. You know, you hate dropping those games but you can see that we're trending in the right direction. You can see that we have some capable players. You can see that we have some people that can flat out play this game. We just gotta all show up together. Today, the run defense; we didn't show up collectively.”
What Buffs fans expectations should be from Omarion and Drelon the rest of the way?
“Omarion can just play. I mean, you could just flip a coin, and he could start if you desire him to. It's just the way the chips fall for him, but he is just like a starter. Drelon, I mean, being a true freshman and coming in and contributing as much as he’s doing, it’s phenomenal. Hats off to him. You think you’re going to get those freshman mistakes, but he’s not making them. He's there and he's fighting. He's working his butt off in critical moments. I mean, when Shedeur can trust him in critical moments, that speaks a lot to who he is and how he's risen to the occasion. But you gotta understand, when you lose Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn in ten minutes, that tremendously hurts. But look, 9 receivers had opportunity, nine people caught passes today, which is phenomenal. That keeps your room happy as well.”
Colorado Players
Shedeur Sanders, Sr., QB
On his emotions after the WR injuries
“It's really next man up, honestly. And the guys that got in were able and ready to play. Drelon Miller stepped up and did what he's supposed to do. Jordan O [Onovughe] got in and did what he was supposed to do. So overall, it's a machine. We have to keep going no matter what.”
On not being able to run the ball
“When you're behind, you can't really run the ball like that because then you're wasting time off the clock. It’s really tough, and they did a great job, scheme-wise, to make it difficult to run the ball in those situations. So that's really the thing. When it's an even game and when you're not behind it's real easy to run the ball, but when you're behind, you got to throw your way out of it.”
On recovery after games
“Everybody does their own personal thing, and then we come up here and, of course, meet with coaches and watch the film. But overall, the off days are where you get your massage, where you get everything and take care of your body, specifically on what you need.”
On if there was anything that prevented him from running
“They’re just a disciplined team. They just did their job. That's it. I'm sure every other team’s job is to keep contain, but they just did what their coach told them to do.”
On if the last pass to Will Sheppard was a pass interference
“No, whatever the ref called, he called. I don't know. The call wasn't pass interference so it's okay. We just got move forward and assess what we did wrong, and go into the next week to fix those things.”
On what his game interaction with Pat Shurmur is like
“I can't really disclose too much on what he’s saying in my ear, but a great relationship. We get to the sideline and we understand what I'm seeing, what he's seeing. We get on the iPad. We talk through everything. Other than that everything's good.”
On how he thought he played
“I played alright. There were definitely some sacks I shouldn't have taken, definitely some reads I gotta make. Overall, we didn't get the result that we wanted. So of course, as the quarterback that's going to go on you. So I just gotta assess, watch the film and see where I could improve because I don't think anybody ever plays a perfect game, especially how I played today. It wasn't perfect at all. So just gotta go back watch the film.”
On if this changes how the team prepares for next week
“We just gotta think about this loss for a little bit. Definitely within the 24 hours, win, loss we gotta do that. So that's the thing. Watch the film, see what we got, where we have to get better at. We have to check on the injuries with all the receivers because that's tough. I never thought four receivers would get injured in one game. That’s just ridiculous. But things happen, life happens, so we just gotta roll with it and do what we gotta do for next week.”
Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig, Sr., S
On if the defense was tired at the end of the game
“No, we work out but we weren’t tired. That’s no excuse. They just made a play, it happens in football. They threw the ball and it went their way.”
On what led to less QB runs
“I was just waking up. It's one thing to practice it and one thing to see it in person. He's a phenomenal scrambler, getting out on the bike he got. We really just dialed in and locked in. Coming off the bye week, we didn't expect to start a little slow, but that just happened so we just really nailed down, and then do what we had to do.”
On missed tackles
“I'm gonna give the guy [DJ Giddens] credit when due. He balled out. He had a great game. He’s a great back in this league. We did what we had to do. Do we have to tackle better? Yes, but I give credit to that guy.”
On how much it helps to have Shilo back
“A lot. I mean a lot. It's a guy I played a whole lot of snaps with and I’m very comfortable when 21 is back there with me. So it meant a lot to have him back. I was able to only worry about my half of the field. He had his half of the field. So it was great having him back.”
On Colton Hood’s interception
“That was wonderful. Colton Hood works his butt off. He could start for us, but he doesn't. So I appreciate the guy. He comes to work every day and works his butt off. And he’s never a negative guy. I know he feels like he should be playing more, but he doesn't. He doesn't ever say anything to anybody. He just goes out and handles his business so I was extremely proud of him.”
On if this changes how the team prepares for next week
“You approach every week the same, win or lose. If you change your routine up every week that means you didn’t trust your routine from the beginning. So win or lose, we come back and do the same thing we do every week.”
Kansas State Head Coach Chris Klieman
Opening Statement:
“Okay, incredible game, a really good football game, like, I think all of us knew it was going to be a lot of adversity, a lot of resilience. Some of the things happened that I think will help us down the road. Having to come up with a big scoring drive with Avery, and DJ was a part of that, Jace was a big part of that. But having to do that, especially when he was banged up and beat up a little bit, and then, you know, we get up 31-28 and shoot. They still got two minutes left and a phenomenal quarterback, the best quarterback that I've seen and played against, and they had every chance. Our defensive line, in my opinion, was the difference in us getting a three point win. I think our defensive line played a phenomenal football game, and then two really good teams battled it, and just really excited for the guys come out with a big road win.”
On Kansas State’s defensive line performance:
“Mott played like I know Mott can play, and he needed to have that kind of performance. And he did. The whole players of the game were the D line, and then, you know, we get a couple other awards to Ta’Quan Roberson, because he came in and helped us get a drive. Kendra Steiger, that nobody knows about, that has to play 40 snaps. I mean, they lost two really good players. We lost a bunch of dBs, and we were trying to play six, and then we were down to four. It was a struggle, but we found a way late to make a few plays. And I was really happy, proud of the guys.”
On the injuries and adversity:
“When your opportunity comes, we're counting on you and we believe in you, and you've got to go out there and make plays. It was a chance for those guys to play a lot of snaps against really good wide receivers, even if a couple of their top guys are out, they’re still really good players and really good receivers, and the quarterback can put it on the money. So I'm really proud of those guys.”
On DJ Gibbens performance:
“This is the best he's playing right now. What he did two weeks ago against Oklahoma State, what he did this weekend. He just doesn't go down with first contact. And you're thinking shoot it second and eight, and oh shoot, he got 6 (yards), he got 8 (yards), or he busted out and got 20 (yards). And then he wanted to make amends for the same play that we ran earlier. And great call by Coach Riley, because the second half, they just changed and said, we're just going to play man. We're just going to play cover one. And we were able to denim and a little bit rushing the football. Then they started to do some things, getting more and more guys up there. That's why we had to throw it. And, we had no quarterback run, and that was something that we were hoping we could get to. But once Avery got hurt and was able to go back out there, we knew we didn't have any quarterback run yet.”
On the fans booing the injuries:
“The fans were booing, and it's our best players. We want them to stay healthy, and they're not. And I get it. I mean, that's the human nature to think that guys are faking injuries. They're our best players. We want them to stay in the game. So they were legit. Jacobs was really legit. Cases was, was really legit. And then Keenan Garber, he cramped up. So, yeah, that was that. That was a poor drive by us on defense, after an eight minute drive by us on offense to score. We kind of let him off the hook a little bit. We didn't play very well on that drive.”
On the final moments in the game:
“We're at the 32 yard line, and it's fourth and seven. We could kick a 50 yard field goal. And in my mind, and I knew I would probably kick myself in the butt if we kicked the field goal, they take it down and score, kick a PAT, with the best quarterback in the country, and we lose 28-27 and I wasn't going to let it happen. I've been on that end before, and you don't give that guy the opportunity. They made a great play, and a good ball got tipped, and they got a good return, which probably benefited us, because we got more time. Then we knew we had to score a touchdown. At least we knew what we had to do. Got the touchdown, and I wouldn't have changed it. I really wouldn't have because, maybe we kick the 50 yarder, and they're like, why don't you go for it on fourth and seven? We couldn't punt from the 32 so that was that sequence. That's why I'm so proud of what we did, going down and scoring quickly and then getting a stop in the last two minutes.”
On the touchdown pass to Jayce Brown:
“I have to see it again, because it looked like he kind of went over the top of him and grabbed it. Then I saw the penalty flag, and I was hoping it wasn't on us, but he did. He just went over the top of him and grabbed it. Hats off to Avery going back to him, because there was one that before that was really right on the edge of their (CU’s) sideline, which was close. But we knew it was man coverage, and I know where he's going with the football. He's going to Jace.”
On the Kansas State’s first touchdown:
“It really (settled us in) because it was a fourth down play. You've heard me say this a bunch, field goals typically don't win games, and you've got to be able to score touchdowns. And I was proud of Chris. He banged one when we had to have it. But we need touchdowns. Winning this league, you're not going to win kicking field goals. And we found that out the hard way, a little bit at BYU, that you need to be able to score touchdowns. That was a huge play by our guys.”
On the Offensive Line performance:
“Yeah, we ran block really well. We didn't pass protect in the middle part of the game very well. But we we stepped up late when we had to. And they (CU) laid their ears back, and they were rushing pass hard. But guys, there were not a lot of holes there sometimes. 31 (DJ Giddens) is a dude.”
Kansas State Players
Quarterback #2 Avery Johnson
On team adversity due to injury…
“First of all credit to our coaches, Coach Wells he tells everyone to prepare like you’re a starter. You never known when your opportunity is going to present itself, so take full advantage of it. Credit to number five and all the work he has put in as well. He’s played at a very high level before, so this stage wasn’t too big for him tonight. He has been in that position before, and ultimately, that’s the offense trusting in him and him going out and doing his thing. So credit to him for finishing that drive.”
On finishing the last drive…
“We wanted to put the game away the drive before, but obviously it didn't go our way. And ultimately you just have to make plays in big moments. And Coach Klieman has some of captains and top players on the team, to just make plays in the big moments. And then that's ultimately what our guys did tonight.”
Jayce Brown, So., WR
On keeping the right mindset…
“We try to keep a neutral mindset, to not be too high, or too low. Everybody in that locker room has beliefs. A lot of guys came up to me and halftime, telling me to stay in it and be ready for my moment and I feel like I did that.”
On Dylan Edwards and DJ Giddens…
“I tried to warn everybody before the season started, I told you he was a different animal, and him mixed in with Dylan, those two guys are special, and with me being a little bit banged up, having to go heavier in the run game, those guys took the challenge, and our offensive line opened up holes for them tonight, and they exploited their defense and did a great job. I mean, DJ, 182 yards. It doesn't surprise me, he's doing it week in and week out. The guy is special. And just like I said, him mixed in with Dylan. You know, this was a big, a big week for Dylan. And he showed out. They both did.”
Brendan Mott, Sr., DE
On his defense…
“Watching film, we knew we were able to get after this guy, we were able to extend plays. So having good pass rush lanes was critical for us, but being able to rush four guys, just knowing what moves that we are going to start out with was huge. Also being able to rotate a bunch of pass rushers and keeping us fresh and seeing those young guys make plays was awesome.”
Clinching the game on defense…
“It was huge. Shout out to the offense, they scored. They scored late and Jace Brown with that huge play being able to punch it in was awesome. We had confidence, and there was no doubt that whole game that we weren’t going to walk away with a win and that is something we’ve been preaching.”
On holding the Colorado offense…
“It feels good. And that was huge to make an offense one dimensional. That was our strategy against Oklahoma State and that was our strategy here, so if we can do that and make them have to pass, I think we can be a really good team.”
On the team’s depth…
“Being able to have that depth anfd those young guys being able to step up and make those plays, that’s such a big part of football. Dudes are going to go down and it becomes next man up, so to see those young guys come in and make plays is awesome.”