Colorado State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes
10/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 11, 2008
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Colorado State Head Coach Steve Fairchild
General
" I talked with our football team last night and my main concern was just to come out and see if we can stand toe-to-toe with some of these teams that are considered upper echelon in our conference, and not back down and to play a physical brand of football. I was really, really proud of our football team for accepting that challenge. Now having said all that, TCU is a very good football team, a very good defense. To win a game like this we're going to have to make some more plays, particularly throwing the ball down the field. We did not get that done so give Gary Patterson and his football team their due credit. And we will go back to work. I told our football team it hurts. It hurts me, it hurts them as it should. We've got a lot invested in this but we're at the halfway point, we're 3-3, and we'd like to be a lot better than that. There's still a lot of football left and a lot of attainable goals out there for us. So we'll try our best not to make this two losses in a row and get back to work here next week and prepare to play a very good Utah team on Saturday."
On the decision to put QB Klay Kubiak in the game
"We ran the ball very well early in the game and I was glad we did that. But at some point it looked like a phone booth. It seemed they had everybody within a yard and-a-half of the line of scrimmage. At that point you have to make a play, and they dare you to. You have to make plays in the passing game, and we just weren't executing well enough to win doing it. At that point, I thought maybe a change would help us. It's certainly not Billy's fault; I could have probably called a better game and he certainly could have gotten some help around him. But sometimes a little jolt like that with another guy can spark a team."
On the two dropped passes on the same drive
"This defense now, I'm telling you, they're going to make you look silly at times. And you know that going in, it's going to be a rough haul. But you pound away and you pound away and then you make a play in the passing game, that's what you have to do to beat them. I liked what we did. We set ourselves up. We just didn't make enough plays downfield to get it done. And that at the end there we just couldn't buy any field position."
On whether he thinks longer and harder on a QB change than about changing another position
"I think for most people maybe, but for me, absolutely not. In fact, I'm anxious to pull him. I'll pull him every play of practice if I have to. I just want their heart on and they know it. That's just the way things are going to be around here as quarterback. There's no hard feelings. We talked man-to-man in the room. But you're going to play or come out of practice, or you're going to play or come out of a game. I don't have a problem with that. I'd put a third or fourth QB in there if I think that's going to help us."
On the lack of offensive rhythm after the game's opening drive
"I knew we weren't going to do that much on that type of defense. We had a little bit of misdirection and, to be honest with you, they know we've got some big-play capability. They were backed off somewhat but I just decided to keep hammering the ball up in there and see what happens, mainly just out of stubbornness because we heard all week how we couldn't run on them. Then it got to be silly. I mean at one point I looked around and they had, even though they play nickel defense, and they had three safeties and linebacker depth right at the tackle area. You're not going to make yards running the football against them. They're going to make you throw it. I think we're very capable of doing it, we just didn't rise to the occasion this game. So you get what you deserve in life. We didn't make the plays. I'm not standing here and saying we should have won this game, we got what we deserved."
On whether QB Billy Farris will be the starter against Utah
"Probably. We'll sit down and talk a little bit."
On the CSU defensive performance
"I thought they hung in there pretty good. In the first quarter and first half we had a chance to take control of this game. I mean really take control. And we did not get them out on third down. That's been something defensively we got to get better at. And then we didn't make a couple of throws into the end zone. We had a chance, really, to go in in pretty good shape at halftime. But defensively we did the things we've always done. We started to get a little pressure but we kept it in front of us. We tackled well, and as long as we do that, we'll keep the score down. We have a ton of steps to take in every area, but defensively we've got to continue to get the pressure and we've got to continue to improve on third down if we want to get where we want to get to."
TCU Head Coach Gary Patterson
General
"When you have an opportunity on the road to win a game you have got to take them. We made mistakes, but I am really proud of the defense. I like the way they stood up, and a couple of times they got inside the 35-yard line and they didn't give up any points. We've played that way all year and I'm just glad that it turned out this way today."
On areas to improve
"Penalties. And for whatever reason we were having trouble with the center-quarterback exchange and when you have the ball on the 30-yard line and you can't get any points because you fumble the first play, it's hard. You have got to give credit to Colorado State. They came out and played hard at home. They had won three games at home. You can say that it was ugly and I would agree with you, but when you play in conference all you try to do is score by one more point and that is all we tried to get done today. We got out of here with a victory."
On defensive pressure on the quarterback in the second half
"It wasn't doing us any good. (Kory) Sperry did a nice job when we got into coverage. We had to get into position where we were putting it more on the offensive line and the quarterback. We were fortunate that we got a couple of sacks and got some pressure and did some things. I give Steve Fairchild a lot of credit; his team fought hard and played well on defense. They didn't give up a lot of things. They battled really hard throughout the game, so you got to give them credit. It's hard to go win on the road. We knew that and we knew that they would be fired up with a new head coach. They won a big ball game last week, so were really happy with just a victory."
On needing to grind out a victory for the first time in `08
"I keep going back to the Oklahoma game. If we could come out and stay healthy out of that ball game it would give us a little bit of fire, understanding that we could play at that level and we could play four quarters. And the Stanford game was a little like that; it was 14-14. So for us to be able to finish things off and get things done, I was excited. Anytime that you come out of a game playing with your No. 2 quarterback, even though Marcus (Jackson) did some good things, you have got to be happy."
On fumbled snaps
"I don't know what the problems was. Maybe he was pulling out too early. But we can't fumble the center-quarterback exchange four times and expect to win games. We're just glad that we are 3-0 in the conference and we're glad that we came all the way to Colorado and got a victory. Now we get a chance to go back home and play against a very good BYU team in five or six days."
On getting pressure on Klay Kubiak
"That's just what we do. We were mixing up the man blitz and the zone blitz, and he was having a hard time finding the guy that he wanted. I mean that group of guys made Oklahoma punt nine times; it's not like those guys can't play and turn up the knob. They did a great job in the second half."
CSU Players
S Mike Pagnotta
"It could be worse. We've got some work to do this week for Utah, but I think we'll be ready for `em. I think when we go over there and we go out there to play them this week, it'll be a good game; similar to this one and hopefully we come out on top."
On keeping game close: "Yeah, we played pretty well. I think Coach (Larry) Kerr and the defensive staff did a really good job of coming up with a scheme to stop their offense. They've got playmakers on their offense with Brown and Jackson and those guys, and those guys are good. I think we gave up a big play in the first half that led to a touchdown and that's frustrating because you take that play away and maybe they don't drive on us. I think we played pretty well. There's still some stuff we need to work on, some execution stuff, but the scheme was good this week and I think we executed it fairly well."
On what people learned about the Rams today: "I think we've got heart. And we've got character. We played hard and I think that's important. It would have been easy for guys to hang their heads, especially defensively late in the game when we kept having to go back out there. But we stepped up and made some plays when we needed to. But there are still plays to be made. If you're going to face a tough team like TCU, a good team, you're going to have to make those plays when the opportunity arises. And I didn't think we did that as well as we could have today."
WR Rashaun Greer
On whether CSU should have won the game: "Definitely. I mean, when we start playing good teams and the games are close like that you can't have a breakdown, whether it's catching the ball or penalties. You've gotta execute whenever you get the chance, and we let two slip away, two big plays slip away. We can't do that when we play a good team, we just can't do that if you want to win."
On playing a top MWC team in TCU: "We proved ourselves, even though we didn't like the outcome. We proved ourselves today that we are a good football team. We just got to continue to get better and eliminate little things. That can change the outcome whether it's dropping balls or just penalties."
QB Billy Farris
On two dropped touchdowns in first half: "Yeah, it happens sometimes. You just gotta keep going, gotta go to the next play."
On QB change: "It was unexpected. That's just kind of the way he is. (Steve Fairchild) does that in practice sometimes. You just never know."
On first scoring drive: "It was a really good drive. Kory (Sperry) made a great catch. On the third-down play, we just kept rolling. We felt like we had some good momentum going. After that, I guess we had a couple dropped balls. We just didn't make the plays like we did on the first drive."
QB Klay Kubiak
On not getting in sync: "It was tough getting in a rhythm. And obviously the conditions were bad. I got hit a few times. It's just hard to keep the offense going when you're in third-and-longs and second-and-long situations."
On team keeping confidence high: "We've got to go in there and watch it tomorrow and forget about it. This game's over. I mean, we're a great team. Tip your hat to them (TCU), but we got Utah next week. I mean, we're 1-1, this isn't over. We've got a whole season to play."
On what it would mean to beat Utah: "That'd be huge. We're so capable of doing that. We're still capable of being a good team. We saw today, that's a great team and we almost had `em. But we're still capable of going on the road and getting a big win next week."
TE Kory Sperry
On keeping game closer than expected: "We're always the underdogs. And we expect that. And actually we let that one slip away. There's two instances when we should have had touchdowns. And so this feels like we beat ourselves."
On frustration in beating themselves: "Leaving plays out there is something you don't want to do. You want to act like everything was on the field. But you miss one simple play like I did and it could be a game changer. That's what it felt like."
LB Jeff Horinek
On defensive play: "TCU is a good team. They've got some success on offense. But I thought we played very solid. Obviously we're not perfect. We let them score 13 points. And, you know, if we don't win that's too much. So you know, we just got to be ready. I think our team defensive confidence is pretty high right now based on how we played. But we still got to come to work next week and we got another tough foe next week and we got to go to their house. We're gonna have to work our butts off to get a win."
On CSU: "CSU wants to be on top again, like it was once upon a time. Yeah, this was one of those chances we had. And I thought, you know, we let it slip out of our grasp. But we gotta chance next week, too. You know, Utah, they're pretty solid. It would be good to go in there and play them tough and come out with a win."
DE Tommie Hill
On defense carrying team: "I think the offense did well. It's just TCU is one of the top defenses in the nation. And you know they know what to scheme up. They know how to stop people when they need to."
What does this game say about CSU: "Even going into the game, we knew we were as good as anyone else. So who we play isn't really a factor, it's just how we execute and how we play and do what we do. Who we play doesn't really matter."
TCU Players
WR Jimmy Young
On the win: "It feels good to get a team win. Our defense really stepped up today. Everybody did their job so that's what I'm most proud of today. Like I said, it feels really good just to come out with a win, period."
On the nerves coming into the game: "I had faith in our team and I knew we would come through and that's what we did and got the win today."
On WR Walter Bryant: "Walter really came through today and we really did need it. I started off really slow. I actually had to switch gloves because they were really wet. Walter did a really good job."
On the weather: "It was really cold but we had to work through it."
On penalties and what Gary Patterson said: "We have to get the penalties straight. He just talked to us a few minutes ago about it. It's definitely something that we need to come out tomorrow and work on. We can't have that many penalties going into next week."
SLB Robert Henson
On the slow start: "It did take a little time for us to settle in. And really, to be honest, they came out with a little bit more emotion than we did. They just outplayed us that first series."
On the defense: "That was the real defense the rest of the way. We kept our composure. Luckily we have a lot of veterans on the team. They kept everybody humble and made sure everyone did their job."
On the CSU running game: "They run the ball so good that anytime they run you have to respect it. They just got behind us a couple of times. A couple of guys missed their assignments and they made a better play than we did."
On the score: "Most of the seniors just tried to keep everybody composed because obviously we have been there before and we just tried to stay positive. It's a long season. Games like this are going to happen whether you win pretty or ugly; it doesn't matter as long as you win.
On SLB Daryl Washington: "Daryl, I'd like to say Daryl is like the future of a linebacker. The position of linebacker at TCU is a deep tradition whether anybody sees it or not. TCU always has good linebackers and Daryl's going to keep that going for us. He's a smart player and more athletic than me and Jason, honestly. He was in the right place at the right time and he made a play."
QB Marcus Jackson
On the passing game: "Coach had already told me on Tuesday that they may try to stop our run so we may have to pass a lot this game and I was totally comfortable with that decision and the passes that we got into."
On WR Walter Bryant: "Yes, Walter came through on several occasions. I just had to get the ball to him and he caught the ball."
On the quarterback-center fumbles: "Slippery ball. It just slips out sometimes. Me and my center had to go over and get some extra snaps on the sideline because it seemed to be slipping a little left of where my hands were adjusted so we got that fixed. I put on a glove just to secure that, just to make sure I could get it off the snap."
On the game points: "We knew we could have put up more points, it's just that we killed ourselves with penalties and the two turnovers we had. We were basically shooting ourselves in the foot. Every time we would get something going for ourselves, we would have a penalty or turn the ball over. We knew we could score, we just tried to stop hurting ourselves."
On the win: "I think it shows the character of our team, especially our defense. For them to just hold them to the seven points. Offensively we struggled a bit. We just have to play a little bit better offensively. I think this is a great team we have."
On CSU: "They definitely were a dangerous team. They had their homecoming and a big crowd and they had everyone supporting them. They were pumped for the game. They went through their week of practices just like we did thinking they could come out with a victory. It was a very dangerous game for us, so we had to come out and get a win."
LB Jerry Hughes
On CSU's first drive of the game: "The first drive was just a miscommunication on our part as the defense and once we got to the sideline we were able to get things worked out. After the first drive, it was the real TCU defense."
On the CSU running game: "We knew Colorado State had a very good running team. We had to make sure we could come in and stop the run."
On the quarterback switch: "It kind of switched because you don't know how this guy will react when you collapse the pocket. Once we got that out of the way, we were good to go."
