Colorado State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes
9/20/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 20, 2008
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CSU Head Coach Steve Fairchild
On his overall impressions of the game "We talked all week long, and I know Larry (Kerr) and Greg (Peterson) talked to the offense and defense last night, the way we were going to win this game was to make plays in all three phases of the game. We were going to need a collective effort and just keep playing. And that's what we did. I thought we made enough plays offensively but I don't think we played great offensively by any means. We made enough plays defensively. I'm so proud of those kids I can't even tell you. We're going to go back to practice and keep trying to improve every time we step onto the field."On the interception at the end of the game by S Klint Kubiak "It was a great play. It was nice call by Larry (Kerr). I think everyone in the stadium knew that eventually they were going to try that shot over there on their left side and Larry made the call to not leave the corner one-on-one and have safety help over the top. So a lot of credit to Klint for making the play and a lot of credit to Larry for knowing what was going on there."
On the way Kubiak came back from the facemask penalty two plays earlier "Well, we tell our players everyday - I think I say the same thing every pregame speech - that all we want is to play hard every snap and then let it go. And that's what Klint had to do. You can't be moping around. You have to give it your best effort, and they're going to make plays, too. But if you let it go and line up, then you'll have a chance to make a play to win the game like he did."
On the importance of the win for the team "I think it's nice. It's nice that we're 2-1 right now. But like I said, we're going to just keep pressing on and try to get better every time we go out onto the field. I'm glad that we're finding ways to win close games. This is a good opponent - they took Air Force right to the wire. And we'll never sell that Sac State win short. And sometimes games are tight and you just got to keep playing and find a way. I'm very, very proud of our coaches and football team for doing that today."
On whether the offense is starting to get an identity "We're starting to figure out who we are. We're starting to develop the quarterback. Like I said all along, Billy (Farris) is a new guy and will have some growing pains all the way through the year. But that's just the nature of playing quarterback. We are starting to establish what we want in spots. I like where we're headed. I like our staff, I like our plan. I know we're going to be good. At some point I can see very clearly that we're going to come back and be one of the elite teams."
On what he likes about Billy Farris "He's tough, he's a no-nonsense kind of guy. I can yell and curse at him and he doesn't blink. He shows up to work and I know our team really respects that."
On what they did specifically to shut down the high-powered Houston offense "Just what we said all week: We had to keep the ball in front of us. I don't think we gave up too many explosive plays. We also had to make enough plays offensively to keep our defense rested. I thought, particularly in the first half, we got at the quarterback a little bit. I don't know if we got him on the ground enough, but we got at him and you can tell he was out of rhythm. So our pass rush stepped up a little bit. But it was a complete effort and it took everybody to do what they did to come away with this one."
On the reasoning for going for it on two fourth-and-longs instead of kicking a field goal "Well, you saw the first couple of field-goal efforts, we weren't in sync. They weren't so long, I think they were more fourth-and-medium. But if I get a feeling that we're in rhythm and I think we can make it and I like the play call, I have no problem going for it."
On his feelings about the progress they've made so far in his first year "To be honest, I never really put a line to mark progress. I just want the feeling that we're getting better. I told Paul (Kowalczyk) that the only thing I can guarantee, when he hired me, was that I promise we we're going to get better. Where we're at, I don't know. But I like our staff, I like being the head coach."
On S Mike Pagnotta "He came back and made a play on a ball that was tremendous, that one down the middle to get a turnover. And we needed a stop defensively there. Both our safeties, obviously, are the strength of our secondary. I've been very pleased with what both those guys have been doing."
Houston Head Coach Kevin Sumlin
On how the slow start affected the team "We've tried to do some things that would help us. The turnovers early hurt today. We have got to start quicker; it's something that we have got to address as a staff. I thought that all in all, we put ourselves in position to have a chance at the end of the game and just couldn't finish it off."
On the last play of the game "It was 8 seconds, and you got two plays. It should be a touchdown or out of bounds. CSU played cover-two and as soon as they rolled to that, Case (Keenum) would say that you have got to throw it high and deep. It would either be our ball out of bounds or we would kick a field goal and go to overtime. He just threw it a little short."
On how CSU's offense controlled the ball and how the defense played "The biggest drive was in the fourth quarter when they ate up a bunch of time. A lot of the other times as an offense we gave them short fields. We gave them the ball on the 50. We had a breakdown on a field goal where they got a first down. We gave them the ball when the defense had gotten stops, so I think it works hand in hand. It's a team game. We gave them short fields and they took advantage of it."
On how Houston will rebound going into conference play "We have to. We don't have any other choice. There are some things that are good, but we have got to improve. Especially on third-down defense; there were some critical situations that could have changed the game. We have got to eliminate turnovers; it's something that is an individual situation that we have got to address."
On what was said at half time "I just said that we started slow and we dug ourselves a hole that we have got to get out of. I thought the way they played in the second half shows what kind of team we can be. We played good defense, we went down the field and scored and again we stopped ourselves in the second half with turnovers. The thing that you take from this is that we are good enough to win, but we have got to become better collectively as well as individually. Take some responsibility as players for things that happen."
On making plays, including deflecting a punt "That was unfortunate, because we blocked a punt and it went end over end and it rolled another 20 yards. There were a lot of things that happened that you're upset about, but in the end we had a chance at the end of the game to win it or get it into overtime."
On how the offense played in the second half "We were forced into a no-huddle offense which changed the tempo of the game. Against a ball-control offense like CSU, it's the best offense that we have to stay on the field. It comes down to the same thing every year, big plays, third downs, and turnovers."
On CSU bringing the blitz "Obviously they had two weeks to prepare. They showed some new things that confused us early in the game and that had a lot to do with it. We were able to adjust some things at halftime and our kids picked that up and were able to handle it in the second half."
CSU players On having family at game: "I had family from Houston come here today that flew in because they didn't have any power. So, to share it with them, it's an incredible feeling."
On interception late in game: "I've gotta tell you about the other play first; the pass interference play. I had a chance to make a play on the ball and I came up a little bit late and I ended up getting someone's facemask. It was pretty frustrating because I had a chance to make a play there. But I got another opportunity to make a play and ended up catching it. I looked down at my feet. I was 2, 3 or 4 yards inbounds. I didn't know it was real. It still really hasn't set in yet."
On today's victory: "I know it was big for our team and it's going to give us more confidence and I'm excited to be a Ram right now."
LB Jeff Horinek
On today's victory: "It means a lot. There were a lot of games last year that were really close. And we didn't come through with a win. It was our second game in a row where we could have easily lost the game, but we ended up coming up with a win. It's huge."On second straight game coming down to the last play: "We'll do that every single game the rest of the way if we have to. It doesn't matter if we win big time or win at the end. If we're going to win, I'm not going to be picky."
On CSU: "I think we have a lot of confidence as a team. We got a really good opponent next week obviously in Cal. So it's going to take a lot of confidence to prepare for them and we're going to have to take a lot of confidence into Berkeley and give it our best."
QB Billy Farris
On preparation coming into today: "We had a week and a half to prepare. We felt ready. And we felt like we could beat these guys and we just really had to go out and execute. And that's what happened today."On whether playing very well in first half was a surprise: "Yes, I was surprised. I wasn't surprised by our play because I know what we can do offensively. But the defense really stepped up and they did a really great job today."
On today's victory helping team prepare for Cal: "It gives us momentum as well as confidence. Going into Cal, if we can go in there and get after them it's going to be huge going into conference."
On feelings of own play: "I feel pretty good. There are some points I need to get better at, but I'm feeling pretty good overall."
On whether he thinks the offense is creating an identity: "I do, yeah. I feel like our receivers are solid. Our run game has picked up and protection is always pretty good. Offensively, I knew we were going to be pretty good. So it feels good to put it all together today."
WR Dion Morton
On receiver play: "The big thing about us is we're all playing physical. Against CU, we played physically well. Our big thing, especially with receivers, is to go hit those safeties when they come down for the run."On converting turnovers into points: "That's probably our biggest falloff today is not capitalizing on turnovers. But we'll learn as the season goes on."
Houston players
QB Kase Keenum
On the last play of the game: "With only 8 seconds left we tried to take a shot at the end zone. We knew we had a field goal for sure. I tried to put it in there and that's something you don't try to do as a quarterback whenever you have three points for sure. I tried to do too much. I tried to make a play. The kid made a heck of a play. I didn't make a good read, a good throw."On CSU FS Klint Kubiak: "Kubiak's a player. I'll tell you what, he's a heck of a player and I respect him a lot. He's a clutch player."
On the travel from Houston and the effect on the game: "We don't accept any excuses, whether it is a hurricane or having to live out of a hotel for the past week. It's one of those deals where you can't make excuses for losses and for not coming to play."
On throwing just one interception entering today: "I just made some bad throws and they made some good plays. Colorado State's got a good team and they went up and caught the ball. It was a hard-fought game and we were never out of it. I'd like for things to turn out differently and they didn't ."
On getting ready for conference play: "We rebound. We dust ourselves off and we go at it. We got to make plays and we got to study film and see what we did wrong and see what we did right and do better with that and fix what we did wrong."
On the slow starts: "We got to stop doing that. We got to come out pounding on both sides of the ball. We didn't help our defense out very much. We gave them some bad field positions at times and we just weren't putting the points on the board early. It was 21-nothing before you knew it and we squeaked out that three points in the second quarter. If we play a complete ball game we would like to think it would be a different story."
RUSH Phillip Hunt
On the defense: "We played good. We showed a lot of fight and character but we didn't play consistent enough to win the game. I like our team's effort and we fought hard."On the game sacks: "I just came up the edge and used my hand and got the sacks but it's all a loss. It's not good enough because we still lost the game."
On how to rebound from the loss: "We just take all of the good that we can take out of this game. That's that our team fought hard and we stretched it all the way down to the last seconds and we have a team of fighters. We fight hard and we just take that into the next game so we can win."
On what needs to be worked on defensively: "I think our front line needs to come a little bit stronger. We need to stop the ball early. We got to stop the momentum from getting on the other team's side early in the game and don't wait until the second half to start playing as a team."
MLB Cody Lubojasky
On the defensive adjustments heading into conference play: "We just got to carry on. I think we're moving along good. On defense we just got to keep doing our thing. It will start going our way."On returning to the game: "It felt good. You miss that. I missed being out there with my guys and stuff and working with them. I'm just glad to be out there."
