Colorado State University Athletics
Fairchild admires Utah's depth, formula for success
10/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 5, 2009
Opening statement:
”Our football team is obviously disappointed with the way we played Saturday. There were far too many breakdowns in all areas to be successful against a good team on the road. I do believe we have had a couple good weeks of practice; unfortunately that hasn’t translated on the field these past couple of weeks, but I do believe that if we continue to prepare the way we have been preparing we are going to break through this and get ourselves a win.”
On Idaho’s adjustments in second half:
“They executed a little better and we didn’t execute, but I don’t think they did anything different in terms of their scheme. We had chances offensively and we didn’t get it into the end zone every time, and defensively we had our moments but in the third quarter we had trouble getting Idaho out of there.”
On capitalizing on opportunities:
“We are not there by any stretch of the imagination on either side of the ball in any phases of our game; we just have to keep on working and keep improving. There is a difference when you look back to our good teams here in the 90s. There were teams that know they can win as opposed to thinking you can win, and we are just trying to get ourselves back to knowing we can obtain goals and get the outcome we want. We are working hard; I like our work ethic and I like our football team, we just have to try and keep improving and get better every day.”
On second-half struggles as a team:
“We make adjustments at halftime, but I think it just comes down to the fact that we have to make more plays than we are making. If you look at the first half, offensively there should have been 35 points on the board; so, I don’t know if it’s first half, second half, it’s just that we aren’t performing the way we want to perform consistently enough to be a good football team.”
On coverage changes made in second half against Idaho:
“We always change up coverage; we do that in the first and second half. I don’t think scheme by any sense was the problem, it was just executing the scheme.”
On Idaho’s 6-foot-6 receiver Eric Greenwood and possible size advantage:
“He made a nice play on the touchdown. They did a nice job; they had a nice scheme and had some guys making plays for them.”
On whether injuries were a factor in the outcome:
“I don’t think they played much of a factor; you know that is going to happen, guys are going to have to come in and fill in, so that is not an excuse for us.”
On third-down defense:
“I think when it is all said and done we are going to improve in that area. We are getting a lot more pressure on the quarterback this year than we did last year and that is going to help in the long run. Sometimes it is the same on offense and defense; that third down is a byproduct of the other downs as well, so if you are playing well you can get into a more manageable third down offensively or get the opponents into tougher ones defensively.”
On Utah playing without starting running back Matt Asiata:
“That is a big loss. He is a tremendous running back for them, but they are a good program and a well coached program. Kyle (Whittingham) has been loading up there for a while, so they are at a stage now where if a guy goes down or a guy graduates, they will have a guy coming up that will do just as well or better. They have talent on that team and will be fine at the running back spot.”
On what it will take to match Utah’s perennial strength:
“We have a program that has us look at every phase of how we are doing things here and compare it to the successful teams we have to catch. You look at it and you say, ‘How can we get ourselves onto an equal playing field with teams like TCU, Utah and others so we can compete?’ I’ve been here over 18 months now and there has been tremendous change here. There is a good feel about what is going on and we just have to keep working on our plan, so I’m quite confident we are headed in that direction. You look back at that ’94 team; we won at Arizona and found a way to win at BYU. Over a period of time, all of a sudden, they started taking the field thinking, ‘I’m going to win this football game and I’m going to achieve this outcome.’ We are not there yet, but we are preparing right and I think we know we are going to play hard. We just aren’t making enough plays right now to win every game, but there is no panic amongst the players and coaches.”
On the blocked extra-point called back Saturday:
“We were offsides. We had a guy flinch; it is hard to see on tape, but you can’t blame anybody for calling that.”
On concerns with the special-teams play:
“There are some good things going on in special teams; our return game is good and we are punting the ball decent for the most part. There are a lot of positives; we have to sure up some things in coverage areas and we have to kick the ball better, obviously, but it’s like everything else on our football team, we just have to keep working at it and improve.”
On Utah starting quarterback Terrance Cain:
“He has done a nice job for them. He appears to be more settled in than you would think for a new junior college transfer, but they have surrounded him with some good players and that helps.”
On facing a tough Utah club for Homecoming:
“We are going to play all of our conference teams anyway and when we play them is not an issue. That is out of my control; we are going to play them all this year, so might as well bring them on now. It is a nice event on campus for the students and fans. Anytime we can play at home it is a great deal, and I think our students have been absolutely outstanding this year. I can’t tell you how proud I am to walk into that stadium and have our students in the stands doing what they are doing. We are going to keep working and the product on the field is going to keep improving, and one day around here we are going to be that type of team.”
On Lou Greenwood’s play and scoring the first touchdown in his collegiate career:
“Like I said he has unique qualities as a running back in terms of his receiving abilities; we probably need to get him more carries. I like the way we are coming off the ball up front, but we are not running the football the way I envision Colorado State running the football. We have to do a much better job of finishing runs and a much better job of blocking at the wide receiver spot to be the type of team I envision us when running the football.”
On the game plan against Utah as far as running the football more:
“We try to be balanced; we try and go into a game not leaning too heavily on one thing. It is just the nature of our scheme. All these games are played different; the game kind of dictates what we will do.”
On what CSU has to do to improve on defense:
“We are getting better at putting pressure on the quarterback; we have to make a few more plays in the secondary, but I see a much more improved defense than last year. I like what we are doing there, and we are heading in the right direction.”
On third-down struggles affecting overall numbers:
“That is the name of the game defensively and offensively as well. If you make just a couple more third-down plays, you are out of there. It’s the same thing offensively; if we make a few more plays and hold the ball our numbers get better and our defense plays less snaps, so all sorts of good things happen. We were a much better third-down team last year on offense; our protection is better this year. We just aren’t quite making all the plays at the receiver spot that we can.”
On Grant Stucker having his two best games of his career in the two losses:
“I will tell you what, he is as big of a surprise as there is. I’m not sure that he hasn’t outplayed everybody that he has played against this season. I don’t want to anoint him anything special because he is a new starter and he is going to struggle at times, and we know that, but boy he has certainly played well.”
On Stucker handling plays that could have been special if not for receiver drops:
“About halfway through two-a-days he just quit talking and stuck to the coaching. The good ones have that, that real businesslike approach. I try and rattle those guys in practice, too; I do everything I can to see if they will flinch and I couldn’t get it out of him after a couple of weeks, so he has done a nice job.”
On keeping confidence after consecutive losses:
“Confidence is kind of an interesting topic. We think we can right now, we are working hard and believing in our plan and having some success in some areas. But, when you are at the elite level, you know you can; you just keep practicing the way we practice, it will translate onto the field and throughout the whole program eventually.”
On coming off the high of an opening win over CU, compared to now:
“To me I don’t think you should put that much emphasis on one game, just like this past week. I was disappointed, but the job we set out to do with the Colorado State football program is multi-year and multi-faceted. Like I said when I got the job here, It’s much bigger than me and it’s going to take a lot of people pulling in the right direction and it will take a period of time. There will be a couple of bumps in the road, but I’m quite sure we have the right people in place and the right plan in place, and I think we have a little energy and a little feel that we are taking steps in the right direction.”
On Utah head coach Kyle Wittingham:
“I’ve admired Kyle Wittingham for a long time. His defenses play hard; they play tough and are fast and very physically good in the front seven. They are well coached and have a lot of good players and he has a nice way of coaching the defense, so they are always a tough task for you offensively to move the football on. They are just a good football team and we respect them in the job they have done and are doing.”
On what Wittingham has built at Utah and the Utes’ depth:
“When a defensive lineman goes out the next guy in is just as good. That type of depth builds competition on your team and makes good players even better; also guys are fresher because they are rolling six to seven defensive linemen in there. It’s just a good thing, and if you recruit right and you coach hard and develop players like they do and we intend to do, you can get yourself a football team like that.”
