Colorado State University Athletics
Fairchild doesn't see any weaknesses on Utah's team
10/18/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 18, 2010
Opening statement: “We’re obviously pleased with our performance last Saturday, just because it was all three phases playing more consistently than we had in any previous game during the season. We were far from perfect, and still have a lot of improvement in every area, but we showed that there is hope for us coming together and playing at the same time. Having said that, we still go back to work, we are far from where we want to be, and obviously have a big challenge this week against University of Utah on the road.”
On wanting to beat Utah before the Utes leave the Mountain West Conference: “It’d be nice to beat Utah for a lot of reasons. No. 1, they’re a very good football program, and well-coached. They’re consistently at the top of our league, and that’s what we aspire to do here at Colorado State. A chance to play against teams like Utah and TCU is always good because it’s a good measuring stick for your program.”
On comparing Utah’s scheme to UNLV: “Utah is more of a power-run game. They’re in the shotgun but are in more of the downhill attack. Our defense did play well; anytime you go out and get a turnover on the opening drive, and set the offense up the way we did, that’s a very good thing. We’ll just try to keep getting better and better. This will be a good test for us. Utah is very good on both sides of the ball and their special teams are excellent as well.”
On CSU’s defensive players playing their assignments and not trying to do too much: “It does make a difference. If you have to be in your gap then you better be in your gap, and if you’re going to take on a block a certain way you better do what you’re supposed to, because the other guys on the field are obviously relying on you. We probably were flying around a little recklessly there at the beginning, but again we weren’t perfect, and we still have to make some improvements in every area.”
On seeing things on the offense starting to go in a positive direction: “Well they were going right before, they just weren’t going right as consistently as we would have liked. We scored on a few drives there in the opening part of that football game, but when you get a turnover, or a good return, that gets a lot of things going when one area is helping another area.”
On whether Guy Miller on film was even more impressive than in person: “What he did was very impressive, because he’s in there getting double-teamed sometimes. He’s an interior player, and to come up with 4½ sacks inside is a big game, obviously. And then to mention his name with Brady Smith and Mike Bell, that’s very impressive company. He’s very deserving; he’s having a good year. “
On the front four being able to supply the bulk of the pass rush without needing to rely on the blitz: “It’s very valuable; when you’re really good on defense, that’s what you’d like to get to. You don’t have to pressure in terms of scheme; you can get pressure with just your down guys. We’re probably a little bit better this year at getting to the quarterback and getting near the quarterback with a four-man front than we have been last year. We’re getting better. Sacks, three-and-outs, those kind of things, those are huge, and the more we can get, the better team we will be.”
On comparing CSU to the TCU and Utah defenses: “Utah is doing a little more zone pressure and a little more movement with their line than they have in the past. But they’ve always had an excellent front since Coach (Kyle) Whittingham has been there. They are able to control the run game, and get to the quarterback just with their front four, and TCU is the same way. Good football teams are like that.”
On comparing the direction of the CSU and Utah programs since they played in a 1994 showdown of top 20 teams: “I think Colorado State did an excellent job from ’94 to the early 2000s; I know in fact that my last seven years as an assistant we won or tied the league five times. I think CSU was at the front of that for awhile, and as you look into 2002 and 2003, the other programs continued to facilitate and resource, and continued to improve, while CSU leveled off a little bit. I think we’ve got people around here who know what’s gone on, and are trying to make it change for the better, and I think we’re in the process of doing that.”
On Raymond Carter's status: “We’re going to run him a little bit. I wouldn’t say that it’s questionable at this point. It’s in consideration, but a lot of it will have to do with what he does out on the practice field on Tuesday.”
On Leonard Mason: “Leonard is a starter, regardless. Leonard has had a nice couple of games.”
On whether Mason’s play has given the coaches pause in wanting to rush Carter back on the field: “Regardless of how Leonard is playing, I don’t ever want to rush a guy back before he is ready. But when Raymond is available, he is a talented guy, and we’ll try to get him in the flow of the game. But I’m very pleased with what Leonard Mason has done. As I said last week, Leonard is running hard, he’s blocking, he’s being a team player, and it goes far beyond the field. What he’s done this season in terms of his attitude and things he’s done, I’ve got nothing but big-time praise for Leonard Mason.”
On the status of Broderick Sargent, who left with a head injury Saturday: “We’ll know more. It didn’t seem like he was that out of it; in fact, I talked to him right after (the injury), and in the tunnel after the game. We’re always cautious with the concussion/head injuries, and Terry (DeZeeuw) has a series of tests that he does with those guys, and we’ll perform those during the week.”
On Tony Drake getting experience as a receiver: “We are going to try to get him more in the receiver role; we won’t rule out him playing running back. But right now the amount of reps that Tony gets and touches that he gets in a game are still contingent upon his ability to digest a game plan, and perform it out there on the practice field prior to Saturday.”
On Drake making strides since last weekend: “He did progress, but it’s still a lot to comprehend and to know and go out and do consistently on the practice field. It will be a process that he has to go through.”
On having good speed on the roster: “It definitely helps. We obviously have to have some explosiveness offensively, and those two guys (Drake and Lou Greenwood) have top-end speed, along with Raymond Carter and some guys. You have to have that element to your offense. We haven’t had it to the degree we’ve liked since I’ve been here.”
On whether the offense now has a swagger: “The way we’d like to play is to run and throw a ball down the field. We’re far from swagger; we’ve got a long way to go. It seems like the offensive line, which it seems like is going to be very good, is chipping away at it and getting better every week. I know that Pete Thomas gets better with every rep out on the practice field; every time he goes out there he gets better. And when you’re talking about those two areas, I think we can have a marquee-type of football team around here eventually. We talked about last week how Lou, within the past two weeks, has kind of taken a step up at receiver. We’ve still got some depth at receiver; we have some guys who, when they play hard, are able to contribute. There are definitely some elements there, but we haven’t even come close to what we expect around here or what we’re capable of doing.”
On feeling better about the team: “There’s no question. If you look back early on against CU, like I told Dan Hawkins after that game, we could have played until midnight and we weren’t going to score. But we’re flashing things longer at times both in practice and in games. We have to keep working. We have a long way to go, but I can see that we’re going to start making some strides here pretty quickly.”
On what concerns him most about Utah: “They’re good; you don’t see any weaknesses on their football team. They’re balanced offensively; they’ve got a power-run game. They’ve got explosiveness to them. Ever since Kyle Whittingham, they’ve been one of, if not the, top defense, between them and TCU, in the country, let alone the Mountain West. They’re very aggressive, they play hard, they tackle, and they have good team speed on defense. Then you roll on the special teams and they lead in the country in kickoff returns; they have a great return game. They kick the ball well, they cover well; they have great athletes. I won’t say I’m concerned, but they have a great football team in every area; we will be challenged in every area.”
On Utah not relying on one particular player: “Exactly, and good teams are like that. I hope that we are like that eventually. Whatever the defense dictates, they just switch gears and go to whatever they need to go to, and they have a guy there who can produce. They are fun to watch, and they know what they’re doing. Kyle’s a great coach and they have a great staff.”
On watching Utah on film: “It’s just like I said about Air Force, sometimes you catch yourself admiring them and how they play and so forth. We’ll give them all the respect in the world; we’re going to buckle it down at practice and see what we can get done this week.”
On Utah KR/WR Shaky Smithson: “Offensively, when you have a guy like that, whether it is on offense or on the return game, you want the ball in his hands because he certainly will go the distance. He’s showing the ability to make people miss; he’s very opportunistic. He’s a good, skilled football player.”
On comparing Smithson to TCU’s Jeremy Kerley: “They’re a little bit different types of athlete, but you have the same concern, because when you see him touch the ball you think, ‘I hope we’re in our lanes, and covering this thing the right way,’ because they are both very capable of making a big play.”
On Utah’s quarterback, Jordan Wynn, compared to last year: “He looks more comfortable. I thought, like Pete Thomas this year, you could tell that he was going to be a good quarterback. He was accurate and kind of experienced beyond his years when you watched him last year. He was impressive at the bowl game. But regardless of how good Jordan Wynn is or Pete Thomas or any of those guys, the more they play at this stage in their career, the better they are going to get. Like any quarterback, the more you can surround him with good players, a run game, an offensive line, the better they’re going to look as well. They surround him with some good players, and we hope to do that with Pete as well.”
On Pete Thomas Saturday: “Again, before, when we were taking a few sacks, and working the offensive line, there’s always a story behind all of that. Pete did only get sacked once, but I thought his demeanor in the pocket left a lot to be desired at times. In that 2-minute drive there are some things that he could have done a lot better, in the pocket and getting rid of the ball. He’s certainly done a nice job for us, but there is plenty of room for improvement.”
On the CSU offensive line being more comfortable and playing better: “There’s no question. They’re playing better every week, and the rhythm of our passing game, which has a lot to do with making the line look good, is improving as well.”
On Thomas running more last week: “When the situation is right, like that opening drive, we had a little bootleg-type play, and he was out of the pocket, it looked like that was a productive thing to do. But going back into the second quarter, there was some running around back there that we don’t want.”
On whether coaching is easier this week after getting a win: “We have a great attitude, and we’ve had a great work ethic this year. I guess I don’t really look at it like that. I’m happy for our players and coaches and they have been working hard, so it’s nice to get a little reward now and then. But I’m more concerned with the mode of operation and how we’re going about things. Win or lose, nothing is going to change on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday; we’re just going to do things the way that we think is the right way to proceed, and we’ll trust that the end result will be there for us.”
On what was more impressive Saturday, Mike Orakpo’s goal-line hit or Chris Nwoke’s 31-yard run: “I did tell the running backs last week that nothing good happens when you leave the ground, when your feet aren’t on the ground. I stand corrected on that. Chris is a talented young man, he’s raw, but he brings a lot to the table. He runs hard, and he’s very impressive. That was a very impressive move. Mike Orakpo’s hit was a big hit when we needed it. Mike is very much a playmaker. Whenever he is in there, something good is happening, whether it be Saturday out on the field, or at practice, he makes plays.”
On coaching a raw talent like Nwoke: “Chris has this energy about him, this fearlessness when he runs. You want him to fundamentally be right, and you want him to be protecting the ball, but you don’t want to spoil who Chris is. He is electric, and I like watching him. I like giving him the ball.”
On Ben DeLine’s blocked extra point: “Ben can help it, but the snaps can also be a little better. The push up front has a little bit to do with it as well. But we do need to work on some things in the kicking game; we turned a guy loose on a punt, which shouldn’t happen. There are some errors in our kicking game that we need to work on.”
On whether DeLine needs to kick the ball higher: “He does. It’s just every once in a while that he has a couple of kicks that come out low. But overall this year, he has struck the ball better than he did last year, and I’ve been pleased with what he has been doing.”
On Derek Good leading the nation in kick-return average: “That’s good for him. Like I said, everytime we let him get the ball, something good happens. We need to continue to involve him in the return game. He got a little time carrying the football in the last two games which is good; we’ll see where that goes.”
