Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State Postgame quotes
9/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 25, 2010
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CSU Head Coach Steve Fairchild
Opening statement: “Well it’s obviously nice to have a home game, and it’s nice to take another step forward. We certainly have a long way to go, but we’ve been getting better every week in practice, and we kind of looked like a better football team out there at times today. I really like our football team. They battle, they practice hard. I’m really happy for them and the coaches to get a little bit of positive swing today.”
On snapping the losing streak: “I was never really thinking of the losing streak. This team was 0-3. This team was not playing well at times, and we had the makings of a good football team by the way we were practicing. I think this is going to be a good football team. We’ve got a long way to go, but we’re getting better each time we hit the practice field.”
On the winning field goal meaning more than winning a single game: “I think what Ben DeLine did there in the fourth quarter is a great life lesson for everybody. He had some adversity, but kept his head up and came through when a lot of guys, 105 guys out there, needed him to come through.”
On getting a solid performance from the running game: “We got a little bit of a run game going, which was nice. Raymond (Carter) helped us coming out of the backfield. I didn’t see any stats, but it looked like Raymond had a pretty good game. He gave us some spark out of the backfield. They were doing some man-to-man, trying to put a linebacker on him, even trying to do a match zone where the linebacker was going to have to run with him. Raymond runs pretty well, so he made some pretty big plays coming out of the backfield.”
On the play of QB Pete Thomas: “Pete Thomas has been looking pretty good all year. He kind of keeps settling in a little more. We stopped them defensively when we had to; we gave up some big plays—that’s obviously negative—and we had far too many penalties out there, but having said that, we’re going to enjoy this one for a few hours before we got back to work.”
On adjustments on the offensive line: “I didn’t see what (Weston) Richburg did (to be ejected); obviously you don’t want that happening. Mark Starr got dinged, so Tyler McDermott came in. That’s another life lesson: We tell the kid he’s not starting, and instead of hanging his head, he works hard and contributes. Mark Starr got dinged a little bit, so (Joe) Caprioglio went back out to tackle and Richburg went out to guard and started helping us win a football game. We don’t want to settle on five (players); we’re going to need seven, eight guys in there.”
On the importance of the turnover right before the end of the first half: “I’ll tell you what was bigger was the first score. Being down 13-0 at halftime, that’s not a good deal. When we scored, to make it 13-7 and we were getting the ball back at half, that gives you a little life. When we scored, and then they fumbled it again and we scored again, that was big, obviously.”
On Thomas maturing during the final drive of the game: “He did, but he’s far beyond his years. He’s got a long way to go still; there’s going to be some growing pains just like the other young guys. Shaq Bell is going to be a tremendous corner here, but he’s a true freshman. I’m sure glad he’s on our squad.
“(Pete) is what I thought he was. He’s a tough kid that’s competitive and smart.”
On getting a win after losing last year at Idaho: “Well, yeah, we should have been up by a ton at the half last year. We let one get away, and we did that a lot last year. Every team is different; my first year here (2008), we finished some games that were tight, and hopefully we’re going to do that this year.”
On taking away a life lesson from today: “Well, you just keep fighting. Our football team is very young. We learned about Ag Day, we learned about Keli McGregor. This was an emotional week for our football team, but one thing we keep preaching is that we’re never out of the fight.”
On Tony Drake getting some carries at running back: “I think he was rusty, obviously, but it’s great to get him in there. He does look like he has a chance to take it every time. He will continue to get worked into our offense. We’re fortunate at back; we haven’t necessarily shown what we have there, but we have some talented kids.”
On the play of Matt Yemm: “Matt Yemm did a nice job for us today. He went up and got some nice catches. The other thing that Matt does is he plays every wide receiver spot. He’s developing into a nice wide receiver.”
Idaho Head Coach Robb Akey
General Comments: “Colorado State played a great football game today. They played very, very well. That young quarterback played his tail off. That running back played his tail off. They did a great job.”
On the team’s outlook going forward: “This football team needs to snap back. Our football team needs to respond to adversity. It’s as simple as that. I think we’ve got a good football team, but when it comes down to Saturday afternoon the team that plays the best is the team that’s going to win. They played better than we did today, and we need our football team to play better – like we’re capable of. I believe in this football team. I believe we can be good. That’s what I told them and that’s what I expect them to do. I expect them to work hard and well and as a team. We’re in this together and we’ll bounce back.”
On CSU’s running game: “They made plays today. They made some plays. Their quarterback was accurate. He only threw two incomplete passes in the first half; that helped him. They made some plays to win the game. They didn’t have a lot of yards running at halftime. It was the throws to the running back that helped them at halftime. They hit some draws and they were able to run some balls better at the end. We didn’t tackle them well enough.”
On surprises today: “I’m not going to lie to you; I expected our football team to play well enough to win this game. I expected that to be the case. So I’m disappointed in the way it came out. At the same time I’m taking my hat off to them. They did a very good job. Like I said, I’ve got a good football team here, and I believe in us. And part of growing a team up and getting things to happen is learning to deal with adversity. We just got handed some and we need to deal with it.”
CSU players
K Ben DeLine
On how it felt to win a game: “Especially after I missed that PAT, I was doing it for the team. It was not for me. It was for the team. I could not let myself miss that field goal for Coach Fairchild and for the offense and defense that fought tooth and nail that gave me the opportunity to do that. Especially after T.J. Borcky scored that awesome touchdown, then I missed that extra point. I would not have been able to live with myself if I missed it, so I was not going to.”
On what went wrong on the missed PAT: “That is the first extra point that I remember missing. I have had a couple blocked but I have never missed one. I kicked it, and I am used to the extra points going through and I guess I got a little relaxed on it. I just pushed it right and hit the left side of the ball.”
On Idaho calling the timeout before his game-winning kick: “I actually like it when they do that. It gives you a little more time to get settled on the field with your team. They can ice me all they want; it is going to do nothing more than make me more comfortable and ready to kick.”
WR Matt Yemm
On how happy he was for Ben DeLine: “I was so excited for him. The first thing I did was give him a big hug because he was real frustrated after missing that PAT. To come back and hit that field goal was huge for us. Getting our first win in over a year is so much fun.”
On what that kick meant: “It is beyond words for what that kick was for. There were so many built-up frustrations on us; now I think we can just go out and relax, have some fun, and go try to upset TCU next week.”
On how impressed he was with Pete Thomas in the 2-minute drill: “He is so composed. I am so impressed with everything he does, his work ethic off the field and at practice, and when you look at him you don’t think that he is a true freshman by the way he plays. He has a great brain and a great body to do everything he needs to do to get us a win.”
FB Zac Pauga
On how much of a weight is lifted off his shoulders: “It is huge. I think we had the third-longest losing streak going right now and to snap that at home in front of all our fans, in memory of Keli McGregor is great.”
On the importance of going into halftime with a lead: “It was huge. It is something we have not experienced yet this year; to go into half on top, with a little hope in our hearts.”
On Pete Thomas: “He was really calm. He was a little bit excited but you could just tell that he knew we were going to go down there and get into position for that field goal.”
LB Mychal Sisson
On that critical last stop: “We needed a big stop, especially to get the ball back to our offense so they can get down there and get that victory.”
On whether the defense felt less pressure because of the offense’s production: “It takes a lot of pressure off the defense when our offense is moving the ball because we are not on the field that much. As long as our offense is moving the ball, a lot of pressure is off of us and we are going to play great.”
On the feeling on the sideline before the game-winning field goal: “I had butterflies. I was nervous. I was praying, hoping that he would make this. I can’t take another loss like that so I am glad that Ben (DeLine) was able to step up and make the field goal.”
RB Raymond Carter
On how big a help his first big run was: “It got me in the groove. I have been waiting for this groove for a little while. Our offensive line did a great job today opening up the holes.”
On how his first touchdown felt: “It was a great feeling. I did not even know what to do with myself. It was exciting, and it is always good to be playing at home and it was a great feeling scoring today.”
On what the win says about CSU’s team: “We have been watching film all week and (the Vandals) are a really aggressive team. They played good against Nebraska and we figured that today would be a hard-nosed game. They brought it to us today but we took advantage of everything and got into the end zone today.”
On why things clicked this week: “We have been doing it all week at practice. We play like we practice and great preparation led to this moment today.”
QB Pete Thomas
On the two-minute drill: “I told the guys before we went out there that we have been preparing for this since January. Waking up at 5 in the morning, all that stuff, it finally paid off. I was real calm. I know everyone was real calm and we were confident. Coach Fairchild calls great plays.”
On his maturity rising: “I think we had more confidence. Toward the end of the Miami game we scored a touchdown and I think that carried over into today. It was great playing in front of the home crowd. It was an all-around good game by the offense and defense.”
On the running game: “I have said all along that any offense that can run the ball will be successful. We ran the ball real well today; you have to give Ray (Carter) and all the other running backs credit. Most importantly, the offensive line played so good today. Without them, we would not have scored any points so it is all about the O-line.”
On Raymond Carter: “You can’t say enough about him. I told him before the game that this game was going to be a breakout game for him and our offense and it was. Again, the offensive line opened up holes for him and did well in pass protection.”
On how happy he is for Ben DeLine: “It was awesome. After he missed that extra point I pulled him aside and said that we were going to get that ball back, drive down there, and he was going to kick it to win and he did. He is a great kicker. We have total confidence in him and he came through in the most pressure situation.”
General: “We had a chance to really get control of this game, and it never seemed like the Vandals took that opportunity.
“We didn’t capitalize on the opportunities we had. When our defense gets stops, our offense needs to go down and score. And when we didn’t do that, they capitalize on our end.”
On learning from this game: “We got to execute every day. Day-in and day-out, we got to execute. I feel like if we would have executed we would have come out on top, but we didn’t.”
On his thoughts on next week’s road game at Western Michigan: “Haven’t seen film yet, I don’t know what they do. We’ll come back tomorrow and get ready.”
On whether he felt the turnover at the end of the first half changed Idaho’s outlook for the rest of the game: “Yeah, it really helps out a team when you score twice before halftime and enter the half on top. That was our fault; we can’t do that.”
On whether he felt this was a game in which the team that had the ball last would come out on top: “No, I didn’t think so, especially after the first half. It wasn’t a track meet until the second half. We need to execute better.
“We throw the deep ball well and so do they, and if it’s going to be like that, our offense needs to execute better and come out on top and score and finish our drives.”
On doing a lot with the slot receiver on linebackers, whether that’s something Idaho saw coming into the game: “Well for most teams that’s an advantage. If you have a one-on-one with a linebacker in the slot, then that’s a good situation for you. We try get that as much as possible.”
