Colorado State University Athletics
Fairchild: We are going to have to play our best
9/5/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 5, 2011
Opening statement:
"With regard to last Saturday's game, I was very pleased with the effort in which we played. I liked our preparation all week, particularly the last 48 hours as we got ready for the football game. Probably the biggest thing that we can take away from that game is the last couple of years we would have found a way to lose that game but we kept playing hard and were a little confident that something good was going to happen. We found a way to win a tight game; not just a tight game but a conference game and a road game at that. Defensively, obviously the sack total was big. I thought we tackled well; that is always a concern in an opening ball game, especially when we were thudding (and not tackling in practice) as much as we were. I thought we played with some speed. You can tell we are a little faster on the defensive side of the ball. We didn't fit the run game in the defensive line particularly well at times and that allowed some explosive runs. I think if we would have fit it the way we planned that we could have shut them down. Also, the three big penalties defensively hurt us. Offensively, no turnovers and one penalty, and anytime you can win those on the road, that is key. I liked the way we ran the ball. Statistically, there was a lot more we could have had. Our pad level and who we were getting on and so forth, I liked our run game. Our controlled passing game on first and second down was decent. We were very, very poor on third down. Again, that is an area of concern and something we need to improve on. Special teams-wise, I thought we covered really well and returned well and both those areas had an edge. We did not strike the ball very well and that is an area of concern. I think Pete (Kontodiakos) and Ben (DeLine) had kicked the ball well all camp but that needs to be improved and I am sure they will do that. Having said that, I am not very interested in style points, just the fact that we were able to go on the road and get a conference win is big for our program. Before I open it up to questions, I do want to acknowledge my daughter Jill finished her first marathon today. I am just so damn proud of her I can't tell you. She is a great kid."
On DE Nordly Capi's performance:
"Nordly had a tremendous game obviously. We knew he was a very talented young man. Any time we get pressure, particularly pressure with four (linemen), it is a big advantage. They were sitting there five-man protecting quite a bit, so that should be a good thing for your defensive line."
On Capi still being listed second on the depth chart:
"We have been talking all offseason about rolling eight or nine linemen. Now don't hold me to this but I think we played 11 defensive linemen (confirmed - Brown, Burl, Capi, Carter, Froland, James, Latu, Paulhus, Sargent, Tiedgen and Wilson). They are all starters. Whoever is getting after the quarterback can stay in there."
On DE Broderick Sargent's status:
"Yeah, I think Broderick has an ACL (injury). I think we are going to let it quiet down and he will have surgery and we will go from there."
On playing as many as 11 linemen:
"I think the more players that you can play, the better practice week you are going to have. If you just play four defensive linemen, those guys are the guys that are really preparing like they are playing. I am just going to have eight or nine or 10 guys preparing like they are going to play in a game. I think the more you have of that, the more competition you have as well. There are a lot of good things; I think we had planned all along to roll as many guys in there as we can and keep them fresh. I think that is a good plan."
On linemen depth:
"It is a good thing but now we have to find some guys behind him (Capi). You mentioned offensive linemen; we will definitely play Brandon Haynes. We didn't this week because he was coming off that injury. He will roll in there. If we can get a third tackle ready, it was going to be Jared Biard (also out for season due to injury), but I think we will be able to get a third tackle ready to roll in there. Tyler McDermott is going to play some. Even in the offensive line, where people sometimes hesitate to do that, we are going to do that if we can."
On getting wide receivers more involved in offense:
"We have got to do that. I am going to give their defensive staff credit; they had a nice plan. We probably came in under one train of thought and then had to adjust. They did a nice job but we do need to get our receivers more involved. That will be an area of emphasis this week."
On taking more risks on first down:
"I think some of the third-down things were just us having some real negative plays. Getting back to the first thing, we were 9-of-10 throwing on first down. We know our makeup this year is a little more inside. We like our inside receivers and our backs so that is going to be a bigger part than it has been. Having said that, we do need to get our receivers more involved.
"More times than not, if you complete a ball, you are going to get a first down. Very few times do you complete a ball and not get a first down. Our woes are more on third down. We have to game plan third down; we have to protect third down better. We just have to all around be better on third down."
On players responding to an increase in positive feedback this year:
"I still did a fair amount of ass-chewing on the sideline. I said this in the offseason and I don't want to refer this to the New Mexico game, but I think I lost sight of having fun and why we do this. Typically my personality is the task at hand and sometimes that is all I can see. I think we all woke up after last year and said, `Well why are we doing this? Let's have a little more fun.' As long as we get our work done and play hard and do the right thing, which I think we are, I would agree with that. I think the biggest thing is we are a little more confident. Last year's football team, I didn't have a good answer as a coach. I looked around and you could see it in their eyes. They just did not believe they were going to make that play and there was a little different feeling this year. They thought they were going to make the play on one side of the ball. I think that is a good feeling."
On the possibility of overlooking UNC:
"I don't think we are the type of team that can overlook anybody. You look around with Richmond and Sacramento State having wins last week. You look at the last time Sacramento State came here and we had to kick a field goal on the last play, or when Weber State came in, we had to turn the ball over on the last play to win those games, so we will have our hands full I'm sure. If you're the University of Northern Colorado, this is a big game for you, a chance to make a statement. I am sure they look at it as a winnable game. Our football program is not at the point where we can overlook anybody. We are going to have to play our best. We are going to have to play a good game to win this week."
On what he saw in the run game Saturday:
"I don't think we hit our entry points. We left a lot of yards out there. I don't look immediately at the stat sheet. I look to see if we are knocking guys out of there and are we flat-backing guys and doing the right thing by not letting guys loose? That has a feel of a good run game, and I think we can build on that. We can improve everywhere but there are times we were a little sloppy and left some yards out there."
On the performance of the Gillmore brothers:
"I've been very confident in Crockett Gillmore even though he had not played a down of offense. I'm very confident he's going to be a tremendous football player for us. I've said that all along. Austin, we all spring, all two-a-days played around with the idea of moving him to fullback. I knew better and I didn't do it; that's my mistake. We didn't give him enough time to prepare properly for this game. I would say he was a real pleasant surprise. He's a natural there and I think he's going to be an extremely good fullback for us."
On the team having more confidence:
"How do you get confidence unless you win a game? What comes first? That whole thing. I think we've prepared well. I think they know they've prepared well and I don't just mean game week. I mean going back to January, those sorts of things. There's one thing about going through the motions, just showing up and lifting when you're supposed to, and running, and there's another way of doing it and kind of helping teammates and getting camaraderie and doing it with each other and for each other. This team has that feel a little bit. I do know this, there is a different feel and I thought they knew they were going to win this game even when things weren't going well, and that's big."
On what problems Northern Colorado creates:
"Well they're back to a team, and I'm speaking defense, that can run both a four-man front and a three-man front. They've got some multiple things there. We're coming out of a week of a 4-2-5 into a little more of a conventional style. That will be more of something we have to get coached up to on Tuesday. They're a spread offense so I think they've got some pretty good players. Anytime you can get the ball in space you've got a chance to break a tackle and make something happen. Like I said, we're going to have to play a good game."
On which quarterback will start for Northern Colorado:
"I think they are a little bit different in styles. I haven't looked at it enough to comment on it and I don't know as we speak the status of Seth (Lobato), either, so we'll look at it, research it and be ready for both. The other thing they do is they have a tremendous kick-returner. Their return game is good. There's ways they can move the football. There's ways they can score. Obviously offensively if we don't play well we're not going to move the ball well so we need a good week of practice."
On former CSU player Brandon Owens playing for Northern Colorado:
"Brandon was with us for a while. He's a nice kid and I think he's having a good career over there. We certainly wish him the best, obviously not this week but I think that's been a good move for him."
On Fairchild facilitating Owens' move to Northern Colorado:
"Sometimes a change of scenery is good. I'm sure Brandon felt that way."
On Broderick Sargent receiving a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA:
"His first year, he was injured. We were going to play him as a true freshman but he was injured. He had a shoulder issue. So there's a chance. We'll have to file the papers. Regardless, he'll be back next year. He's a high-character kid, good student, guy you would want on your football team. We're very proud of him."
On losing Sargent:
"We thought he was going to do what Capi did. Coming out of camp, he was our best pass rusher."
On other pass rushers besides Capi:
"There was heat. There was one time I even saw inside pressure, which is good. Anytime you can get pressure off an edge, and you're going to get it off the edge when they five-man protect like that because there's very few backs chipping and most of the guys are one-on-one. (John) Froland got a little pressure. I saw Curtis Wilson pushing the pocket a little bit. There are some positive things that way."
On what position Wilson will play:
"We're kind of evaluating and I know Larry (Kerr) has talked about it with our defensive staff. We'll probably have a plan when we go out tomorrow and even then you can adjust a little. But yes, some guys will have to kick out and take some snaps outside. "
On being able to pressure with four players:
"It's huge. Anytime you can't it puts a lot of stress on play-calling and scheme because you've got a quarterback back there patting the ball playing seven-on-seven against you. That's the starting point, with good defense, and obviously teams can pack it in and block eight but that presents problems for them as well."
On performance of freshmen:
"They did a nice job. Again, we talked about this last week with Austin (Gray); we've got a bunch of new safeties, other than Ivory Herd. You can see all you want on the practice field but it's a little bit different when the game's going. We thought he did a nice job but still a lot of room for improvement. He'll get better. He's just a redshirt freshman."
On Gray's injury status:
"He's fine."
On Mike Orakpo's injury status:
"He had a cramp. He went and got an IV. I thought our linebackers did a very nice job. You expect that of Myke Sisson but they all played pretty good. You're taking Shaquil Barrett playing some middle linebacker and grabbing him and going to defensive end, so he's got some natural pass-rushing skills as well."
On whether Dominique Vinson has permanently moved back to cornerback:
"He plays well in that nickel-dime package that we had. He's still a factor at receiver; we could use him. Hopefully we'll develop him outside the ball and eventually leave him on defense. He's got to be ready to do both. We've told him that."
On getting more vertical action with receivers:
"You can't get hard headed if they're going to play deep or double somebody. You just can't force something. That's one thing about the passing game. Joe Brown caught that ball before the touchdown and he was not the primary receiver we were designing and trying to get the ball to. He's an outlet. My point being if they're taking away deep balls and outside guys, we've got to be able to hit inside guys. Likewise, it doesn't take anybody studying football to see we need to get our receivers involved more. That's a point of emphasis this week."
On using Crockett Gillmore's size:
"There are some times when you have somebody like him, you're not waiting for him to get open. The whole idea is if he's not doubled, it doesn't matter if he separates or not; we're going to throw it. Right when he threw it I thought this is a touchdown. You could see the way it almost looked like he was going for a rebound. People in the past have wide receivers like that; San Diego State last year didn't care if one of those guys was singled up. The ball was going up in the air and that's the way you do it. We've got a player of that type of ability; we'll do that."
On opening up the playbook:
"There really is, and you're not sitting thinking, `Maybe we can do this.' You're sitting thinking, `If we get this singled up, we're going to this. I feel very good about our chances. Last year anything you didn't run in camp you were hesitant because you were thinking, `I know Pete's never done this before,' or `This guy's never done this before.' Now you're thinking, `These guys are more experienced on both sides of the ball.' It's better. I keep saying we're not out of the woods yet. There are spots we need to improve and keep recruiting but we're getting there."
On trying new things that weren't practiced in camp:
"Yeah, we did in the New Mexico game and will for this game. You look at UNC `s structure on one side of the ball and you think, `We haven't done this but this might have a chance.' And you feel a lot more confident."
On any changes in the kicking game:
"I have not visited with Larry (Lewis) other than when we looked at the tape and had our special-teams meeting yesterday . I don't want to knee-jerk react on that. I thought they struck the ball well all camp and I believe in them. It'll work."
