Postgame Quotes

Aug. 30, 2014

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Colorado State 31, Colorado 17

Rocky Mountain Showdown, Aug. 29, 2014

Sports Authority Field at Mile High - Denver, Colo.

COLORADO STATE HEAD COACH Jim McElwain

(On the performance of his young offensive line)

"Let's give credit to Nick Callender. He came in when Ty Sambrailo, a great player, went down and we didn't miss a beat. I thought the running backs ran pretty hard, and you know other than that it was a good win. One we should be excited about."

(On Ty Sambrailo's injury)

"Ty will be about three weeks. MCL, whatever that means, it doesn't require surgery so I guess that's a good thing. It'll be one of those deals that we're probably without him next week when we go to Boise. But we're gonna get our tails ready. Open conference play, and that'll be a big miss. But as we always say, `next guy up,' and we've gotta go play. I thought we did that."

(On rushing for 279 yards)

"Yeah, that's not enough. But you know, we feel good about those numbers. We never doubted them (O-line). We knew we had some more athletic guys up front, and those guys were able to learn from some really good players. That's something good. The thing I think probably had the biggest effect on the game was the physical nature we handled that goal-line situation. Our guys worked their tails off in the weight room, and you know we've got some physical guys. So I feel like that triggered a little bit more, and said `let's not shoot ourselves in the foot.'"

(On running backs Treyous Jarrells and Dee Hart)

"I thought they were pretty good. I know a couple times Dee should've picked his legs up and finished, which I've seen him do before. And Treyous, as you guys know, I felt really good about our running back situation, and they didn't disappoint.  I think that they have some explosive playmaking ability to them, and thought the third-down angle route Dee Hart caught, that was a big, big play. They're guys that can not only run the ball, but catch the ball, and they obviously did a pretty good job of that. 

(On CSU's last two wins being of the comeback variety)

"There's just never any panic on our sideline. It was like, `come on,' we let these guys hang around and I thought that they played the way a good, confident football team plays. There was never any looking around, but I'm just disappointed by the way we started the game. We've got to play a much better game next week to go beat Boise."

(Did Grayson have a better second half)

"I think so. We'll have to go and look at some film, but he did some good things. He never threw it to the wrong color jersey, and that's a positive. But we'll have to go and look at the film on that fumble. He missed that outlet there to Rashard (Higgins), and he could've run forever. He tried to make too much of it. But a lot of the runs and the things we do are QB-check driven, and he did a good job of that. And you know, that's just as important playing the position as throwing the ball."

(On the win)

"It's a huge win. I can't tell you how happy I am for the people of Colorado State University. Those kids in that locker room, that prepared to go win a football game like a good team should. There wasn't any talking or any of that stuff. They just went out and played good football. The way Colorado State Rams should. And let's give them credit, they played their tails off and I can't tell you how excited I am. But, it's what I expect from them. Am I surprised? No. This is the way it should be."

"I thought up front, we did some really great things. It'll be interesting to look at the film, but Bryan Ohene on that pass rush, I think he kind of caught them off guard with that speed off the edge."

RB Treyous Jarrells

(on Nick Callender's performance after replacing injured senior left tackle Ty Sambrailo)

"Once Ty went down, Nick came in, and he put it together and everybody did a good job up front."

(on being a 1-2 punch with Dee Hart)

"We've been talking about that since camp. We're both from Florida. We come from the same place. I feel like he's an older brother to me, so he coaches me up with a lot of things and we said we're going to try to make it happen this year."

(on if he minds being the second part of the 1-2 punch)

"No sir, I don't mind. At the end of the day it's a team effort, so whatever I can contribute to the team, whatever I can contribute, I'm fine with that."

(on the energy the offense received from the goal line stand by the CSU defense)

"That was awesome. We fed off of that. We came out a little slow, but when we got that stop, everybody was fueled up and ready to go."

(on what he can learn from Dee Hart)

"I can learn a lot, and that's what I do. Everyday when I'm in the film room, I go in there and we go over plays and reads and things like that so I can get better."

(on the importance of winning in this rivalry)

"It feels good. CU's a great opponent. I tip my hat off to them, but it feels good to get a win."

(on the performance of the CSU offensive line)

"It gives us reassurance that we're going to be good. The front, they showed up, and we had a good game. I'm small, so I can hide behind them. Like I said - Callender - we got some good guys up front. They're nasty. "

(on if it's a relief to have another running back supporting his role on the team)

"It's a relief, but it's more picking each other up. When he's tired, needs a breather, I run in and pick up the slack, and vice versa. When I'm tired, and I need someone to come in, he comes in and picks up the slack. It's a good combo."

C Jake Bennett

(on Ty Sambrailo's injury)

"Sambo's a good friend, so obviously I was worried for the guy. We just had to move on, and just go."

(on how much the offensive line proved themselves)

"That's up to you guys. We've got a lot more to do as far as improving ourselves throughout the season. One game isn't us. That first half definitely isn't who we want to be. We want to come out faster than that."

(on the feeling of beating CU)

"Growing up, as a CSU fan, I've seen the balance switch a few times, so seeing it sway back toward us is definitely a plus."

(on the performance of the running backs and the multiple 100+ yard performances)

"That just shows you the versatility we have. Throw `em in, and we're going to get some yards. They're all great guys.

(on how holding CU to a field goal switched momentum)

"That just swings the pendulum of momentum, you know? We know our defense can do that on a consistent basis, so when they do that we know we've got to help them out and get a score. 

(on walking out of the tunnel instead of sprinting)

"That was just a decision we had made to walk out and show that we're prepared and we're ready to go."

(on Dee Hart)

"I've definitely seen some things he's done in practice, that you kind of sit back and go, `OK.' I've seen that for the last three or four weeks now, and for him to get out there and do it finally is just awesome."

(on the postgame celebration)

"Growing up a Colorado kid, it's just awesome, because before I came here, I was here for when they won it the last time, and finally getting down there to experience that was something I'm sure I'll remember."

RB Dee Hart

(On being a 1-2 punch with Treyous Jarrells)

"I played against Trey in high school and then for us to end up here against Colorado, it was great. It was a great victory."

(On transferring from Alabama and his performance tonight being what he envisioned his college career to be)

"I always want to be the best I can be. Alabama was great. They had a lot of great running backs. I wanted to go somewhere where I could show what I could do and Colorado State was a great place (for that). Coach Mac has always been a father figure to me."

(On him having doubt and having to prove to himself he could perform)

"As a team, we wanted to come out and get a win. I never doubted myself."

(On the team's attitude when they were down 17-7)

"We told ourselves that we were going to face a lot of adversity this game. Going down 7 points was a big blow and losing Ty (Sambrailo) made things kind of shaky at first. But we pulled it together. In that second half we came out and took care of business."

(On what this game does for the team moving forward)

"It does a lot for us. We have a lot of young guys up front that stepped up and did a great job. For the CSU program and school as a whole, it was a great start."

(On what it's like running behind this offensive line)

"It's great. I like running behind them and it was great getting the victory."

LB Max Morgan

(On how the win feels)

"It's great getting off to a fast start. It's definitely where we want to be."

(On what sparked the run in the second half)

"It was really the offense. They really got things going in the second half and we made a couple defensive stops."

(On the goal-line stand and what it meant to the team and for momentum in the game)

"Any time you can have a stop like that, especially after they rolled down the field on us especially with the big hit by Kevin Pierre-Louis, it really set the tone for us. It gets everybody fired up."

(On whether or not he was surprised by the offensive line's performance)

"Not at all. I'm just so glad to see them beat up on somebody else."

QB Garrett Grayson

(on his own first-half performance) 

"To be honest, it was a terrible first half by me. It's not something I am going to do every week. Hopefully it was a lot of the first-game jitters and things like that."

(Did you rely on your senior experience for the second half?) 

"Obviously I wanted to go out and play better in the second half. The first half was something I was not hoping to go out and do. I was making the right reads, I just wasn't putting the ball where it needs to be. I don't know if it was first-game jitters, or whatever it was, there's a lot of adrenaline going on in your first game, especially in an atmosphere like this. It's something I hope that doesn't happen again and I'll make sure it doesn't happen again. Whether it's watching film or practicing but like I said, the right reads were being made, my accuracy just wasn't there for some reason. We will get it fixed." 

(on having both Dee Hart and Treyous Jarrells in the backfield as a "security blanket")  

"It's huge for us. Everybody was kind of worried after losing Kapri and our o-line that we had. Everybody was questioning what we were going to be able to do this year and I think it's pretty evident what we are going to be able to do and I don't think we are going to be missing a beat really. It will be fun to have those guys back there.  Like you said, it is a huge security blanket for me to know that we can run the ball like that." 

(on what it means to beat CU)

"It's huge. Especially for the people of Colorado, I know how seriously they take this game. To make Ram Nation and Fort Collins happy, to please those guys, it's huge for me. It makes me feel good; it makes the whole team feel good. To bring the trophy back... It's a good feeling." 

(on what was said in the locker room at halftime) 

"We knew we just shot ourselves in the foot over and over in that first half, me especially. I was kind of all over the place throwing the ball and we had some penalties that killed us. You know, emotions, things weren't really clicking and that's something that's going to happen in a first game when you've got an atmosphere like this, you can't simulate it. No matter what you do in practice, you can't simulate a game like this. We came in at halftime and said `you know? We're beating ourselves, they're not beating us.' So we came out in that second half and we came ready to play."  

WR Rashard Higgins

(on whether this was a huge step for CSU after last year's loss)

"Yes sir. It's the beginning of the climb. It's a big game!" 

(on his touchdown catch)

"He press covered me, I worked him at the line, gave him a little move and made him open his hips. Me and Garrett have been working on back-shoulder throws all week and that's what he did and I came up with the touchdown."

(on how important it was to start the season with a win) 

"It's the beginning of the climb. It sets the tone for the rest of the season."

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