Colorado State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: CSU vs. Air Force
10/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
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COLORADO STATE
COLORADO STATE HEAD COACH Mike Bobo
(on general thoughts)
"I thought it was a good day today by our football team. Obviously everyone's going to say 'what's it feel like to get a win?' It feels good. I'm really proud of these players and these coaches. I've been saying it all along that each week they've come back and they've worked even harder, they've stayed dialed in to what we're trying to do and believe in it. I thought we've played with great toughness every week, physical and mental, and I thought we've played with great effort every week, we just haven't played as disciplined.
"I told them going into this football game that if we could play a disciplined game against this team, where you have to be really disciplined, it could get us going in the right direction. But I also made a point to say that there is no perfect program, there's no perfect play call, there's no perfect offense, there's no perfect defense, there's no perfect family, there's no perfect marriage, there's no perfect child; sometimes we think we've got to be perfect, and what families do is they keep fighting for each other, keep playing hard, and if we do that everything will take care of itself."
"We had Coach Lubick come in yesterday and he kinda hit along those same lines; he said if you play hard for each other, the winning will take care of itself. And I thought our guys played hard today in all facets. There were some mistakes, but we were able to overcome those mistakes and just played for 60 minutes and I'm proud of the effort of the guys."
(on long drive at end of first half)
"I really thought coming into this ball game that if we could protect the passer that we could take advantage throwing the football. They do a great job of running a lot of zone blitzes, a lot of safety blitzes, corner blitzes, free safety, linebacker blitzes, and I thought if we could put a hat on a hat we could win outside, and not necessarily just Rashard [Higgins], I thought we could spread the ball around based on the zone fire that they ran. And then if we could put a hat on a hat in the run game, we would be able to crease them on some of our zone runs, and we were able to do that early. I think it slowed down a little bit of their blitzing, I thought Nick [Stevens] did an outstanding job all day of going to the right receiver. The one interception I thought he threw it on time, but Joe (Hansley) should've cut in front of the safety, and he threw it before it broke and that's what I wanted him to do."
"We were able to come back and get it on a double-move later off of that same kind of concept. But they were great on third down, executing third down - 10 of 15 - I know it was probably a lot higher than that until at the end when we basically went in trying to kill the clock mode once we got up four scores but I'm proud of the guys, I thought we protected well, I thought we ran hard, I thought when they guys had opportunities to make the plays with the ball in the air they did that, and you saw a number of receivers do that. And Nick (Stevens), like I said all week, had probably the best practice he's had and he performed well today."
(on defeating an in-state rival)
"I think it's huge, I think it's one of your rivalry games, and the first thing I said on Monday was we've lost eight out of nine to our rival and we've got to go to work. We can't feel sorry for ourselves, Air Force is not going to feel sorry for (us), and we've got a big game - it's Homecoming, you've got your fan base coming to town, it's sold out, they're supporting what you're trying to do, let's go out and perform, let's go out and perform for everybody that is proud to be a Ram."
(on Nick Stevens)
"I thought Nick played (in) practice well all week, and that solidified his position going into this football game. Number one you have to believe in yourself and you've got to go out and practice well and carry yourself in a manner that you're the man, and it's almost a borderline cockiness you need to have to play quarterback and I thought he carried himself in that manner all week. He was precise, he threw the ball, and he went out and performed well, but not just Nick but this whole football team needs to realize that because we win one game we have not arrived. We have a lot of work to do, a lot of recruitment to do, we're still playing a lot of young players that have got to continue to get better. We're going to enjoy this win but we've got to go back to work, we've got to continue to do what we do to put ourselves to earn the right to win on Saturdays."
(on how the win validated to the team that what they are working on is making them a better team)
"To be honest, I'm really not worried about that. I believe in what we're doing, and I believe with the hard work that we're putting in, it's going to come. I hope it comes this year for these seniors, these players that I've inherited, to finish out on a good note. But we've got to continue to do the things to put ourselves in a position to win. There's no secret of how to win football games. You've got to prepare, you've got to work your butt off. It's a hard game, it's hard to win on Saturdays. I don't care who you're playing, nobody's going to hand you anything, and that's the kind of mindset that we've got to get if we want to build this program to where I think it could go."
(on the defense not being let down after giving up a big run to Air Force in the first half)
"I mentioned it all week: It's a game of patience when you play a team like Air Force. They're going to have runs, they're going to spit some runs and pitch the ball out on the corner, and get 10- or 15- yard runs. Did we want to give up an explosive run to the full back? No, but we didn't get rattled, we stayed patient on both sides of the ball, we kept playing our game, we knew that that one play that they ran might give us a little bit of problems if we couldn't get a back row to the top, and they ran more of a Belly, not an option, what they did with the 8-man front that we were playing, but Coach Summers and the guys did a nice job of adjusting. We did a nice job of rotating players today to keep the guys fresh, and we played physical for four quarters which was good to see."
(on scoring on the second possession)
"We talked about starting fast in the first five minutes, which we did. We had good field position and did not take advantage of it, but it's a field position game when you play a ball-control team. And a great punt to put the ball down on the 1-yard line, and to get the ball back basically around the same spot that we did to convert third-down there on that drive was huge and we had a call out a 12 personnel who we thought would match up with the tight end on the 'mike' linebacker. They brought the blitz that we thought, and (Dalyn) Dawkins did a great job of picking up the corner, and Nick did a nice job of recognizing and hitting Steven Walker down the middle. We finished fast in the last five minutes of the half to be able to get a touchdown there and we started fast in the third quarter. We didn't finish as fast as I liked the last five minutes, we had a penalty there on the drive on a holding that I thought we could ground out the clock. When we had the opportunity in the red zone there at the end, I didn't want to throw the ball, if we could get it in, run it and score, if not let's kick the field goal and go up four scores which we did and then basically played time of possession there at the end of the game."
(on working on honing the offense)
"We ran the zone lead the one run that Jason Oden busted out for the 40-yard run. Going into Friday's walk-through we ran it 63 times this week. We were going to make sure we knew how to pick up versus blitz they ran and they ran a field fire zone with their "sam" (strongside linebacker) and strong safety, we did a great job setting the wall backside, and Jason Oden did a great job pressing and hitting it. We just had to make sure we could execute. They blitz a lot but we kind of felt we knew what their blitzes were and we could identify them, and then you have to hone down the plan too when you play a team like Air Force. You're not going to have as many opportunities and that was part of it as well. But we still wanted to stay aggressive in the passing game, we ran some different concepts and we ran at some different protections that we haven't run and they did a nice job of protecting."
(on telling Nick that this was his game and he didn't have to look over his shoulder)
"I usually have a pretty good memory and I don't remember saying that. I told him I've been proud of how he's practiced all week and I really felt he was going to play well. I know I told him that going into the game. I just said you've got to go out there and you've got to believe in yourself and your plays, and you've got to perform. But I didn't say if you don't play well then I'm going to take you out of the game, it's your game. I told him he was going to play well coming into the game."
(on whether he'd rather have one consistent starter, or play two)
"I think if you've got two guys that are consistent and earn the right to play during the week, I'd like to play them and get some experience, but the thing is we haven't had consistency with either one of them. Nick was consistent today and had a consistent week of practice and I felt going into the game we didn't have a planned series for Coleman [Key] this week and it was more because of what Nick did in practice not because of what Coleman didn't do."
(on Joe Hansley)
"Joe Hansley is a football player. My dad always said 'don't depend on the undependable,' Joe Hansley is dependable. He's going to be where he needs to be, he's going to make plays when you call his number and he's got skill set. He's not very big, but he's a good football player that's got quickness, he's got hands, he does a great job route-running because his upper body doesn't move, he doesn't really tip his routes off. I've been really impressed with Joe. Joe, we actually, in our 21-personnel, we put Xavier over him, but Joe hasn't batted an eye, he's continued to work in practice, and Joe missed a day in practice this week, too, with some of the sickness going around, but he was prepared and knew the plan and did a nice job."
(on Rashard Higgins)
"Rashard didn't practice all week. He didn't practice Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday… Thursday I think he took maybe two reps and then Friday did a little bit in the walk-through. We've got to get Rashard practicing to get consistency. Rashard is a great kid, a great teammate, he's had a lot of knicks and knacks that have held him out of practice. He had the sickness going around, it was more that than the hamstring, he had to get IV's this week in the health center. But for the consistency of what we're trying to do offensively, we need him out there. I don't know if he's in the shape that we need him to be in because of missed practice time, but he has to come out every once in awhile because of shape and understand the plan, but I think you saw what I'd like for this offense to be where you're able to spread it around, take advantage of all the weapons, take advantage of coverages that defenses play. It's third down and we called that one take-off there in the third quarter hoping to get single on Rashard, and Nick threw a great ball, Rashard made a great catch. So there are times you're going to hope the ball goes there based on coverage, but they might have played a different coverage, we guessed right on that one. But as much time as he missed, (to have) 41 catches in six games (is) very, very productive. (If) we get out there and we practice and we get on the same page, we can become more of an explosive team because these are explosive players. When he catches the ball, he tries to score, he doesn't let one guy take him down. We're going to continue to work at that and continue to get him out there and try to get better."
(on Jasen Oden working for extra yards)
"Jason is very physical, since the second half of the first game. I didn't think he was running very physical in the first half, but since that time -he's 218 pounds, and he's leaning on them, and we've got a big line of scrimmage that's starting to understand what we're trying to do and it's hard to tackle. Sometimes they run a blitz or run a stunt that we don't have, but we've got to fall forward for two, we've got to fall forward for three, and he's doing a nice job of that. And I've said from day one, Jason Oden has competed, last week or two weeks ago it was late in the game and they're trying to send him off on kickoff coverage and he won't, he's like 'I'm going in, I want to go,' he's one of our best protectors, he's got a great attitude at practice every day, he's one of the guys that brings energy to practice, I'm really proud of how he's playing this year"
(on keeping the progress moving forward after the bye week)
"It's good any time you can win on any Saturday, and if we didn't come away with a win, basically we'd have to regroup and say 'hey, it's a new season coming up,' but with a win I think we're going to regroup and say 'hey, it's a new season coming up' and keep doing what we're doing. Because if you alter what you believe in and your approach, the kids see that, and they're not committed and they're not sure. Well I'm sure of what we're doing, I'm sure of these coaches, I'm sure of these players and like I told them this week, everybody is like 'woe is me, we're two-and-four,' but I'm not in a bad place. Because I look at them every day and I see the look in their eye. I see nobody flinching, I see nobody blinking, and you can tell when you talk to a team are they there? And they've been there, and I say just keep believing, and we're going to be fine."
(on the first three conference games)
"We've played some tough football games against some physical football teams. These last two we played were very physical and I think we matched their physicality, we matched their effort, (but) we didn't match their discipline. We talked about how we're going to have to do all three today, not be perfect, but do all three. And I told them coming into the game that every team we play has been physical, we've kept the fight physically, and we played hard effort, we've just got to play in the crunch time to make the plays, don't put so much pressure on yourself. It's a tough stretch, those three teams we played won over 30 games last year, but like Coach Lubick told our team yesterday, the thing about Colorado State is every weekend is going to be a dogfight, it was like that for me [Lubick] for 15 years we hardly ever blew anybody out, it was a dogfight and you've got to play 60 minutes and the guys did that today."
(on trying not to feel too much pressure after losing)
"It's the consistency of how you go about your job every day, the consistency in your message, the consistency in your body language of you and your coaches and the energy you bring, you speak from the heart, you don't try to con them, you tell them the truth. Honesty sometimes is hard for players when you tell them the truth, but at the end of the day if you're honest all the time they're going to respect you, and believe in what you're trying to do, and I believe that, I believe this place can be special, I believe we've got a special group of guys in there right now that have been through a lot, and we've got to get to the point of last year's gone, we're this year, we're where we are right now. Like I said last week, we were 2-4, that's where we are. So what are we going to do as a man, what are we going to do as a family, we're going to fight for each other, and they did that today, and we've got to continue to do that. There's no easy games, you've got to work every week, everybody's going to work hard, everybody's going to show up to play, it's a tough game for tough people, it's not easy, if it was easy anybody can do it."
(why today was executed differently)
"I think it's repetition, and I'm going to quote my dad again, he always said 'repetition is the mother of all skills,' meaning you've got to keep doing the same thing over and over and over again, it doesn't matter if you run a triple option, if you run a spread, if you run pro style, it doesn't matter. You've got to continue doing the reps the right way, you've got to practice in the right way, and I thought we practiced in the right way today - this week - and it paid off this Saturday, but we've got to do that on the off weekend and next week going into the next week."
QB Nick Stevens
(on the game)
"It was a balanced game in all aspects. Special teams did very well…offense and defense played their hearts out. It's always tough to stop their offense because it's different from what anybody else does and our defense did a great job. We had energy on offense during the entire game we did not have that lull like we have before. That was a key for us on offense being able to move the ball during every drive."
(on Stevens' performance)
"I think it was just my preparation throughout the week. I feel like I had a really good week in practice and I kind of just let the ball fly out there and it paid off.
(on teammate Joe Hansley performance during third downs)
"He is definitely one of those possession receivers, and if you throw it to him he will catch the ball and make something happen with it. He has that big-play ability and Coach Bobo called perfect plays on those two touchdown plays and he (Hansley) was able to score twice."
(on winning the in-state rivalry)
"You want to win every game, but it means a little more when it's an in-state rival. There is a trophy involved and we really needed a win so that was a big win for us. We are going to try and ride this momentum into our next game."
WR Joe Hansley
(on beating in-state foe)
"You are playing for that trophy and playing for the in-state respect. Getting a win against an in-state team is huge and I think it's even bigger for our team going into this bye week. We can get good game-planning going into San Diego (State) and keep the momentum going."
(on importance of winning today)
"We needed a win we. Were 2-4 and we had some close games this season so it feels good we could get one today."
CB Tyree Simmons
(on current feelings)
"I am feeling pretty good. We were due for a win and we have a bye week next week so we can celebrate for a little bit."
(on his interception)
"I just had to become a wide receiver, I noticed the quarterback overthrow the receiver and had to go get it."
(on winning versus in-state foe)
"Winning feels good in general. In-state games means there is more tension between the fans and the winner gets some bragging rights."
WR Rashard Higgins
(on defeating an in-state foe)
"It means a lot. Just to get this win under our belt it feels good, and it boosts our confidence going into a bye week"
(on today's win)
"It feels great, I can't describe how I feel right now. We have had some close games, and it's good to see what we have on offense and defense and what can happen when we come together, and how dominating we can be."
S Kevin Pierre-Louis
(on what Coach Bobo said after the game)
"He was proud of us. It was nothing that he hasn't been preaching to us , and he expects that we play that way every week."
(on importance of today's victory)
"To get a win before the bye week it allow us to go back and work on some day-one stuff. It boosts our confidence, and we have to continue to work hard."
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AIR FORCE
AIR FORCE HEAD COACH TROY CALHOUN
(on mistakes)
"We'd like to have hit that extra point. Give them credit, they're a good team."
(on the pass defense)
"They threw it well. That's one area that you look back on. Offensively, we could have been a little more crisp, and defensively you have to be better in coverage, especially on third down. They have a good group of receivers too."
(on his expectations for the game)
"They're a good team. We knew that coming in. They pretty much have everybody that they had last year, the receivers and a good chunk of their defense. They're a good, quality group."
(on beating a 10-1 CSU team last year and losing to a 2-4 CSU team this year)
"You have to give them credit. They played well. They played better than we did today."
(on waiting to open up the passing game)
"We opened it up a little bit earlier."
(on running the ball five straight times to end the third quarter)
"I thought we got some reasonable yards doing it. That's something we're going to have to do well going down the road."
(on the possibility of seeing a backup quarterback if they are down a lot again)
"As you play, you go forward. We have a guy that is diligent and dedicated."
(on Karson Roberts' block)
"It was a good, competitive play to put his body in there against a good defender."
(on the special teams mistakes)
"It could have helped. In all three facets I think there is probably something you could find that could absolutely have been better."
QB KARSON ROBERTS
(on the amount of turnovers committed)
"We have to cut those out (turnovers), it is hard for us to win when we turn the ball over."
(on not using the passing game more in the third and fourth quarter)
"I don't believe that not passing the ball very frequently lead to the loss. The main goal is to get the ball down the field and our running game was doing that for us. Once we opened up the play action a little bit that worked as well, the combination of the two works best for our offense."
RB JACOBI OWENS
(on how to mental get over today's game)
"The objective every week is to go 1-0, it doesn't matter who were are playing next week or the week after that. Fresno State is our next opponent and that is what we care about, going 1-0."
(on belief in Karson Roberts)
"He is the man, he is our guy. He is fast enough and strong enough to be a very good quarterback for us. Everyone watching the game can see the Karson (Roberts) runs well and throws fairly well. That is whom we put our faith in and our trust in so we will continue to go to him to lead our offense.
(on conservative play calling)
"I believe that coach made the right calls. Referring to the knee at half time, it was still a close game (so) we needed to take a knee. We were down one score and didn't need to do anything stupid to cost us the game."
DB WESTON STEELHAMMER
(on interception of Colorado State quarterback Nick Stevens)
"I thought it was a great play call on coach's (Steve Russ) part, the pressure got to the quarterback (Nick Stevens) and he made a mistake. Thankfully I was in the right place at the right time to take advantage of the mistake."
(on the struggle of the Air Force secondary)
"I felt like we struggled on third down, like we have in a few games this year. We're trying to get off the field and were letting them complete deep balls down the field and that hurt us the whole second half."
(on not having a road win)
"We haven't won on the road yet this year and to get where we want to be we have to start winning on the road."
(on conservative play calling)
"I feel like it is not our job to question the coach's call, but I feel as players we can't expect to beat ourselves and beat a good team like Colorado State."
(on how to get past this loss)
"We have to get by this loss just like we did in our other two. We bounced back last week against Wyoming and we have to do the same thing come Monday."
