Colorado State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes
9/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Postgame Quotes
CSU football vs. Minnesota - Sept. 12, 2015
Colorado State Head Coach Mike Bobo
(general)
"That was a tough game today for our guys, but that's why you play the game and that's why you play for 60 minutes. I thought it was a true test. As I told the guys in there today, I'm not and I know they're not into moral victories. We play the game to win the game and the bottom line is that we didn't do enough to win the football game. We finished to get it to overtime, but we didn't finish in overtime. The guys did what I asked, they played hard for 60 minutes, they played for each other, and they never doubted. That's a good sign that we stayed together. We can't point fingers or talk about anything that we could say could've been the difference in the ball game because it doesn't matter. The bottom line is that it's a business and we didn't get it done. We're 1-1, we have to regroup, learn from what just happened and go to work on Monday. That's what I expect out of our players and our coaches for next week."
(on adversity throughout game)
"We handled adversity. We had adversity the whole game. Every time it felt like offensively we got something going they pushed us back defensively. We were put in bad situations and we responded time after time, which was good to see. We took some shots from them. We talk about this game being a fight; we took some shots, some body shots and we didn't falter. Our guys kept fighting, kept hunting and kept playing. That's when I learned the test of could we handle adversity when things aren't going well. Things didn't go well, but it's a football game and we fought hard."
(on performance of offense, more specifically Nick Stevens)
"Just from an offensive perspective I thought they were extremely talented on defense. In the summer scouting they were one of the best defenses I've seen in a while and had one of the best secondaries. I knew we'd have trouble moving the ball. I knew we'd be tested and we had to be patience. We just couldn't get anything going offensively. We were going to play Coleman in the first half in a series and then in the second half we thought we needed a spark to play him in a series. I thought he did a nice job so we decided to keep him there. Right now we'll start practice on Monday and Nick Stevens will line up as number one but Coleman has to get ready as if he's going to play as well. I don't want to sit here and say there's a quarterback controversy. Both guys missed guys. We have to play better all around, we can't have holding calls and hands in the face. We have to do a better job coaching; we need to call plays that they can execute, they can get first downs and get drives going. We'll reassess where we're at in everything not just quarterback and we'll go to work on Monday."
(on penalties and personal fouls)
"It wasn't good. I have to see the tape, the rule says you can't have hands to the face, but a lot of times it says that if your hand hits the face, as long as you replace it, it's not supposed to be a foul. I don't know, but they called it so it must've been a hands to the face and we have to overcome penalties. Penalties and turnovers are going to happen in the game and we have to overcome it. We didn't overcome it well enough today to get to victory."
(on defensive performance)
"I thought the defense played outstanding even in that second quarter when they were wearing on us and grinding. They still got to the ball and when they got to it they were delivering blows and playing physical. What I've talked about since day one is what I wanted our defense to look like and that's what it should look like. We have seniors on that team and they have to show the leadership for this football team right now. We're young in some areas offensively and we have to grow up a little bit, but we'll stick together and I think we'll be fine. The way they played with their hearts, but again you play to win ball games. We didn't do enough and that hurt. We don't ever want to lose. Like I said last week, winning is good for team morale and losing is bad for it, but we have to find the positives in this game and correct the mistakes. We have to be able to handle constructive criticism in all areas; player and coach. Then we have to put it behind us and go to work to improve. That's what real teams do and what championship teams do. They stay together and keep working."
(on Rashard Higgins' injury)
"Thursday he tried to come out and couldn't go. We pretty much figured that he was extremely doubtful, but we thought we'd have Willis Reed or something show up on Saturday and feel like he could go so I didn't want to completely rule him out. He looked good standing around there walking on the sidelines so we'll see on Monday. He'll go into treatment tomorrow and on Monday we'll reassess where he's at. The positive is that it's nothing major when we thought it might be, but it's not. He has to get healthy and when he's healthy he'll be out there to help us. Then it was a big blow when Vaden went down, his backup, and Xavier Williams playing a position he hasn't played a lot. He's primarily a z receiver and there he was moved over to x receiver, but that's part of football. Injuries are going to happen and you just have to step up. We just didn't make enough plays."
(on missing guys on deep throws)
"It hurt, but we had opportunities down the field. There was three or four times guys were down and we missed them. I said it on Monday that it's a good defense, but when we have a chance to make a play we have to make it and we made none of them offensively. We made none of them down the field and we had three or four that we could have made huge plays on. At least to flip the field, but we didn't make any of them. It was one of those games, but the positive part of it was that even though we didn't make any of them, we still kept fighting, still kept playing and we were in a position in the fourth quarter to win, despite everything that happened with penalties, turnovers, and missing guys that were open. We had a chance and we have to do a better job at finding a way to win at the end."
(on running game and creating movement)
"We created a little bit of movement offensively. I thought our guys ran hard. They were moving a little bit up there that caused us some trouble, but we can't put that much pressure on our running game. First half we had eight yards passing. We have to find some ways to complete balls and be a bit more balanced. I'd like to be faster, I think we play better when we're faster. Sometimes you don't have to be as perfect. When you slow it down you have to perfect, but when you play fast sometimes they get out of whack and you can steal the first down here and there. I just felt that as the game was going that I needed to slow it down to help our defense catch their breath and be able to keep us in the ball game."
(on Dalyn Dawkins' performance)
"Dalyn I've said is the toughest guy on this football team pound for pound. Just a really unfortunate incident (the fumble in OT). We didn't fit up on the 'backer… we still have to catch the ball and it was just one of those things. I don't know if he caught the ball or not, but it looked like the ball never hit the ground anyway. It looked like an interception because it never hit the ground. It's tough, it's tough for Dalyn and all of those guys. You have to learn from it and keep going. I said that in the beginning of the week, you can't lose a turnover battle and expect to win against Minnesota and we didn't. We lost the turnover battle and we lost the ball game."
(on Coleman Key's performance)
"He threw an absolute bullet in there to Joe Hansley and Joe did the rest. Then in the one-minute drive we were screwing up protection and turning guys free. Three plays in a row could've been sacks and probably would've been the ball game, but he kept the play alive. Then on the fourth play he kept the ball alive and made a big play which is good to see. We don't have mobile quarterbacks but you have to have guys who can stay in there and shake some guys off. Coleman gave us that there in the fourth drive."
(on continuing a two-quarterback system)
"It could be. We have to figure out what we can do to move the ball, get first downs, and be consistent on offense. I still believe Nick is a really good quarterback who understands this. We were just struggling at times. I don't necessarily think its Nick's fault, but sometimes you need a spark. Coleman has to keep coming, be more consistent and be a guy you can depend on. We're not going to depend on an undependable player. You have to be dependable to do the right things especially at that position and we're looking for consistency there. We have to get healthy at receiver and find a way to get more balanced at offense."
(on punter Hayden Hunt's performance)
"He did an awesome job. That a lot of pressure on a young man. He gets iced twice and it looked like it was a good kick right down the middle which was good to see. Hopefully that gives him some confidence. We have to figure out how to kick it in the end zone (on kickoffs) like everybody else does in Colorado. We have to get the other guy healthy and have a little competition there. We have to do a better job covering, they had the fair catch that came back, but we have to cover better on special teams. We have a lot to improve on and that's the good thing. We fought our tails off, we were in the ball game and we didn't finish, but there is so much that I see that we can improve on as a football team. If we do that we'll be fine."
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Minnesota Head Coach Jerry Kill
(on the team's performance)
"It's one of those things where there's a lot of things defensively that held us in the football game. Our defense did a great job in the first half, and then offensively there was nothing in the first half except the last drive. The kids never gave in and kept fighting and as I told them they will look back at this and maybe a win that will turn a lot of things around. You got to win on the road, and it's not always pretty. They are a good football team and people don't realize they were 10-3 last season. They were without players, and we were without key players. Proud of the players, this game is more than just football it's about life and this is a lesson about never giving up and fighting back."
(on the offense's performance in the second half)
"Some real serious heart to heart, and that's about what I am going to say. We still sputtered at times and we have to get better in the area and it will be a long week for Coach Kill, a good week but a long week."
(on Mitch Leidner's performance in the two-minute drill)
"Well, we all needed it. It has been one of our big question marks and we started on the 5-yard line and we had terrible field position. We did it when it counted and hopefully it will boost some people's confidence and get us going. We have to get better and got to win and that's all that matters. Like I told them, 15 years from now they will know we just won. Right now we will take it and you can tell that they were a 10-3 football team a year ago and they won't lose very many."
(on the quarterback change for the Rams)
"It did not surprise us. It did not affect us a lot. We made an error in the secondary and a couple things happened. At the end of the day, Steve Richardson had a heck of a football game, and I could see that from the boundary. They did a few things and made a big play. At the end of the day defensively in this day and age in football if you hold people down like that you need to score more points."
(on the overtime play calling)
"Well we won the toss, went on defense, got the fumble and then we have a great field goal kicker. You always have a snap, hold, kick deal. So we decided to run it, and we told them to take care of the football and get into the middle of the field. Then we had trouble getting into the middle of the field, we should have just taken the quarterback and set him there. Then we got down to the 4-yard line, and we decided to go on third down thinking that if there was a bad snap we could take a knee and re-kick it. I felt that it was the smart thing to do."
(on team's wide receiver depth)
"The young guys are struggling right now because they are nervous and they need some game time. KJ (Maye) got hurt and I am kind of worried about him and we did not have him in overtime. We lost (Brandon) Lingen and (Nate) Wozniak stepped up and made great plays. Like Colorado State we are banged up, but both teams had players step up today."
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Colorado State Players
Senior DL Justin Hansen
(on how he felt the defense played):
"We were solid. Barring a couple of key drives, we definitely got done what we needed to get done. I am very happy with how our overall defense played. It just didn't come out in our favor this time."
(on what he attributes the defense's ability to rush the passer to):
"In combination with Coach Summers' more aggressive scheme and the talent we have, not only on our line but with our linebackers as well, we can definitely expect to get more pressure when we need to."
(on whether the three-and-outs by the CSU offense affected the defense):
"It does make things a little more tiring. But, if we do our job like we did today, we can balance it out and get three-and-outs on our own end."
(on what he takes away from this game):
"You definitely learn more from your losses than from your victories. There were a few unfortunate drives that cost us. It wasn't necessarily a flaw in the game-plan or from a lack of motivation or want. I think we have what we need and we will study the film and hope for the best next time."
Senior WR Joe Hansley
(on the meaning of having a Power-5 team come to Fort Collins):
"Minnesota is a great team and they came in here and we competed with them for four quarters but we just didn't finish. It would be nice to have a couple of those plays back and that would probably give us a better chance to win but it hurts to lose to a team like that when we all think we should have gotten it."
Sophomore RB Dalyn Dawkins
(on the outcome of the game):
"It's hard but that's life sometimes. Stuff like that happens."
(on whether he feels like the team gave away an opportunity to showcase itself on a national stage):
"I think everyone that watched that game knew that we were fighting. We're not a team to push around and we're going to fight to the very end."
(on his performance):
"I want to give a lot of the credit to my offensive line. They did well up front and I did my thing when I got the ball. It's just tough not coming out with the win."
(on what Minnesota took away from the offense):
"We just weren't finishing our drives. That's all it was. A lot of the time we beat ourselves."
(on what he can take away from this game)
"We're definitely not going to back down from anyone. We're not going to let this loss get us too down. We're going to keep pushing."
(on what happened on CSU's last offensive play):
"My initial thought was that I didn't have possession of the ball and right when I turned around I got hit, but it's life and I can't control that."
Senior LB Cory James
(on how it felt to play effectively):
"It felt good. We worked on it all week and we pretty much stopped the run and whenever there was an open receiver, we were there to cut them off. We did what coach asked of us."
(on what he can take away from the game)
"We have to finish."
(on what the game taught them):
"We have to stick together. We played well in both halves and came back to kick the game-tying field goal and that was good. We just didn't finish and overtime hurt."
Sophomore QB Nick Stevens
(on feelings about Coleman Key taking over at the end)
"Obviously I'd rather be out there, but it was great to see him (Coleman Key) go out there and have some success when he got that long touchdown pass to Joe (Hansley). It really got our sideline pumped up and was able to give us some needed momentum in the game. It eases our mind as an offense when someone is having a bad day you have someone, like Cole (Key), who can come move the offense just as good as I can."
(on height difference of him and Coleman Key)
"I don't think there is any disadvantage at all; I just think they are a really sound defense (Minnesota). They played really tight coverage and they played really good defense, but I think our defense (Colorado State) played a great game too."
(on the disappointment of the loss)
"It was definitely a tough one, but I think there are some positives to take away from it. We played hard all game and didn't give up even when we weren't having success. I think there is confidence that comes to this offense when Coleman (Key) is able to go in and be very productive after a head coach pulls the starter."
(on how the game against Minnesota prepares Colorado State for next week's game)
"Absolutely, I think that we really needed to see this type of defense. I think we will definitely have our hands full with CU as well, but I think there will still be plays to be made."
(on whether or not Coach Bobo planned on having two quarterbacks in the game)
"Coach (Mike Bobo) told us before the game that Coleman (Key) was expected to go in at least for a drive, and I'm glad they told me that they were trying to get him playing time. As you saw he ended up going into the game and doing very well and was able to give us some momentum, so we ended up just keeping him in. I believe that it was initially to get him some playing time and then he ended up doing so well they left him in the game. I started off pretty slow and wasn't able to get the rhythm down….(and) he did a great job.
(on whether he's concerned he may no longer be the starting quarterback)
"Coach Bobo came up to me after and told me that I was still the guy and we just needed some momentum on offense to get us going (Colorado State)."
Senior S Kevin Pierre-Louis
(on how prepared the defense was for the game)
"We did a great job preparing all week. I think we are the most prepared team in the country, the way Coach Summers has us working. We go through reps over and over again so when we see the same formation and same play we call it out. The defense did a great job recognizing the formations today."
(on how the defense was able to match the physical play of Minnesota)
"That's what Coach Bobo had preached all year, physicality. They basically played into our hands because that is how we practice. It was like practice to us since we go against our offense with physical play every day, so it was nothing new to us since we were prepared for it."
(on thoughts of losing the game to Minnesota)
"We had faith that we were going to win the game, but some things don't go the way you want them to go, but props to Minnesota."
(on Minnesota game preparing them for the Colorado game)
"We have to go watch film on this game and then we are moving on to Colorado. This game is obviously in the past by about 15 minutes ago so we've got to move on to the next opponent."
(on how tough the loss was)
"It is a tough one to swallow, but the sun will shine tomorrow so I'm going to wake up and be thankful for being here."
(on positive takeaways)
"Defensively we know we can play with anyone in the country, I will line my defense up against any offense in the country."
Freshman QB Coleman Key
(on feelings of getting to play in the second half)
"I am just trying to go out there and take advantage of any opportunities I get. I'm just very frustrated in how the game ended and we have to come out and compete next week and win."
(on thought if a chance for Colorado State to be on a national spotlight slipped away today)
"I kind of think so, like I said it is definitely frustrating the way the game ended. I feel like our guys competed hard and we just have to execute better in the future."
(on feelings about the passes he missed)
"There are a couple passes that I wish I could have back, but it is a team effort and I am just trying to do my part to help Colorado State have the best chance of winning."
(on the struggle against Minnesota's defense)
"It's all about executing. Offensively I thought we were just stopping ourselves, we are a great team and we just have to go out there and play like we finished the ball game."
(on feelings about playing in the game today)
"I am just trying to make the most of the opportunities given to me because I don't know how many opportunities I am going to get so when I get my chance I'm just trying to go out and compete."
(on what was going through his head with 55 seconds left in the game)
"I was trying to think of tying the game up and winning the ball game. Move the ball down the field and try not to take a sack with being able to get the ball out of bounds."
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Minnesota Players
Sophomore LB Cody Poock
(on forcing the fumble)
"I knew they were going to come back to some sort of screen. We kind of knew that coming into the game that they like to slip backs out. We could hear them yell from the sideline that it was going to be something like that. When you got help over top like our secondary you can shallow up your drop and play over the backs. When I saw the throw I broke on the ball and I was thinking just hit him as hard as you can."
(on what this win means)
"This is a huge win for us, it is another opportunity for us to get better and I think we did that today. We started a little slow but it is not about how you start, it is about how you finish."
(on making his mark on the team)
"It is pretty surreal! It's been a long time coming. Things happen and you got to go with the flow; you get knocked down but you got to get back up. It is good to be here after this long rode."
Junior WR Drew Wolitarsky
(on scoring drive in the fourth quarter)
"First of all I was feeling the fatigue and I just asked myself how hard are you willing to push yourself right now? If we want to be a different team this is the time to do it. So that's been the mentality throughout camp. Always push that one more step, that one last drive. I think we proved today that we have become that team today."
(on taking his game to the next level)
"I feel like I am getting more trust on me. I am just playing my game. I have been able to do this and now the opportunities are coming my way."
Sophomore DT Steven Richardson
(on his performance today)
"I would say it definitely was one of my best games. Just trying to be focused on everything, detail by detail. Like knowing screen and draw is one of their big plays, just hurrying to the ball is always on my mind."
(on how the defense was feeling after CSU put the game into OT)
"We were just thinking about stopping them any way possible whether it be a fumble, pick, or just stopping them on fourth. It was kind of frustrating but you got to have a clean slate each down to keep your head clear."
Junior QB Mitch Leidner
(on last drive of the fourth quarter)
"The mindset was just we cannot be denied at that point. I told the O-line in the huddle lets go down and score. Obviously that's the mindset all the time but in that situation where the game is getting tight we really wanted to get down there to score. That touchdown to KJ I walked into huddle and said to the guys here it is, let's make it happen. Luckily having a player like KJ to make the play is huge."
(on going to no huddle)
"We think we do what we do pretty well in no-huddle. We can get defenses to give us some of the looks we want and wear them out. It is just moving fast. You see we got a lot fast receivers and running backs and our o-line is in good shape too right now so it is a really good feel."
(on need to improve on third and fourth down conversions)
"It is definitely going to be a focus at practice. It is always a thing offensively that you want to be trying to be great at but you know a lot of them today we missed. It cannot happen but we will keep getting better."
(on emotion after the game)
"I think it is a little bit of everything. Coach came in to talk and the guys got really quiet but he said we won we need to celebrate. It is a good football team we just played out there so give a lot of credit to those guys! They hit hard, they played well but like I said you will take a win any way you can get it."
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