Colorado State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: CSU vs. UTSA
9/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Colorado State Postgame Notes vs. UTSA
Fort Collins, Colo. | Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium
COLORADO STATE HEAD COACH Mike Bobo
(Opening statement)
“We accomplished a mission. Win the ball game. 1-1. I am really proud of our football team today. It was a total team effort. Ups and down on both sides of the ball. But the way our defense came out and played in the second half was unbelievable. I though (defensive coordinator) Coach English did a great job of continuing to bring pressure into the second half, continued to be aggressive where sometimes in that situation, where the offense is struggling, you might feel like you cannot continue to bring pressure and might give up a big play but he kept the hammer down and our kids responded and I am really proud of them. Proud of the fact we had zero turnovers today. Probably would not have won the game if we did turn the ball over but the thing I wanted to see today was the fight out of our team. Fight for 60 minutes, or however long it took, and the scoreboard will take care of itself and it did. Was it pretty? No. But we did improve from week one. We have to improve from week two going into week three. And I believe we did that by having competition all week and challenging guys within themselves to go out and answer the bell every practice, every meeting and get better. And that is what we need to do as a football team, to get better week in and week out. It sounds simple but that’s the way you go about doing things. We are not even close to a finished product. We’re inept throwing the ball right now. But we will get better by working and I’m looking forward to starting next week.”
(on how reluctant he may have been to play freshman QB Collin Hill, wo entered the game in the second half)
“I was not real reluctant. We weren’t completing a pass. He worked all week with the 2s, he and Nick (Stevens) split time and I thought he had the better week. I thought if we were struggling throwing the ball we would give him an opportunity and he did not play great either, but he had two big completions and one was on third down, which was a good pass over a corner to Elroy (Masters) and he stuck it on him. You can see the ball comes off with velocity and confidence because he gets on top of the ball. He’s going to compete this week and give us the best opportunity to win. I still believe Faton will play, it gave us an opportunity for us to win on his ability to run the ball with his legs. He got some huge yards running the ball, which was big for our offense. That last drive by the completion of Collin and the 6-7 yard run by Faton put us in field goal range and then Wyatt (Bryan) was able to make the kick.”
(on possibility moving forward with Collin Hill)
“Well I am not going to make that decision now. I have to look at the tape and evaluate like I do every week. We played him and I expect he will play, whether he is the starter or not yet. I have not yet made a decision.”
(on the possibility of redshirting him before today)
“You would like to redshirt a young guy, but (through) camp and spring, we felt he had a really good chance to be a really good player. So we got him ready to play. All along I was saying it would be a three-quarterback race and it was. He did not have a great last scrimmage, where if he had a great scrimmage he might have been the starter. We will continue to work him and see where he fits in.”
(on where Nick Stevens stands now)
“Nick has to compete. He has to improve and show he can hit his targets. That is where they all stand. We do not have a starting quarterback right now. And everybody might go ‘how can you not have a starting quarterback?’ Well, we have to figure out what we can do and who can make the best decisions to get us in the right play. Collin (Hill) came in and completed a pass, then he had two missed assignments on run checks, which killed that drive. So he needs to be able to handle that all and not just throwing the ball. He needs to get us in the right runs.”
(on the defensive performance)
“I was extremely proud of our defense. Last week we could not slow CU down and to come out today and not worry about last week and only focusing on today, we continued to play hard. I saw guys getting off tackles and saw guys knocking people back. I saw more than one guy own the tackle. It is good to see us getting after a quarterback. It was good to see us put pressure on him and you could tell the quarterback was unsettled. He was unsettled in the first half and we got in some of the zone coverage where we did not pressure, (and) he was able to make some throws. But once we started pressuring he became a little bit nervous in the pocket and we were able to get to him. We made some adjustments; different coverage…but all week we knew we had to pressure and we had to be able to load the box with some pressure. We were caught too many times last week in a five man box at CU, and they were able to run the ball and this week, we had some run blitzes and were able to stop the run. They did a great job. And again, hats off to Coach English for continuing to be aggressive.”
(on winning the home opener with the home crowd behind them)
“It was huge and you want to win at home. We did not play extremely well at home last year and it is our house in front of our fans. It is their football team and we want to represent them well. It was not pretty but if you are a Colorado State fan and this group of kids, in my opinion, play extremely hard for each other, and if we continue to do that, we will get better and have a chance at every ball game”
(on the three attempts at the field goal at the end of the first half)
“It was bizarre. But they kept jumping (offsides) and every time they jumped and we missed, I said ‘Thank you, Lord.’ And we got another opportunity. I am proud of Elroy (Masters; whose pass reception set up the field goal). He did a great job at making some plays today; two third-down catches, the big play before the half which was not a good throw—threw it inside—but Elroy went up and made a play. And Elroy has been a guy who has been injured and up and down since I have been here but he had a great week of practice. We came out last week thinking we would have to play Michael Gallup and he was going to start and after the week Elroy performed better and he would have started if we ran the reverse the first play to Gallup. But really proud of Elroy, he’s dependable and he shows the ability to make catches.”
(on it would’ve been a waste of a catch like that. Catch to set up FG at end of first half)
“Yeah, It would have been. I’m just glad they jumped offside. I think our set call got them jumping. We had 3 chances and Wyatt knocked that one off the goalpost there which gave us a little bit of a cushion. Just proud of the guys in how they fought. Finished the half well. You know you got 20 seconds left even though they scored. I wanted to be aggressive and try to get into field goal range. We were able to do that then we finished the last 5 minutes of the game well defensively.”
(on whether Dalyn Dawkins was injured)
“Dalyn had a little hamstring strain. You could tell there at the start of the second half. We were thin enough on guys and Dalyn did not have that burst that he had in the first half and you know Izzy (Matthews), he’s got to get healthy. He’s still not running like the guy that finished last season. He’s running a little bit unsure. Instead of hitting the hole with power, we’re not going to block every guy where there is a 5-yard hole. We’ve got to run through arm tackles and do a better job of that. It was good to see Marvin (Kinsey) run hard. He’s got to get his pads down. Then we’ve got to look at getting Bryce Peters or Rashaad Boddie ready if Dalyn’s out or Izzy’s still not at 100%.”
(on if there is frustration on the team not coming together yet)
“No, not at all. There will be frustration as a coach when you watch the film and see us not execute things that we work on but at the end of the day, we won the ballgame and you’re never going to hear me apologize for winning a ballgame. Coach Lubick came and talked to this team (earlier in the season) and the thing that he said was ‘If you’re going to coach here or be a player here, you’d better be ready for a dog fight every week when you’re coaching and playing at Colorado State,’ and that was our message all week that we’ve got to fight. We’ll get a little bit better. The thing I’m proud of is they fought for each other and that’s all I ask. We’ll get better and execute. We got a little bit better executing. We got a lot better defensively but we’ll have a whole new set of challenges next week. We’ve got to keep our focus as coaches and players of that fight. We’ve got to fight for each other.”
(on Coach Lubick talking to team earlier this year)
“It resonated with me that we have to be ready to fight every week. The tradition here has been blue collar. Scratch and claw for everything that you ever want to do. We’d better be ready for next week. They (UNC) had a big win the first week. It’s a rival game. They’re right down the road and they’re going to come in here ready to play. The first thing we have got to do is handle ourselves this week and then we have to get ready to play them Saturday.”
(on Kevin Davis’ performance)
“Kevin has really grown to me as a guy…as a leader. He’s been more vocal. He is playing really hard right now. He’s playing a lot more physical in my mind than what I saw before I got here and then what he played like last year. He is going to tackle the ball. He’s not just doing his assignments. You see him defeating blockers. You see him winning his 1-on-1 battles. Knock on wood (knocks hand on table) that he’s healthy and we’ve got him because he’s one of the consistent things we have on defense right now.”
(on if they need to learn from today and be aggressive on defense)
“Well, that depends every week on who you play but I think we play better when we’re aggressive. We’re a little undersized up front defensively. We’ve been limited with guys out at the nose guard position. We’ll get some guys back this week off suspension but we’re still going to have to play aggressive. That is just the way we’ve got to play. We have to attack. We’ve got to push the envelope and that’s got to be both sides of the ball.”
(on if he and Marty (English) talk about being more aggressive)
“Yeah…We talked about it after the game that we need to put in some run blitzes. We couldn’t survive in a 5-man box. We couldn’t subject our defensive linemen to that. We had to help them by bringing ‘backers and slanting and moving to get the double teams off them. They were killing our 3-technique last week with double teams. We couldn’t really hold the point in a 5-man box. It’s hard to stop anybody in a 5-man box so we’ve got to be able to do different things. It depends on who you play. We knew they were going to play ‘10’ personnel with 4 wide receivers and do some of the stuff Colorado did. I thought we had a great game plan and the kids executed. The kids made adjustments at halftime. Seven possessions and 7 stops, that’s pretty impressive, I don’t care who you’re playing.”
(on the play of the O-Line)
“I thought we played pretty good up front last week…running the ball. We had to get out of what we do. That was big for us to come out and run the ball early. It was big for us in the tempo that we played with in the first half. We played extremely fast. I thought they got tired a little bit. They were subbing their whole defense at times. We got tired a little bit. We’ve got to be able to play that way. We’re going to have to be able to run the ball. We have to improve in the passing game. The ability to run the ball with Faton definitely helped us with some things. If you’re just under center and don’t have a running quarterback they can stop the run a little bit easier like they did in the second half.”
(on not completing 50% of the passes)
“We didn’t complete them in camp at 50% (laughs). So, it’s something a little new for me. Throwing for 60 yards and throwing for 100 yards but the improvement like I told them, we improved by 40 yards. So, we need to improve a little bit this week in the throwing game because we’re going to have to throw it. It was good to see the guys make some catches today but we did miss some opportunities. We’ve got to get number 4 (Gallup) going. We’ve got to get him to make a play and we have to throw him a ball he can catch every now and then. It is what it is right now, but at the end of the day we won the ballgame. We’re going to enjoy this win and go back to work tomorrow.”
COLORADO STATE PLAYERS
(general)
“We’re learning. We’re young, and the thing about rotating quarterbacks, Coach Bobo has done a good job trying to give us each reps with guys because every player throws different, timing is different. We’re going to get more consistent with it.”
“We were kind of expecting it, but he’s (Collin Hill) always been right there with the 1s. Coach Bobo has given him a lot of reps and he believes in him so I wouldn’t say I was shocked when he came in (because) we believe in his ability. We tried going to him like, ‘hey relax, it’s just football,’ and I told him, ‘hey let’s just play catch.’ At the end of the day that’s all were doing. He’s definitely tense a little bit the first time, but I think if he gets a couple more series under him he should be fine.”
“I’m not going to lie, it is definitely difficult, especially with the three of them, they each throw differently and timing-wise. We try our best to get in rhythm with them. That’s what coach Bobo does, gives us a lot of reps and practice with each of them. All we can do is try hard and move forward, I think we should be fine.”
DL Jakob Buys
(general)
“This week we were prepared. We had to come out and get it. Last week we came out with a lot of energy but the thing is the turn out isn’t what we wanted so we had to push it in practice more and grind harder. Today, we just came out harder and it seemed like people were having more fun out there. Everyone seemed more calm and collected.”
“The aggressive part is that we have to get after it, especially up front, all of us. Everyone on defense has to keep pushing and get after it. Today it seemed like we did more because we were seaming them more but it really helped that it more pressure on their quarterback and that he wasn’t able to run on us or get outside the pocket very much.”
“It just seemed like the confidence in everybody just from the start of the game to the end of the game it was very high, especially in that second half. Everybody was relying on the defense and just keep getting stops and that really helped us.”
(on his two missed field goals, negated by penalties, before making the field goal to end the first half)
“I just got lucky to be honest with you. The first one you could say it was bad snap, but I just need to make the kick. Second one was on me it was just a bad hit and third time is the charm.”
“I hit that kick all the time in practice, it was a great snap, it was a great hold and I knew I had to play with the wind a little bit, I didn’t push it quite as much as I expected and it just kissed right off the upright, someone’s looking out for me I guess.”
“People keep telling me to stop making them so nervous and just hit down the middle next time. I’m giving people a heart attack”
“That’s one of the things I worked on during the off season and went to a couple trainers and a couple different kicking camps. Just working on ball flight and working on that height.”
(on who he attributes the defensive turnaround to)
“Just everybody coming together. Last week it was kind of just an eye-opening experience and we knew we had to stick together in that locker room and just come together. We worked on that all week and just stuck together and paid attention to the details and the little things like I had said; and it obviously paid off. Defense I thought played a heck of a game. We came up with a bunch of big-time stops and picked up the slack for the offense in that second half. Played lights out and I couldn’t be more proud of this group.”
(on what it’s like to watch Kevin Davis play)
“It’s fun to watch KD (LB Kevin Davis) play. It’s great having him in front of me because safeties are rotating side by side, so you get to play with KD and you also get to play with the ‘mike’ every once in a while as well. Just having him in front of you is just nice to have that leadership as well. It feels like me and him communicate without even really saying words. We know what calls he’s going to make. So if it’s loud, or if they’re going in at tempo or anything like that, he knows what call we’re playing and so I just communicate to the corner and to the other safeties. Watching KD play… it’s exciting. Great player and it’s awesome having a player like that on this team.”
(on how much easier pass coverage got in the second half when they were getting pressure)
“The coverage in the second half came up a lot easier definitely. I mean, in the first half we were trying to get some coverage sacks and in the second half the D-line turned it up a notch and it really helped us out in the back end and it was exciting. You’ve got to give it all to the d-line. I mean the d-line takes the pressure off of us and it goes both ways with the linebackers and everything. Coach (Marty) English did a heck of a job calling the defense for the second half. I mean we mixed up, brought some more pressures and ended up just changing it up on our own, something that they, I don’t think, expected and in the long run that helped us and helped us make plays on defense.”
(on the emotion in the locker room at half)
“You give up that touchdown right before half and it kind of puts a little knife in your gut and it wasn’t a good feeling. But then, you have Elroy (Masters) making that big catch and you have the kicker (Wyatt Bryan) on the third time… the third time’s the charm…” (laughs) …” Everybody’s seeing that it’s just one flag after another and you’re like, ‘alright third time’s the charm.’ It was definitely… it gave you some room to breathe on that, especially after the defense gave up that touchdown. You’ve got to attribute that to the kicker. He did a heck of a job.”
(on the feeling of winning the home opener in front of the their crowd)
“It’s nice to get that win, especially this home opener, and just to kick off the Farewell Hughes, and I think that to get a win underneath our belt did not only help us in the locker room but it helps the entire fan base. It helps everybody, like the CSU community, so getting a win underneath our belt this week was definitely big to us. Enjoy it obviously but be ready to get a little bit better next week and just come out next week for UNC.”
(on if this team has played up to its capability yet)
“I think that we keep on getting better every single week. I don’t think that we are anywhere near where we can be. But like I said, just little things every single week that we can just work and progress every single week. You either get better or you get worse every single day… and you’ve got to get better… day by day and week by week. You can’t live up to your full potential in the first couple of weeks. We definitely have room to grow. It’s a young defense as everybody knows but we are definitely stepping up and making plays and just becoming familiar with it.”
LB Kevin Davis
(on how they played in second half)
“I’m super excited. It was a complete turnaround from last week. Guys were excited, guys were trying to get the ball, and guys were doing their job, so it was exciting to watch.”
(on the difference between first and second half)
“We definitely had a salty taste in our mouth from last week, but I think the game plan was a lot more aggressive. We’re just trying to get to the ball and get our linemen moving.”
(on if this game felt more like last season compared to the opening game)
“I think we probably blitzed more today, a lot more today than the opener. But that’s something I think we’ve always done with Coach English.”
(on how he played specifically)
“I’m just doing my job. Coach English calls the plays and we just have to execute them.”
(on if his teammates stuck to the plan more this game/doing their jobs the way they’re supposed to)
“I think we had a lot more guys rotate and guys were doing their job, but I think the biggest difference between last week and this week is that we didn’t panic at all. At the beginning there were a couple third-down stops that we should have gotten that we didn’t, but we didn’t panic. We went back and talked it over and then just kept moving forward.”
(on his progress with leadership)
”I think I am kind of adjusted to it now. I see that guys look up to me, just being an older guy. You guys have probably heard about ‘The Program’ that came in (and taught leadership development). They put us in positions to be more vocal, so yeah I think it’s going good.”
(on how important this win was for him and the team)
“I mean it’s huge. Last week was a disappointing game. We were very disappointed in the way we played. Obviously we didn’t do everything 100% today, but overall we had a pretty good game as a defense I think. Especially the second half, we got a bunch of third downs. I mean it’s exciting, just as a football player you get to let loose, get to go hit the quarterback, it’s fun.”
(on if there were any seeds of doubt after the first drive when UTSA got the touchdown)
“No, it was calm. It was really calm. Like I said, that’s one of the biggest differences from last week is we’re calm. We talked about what happened, and we just moved forward and put that in the back of our minds and worried about the next play.”
(on the depth and rotation all the way across the defense compared to last year)
“I definitely think so. This year we have a lot more personnel groups, where we bring in guys that are maybe more of a rusher, or maybe more of a run guy or whatever, so I think there’s a lot more personnel that we could put into the game depending on the situation.
(on his Godmother being here watching from Germany)
“I think my parents are probably helping her out a lot…” (in understanding the game) “She’s having a great time watching American football. She went to the CU game too.”
QB Faton Bauta
(on getting that first win as starting QB)
“Oh, it’s awesome. Definitely a great feeling in the locker room afterwards for sure. We were pretty excited. I know I was excited, but as everyone knows there is a ton of work to do. But to come out with a victory… it’s exciting. We are going to enjoy it tonight and then get back to work tomorrow.”
(on QB Collin Hill going in)
“I mean, he has to when I wasn’t throwing the ball well; you’ve got to put him in. It didn’t bother me, I was still there cheering everybody on. I was cheering him on, for him to make his throws and he did, and got us a few first downs so it was pretty good. It didn’t bother me because he got us the first downs we needed for the game.”
(on the three-man quarterback race)
“I don’t think it’s awkward. I think eventually somebody is going to come out on top so we’ve got to just keep playing and keep improving. There’s no reason to get discouraged at all. Either way we are going to all enjoy this tonight and then get back to work.”
(on if they can keep pushing each other like fall camp and spring now that its in the midst of a season)
“I think so, it is definitely challenging I would say, but it’s just something you have to do.”
(on his personal performance)
“I think it just happens sometimes, a bad series. I was just trying to get into a rhythm with what we were doing and what they were doing defensively, but some days it’s just not going to work out the way you want to. Its not going to be as pretty, but you’ve got to still find a way to win.”
(on if he is walking away feeling like THE quarterback)
“I always will. I always walk in feeling like I am the quarterback. I know I have said that before, but my demeanor is not going to change, I guess my psyche is not going to change about who I am as a player and as a quarterback, even though improvements have to be made, it’s not going to change me and who I am.”
(on if this game affects his relationship with other QB Collin)
“No, not at all. He is still my little brother. If he ever needs help with anything, I’m still going to help him. I know I threw the ball pretty terribly. Every day is not going to be perfect. That’s what practice is for. You keep improving and then when you have that awesome day all of a sudden then everybody is going to be like ‘oh wow’.”
(on how much he valued his defense)
“They played pretty stout. But that’s why it’s a team game. You’re not going to have both sides of the ball, you know as much as you want to, you’re not going to have both sides of the ball firing on all cylinders every time. That’s pretty rare I think with any team across the country, but that’s why you have a defense to pick up the offense and you have an offense to pick up the defense, and you have special teams to pick up everybody. So I was happy to see that and I was just encouraging my team and like I said, that’s what teams are for and that’s why we don’t just have an offense going out there or just a defense going out there.”
(on how he feels about this win)
“A win is a win. You can’t really envision it in any way. My favorite ‘Fast and the Furious’ quote, is Dom when he says, ‘Winning is winning. Doesn’t matter if you do it by an inch or a mile’ you’ve just got to find a way to do it and it doesn’t really matter, but it was good for us to get this feeling.”
(on getting an offensive rhythm started right off the bat)
“It feels good because that’s what we work for. We really do it every day in practice and it feels good to actually get out there and execute it.”
UTSA Head Coach Frank Wilson
(on the general overview of the game)
“I thought we came out a little flat at times. The preparation was there. We thought we were prepared to play; evidently we were not. We came out and we did not stop the run and we did not run the ball effectively as well. We thought that we would need to win the game up front, that the big men would have to lead this team but the onus falls on this cat right here. So to get this team ready to play, get their emotions intact, to be able to go out, to take the field to do the things we need to win is my job that I am charged to do. We will be better. I will be better.”
(on how Colorado State’s defense played against their running game)
“You know, we just didn’t do a very good job of identifying the twist and things that they presented to us. It was something that we had practiced on so they didn’t do anything surprising to us, but we just didn’t hit it home enough to be technically sound on the fits that we needed to finish those blocks.”
(on the decision to play quarterback Jared Johnson to start the second half)
“We just felt that they were sending so much blitz packages that he (Johnson) would give us a chance from an elusiveness standpoint to be able to extend the play with his feet but we’ve got to block somebody. So we will be better at that, at identifying those things. We need to rush the ball better. That will make them a little less antsy from attacking us and when we do that we will have the opportunities to throw the ball down field as well.”
(on the game’s turning point)
“I thought we had opportunities to make this a game, to take our shots but the reality is today we were not good enough. We finished second to a team that prepared well and was determined to defend their home and so hats off to our opponent, Colorado State. They did a fine job. We need to be better.”
(on the defense’s improvement from the first half to the second half)
“I think in the second half we saw that’s UTSA football. They came out, they tackled well, got their assignments done and did the things necessary that we needed to do to stop the run game. I was very pleased with them. They never quit and that’s the good thing about this team, we continue to fight hard and to the end but today we came up a little short but the desire to want to win and the effort to fight to the end has never stopped.”
(on if preparation will change with next game being on a Friday)
“Not necessarily different. Our preparation will be faster, or earlier should I say. Everything is moved up a day so we’ll grade this film on the airplane and first thing tomorrow morning and get it and be done with it and then start our preparation on Arizona State.”
Safety Michael Egwuagu
(general)
“I think we need to execute more. I think on the defense, offense, and special teams we were not good enough. We are going to go in tomorrow and get everything corrected. Although the second half was better than the first half, it’s never fun losing. It’s a bitter feeling, there are some positives to take away from the game but all in all we have to get better and that’s all it comes down to.”
(on Colorado State’s first half-running game)
“I am not so much sure if it was something they were doing. I think it was moreso us defensively, shooting ourselves in the foot, making mistakes not fitting right. Like I said we have to come out and execute better.”
(on the defense’s approach in the second half)
“Defensive Coordinator (Pete Golding) came in and we made our halftime adjustments. He is phenomenal with his halftime adjustments. Coach Wilson came in and talked to us about it being a fight and we would have to dig deep and be tough. We came out and like I said we did not execute to the best of our abilities and we are going to get it corrected.”
(on playing on a short game week)
“You have to have a short memory. We will go in tomorrow, and tomorrow is the truth. That’s what we call it. Sundays are for the truth, we go in, make corrections from this past game, after that it’s done. You have to have a short memory and we will come back Monday to prepare for Arizona State.”
(on the quarterback play for UTSA)
“I think our quarterbacks are good, they stay composed. I am proud of both of them, they both are troopers, and they are both hard-nosed guys. They are never going to point a finger at anyone and I am excited to see how we respond as a team, I think we will surprise a lot of people.”
Safety Nate Gaines
(on the game)
“For the most part when we came out, we came out flat. At halftime we got in and made our corrections and we started forcing three-and-outs early. Something we have to focus on is coming out strong in the first half.”
(on Colorado State’s first-half running game)
“They were just being more physical at the point of attack, that’s just one thing that’s on us, it’s a mindset. They came out they were pounding the ball and we shied away from contact. That’s just not football.”
(on the team’s ability to start games)
“They came out and up-tempoed us a lot. We were getting the calls in late so everyone was scrambling to get lined up. At the end of the day we don’t know the call, we have to play a call, get down and get ready to go.”
(on what needs to be improved for next week)
“We are going to get into the film room and make our corrections. The team we are playing this upcoming week is a totally different offense. Like I said the game is on us. We need to do a better job of not making mistakes early in the game and give the offense an opportunity.”
(on UTSA second half performance)
“It was just a mindset. We knew that we got beat in the first half and we were getting pounded in the first half. We just came in (to the locker room) and kept each other up and we told each other that it was not going to happen in the second half. We came out, they ran it, we expected that’s what they were going to do, and they could not do anything without it. We need to get more takeaways, give our offense a short field and let them punch it in.”
QB Dalton Sturm
(on the game)
“I thought we came out pretty strong. Offensively, we moved the ball on the first drive and scored the touchdown. We were unable to come out in the second half. I though we got into a slump and weren’t able to get out of it. Our defense played a heck of a game in the second half and really stepped up. We kind of flipped roles, we have to be on the same page all the time.”
(on Sturm’s performance during the game)
“Not that it really matters, but I thought I did alright. Sometimes I held onto the ball to long. I am probably accountable for one or two of those sacks for sure but we did not do enough to win as an individual and not as a team. It does not really matter about individual stats now, so we have to come back, watch the film tomorrow and get ready for next week.”
(on Colorado State’s ability to stop the run)
“We just weren’t able to get it going. We have two great backs back there, and the offensive line always does a great job. Props to them. They were twisting and doing a lot of things, bringing blitzes, but that’s not an excuse. We definitely have to get the run game going so we can open the passing game more.”
(on the positives of the game)
“I thought we had a lot of guys catch passes today especially in the receiving corps. As bad as we did play defensively in the first half, offensively in the second half we were still six points down with almost an opportunity to go down and score and win the game had they not made the field goal. We were in the game, that’s a great sign. We did not play even close to our potential but it’s a good sign to know if we would have played, we would have been there.”
