Colorado State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: CSU vs. Colorado
9/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Colorado State Postgame Notes vs. Colorado
Denver, Colo. | Sports Authority Field at Mile High
COLORADO STATE HEAD COACH Mike Bobo
(opening Statement)
“First off, I would like to give Colorado credit. They were very well prepared, very well coached, ready to play this game and we were not. That starts with me. I did not have this team ready to play. They were ready and they came out hot and they had the momentum and we were unable to do anything to slow it down. It’s one of those things, it’s embarrassing. That’s what I told them. We embarrassed our name but there is only one way that we can do (this) and we have to go back to work. We can talk about a lot of things and what-ifs but the bottom line is we got our tails whipped tonight. We have to realize that, we have to look deep down within each other as coach and player and figure out a plan to move forward in eight days.”
(on the Rams offense being forced to three-and-outs)
“There is no question, obviously they came out and they have always been a no-huddle spread team but it was extremely fast tonight and we could not settle down defensively. Really could not get them in any third downs, and when you’re a no-huddle team you’re getting first downs on first and second down, and it allows you to go a lot faster. They had the momentum, and offensively we needed to do something to slow that momentum down, and it was three-and-out, after three-and-out, after three-and-out, after three-and-out. It might have been five or six three-and-outs. It’s a poor job of execution, a poor job of play-calling. They just took the momentum and seized it and really took control of the game in the first quarter.”
(on the offense’s slow start)
“Sometimes things happen like that you have to come to the sideline, regroup and go back out there with the mindset that you are going to get a first down. I have to look at the tape. I thought we had some things that were there. We had some execution problems, we had some poor throws on some third downs, on critical possession downs. We had guys open and we had just one first down. You know how kids are, ‘we have to take this ball and score,’ when we just need a first down. We were unable to do that. It’s disappointing. I thought we had a good plan but they were playing faster than us, they were tackling and had a lot of hats to the ball. You have to give their defense a lot of credit.”
(on the quarterback situation)
“We have to reassess the quarterback situation. We gave Faton (Bauta) a series in the first half. We had a third and three there, with an option route to (Dalton) Fackrell and he bounced it to him. Nick (Stevens) had one the series before where he bounced one to Olabisi (Johnson). We were not really executing anywhere, not just at quarterback position. We have got to be able to throw the ball more than we did tonight, at a higher percentage, and be able to stress the defense. We were unable to do that. We will reassess it, and we will figure out who gives us the best chance to win next week.”
(on the defensive performance)
“It is a team game. We have to help each other out to build momentum by doing that. Defensively the thing I was disappointed with, we talked about it at halftime, we were not getting lined up, and we were not getting off blocks on passes in the perimeter. They did a great job blocking in the perimeter and you have to give them credit. We have to get off blocks, we have to hat and hands them we have to shed the blocker, we have to cover down inside out and we did not do that defensively. We did not tackle well. When we tackled them they were going forward almost the whole night. We have to be able to knock people back and there were times we had guys in the hole that were hitting edges, and not taking shots and knocking them back. They were doing a good job of fitting up and (running) backs were running hard. When it looks like a two-yard gain it’s a seven-yard gain. When you are going fast and going no-huddle second-and-three is a lot better than second-and-seven, second-and-eight.”
(on the number of players who played their first game tonight)
“That’s going to help them. Michael Gallup in the first half had some critical errors on some pass plays, some on execution, which we knew would happen. As he played more you saw his talent come out. Detrich Clark had a couple plays, Anthony Hawkins, some guys that I believe have talent. Marvin Kinsey got to play a bit tonight and I thought he missed some runs from the sideline but he will see that from the tape. These are guys that are going to have to play for us, defensively we have to play more guys. Second half, we put Demontrie Taylor in at safety because he will run, he will hit, and he will compete. He is a guy that might get more playing time. We have to figure out who is going to do what the coaches ask and who is going to work extremely hard. I am terribly disappointed and embarrassed by the showing by our football team tonight but we have a long season. We will get better. There is no doubt in my mind.”
(on the importance of moving on to next week)
“You’ve got no choice. That’s how we handle every day and that it’s a new day and a new challenge and we have to win that day. Now, they are 18-22 (years old), when you get embarrassed like we did tonight by your in-state rival, that’s when things are said. That’s when people start taking shots, that’s when people outside the program question what we are doing. We talked about being a family and families stick together. This is when we have to be tighter than ever and this is where the leadership has got to step up and like I told them that one guy in the leadership role is me. I have to do a better job.”
(on the defense’s ability to continue to work hard after being down)
“I will take one positive from the game and it’s a small one, but they did not quit. They kept fighting, they kept playing hard. You heard guys encouraging each other on the sideline and that’s a positive. We will look at the positives on tape, and we will point out those positives and we will correct what we did not do well. You can’t be sensitive, cannot think someone is picking on you and you have to accept it like a man and take ownership. That’s coaches and players.”
(on CU’s offensive success)
“Well, I said it earlier, and first of all we did a poor job of getting off blocks and their screen game or bubble game with some third downs and they were running that shallow. We had two third downs they were kind of blocking down field but they were throwing the ball behind the line of scrimmage and it is one of those, you have to get off the block. It’s like hitting a check-down and we did not do a great job at getting off blocks. We did not play the ball in the air very well. I thought the second half, coach (Terry) Fair started subbing some guys…Shun Johnson played a little a little bit more, Kevin Nutt. I have to look at the tape and see how those guys played in the game. But we have to get off blocks. We have to play the ball in the air and I thought the second half we got more pressure on the quarterback. We were hitting him a couple of times which caused some inaccurate throws.
(on missing the opportunity to recover a fumble in the end zone in the first quarter)
“That’s one of those momentum plays that you have a chance to make. Even though they just drove the ball down our throats you have a chance right there to have a stop. A big stop that can get some momentum. It’s one of those where he’s in-between trying to scoop it and dive on it. But we always talk about the recovering the ball. You recover the ball. You don’t just try to scoop the ball unless you’re in the open field. That’s a learning lesson for our guys. That’s a learning lesson for us as coaches and myself. I did not do a good enough job at teaching that.”
(on the defense)
“We were not getting lined up. They were going extremely fast, and we weren’t getting lined up. Guys were looking to the sidelines. You have to give them credit, they were doing a great job of changing their formation from trips looks to doubles looks to empty looks. We weren’t getting adjusted. They had a great plan, but again, we have to play better in the 1st and 10. In terms of, my history, when you’re running no huddle and you’re trying to go fast it only works when you’re getting positive plays and you’re able to keep the defense on their heels. We had how many third downs in the first half, four or five. We weren’t giving them any third and longs, they were all third and shorts. So they were able to keep that tempo. When you have a no-huddle team, you make a stop on first down for one or two yards. Second and long and even third and long, they tend to slow down when it’s third and long because they bring a different package for third and long and we weren’t able to do that.
(on comparing this Colorado team to last year’s)
“They’re a talented football team. They got a lot of great skill, a four-year starter at quarterback, I think their defense is very stout up front. They’ve got good secondary players. If you look at their season last year, they were in a lot of ball games. They just gave away their close ones, except ours early in the year. They’re experienced. They’ve been together through a lot of wars. They faced what we’re going through right now, losing and how to respond. You have to give them credit. I knew it was going to be an extremely, extremely difficult challenge for us because of the experience they had coming back but I thought we would have played a little bit better than we did but we didn’t and you have to give them all the credit in the world. Coach MacIntyre and his staff did a great job.”
COLORADO STATE PLAYERS
QB Nick Stevens
(general)
“We were never able to get it back or slow them down. I know it took us at least a few drives to get a first down on offense. It just went downhill from there. It definitely wasn’t our best showing. This wasn’t the team you’ll see the rest of the season but unfortunately it was tonight. We’ve just got to try rebound and come back next week.”
(on whether this shake his confidence)
“No, I don’t think so. I just made some stupid decisions. I think a big part of it was it was hard to get the ball rolling a little bit. I think we prepared well but not good enough. I just need to have a better week in practice and make better decisions during the game.”
(on how much this one stings because all of the work put in)
“Yeah…definitely hurts to come out and play the way we did as a team. We were definitely expecting to play better. We put in the work to put us in the position to do well but we just didn’t play well tonight.”
(on how the team will recover)
“I think we can absolutely recover from it. I think we just have to look at it as one game and not our season. Emphasize that and we don’t think the season is over because we lost one game and I think we can come back and rally.”
(on where the offense goes moving forward)
“I think we need to just refine and execute. I think we had the right schemes and the right people in the game. We just took turns mis-assigning stuff and I think the scheme is sound and effective. We’ve just got to execute better.”
(on CU defense being better)
“They were definitely good. I think that they made improvements all around. They played hard. They disguised pretty well. I mean, I got hit a couple of times. They hit hard and really flew to the ball, so credit to them. I think they are going to do really, really well in their conference this year. I guess we’ll see, but they came out and had a great game tonight.”
(on everything going CU’s way)
“We took a little while to get a first down and then they were executing on offense and they had pretty good field position all night. I think that definitely hurt us. But it definitely didn’t feel like anything was going right for us until we got our first first down, which was probably 4 or 5 or 6 drives in, which is really not good.”
(on Dalyn Dawkins’ performance)
“I think he did a good job and staying true to who he is as that effort guy. Not once did he look up at the scoreboard and say ‘why should I run hard right now.’ He ran hard every single play and I think that’s what we expect from him. But, it is definitely a positive thing that you’ve got a back who is not going to give up when it’s going wrong and always going to try to drive on.”
(on how disappointing the outcome was)
“It was absolutely not what we were looking for. I think it was disappointing because I really, really think we felt good about the offseason. We put in really good work from January up until now and we really didn’t execute like we have all year. This was a test, per se, and we studied really, really hard for it and bombed it. I think there is still hope for us. I think that we…because we did put in good work in the offseason that we are going to be able to rebound from this easily. I don’t think anyone is going to get their head down or give up on the season. I think that we have a lot of guys in that locker room who are resilient and come back and try twice as hard I guess.”
C Jake Bennett
(on what the team has to do to get back on track)
“We are going to have to get in there this weekend, see what we did right and what we did wrong, get better from it and move on.”
(on the lack of running game for the Rams)
“I think we all thought we were going to get out there and kind of impose our will a little bit but it really didn’t go our way. Hats off to those guys. They brought it to us and we didn’t really show up.”
(on how this experience can help the younger players on the team)
“They just played in front of the biggest crowd they’re going to play in front of, and it’s a decently sized game for us but I think they are going to have to learn to get back to work and go get a win next weekend.”
LB Kevin Davis
(on if the defense was surprised by CU’s hurry-up offense)
“We talked about it during the week that they do have a tempo and will go hurry-up every once in a while but you just have to get the signal and play.”
(on what the team can do after a big loss)
“Just go back and watch the film. We’ll definitely have a salty taste in our mouth and we’ve got to get back to work and worry about UTSA.”
(on if he is surprised as to how the game started)
“Yeah, that was unacceptable the way the defense played in the first half especially. We slowed it down a little bit in the second half but the first half that was unacceptable.”
(on how tough it is to lose this game in your senior year)
“It’s hard. I was able to go two-and-two against them but to lose it my senior year is hard but it’s over with. We’ve just got to worry about next week.”
RB Dalyn Dawkins
(on the feeling of losing to CU)
“It hurts, it hurts a lot. Especially losing two years in a row. We’ve just got to bounce back because we’ve still got to play, we’ve still got a season ahead of us.”
(on how fast CSU can get over this loss)
“I think real fast. It’s the first game of the season and we need to figure out what we did wrong and get better.”
(on if it felt like if everything was going right for CU)
“Yeah that can happen. They were just executing and we didn’t execute.”
(on his feeling about his performance)
“I am never satisfied with my performance, especially after a loss. Maybe I felt like I left some yards out there but you know there is always something and I am going to learn from my mistakes as well but as far as not giving up, I’m never going to give up. I’m never going to quit.”
QB Faton Bauta
(on when he came in and what he was trying to do)
“Just get a first down, honestly. I told the guys before I got in there…I was like what we’re going to do right here is get a first down. Got a first down and just kept going.”
(on how disappointing the loss was)
“It hurts. It does hurt but Colorado is a great football team. Very stout both on offense and defense. They came out to play today. We didn’t. It is as simple as that. They executed their offense very well. We didn’t execute ours very well and that’s what it comes down to…that’s football.”
(on this being just 1 of 12 games)
“I think so. You know it happens. You’re not going to win every game. But as long as we come in tomorrow with our hard hat and lunchbox and go back to work because that’s all that matters.”
(on him and Nick pushing each other in practice.)
“For sure, that’s all you can do. Push each other and keep going. I told him (Nick Stevens) right as we got in the locker room I said “We’ve got a long way to go. Let’s keep pushing” and that’s about it. I was glad I was able to say that to him and we’re going to see where it takes us.”
(on him and Nick Stevens missing throws)
“Yeah…I am not going to make the first game an excuse because you’ve got be ready to go right away. Was it because it was jitters or first game excited…maybe…but that doesn’t matter. You have to find a way to put that aside and do your job the way it’s supposed to be done.”
(on how bad the loss hurts)
“It hurts. I am new to CSU and knew how important this game was to my teammates ever since I got here. And all I ever tried to do is help us…help them to get to a better place where we could come out and win this game. Colorado played pretty well today. They are a great team and we didn’t come out and execute like we should have.”
(on if it was an embarrassment to the CSU name as Coach Bobo stated)
“Absolutely. Coach Bobo is my dude. I would honestly go to the end of the Earth for him because all of the things he taught me and done for me. Just an incredible man and incredible coach. If it’s embarrassing it is embarrassing. I don’t think anybody here would want to lose by 40 points at anything. Like I said, Colorado is a great team and we didn’t come out and play Colorado State football like we should have.”
(on his scoring drive)
“I think you absolutely have to take some pride and positives away from it so you can build on it. If you don’t, you are just going to start from zero. I just went in there and tried to get something going. First down…another first down and then a touchdown. That was one positive but that wasn’t good enough from anybody today.”
(on the QB competition still being open)
“That means tomorrow, I am going to have my hard hat and lunchbox and going right back to work. Doesn’t change anything.”
