Colorado-Oklahoma State Quotes
October 09, 2004 | Football
Colorado Head Coach Gary Barnett
GENERAL -- “It was an embarrassing performance by the team, players and the coaches. We will go in and look over things we did good on Sunday and we are going to fix the things we did wrong.
ON READINESS FOR THE GAME -- “We just fell victim to some mistakes and some bad calls by the coach and questionable calls by the coach.”
ON OSU's THIRD TOUCHDOWN -- “It didn't feel very good going in, I know that so you just deal with it. Even with that, I felt we had enough, we could have enough opportunities in the 2nd half. We felt like we beat ourselves out there. We felt like they had 21 points becaused of our mistakes, really silly mistakes. We felt like we could come out and score. We didn't feel like we were out of the game, but we didn't feel good going in to (the second half).”
ON PERFORMANCE OF THE OFFENSE -- “We just have to be almost perfect. We had three penalties on drives that we weren't able to overcome. Right now, we just have to be perfect and that's hard to do. There's a couple bright spots, the play of Blake Mackey and Lawrence Vickers had a great game. James Cox came in and did a nice job replacing Joel (Klatt). (Cox) gained valuable game experience. Right now that's where we are. We're not going to mash it, we're not going to throw it over your head. We're a team that's going to have to be perfect to score. And we're having trouble being perfect, or near perfect.”
ON RB BOBBY PURIFY -- “We have to go back and work harder, figure some things out. I don't want to speculate right now (on how Purify is doing). Bobby (Purify) came out of the game ok. That's a injury we're progressively getting better at every day. We have what we have and we are who we are and we just have to get better. We can't abandon each other.”
ON PERFORMANCE OF THE
ON CU's RUN DEFENSE -- “I do feel like (CU held up to OSU's running game). We gave them one big play. Our linebacker was trying to make the call for the official. While he was standing up pointing, (OSU) ran the play and he couldn't get to the play. That was the kind of things that we did.”
ON FOURTH DOWN PLAYS IN FIRST HALF ? “We went into this game and said we were going to be aggressive. We didn't say we were going to be stupid, just aggressive. I felt like I need to show a lot of confidence in our offense and show confidence in completing (the plays), converting it. The 2nd (conversion attempt) I made with my heart. The players talked me into it. I knew the right thing was to kick the field goal, but they were begging me to run the play, it went against what I knew was right. What I wanted to do was show them I had confidence in them, so that doesn't make for a smart coach necessarily.”
ON BIG 12 CONFERENCE -- “We can't worry about the conference right now. We've got to go in and play a game where we don't make the silly mistakes we made today. It'll be a tough climb back in right now. What we have to do is make sure we handle this the right way as a team, and we need to progress towards fixing things that are wrong. We're not going to fix them overnight.”
ON CURRENT TEAM STATUS -- “I'm not objective on this. It feels to me like we're right on the edge. We played five teams and with all due respect, I feel we're as talented as the team we played. Obviously we didn't play as well in the last two games. Whatever mistakes we made cost us tonight. I need to take all that responsibility (for the mistakes we made).”
Oklahoma State Head Coach Les Miles
GENERAL ? “We came on the road against a quality Big 12 opponent, and we came in and played well. We played hard in adverse circumstances. We played hard for four quarters. Our defense stepped up and played hard when they had to.
“It is unusual for us to score from long distance.
“It was huge for us to go up 21- 0 at halftime, and I know it was painful for them.
“Our guys played well in key situations, especially in those two fourth down stops in the first half.
“I have belief that we are a pretty good football team, with each opportunity and wins we get versus good teams, we gain more confidence in ourselves.”
ON END OF FIRST HALF- “We wanted to get out of our end and see what they were doing, and our staff recommended a great shot (at the end zone). It wasn't a specific play that was for the offense, it was a specific play for the defense that they called against us.”
ON RB VERNAND MORENCY- “He runs well in tight quarters, and he has the speed to gain a lot of yards.”
COMMENTS ON THE DEFENSE- “ They did it on the road against a good opponent, this defense played very well, and they proved to themselves and they proved to everybody else that they are a force to be reckoned with. The young guys played well, the veterans that surround them make it easier for them to step in.”
ON QB DONOVAN WOODS- “He has really played with poise, he threw the ball a lot today and we are starting to get used to that style of play from him now.”
ON CB DARRENT WILLIAMS- “We missed him tremendously, he is a very physical corner, and we are looking forward to getting him back. The best case scenario is he will be able to play next week, but we just don't want to take a chance.”
Colorado Players
QB Joel Klatt
ON DIFFERENCE IN PASSING GAME ? “We worked hard the last couple of weeks and got on the same page. There is still a lot of room for improvement. We play with a lot of passion and the offensive line played well.”
GENERAL - “The first series, we went three and out, but I felt good. At that point, I knew we were going to have a good night.”
ON
ON 3-0 RECORD ? “It feels good. It doesn't matter how we won. All that matters is that we're 3-0 in the record column. We're looking forward to playing
ILB Akarika Dawn
ON DEFENSE ? “It wasn't was they did right, it was what we did wrong. We started to play our ball. Playing with fundamentals; we fixed that around half time.”
ON NTU RB JAMARIO THOMAS ? “We weren't surprised. We knew he was good. Anytime you have a Division I athlete, you know they're good.”
ON FUMBLE RECOVERY ? “Finally somebody made a play. We were looking for someone to make a play and Lorenzo (Sims) did.”
CB Gerett Burl
ON SUCCESS OF
ON 3-0 RECORD ? “Ya, it's nice but now we have to work hard and be ready for the Big 12. This is when the real season begins.
Oklahoma State Players
LB PAUL
GENERAL- “We let down a little bit in the fourth quarter and gave up two touchdowns, but we came back strong when we had to. They were able to drive the ball on us pretty well, but we were able to come up big. This is big for us to come out with a win against a Big 12 opponent, we didn't just beat them, we beat them 45-14, and that is a pretty convincing win.
“I know that I am a good athlete, there has been knocks on me about my athleticism, but you have to be a pretty good athlete to lead the team in tackles.”
ON INTERCEPTION FOR TOUCHDOWN- “Just get the ball in my hands, and I can make something happen. It was a rocket throw, so I had to get down on it.
“I told my mom that sometime in my college career I would score a touchdown, so this one is for her.”
RB PRENTISS ELLIOT
ON LAST PLAY OF FIRST HALF- “Donovan (Woods) had a great throw, the line protected him very well, he just had to set up in the pocket and found me running a post. I was really surprised with the call, but we felt we would take a shot at the end zone, and we come up successful. We work on these catches everyday in under-throw drills, and it worked out in this situation.”
S VERNON GRANT
GENERAL- “It is our team philosophy to go out there and play hard, and make them give in. We have to make the big plays, and the only reason we stopped them was because of this philosophy. After stopping them on those short yardage fourth downs, it swung the momentum our way and calmed the crowd down a bit, and allowed for our team to settle down a bit.”
“Getting turnovers is a big part of our game, the Tuesday and Wednesday practices are working out on those days the coaches tell us to go out there, play hard and make big plays.
“Usually when the teams start driving on us, that's when players get down, but we encourage one and other, and the big fourth down stops are a result of this.”
RB VERNAND MORENCY
ON FIRST RUN OF THE GAME- “It was a priority of ours to come out and play big, we wanted to play physical and that first run allowed us to settle down and calm the crowd down a bit. If we didn't have that run the momentum could have swung either way, but fortunately it was on our side.”
GENERAL- “We have more wins coming this year, we going to be a force to be reckoned with. This game being on national television was good for us; it gave the other team an opportunity to see what we were really made of.”
WR D'JUAN WOODS
ON QB DONOVAN WOODS- “He showed a lot more poise in this game, especially coming into Boulder in a hostile environment, and it being our first Big 12 game on the road, I am very proud and happy for him, he is defiantly improving.”
ON FOURTH QUARTER TD CATCH- “All day the corners had been creeping to the line, and this time they had a busted assignment. Coach always says that you have to take advantage of these moments, and that is what I did.”
