Quotes
October 07, 2006 | Football
Colorado Head Coach Dan Hawkins
On Philosophy
“Ultimately, life comes down to some values and morals, and whether life tells you if you're a winner or a loser, it's up to you ultimately to decide what happens. No matter what happens, we've got our pride and our dignity and integrity, and we're going to continue to do things right. We don't know why something like illness, or loss of job, or death, or divorce, no matter what it is, sometimes life keeps serving it up and not like we want it to serve it up. But we determined what our response is going to be to that, and you have to say ?Hey, you're never going to knock me out.'”
“I don't know if (losing) is draining. It's another variety of life and it's another adventure you go through. It's another battle you go through, and you chalk that up and you learn to handle it and you learn to deal with it. When you go through this deal, they're not always wins, so you've got to be on both sides of it.”
“I really feel like I'm going to win every game. I really do. I see that, I visualize it, and I've got thoughts in my head as to how we could do that. But at the same time, it's not overkill. You've just got to get going fast and then finish. When it's over it's not ?We won' or ?We lost.' I've just been doing this for too long. You never say ?This is going to be a game I'm going to win' or ?This is a game I'm going to lose.'”
On Baylor's running game
“They got us with a couple of traps inside when we were playing the pass.”
“They ran the ball on us more than you'd want somebody to run on us. It seemed like we had a hard time blitzing on them at times, and, again, as your offense starts drying out, it gets tougher on your defense. Those two things have to work in concert.”
“They ran better than we thought they would.”
On decisions during the final minute of regulation play
“It's a question of being aggressive and putting yourself into a situation where you could kick a field goal.”
“It's a question of having the right plays and having the right sequential plays and being able to put them in the right order. We needed to get where we were on the field to a reasonable spot where Mason (Crosby) could kick a field goal, and, worst case scenario, I'm going to put my defense in and we'll go play in overtime.”
On Colorado's offense
“It was kind of sporadic. Good at times, had a hard time getting into a rhythm sometimes. But we got some plays toward the end, which is good.”
“The offense had a little bit of a lull, but when we needed something, they did, which was good. For the first time, really, our defense didn't get an answer until towards the end of the game, but our offense was answering. You'd kind of want to win as a team, but it's definitely another learning lesson.”
“It's just sporadic. Our whole offense is sporadic. It's a bi-product of when you have a hard time getting rhythm going.”
On K Mason Crosby's missed field goal
“The ball he missed today was probably the first bad ball he hit. In practice or in a game, ever.”
On team pride
“I think these guys and B-Jack (Bernard Jackson) will tell you: win, lose are draw, we put this on ourselves. We were close in this game like we were in Georgia, and you miss out on an opportunity to get your team in the lockerroom and say ?Hey guys, let's not freak out here.' Because there are still some things we need to get better at. And that's it, you have to keep going back to the well, and digging it up, and looking for solutions. You're not a quitter and you're not a frontrunner.”
On momentum
“In some areas, we were going through a dry spell, and you can see when we made some plays, it got some momentum going.”
On the Win
“It's huge. It is time for our kids to get a break. On the last play, Joe [Pawelek] was just in the right place at the right time and he made the play when he had to, and that was the difference. We put them out on the field and told them that a turnover wins it, and sure enough he came up with pick to win it.”
On the meaning of the win to the program
“I think it is a testament to our kids. They really hung in there and believed in each other, and they found a way to win it. It is too bad that somebody had to lose this one because both teams played well, and I know how it feels over in that locker room, because I have been over on that side, but it is time that our kids got a break.”
On the 4th down play in the second overtime
“That was made possible because of the protection that we got. We had a fourth down and we did not panic. Shawn [
On what he said to his players before 4th down play in overtime
”They were saying to just believe. Believe that we were going to go out there and give it our best shot, and get it done.”
On the offensive line
“They did a good job, but there are still a lot of things we could do better. As well as we played, we still have a lot of room to improve. As our offensive line gets better, our offense will get better.”
On the running game
“We went into this one knowing that we need to pick it up in the running game. As you noticed we put the quarterback under the center and tried to dial it up a little more. We have some work to do, and we are not perfect by any means. That was something we tried to help ourselves out with this week, and it really helped us take off.”
On punt formation at end of regulation
“We thought we could block the punt. We said lets go for the block and not risk muffing the punt because they still had enough time left on the clock to score. We just went for the block.”
Colorado Players
ON END OF GAME-“We were just trying to make something happen. I just threw a bad ball. It hurts and it's tough. Especially losing the way we did. I wish we could have pulled it off, but we just have to bounce back and look forward to next week.”
ON BOUNCING BACK:-“We progress every week so we've just got to keep playing hard both offensively and defensively. No one gave up today. We played until the end.”
ON TE TYSON DEVREE-“I don't necessarily look just for him, but he's playing really good football right now. He's going to try to get open.”
ON WHETHER OFFENSE IS PROGRESSING-“Absolutely. We're making progress in every area”
ON THROWING BALL AWAY-“[LB Joe Pawelek] took the ball. I didn't think he was going to get as high as he did, but I could have passed it sooner.”
GENERAL:-“We had them all day where we wanted them, we just couldn't finish them. We ran the ball exceptionally well.”
ON GETTING CLOSER: “We just have to keep getting better and concentrate on our assignments. We need to make sure that we're out there to make a play, not just there. Many of times we've been there, but aren't making the play.”
ON BAYLOR: “They came out with a great game plan to run the ball and they did. We have to do our assignments and when we don't then that's what costs us the ballgame.”
ON WHAT TO TELL TEAMMATES-“The same thing as last week. You just have to keep your head up. We have to keep going forward and keep encouraging each other on everything whether in practice or a game. We have to let each other know that we need to work even harder. You can't get down on your teammates and you can't get down on yourself. You just have to keep on going, it's just like life. Some things come up that are unexpected but you have to keep on moving on.”
ON BAYLOR'S OFFENSE-“We were pretty prepared for them. They came out and got the job done and we just have to do our assignments better.”
ON DEFENSE-“We came out and played pretty good. We lacked in some areas that we could get better at. There aren't any that we can't get better at. We just have to keep on working.”
RB Hugh Charles
GENERAL:-“We have to stay positive. We're a good team and we know that. We always start out strong and today we showed that we can finish. Coach Hawkins is good about picking us up and getting us back on the positive side.”
ON MOVING FORWARD-“It's tough but after tomorrow we're going to get this game behind us and start focusing on the next team. The same attitude is going to be put forth like we did in this game. We played hard, we know what we were doing and we're a solid team. We just have to keep playing hard.”
GENERAL?“There is not a lot to say, both our offense and defense played their hearts out today. It leaves a bad feeling in your stomach to not come away with the win.”
ON OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCE?“There were moments there [during the game] when we didn't finish, there are still pieces of the puzzle that we need to put together to get the win.”
ON PERSONAL PERFORMANCE?“I'm pleased [with my performance], I just need to keep running the ball hard and show the coaches the kind of player I am.”
ON DOUBLE-OVERTIME TOUCHDOWN RUN?“I could see it develop right away. Both the corners and their safeties shifted and I saw where the hole was going to open up. I saw it right away; I just cut back and followed my lead [blocker] Mo [FB Maurice] Cantrell all the way to the end zone.”
GENERAL?“I don't think that it's [the loss] that disappointing. We made a lot of big plays in big situations; I think it would be more disappointing if we weren't this close. We played too well and made too many big plays to be disappointed.”
ON DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE?“Defensively, we did a good job. We had a few mistakes and they scored, you have to take your hats off to Baylor they played hard and capitalized when they had the opportunity.”
ON HOW THEY WILL MOVE ON?“The same way we've washed away the last five [games]. We have to take away the positives, keep improving, get in the film room and come back next week and try and get the win.”
ON TWO INTERCEPTIONS?“The first [interception] one I knew the play from the beginning. The way he ran out there and the way the quarterback looker rolling out, it just developed like we practiced. The second one, they had been running a lot of screens so we were watching for it. I caught them on a screen and go. It was a huge play for us, but I didn't even realize I caught it in the end zone until after the play was over.”
ON BAYLOR'S DOUBLE OVERTIME 4TH DOWN TOUCHDOWN?“That was another big play for them [Baylor], and again it was on us, just another mental mistake. We can't have those and expect to win games.”
ON LOSS?“This is definitely a tough one and we just have to come back and get ready for a tough Texas Tech team. They are going to have to kill us before this team will quit.”
TE Riar Geer
ON OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCE?“Yeah, it felt like we finally felt our niche on offense. I can't believe we lost, just the way it was going and the way things were finally coming together for us I thought we were going to win. It is just unfortunate that we played so well as a team and it didn't lead to a win. We just have to take a deep breath and prepare for [Texas] Tech.”
ON OVERTIME TOUCHDOWN CATCH?“We practiced that play a lot this week, and when we ran it just the way we wanted and I scored. It's just unfortunate it doesn't really matter because it didn't lead to a win.”
