Colorado-Iowa State Quotes
November 13, 2010 | Football
Colorado Interim Head Coach Brian Cabral
General
"How 'bout them Buffaloes! I couldn't be more proud of our players. I couldn't be more proud of our coaches. They had it in them. We didn't have far to go. They never looked back. They never looked back and they are now looking forward. All that I want is all of this is winning for our seniors and for our team. We have a tough team coming in but I think we are very capable. I am just so proud, I am so happy for our players, I'm so happy for our coaches; to do what they did, to overcome what they had to overcome, and not just Kansas, but the loss of their head coach, that was pretty impressive. That was pretty incredible. That is the kind of guys that Dan Hawkins brought to Colorado. I'm happy, I'm so happy. This is powerful medicine for this team and we just started, we have only begun. We have a lot of work to do. If we want to win another game we have a lot of work to do and these guys have never lacked a work ethic, never. Even in the down times their work ethic was impressive and so I'm proud. I'm proud to be a Buffalo. I'm so proud of these players and these coaches. This is a three game series so we'll see what happens. It started today."
On attitude of players with coaching change
"What I saw on that first practice on Tuesday morning, after coach Hawkins made his announcement, I saw a team that went out there with a pretty positive attitude. I thought for a team that was heartbroken, to go and practice the way they did and they continued to gain momentum through the week in practice. My hope was to wait until Saturday and see how they would respond to the adversity, to the changes, and I am very proud on the way that they responded."
On putting a stamp on this game
"I don't know a thing about offense. The stamp is (offensive coordinator) Eric Kiesau's stamp for the last three games of the season. So whatever that is, right now I like it. This was a team effort without a doubt. This was an offensive, defensive, special teams effort. You can't win without that kind of effort. This was without a doubt was a team effort by our seniors, our players, coaches and our team."
On the tone he set on the sideline as the head coach
"I was trying to set a tone of encouragement. A tone of excitement, I wanted to celebrate, and when things didn't go well, I wanted to be the encourager."
On the game plan to run TB Rodney Stewart
"It was (offensive coordinator) Eric Kiesau's game plan. In all reality we've got one back so we had to rely a lot on him. To his credit he lost that fumble early and came back. But, I think Rodney could be a lot better, we could get a lot more out or Rodney, but for us to be able to depend on him the way that we did today, that was crucial in order for us to win."
On what the defense did against ISU TB Alexander Robinson
"Play better defense. I thought our defense did a great job in disguising; they had that check-with-me offense. I couldn't tell what we were doing so that was fun to see. I was a little concerned when number 11 (QB Jerome Tiller) came in because I knew what he was capable of. Our guys played hard. I thought they controlled the line of scrimmage fairly well. They just got the job done. A score on defense is big. It's a team effort, everyone had a hand I this victory."
On going for it on 4th-and-1 in the fourth quarter
"I got cocky. I felt confident about our offense so I really thought that we could get that. I was very confident and thank god for the defense for getting me out of that one."
On thinking about going for it instead of the field goal on 4th down in the first quarter
"From what I was hearing on the headset, initially we thought it was closer than it really was. Then we realized that it wasn't as close as we thought. We had to back out of that one pretty quick."
On what he told TB Rodney Stewart after the fumble
"I know he is better than that. That was one of the top 10 teams in the country when it came to turnovers and we knew that we had to secure the ball, secure the ball running, secure the ball in the air. We talked about that all week. That was a point of emphasis. To put the ball on the ground, it hurts this team. He knows that and understands that, I just had to say something to him in a way that would encourage him to hold on to the ball."
On where he got the Hawaiian lei he was wearing
"From a very dear friend, I was fired up about it. I wear it when someone blesses me with it so I was pretty fired up to wear it for this one."
On the feeling of being in charge of the team
"I have a lot of help. I'm not doing this by myself. I don't pretend to have all of the answers. I don't pretend to do it all. This was a total staff effort. There was a lot of conversations going on in the game. I'm not doing this alone, I never intended to do this alone. I'm so proud, I'm so fortunate to have a staff that has given me the respect as a head coach."
On QB Cody Hawkins
"We had a pretty solid game plan. We knew where we wanted to go with the ball, where we wanted to attack, and Cody managed the game well. He managed his throws, he managed the run, he managed the clock. That was a little bit of the conversation that we had this week. We were going to give this team the best chance, the best opportunity to win. We have to manage the clock definitely. He is a leader, there is no question. He is a Buff first. He is Dan Hawkins' son but he is a Buff first and he is a leader second and he represents the Colorado Buffaloes in a proper way."
On the staff's atmosphere now that the thought of a head coaching change in not above their heads
"I think to a certain degree that was true for the whole team. I think that's been hanging over our head for quite awhile. To a certain degree it is a relief. As much as it hurt, it was a relief. The way those guys responded, they couldn't have responded any better. With all of the adversity of losing their head coach and the way they lost that last game."
Iowa State Head Coach Paul Rhoads
General
"Athletics are about execution. We got out-executed today. Our hat's off to the Colorado Buffaloes and Brian Cabral for having his football team ready to play and executing better than our football team. Going into week 12, there wasn't anyone in this group that follows Iowa State athletics that thought we'd be in a position to still earn a bowl berth. That's how we'll start the week: we'll prepare to win a bowl berth, or bowl eligibility anyways next Saturday against Missouri.
On Austen Arnaud's Injury
Austin Arnaud's knee injury is significant. He'll be done for the remainder of the season. We won't know exactly what it is until we get in there and [get an] MRI, but he will be done for the year. [We won't know] till Monday, or maybe later in the week. When you have something like that and you have inflammation, you have to wait for that to die down. The knee is loose and he will be done.
"I was behind the door gathering my thoughts when the doctor came and gave me the final report, and I had to walk back there and give him a big hug before I came out here. He's just devastated. He's given his heart and soul to this program. He did it today; he was playing on a badly sprained ankle today. Your heart really goes out to him.
"He was stacked up by two or three defenders and got twisted in there as the ball was stripped out. I looked on the replay, and their guy did a great job stripping it. He got his arm on the ball and punched it out. I thought that when he went down and stayed down that he was in so much pain that he let go of the ball, but the ball was stripped out. [It was] an excellent job by the Colorado defender.
"It's loose (knee), and they think he will be done even if we go to a bowl game. We'll wait and see until we get good clarity from the testing."
On Preparing for Colorado
"The preparation isn't hard, you prepare for schemes and what they're going to do and get your kids ready to defend those schemes. We knew what kind of team we'd get today because the kids that are coached by them came to Colorado to win football games. Regardless of who is leading them, that's what they were going to prepare to do for the last three games. They got some fantastic seniors, just like I did. They came out and executed better after their preparation than we did. That's the bottom line in athletics."
On Team's Play
"I can say this on the defensive front: we didn't get pressure on the quarterback. I don't know in the run game how much of that was their play by their defense, or maybe it was the scheme a little bit, but we didn't get any kind of pass rush. The offensive line, we had to put Kyle Lichtenberg in there for Brayden Burris who had a bruise on his leg and couldn't get any kind of push off. We didn't protect the quarterback; we gave up a bunch of sacks.
"We didn't stop the run today. They ran the ball on us, and anytime a team can run the ball, they can throw it when they want to throw it. They can keep you off balance and they can keep you off rhythm, and that's exactly what they did. Offensively, I don't know many things that we did right overall in the game. We didn't execute or sustain anything with any kind of consistency, and we certainly didn't run the football. I don't know if it's a trademark of ours, but in so many games we've done it pretty well and we didn't do it today."
On Rallying Point In Arnaud's Injury
"I don't think the rally will be around Austen or any one player, or Jerome [Tiller] coming in. We have too many people in this program committed to doing things right and winning football games. We need to prepare well and go out there and execute because we played better than them, and wanted to win because of all the time and effort we put into it."
On Jerome Tiller's Play
"Good, he created some things because he wasn't being protected very well. He created some things by moving outside the pocket and buying himself some time. Decision making seemed to be good, and the accuracy of his throws for what he had to deal with was pretty good too. It's a lot easier coming off the bench and finishing a game off than it is starting and knowing all week long that you're going to be the starter and you have to prepare to execute. He'll have to be a good student this week and get himself ready to go."
Colorado Players
QB Cody Hawkins
ON WHERE HIS FATHER WAS DURING THE GAME - "I can't disclose that location to you guys, otherwise you guys will sniff him out. He was here and he was watching. It was good to have the whole family here."
ON HIS FATHER NOT BEING ON THE SIDELINES - "I was doing great all week. I thought I was doing fine, then right before I came out on the field it hit me a little bit and it was tough. (Assistant Head Coach Eric) Kiesau asked me on the phone, 'What's wrong with you?' I was like, 'I'm just about to lose it right here.' I thought the guys did a good job rallying around. Coach Cabral did an awesome job leading the guys and you could definitely tell it was a little different having a defensive head coach out there on some of those fourth down-and-shorts. We're so accustomed going for it, we were like, 'Really we're going to kick a field goal here?' But it ended up working out for us and I thought he did an awesome job all week long rallying the guys. We changed up a couple things and I felt the guys were ready to play today. If you subtract the fourth quarter against Kansas, that's two great games of Colorado football. Unfortunately, we couldn't close out last week, so we really emphasized finishing, finishing, finishing this week. I think there was a little more tenacity amongst the guys. Some of the leaders were more fiery than they're used to and just letting guys know that we have to finish it; it's on our shoulders."
ON ATTACKING IOWA STATE'S DEFENSE - "I think (Iowa State Head) Coach (Paul) Rhoads does an awesome job with their defense. One thing you see about them on film is they don't do a lot of different, crazy stuff. They just play so hard. I think that was really evident at the end when we had to run the ball because it was tough. You get in a situation where you have to run the ball and they know you're going to run the ball, but they got some stuff in their necks now. I think they're a really good defense. I think the key today was balance because when have a team that plays that hard, if they can figure out exactly what you're doing, they're going to lock you down. We had to go out there today and throw it when we needed too and run the ball a little bit. You have to hand it to Speedy (TB Rodney Stewart), he had a ton of carries today, unbelievable. A guy like that that is so tough and durable, it's great to have him on your team. Our offensive line did an awesome job protecting the quarterback and moving the line in the run game."
ON COACH KIESAU CALLING A DIFFERENT GAME - "Towards the end there we emphasized, 'Hey, don't make mistakes.' We knew we had a great defense, they were rolling and they were playing good. They were feeling good so we had to just not screw ourselves over. If you look at last week and we the interception and the fumble return for a touchdown. If you hand them two touchdowns like that, it's a lot easier to get some mojo and come back from that. All of us players learned a lot from last week and we were telling Kiesau that we wanted run it and stick it down their throats. Even if we weren't gaining yards, we knew it was smart and we wanted to keep fighting. I thought he did a great job calling the whole game; keeping us balanced and right there at the end putting it on the o-line's shoulders."
ON CB ARTHUR JAFFEE'S LONG KICK RETURN - "I thought it was awesome because one thing that a team can struggle with, especially after something like last week happened, was when they start throwing punches, can you answer back. That was something we worked on all week and we hadn't run it before. Coach Rid (Special Teams Coach Kent Riddle) dialed it up; that guy is a good coach. Jaffee went out there and makes plays. Arthur Jaffee is an unbelievable athlete who is a special teams demon and I think it's so funny because he's probably the best athlete on the team that no one knows about. It was awesome to see him get a chance to make a play and he almost got it in the end zone, so I'm sure we'll be on him for that. It was a great job setting us up for another score."
ON WR PAUL RICHARDSON - "Paul's been a freak ever since he showed up here. He's a good kid and everyone likes being around him. I think coming in late as a true freshman, because he wasn't around in the summer, he showed up late and kind of fell into our hands, and we got really lucky with him. He's worked hard and he's really coming into his own. He's always been able to make a lot of plays, but just as far as understanding his role on every play, maybe he's going to be the guy, maybe he's going to clear it out, maybe he's going to run block. He's on his way to becoming a complete football player and he's one of the best athletes we've had here in a long time."
ON SIGNALING TO HIS FAMILY AFTER TOUCHDOWNS - "I didn't know if he (Dan Hawkins) was going to come out. I think he was probably sitting in his office the whole time. My aunts and uncles were up there and my mom was up there with my brother and my cousins. I just told them that when I could I was going to let them know I was thinking about them. After every score I tried to let them know. It was good to have them out there and know I had their support."
ILB Michael Sipili
ON HAVING BRIAN CABRAL COACH THE TEAM - "It was crazy. Coach Cabral is a crazy guy. He challenges you, and he calls you out, especially the playmakers. By being called out, you have to step your game up. It was good for everyone."
ON FUMBLE RETURN FOR TOUCHDOWN - "All I remember was seeing the end zone and I had to get there. Crowd was going crazy. I hear (S) Ray Polk to my right saying to pitch him the ball, but there was no way I was going to pitch it. I knew, I just had it my mind, I was going to score. That was a great block by (CB) Jimmy Smith though."
"I saw the ball on the ground, just picked it up and starting running."
WR Scotty McKnight
ON ATMOSPHERE OF TEAM THIS PAST WEEK - "I don't know if guys were more relaxed. I think it was actually tough early on. It was pretty emotional, but Coach Cabral did a great job of instilling confidence in everyone and being a great presence there. You can tell when he talks that he speaks from the heart. He's just a great guy. We practiced well all week and we got a couple turnovers, we stopped the run, and we produced on offense. It was a good win."
ON CLOSING OUT THE GAME - "There were less mistakes. There seemed to be a little bit of fire around the guys. I don't know if that came from so much disappointment from the loss at Kansas, but there was a little energy there. I could see that when the fourth quarter happened there was a difference from last week. This week was much different in we were like, 'Hey we need to close this out.' There was much more a sense of being serious. We needed that, we used it as a learning experience and built on it."
ON WHY COACH CABRAL IS SO EMOTIONAL - "He just cares so much. He cares so much about the program and he's been through so much here. He cares about us as people and maturing us. You can tell when he talks it comes from the heart. He's a great role model."
ON POTENTIAL BOWL GAME - "Really, we're just taking it one game at a time. Kansas State is a good team and they come in here next week. We just need to keep getting better and build on this week. That's definitely something that's in our vision, but really just one game at a time even though we just have two games left."
DT Will Pericak
ON SUCCESS OF PASS RUSH - "We ran the similar stuff that we usually run, but we had key matchups that looked good for us. Their offensive tackles matched up well against our defensive ends. When we stopped the run, we knew they would have to pass so we were able to tear off right for the QB and get good pressure."
ON CONTINUING TO PRESSURE IOWA STATE LATE IN THE GAME - "We were still coming for them and running our plays."
ON DIFFERENCES HAVING A DEFENSIVE COACH RUN THE TEAM - "For the most part, things went as usual. We always - (Defensive Coordinator) Coach (Ron) Collins is always dialing up good plays. It's a probably a little different for the linebackers having Cabral be a little more distant, but for the most part it was the same."
LT Nate Solder
ON TEAM COHESIVENESS - "You work all week, and when things come together like that, that's what you want. You have so many hopes going into the game, and you really never know how it's going to work out. You do your best, and today we kind of got lucky."
ON WHY EVERYTHING CAME TOGETHER TODAY - "Guys were playing hard together, and there was somewhat of the spirit of the buffalo coming out. I honestly believe that. I think there's a lot of tradition and a lot of passion in this program, and we felt that from past players and Coach [Brian] Cabral. As a group we came together, and it was just amazing."
ON THE ATTITUDE SURROUNDING THE PROGRAM - "There's a lot less negativity and there's nothing to point it at, there's just the team. It's just us, and that's how it should be."
"I think we played well today. I'm sure we had some mistakes, and there are some things we need to get better at. We made some awesome plays, and it was fun."
ON RUNNING BACK RODNEY STEWART - "Rodney [Stewart] was great. He was awesome. He took some shots, and he just kept getting up. He's a stud. I was really happy to see that."
ON HAVING 1,000-YARD RUSHER FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2004 - "Coming from the O-Line that's huge, and that's what we strive for. We can always get better. It's awesome though."
OLB B.J. Beatty
ON CLOSING OUT THE CYCLONES - "That's what we talked about when we came into the locker room. We want to finish, finish it off. Defensively, we are doing our assignments, and that's all it took this week; everybody taking care of assignments, taking care of gaps and taking care of their man. We did that. That's what happens when you do that."
ON CONFUSING THE IOWA STATE DEFENSE - "We were messing around. We were yelling. I was looking back on the DB's and pretending I was giving a coverage call. We were doing all kinds of stuff. I mean for the most part, I think that they knew something was up. We just kept trying to do different things and give different looks. We just tried to change it up on them."
ON WHAT THE WIN MEANT FOR THE DEFENSE - "I definitely came out with some fire and everybody else did. I think it definitely was because we rallied around each other. Coach [Brian] Cabral got us all going, and it was a great feeling just all having fun. The way the defense was playing, there was nothing better to watch than that."
ON WHETHER A BURDEN WAS LIFTED - "I don't know if it was lifted. I think we just took everything that happened, everything that was said, all the negative things and we just kind of used it. We just took all the frustration we had, and all the stress and took it out today. I love Coach Hawk and I always will. He gave me every opportunity I've ever had up here. I think we were also trying to give a statement of what he's done for us, and we were just trying to go out there and play."
ON COACH BRIAN CABRAL - "I think he did a great job of keeping this team together. I think what was so contagious was that we were back at home and we felt that we had something to prove. It's so contagious. Everyone is calling us out. We still have got two more weeks ahead. They're winnable games against tough teams. It's going to be a tough road, but it's not impossible."
ON ADAPTING TO A COACHING CHANGE - "I just think we kind of rolled with it. Tuesday rolled around and we all got the news, and I know for most of us it kind of hurt. As I was saying earlier we just kind of used it as motivation. Everything that's gone wrong, all of the negative things, we just turned it around."
TB Rodney Stewart
ON HIS HIGH NUMBER OF CARRIES - "It was more of a control the clock move, and to hold onto the ball. That helps us win the game, so I guess it's a good thing. I didn't think I was going to carry it that many times, but we won."
ON FATIGUE AT THE END OF THE GAME - "On that fourth and one, I was tired. My goal was to just get that, and to come out of the game, but unfortunately we didn't [convert the fourth down]."
ON HIS FUMBLES - "I've been playing football for so long, I've fumbled every season. It's a thing that I'm used to getting over, so that's exactly what I did."
ON ECLIPSING THE 1,000 YARD MARK - "It feels good. To not have a back to do that here in a long time, it makes me very proud of myself."
ON HIS EMOTIONS THIS PAST WEEK - "We should have had that win [at Kansas], but it showed us a lot because we have never been up by that much. We did the right thing this time and got a win. It really doesn't feel like too much of a difference because we've got the same staff, and we've got a good head coach."
CB/KR Arthur Jaffee
ON HIS KICK RETURN - "We'd practiced that reverse a couple of times this week. We thought we'd have some success with it, because Iowa State, they're good at reading the return. Coach Riddle wanted to give me a chance, I just took off. I wish more than anything I could've made that extra 10 yards. The kicker got my ankle right at the end."
ON THE PAST WEEK - "There was a weight lifted. The media's been swarming the team, the fans and the family. Every day I was answering questions about the morale of the team and Coach Hawkins. After this happened - it hurt our team - but it brought us tighter. It's the last piece of adversity that brought us together. With our without our coach, we love winning and we love winning together.
ON COACH CABRAL - "He's tried to change up a couple of things, get out of our usual routine. The best aspect of this week is he's asked the seniors to lead this team. He's put it into the senior's and captain's hands to lead this team and we've all come together so much more than we were."
Iowa State Players
LG Alex Alvarez
GENERAL- "It was a lack of execution on our part. They were ready to play, and they played their butts off. They were just more ready than us. I think a lot of things contributed to that. I think it was just who wanted it more and they came to play."
ON BEING ONE GAME AWAY FROM BEING BOWL ELIGIBLE- "Just keep playing. Take it a game at a time. It is at home, and my last game as a senior so we just have to keep playing."
ON WHAT HE SAID TO QB AUSTEN ARNAUD ON SIDELINES- "Just to keep his head up. I wanted to let him know that we have his back. It's not the greatest to see our quarterback go down like that."
ON DIFFERENCE WITH JEROME TILLER AS QB- "It will be the same as any game; it's just a different quarterback. We understand the system so we are just going to go out there and play."
S Michael O'Connell
ON CU OFFENSE- "It's a tribute to them, especially their quarterback. I'm going to have to look back at the film but there were a lot of big third downs where he would scramble around and he would throw it down the field and convert on the down. I think they did a good job of moving around when the quarterback was under pressure."
ON GETTING BOWL ELIGIBLE- "We talk about getting win number six, and two weeks in a row we haven't been able to get it done. We have to rally around each other and pick it up and practice well this week and prepare. Then it comes down to executing on Saturday. On all three phases today we made mistakes today. Anytime you have a day like today you don't give yourself a chance to win."
ON LOSS- "Every loss is tough, but we are a resilient bunch and this isn't the first time that we have faced two losses in a row, so we have to respond. Were going back home for senior night, so we have to rally the troops and prepare for our sixth win."
ON INJURY TO QB AUSTEN ARNAUD- "I feel for him. I've roomed with him all five years here. I've told him through every step of the process that I would be here for him every step of the way. That's how the whole team is. The team is going to wrap our arms around him and love him up because he's family and a brother and he is extremely close to me, and I've seen him grow every step of the way. I told him that it's just one of those things. Right now isn't necessarily the time to learn from it but as time goes on he will get something out of it. Adversity will strike him, so it's just unfortunate for it to come at this time of his career."
C Ben Lamaak
GENERAL- "We just didn't execute. I thought we were ready to play. They were executing, and playing hard. They got us into some bad situations and we didn't come though."
ON LOSS OF START QB AUSTEN ARNAUD- "Austen is one of my friends. He's one of our leaders and were still gonna need him. It's going to be tough, but we had a few games last year when he was out and Jerome (Tiller) came in and got us the win a Nebraska. He's very dangerous. He's athletic and he is fast. He can make plays, and that's something we are going to need."
