Colorado-Kansas State Quotes
November 20, 2010 | Football
Colorado Interim Head Coach Brian Cabral
General
"How 'bout them Buffaloes! I couldn't be more proud of our players and coaches by the way that they have responded the last two weeks. You couldn't have asked for more. This was a big game, a very big game. The way that I understand it, not since 2007 have we put two back-to-back victories in the Big 12, that was Oklahoma and Baylor. But not since 2005 have we put back-to-back victories in the Big 12 North Division. Our goal, and it was a monumental goal, was to go back-to-back. I am very proud of our guys that they accomplished that goal. The seniors, they led us. The seniors are going to leave a legacy. I'm very proud of our offense, they just moved the ball and they got points when we needed it. That was the most important thing. Our defense started off early doing alright, then we had some issues, but in the end when we needed it our team did what we needed to do to win this game. Even our punter finally got a booming kick and that was valuable. So was there a lot of things that ended up not looking good? There were a lot of things that ended up not looking good, but there were some things that did look good and things that we did well enough to beat Kansas State and more importantly Coach (Bill) Snyder. That to me was a big win. I know all too well Coach Snyder, that's a crafty dude, and he took advantage of us in some areas. That's hats off to him, and it's hats off to our offensive coordinator (Eric Kiesau) and our defensive coordinator (Ron Collins), all of our offensive coaches, defensive coaches and special teams coaches. That was a big win for us."
On TB Rodney Stewart's best two weeks of his career
"We are determined and we decided to run the ball and run the ball more. To run the ball when we need to run the ball and to our offense's credit they've been doing well in both."
On interacting with offensive coaches
"I'm staying out of everybody's way. I interact with the coaches throughout the week and I spend a lot of time watching the offense. I don't know much about our offense but I just wanted our guys to know that I am very supportive of them. I have an idea of what the attack is, I have an idea of what we are going to do. How they do that and how they accomplish that, that is on them. I've got to trust them. I'm not a stinking offensive coordinator. They know, we have some things that we want to accomplish. There is a frame work and they work very well within that framework."
On extra jump in players step the last two weeks
"Well there wasn't an extra jump in the first two minutes. I was waiting to see if 'ok guys, are we ready yet?' I was kind of waiting for us to jumpstart and get going. I don't know why we didn't at the beginning, but these guys are hearing a lot from me through the week and I'm trying to get them to focus on the goal. Trying to get them to understand what it is that we have to do and how we have to do it and they've responded."
On what he did to fire the players up
"The specifics in the big picture, yeah all of that."
On next week versus Nebraska
"It's Big Red. It's Big Red week. These guys are getting a little bit of taste of what that is all about, but they are going to hear a lot about what this week and what Nebraska means to this program. What Nebraska means to a lot of dudes that went through this program and battled. They are going to know full hardly of what this game means. The very core of this program is centered around Nebraska. There is no question in my mind. I've got a little bit of educating to do, but I like it very much."
On if the players see Nebraska as a special week
"Not like I do. Not like I know."
On tradition of CU-Nebraska game
"Big, very big. The pride and tradition of this program is big and they are starting to understand how big it is. They are starting to understand the responsibility of representing that. They've responded. Every little piece of information I've given to our team about the pride and tradition, they are eating it up. They are taking it all in and I've got a lot more for them." This is not just another game."
On importance of the seniors to go out with a home win
"It's very important. These seniors are a great group of seniors. They deserve a lot more then what they've got this year and we are trying to make the most out of this last year for them. The whole intent and the whole purpose is for the seniors."
On CU's defense
"We struggled at times. I think we had some injuries, we had some substitutions. We struggled with the play action pass. At the beginning we started fast. We did some things that put their quarterback (Collin Klein) out of the game, so we knew that there were two phases, that there was a running quarterback and that there was a throwing quarterback. We could have done better, we could have done much better against the throwing quarterback, but when we needed it they got the job done."
On trouble of winning on the road
"There are no road woes when you get ready for Nebraska."
On stopping Kansas State's run
"We had to stop the run in order to win this game. If we didn't stop the run then you probably wouldn't have seen as many passes. We had to stop the run and to our defense's credit, for the most part we did that. Now they came out and they had to throw and that is where we struggled."
On the seniors accomplishments
"That is so stinking awesome. For those guys to accomplish things in the midst of a season like this, but when you accomplish those there is a lot of excitement. What Scotty (McKnight) has done and what Cody (Hawkins) has done could not have been done without an offensive line. I told our offensive line this week how proud we were because they have a 1,000 yard rusher, they've got record breakers throwing the ball, they've got record breakers catching the ball because of them."
On TB Rodney Stewart's passing touchdown
"Yeah, I didn't know that he was a dual threat. It's funny, I'm starting to get a relationship with a lot of kids on offense. I have a lot of that on defense. The defense has heard a lot from me. I'm starting to get to know a lot of these guys on offense and that is fun, it is fun for me to develop a relationship with a lot of those guys."
On the concept of momentum
"You've got to have momentum and I was just praying that we would have some momentum going into this last game."
On using the wildcat formation
"Well our offense has been successful with the wildcat, but that is not my wildcat. When they use that and how they use that or what the plan for that in the future I don't know. You would have to ask our offensive coaches."
On Rodney Stewart still having his legs
"Yeah he's been busy. I think he probably could be getting into shape more."
On running the ball more
"It was a collaboration of myself and offensive and defensive coaches. We've got to take care of each other. We've got to be smart football coaches. We've got to give ourselves a chance to win games. I don't know how you win games when you don't establish the run."
On DE Josh Hartigan
"Well he just keeps coming up with some big plays, and that dude you can't keep him down. He gets nicked, he comes out, he'll go back in and give you all that he has. That is a warrior. He has a warrior mentality. It doesn't matter what is ailing him, he is going to find a way to go out there and get something done."
On emotions of last home game
"I'm very happy for our players. I'm very happy for this team. Without a doubt these guys have done everything that I've asked them to do and more. I wanted this win for them more than anything. For them to finish at home with a victory, for them to finish back to back in Big 12 victories, that is big. That is big for them, that is big for us, and we've got another game. Right now all of our attention and focus will be centered on Nebraska. We are exactly where we hoped to be going into this game. We've been going at it one game at a time so we've got another game, we've got another shot. We've got an opportunity to see what we are capable of doing and what we are capable of being."
Kansas State Head Coach Bill Snyder
General
"It might be a little more complex than that (getting defensive stops). I think we did some things offensively that created some issues in the early stages of the ball game regardless of how well we played later on. It's a dual role; everybody has to play well on both sides, and we couldn't stop them. Third down was the Achilles heel for us, quite honestly. If you can't stop them on third down, then they're going to have the ball in their hands for a long period of time, and they did."
"I think all of them (losses) are difficult. The response to it is most significant. It's about how well our players, like I just said, respond to it."
On Colorado's Energy on Senior Day
"That I couldn't tell you; I don't know. I think they all appreciate Dan [Hawkins] a great deal, I certainly do. But I didn't see anything out of the ordinary in that respect. I just thought they played well and deserved to win the ball game and played well enough to win the ball game. We didn't play well enough to win it, that's for sure."
On Play of Colorado's Rodney Stewart
"I can't tell you that I wouldn't have anticipated it. He's a very fine player, I'm not saying that you wouldn't expect him to play well, but I certainly don't like the idea we gave up as many yards as we did to him or anybody else. I was anticipating that we wouldn't give up that kind of yardage, but I'm not taking anything away from his performance whatsoever. It wasn't about him; it's collectively about their football team."
On Status of Team
"I think we're hanging on by the skin of our teeth, so to speak. It will be interesting to see how we respond. There are a lot of things that are necessary. Internal leadership is extremely important on our football team; to have and develop some spirit and some emotion about playing this ball game and not feeling good about a loss, not feeling good about consecutive losses and doing something about it. I think that's the important thing. How much do we care becomes a big factor. I believe they'll bounce back to use an old cliché, we'll find out more this week."
On Play of QB Carson Coffman
"I think he played well. We didn't support him quite as well as we needed to. He had his issues as well, but by enlarge he made fine throws, and Aubrey Quarles made some nice catches, except the one he put on the ground, but he rest of them he made some nice catches. Adrian [Hilburn] I think- I don't remember if that one was called back or incomplete. Receivers cooperated with him and did a nice job. We did some things well in the passing game."
On Early Momentum Swing
"We had difficulty stopping the run which has been kind of a nemesis for us. I thought we came over the hump in the past couple ball games in that respect. We had trouble with that, and what I mentioned a minute ago, we were not very good on third down and conversions on third down."
On Team's Turnovers
"Any turnover is monumental in the ball game, and that was. I will say yes, it had an impact on the ball game."
Colorado Players
WR Scotty McKnight
ON WINNING LAST TWO HOME GAMES - "We've been through so much and it just feels great. We've come together so much as a team, and to get these two wins and at least give ourselves a chance to win this game in Lincoln and further prolong our season to a bowl game would be awesome. We're trying to control what we can control. When coach Cabral took over we basically set it down to a three game season. So right now we're 2-0 in that and looking forward to this big game against our rival. We have a tall task, but it's not something that we're not up for."
ON THE TEAMS COHESIVENESS DURING THIS STRETCH - "At least for me, I don't think there was ever a sense of pressure lifted. I never paid attention to it. I think Paul [Richardson] coming along has really helped us. He does so much and some things you don't even see. Obviously he makes plays, like his touchdown, but on my first touchdown Paul took four guys with him. That's just because they've seen on film that he's so fast and has so much playmaking ability so they say, 'Everyone guard him' and we don't have to guard 21. That was very refreshing. Having a guy like him coming into the offense and Toney [Clemons] playing well, our offensive line has grown so much, and we have Speedy [Rodney Stewart] who makes plays, even catching the ball or throwing the ball. I think we have really just started to hit on all cylinders. Unfortunately, it's later in the season but I'm thankful that we really are starting to click."
ON INTERIM COACH BRIAN CABRAL HELPING THE OFFENSE - "With the team he has brought back a ton of tradition and I think that generates more focus and guys are maybe a little bit more cohesive. He tries to come over and encourage the offense during practice sometimes. But it's really just a testament to coach [Eric] Kiesau. I think he's really starting to find his groove in calling plays. He's got the players now, across the board, so he's got a lot to work with."
ON BREAKING TOUCHDOWN RECEPTION RECORD - "That's something that I obviously kind of looked at, but the biggest thing for me is leaving with a win. I didn't get choked up after I scored that touchdown, but after winning this game, the small bit of emotion that I show almost came out. Anything that can help the team and it just makes me feel good to know that I can do that when this guy [Cody Hawkins] is throwing me the ball. I have truly loved every minute of playing at this school, even though there have been some ups and downs, it's been an unbelievable decision and I've loved my time here."
ON TALKING WITH FORMER CU WIDE RECEIVERS - "I've talked to Derek McCoy a couple of times now in the last week. I talked to him before the game and he's someone that played really well here. I don't really have a chance to sit down and talk with [Michael] Westbrook but I've had an opportunity to talk with some of them. They've all been really complimentary and it means a lot to me, it really does. I understand what a big deal those records are, but I am just so set on the team aspect right now. Somewhere down the line I'll look back on it and be really excited."
ON BEING A GO-TO RECIEVER - "That's something I pride myself on and any extra work that I can do. Obviously it's been said that I'm not the biggest or the fastest, but anything that I can control and work at, I'll do that."
ON HAVING A CHANCE TO GO TO A BOWL GAME - "There is so much tradition with that game, I'm sure we will hear a ton about it. They're [Nebraska] playing at a high level right now. I love being a part of this program and I'd love to have another month with these guys, just to practice, wherever we end up. That bowl game has been a huge goal of mine and these seniors. To go in there and to do it and beat Nebraska would be an unbelievable fashion for us, despite all the ups and downs of the season, to go out on that note would be something that would leave a legacy here. I know that's something myself, along with a lot of these guys, would like to do. They're very talented and a well coached football team, but we do have a little momentum and I think we can roll in there and compete with them."
RB Rodney Stewart
ON HIS PERFORMANCE - "I think I'm coming along as a running back. I think our O-line is coming along well. I better have had a big game, I think they're [Kansas State] last in the Big 12 in rushing defense."
ON HIS TOUCHDOWN PASS - "I might in the future have another big game, but to throw a touchdown pass might not ever happen again."
"The only thing I could have done better was probably sell the run a little better, but I was so excited to see the DB's coming up."
ON THE TRADITION COACH CABRAL HAS TALKED ABOUT - "I think he's a very powerful guy. Just to bring the tradition back I think is a good thing. I never knew about it, but we do it before the game and it gets our guys fired up. I think it should stay."
ON HIS HEAVY WORKLOAD - "Give me 40 [carries] if you can."
QB Cody Hawkins
ON MOTIVATING THE TEAM AFTER THE THIRD QUARTER - "I was talking about how [Interim Head Coach Brian] Cabral has emphasized in us to just finish game. He would always bring us up in the third quarter and we would do the one heartbeat chant, but now we do that before the game. I brought the guys up last week, and again this week and just said hey, 'This is the last quarter these seniors are ever going to have on this football field. Give it everything you've got and keep fighting. Take care and keep doing your job as best as you can and just get it done.'"
ON WINNING THE BUFFALO HEART AWARD - "I thought it was crazy. I was talking to Scotty [McKnight] at half-time and said, 'There is no way you cannot give it to Scott. He came in here and walked-on and has broken every single record.' It means a lot because I think there are a lot of fans out there who haven't liked my family too much over the last couple of years. I definitely didn't expect it, but it's nice to know that you have the respect of the fans just because they're out there every Saturday and it's nice to know you have their support."
ON THE TEAM'S CRITICS - "People are going to criticize you, regardless of what sport you play, what area of work you're in. There is always somebody that thinks they can do it better. When you're out there in the limelight, you're going to face criticism a lot. As long as I can control what I can control, which is my hard work, my dedication and my leadership, I knew that things would turn out okay. A lot of people are doing things the right way. There's no easy road to it and there is no secret road to success. It's just keeping your nose to the grindstone, being able to persevere and keep to your core values, which I've tried to do that."
ON CONVERTING A FOURTH QUARTER THIRD DOWN PASS TO MCKNIGHT - "You never want to come in and go three-and-out and I think that's what we really needed to do. Against Iowa State last week we just kept pounding the ball and we had to punt early and against Kansas we had a couple spells of that. Unfortunately, on the first two downs we weren't as successful as we would have liked to have been but on third down. If they give me a chance to throw the ball to 21, I'm going to throw it his way. He did a great job going up and making a play. I knew it was tight coverage so I threw it as hard as I could, it was a little high, but 21 is an athlete and he just goes out and makes plays."
DE Josh Hartigan
ON HIS PERFORMANCE - "We knew that they were going to make plays and we knew that we had to come out. If the offense puts up 44 points, you have to win. We knew we had to back those guys up. We've been trying to do what we can to put them in position to score. Last week was my first game back and this week I wanted to show that I can do a few things. I might not be the biggest guy but I can do some things and come out and play with the best of them. I wanted to come out and win. I hate losing and I'm a sore loser, so that was one of the things I wanted to do."
ON THE TRADTION CABRAL HAS TALKED ABOUT - "Other than these seniors, I have been here the longest. I came here January 2007 and I went through a lot of things with this football team. All of this tradition that we tried to get passed along to us seemed to die out a little bit. Coach Cabral has helped and he brings the best out in everybody. I think the way that he gets everybody fired up, all of the meetings that we've had and all the talks, is beneficial to our team in bringing back tradition and bringing back Colorado tradition."
ON REJUVENTATION AFTER LOSS TO KANSAS - "For the defense, it kind of ripped the soul out from us. We couldn't stop them but everybody came in Sunday and we all vowed that this would never happen to us every again. The offense scores that many points and we have to win, we have to do our jobs on defense. I was happy that we were able to bounce back and do what we did last week and again this week."
ON THE GAME IN NEBRASKA - "Hopefully we can get the Buff Nation to come out to the game. Nebraska rolls deep; they came here with a lot of fans last year. We need a lot of fans to come out and go to Nebraska. Do whatever you can to get to the game, ask everybody for tickets. We need the Buff Nation to be out there supporting us while we go out there and beat those guys."
OL Ryan Miller
ON TODAY'S GAME- "We definitely wanted to be a physical team and I think you execute that best if you are a power running team. I have to give it up to Rodney [Stewart], that kid has had a heck of a season. He has been running hard and I love the kid."
ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE SENIOR CLASS- "The team morale has been through the roof lately. The one heart beat, the heart of the warrior, we've really embraced it and it's shown.
ON NEXT WEEK'S GAME AGAINST NEBRASKA- "It would be great to come out of Lincoln with a win. We've got a lot of work to do. We've got to prepare."
WR Toney Clemons
ON PLAYING FOR THE SENIORS- "We were all fired up. That's the tradition of Colorado that got lost in the shuffle. Coach Cabral has been doing a great job of bringing it back and reminding us why you're a Buffalo and what a Buffalo really means. To bring that back to our warm up and our pre-game, it's been a difference. Everyone gets in there and focuses up. Nobody is scattered around or doing their own thing before the game. It's like the ultimate team bonding moment."
ON COACH HAWKINS- "You know, you have to respond to adversity and Coach Hawk was a great guy, and he gave us all the opportunity to come in here and play the game we love on the highest level of college. So you come out here and you play for that guy. We're still Coach Hawkins guys, whether he is on our sideline or not. He brought us here and instilled a lot of values in us and a lot of belief in us. We're still playing for that guy. He gave his heart and it's our turn to give our heart back to that guy. You know, whether they got rid of him early or late, we still are going to play the same way we were playing. Some things are just finally starting to click."
ON THE CHANCES TO GO TO A BOWL GAME - "We're in a great position and we're happy to be here. It's a tough position, but it's a rival game, anything happens. That's the reality of it. Rival games, anything happens on any stage, home or away, and you have to go out there and execute. Nebraska, they're a good team, but we're playing really good football right now as well.
ON PUTTING NAMES BACK ON THE JERSEYS- "It's a great perspective because the staff put the names back on there. As players, we took them off. For our staff to put the names back on the jerseys, it really told us that they are proud of the guys that wear these jerseys. It's good to have them back because that's a tradition here as well- they wear the names on the back of the jerseys, and to give us a chance to do that, that's great. That was a gift to us."
OT Nate Solder
ON CU TRADITION- "I never had seen that type of thing and had never had the full appreciation of it. I think that has shown in the last two weeks here. Cabral knows it, and he loves it, and he's been able to show it to the team in a way that we had never seen it before."
ON PLAYING AT CU- "Mixed emotions. I've always wanted to be a part of the pride and tradition of CU and I'm sorry that I didn't get a chance to do that earlier, but that's the way it works out. I'm happy that I got this opportunity to do it at all.
ON TODAY'S WIN- "Emotionally this is a huge win. For this team, it's given us some momentum to finish the season off right."
ON THIS SEASON'S STRUGGLES- "I think there were times in the season when one little thing changed and we would have won a lot more games, but I'm not looking back anymore. This is great."
Kansas State Players
LS Corey Adams
ON PLAYING IN HIS HOME STATE- "It was good to see the mountains again. I saw Keenan [Stevens]. I saw him after he went in there after the final series. We split the series two and two. So I guess it's a draw between us."
ON COLLEGE CAREER COMING TO AN END- "I was just lucky to play college football. I found a niche on special teams that allowed me to get on the field."
WR Aubrey Quarles
GENERAL- "For the points we put up today, you expect the win. But today we just couldn't get it done. So I'm a little disappointed."
ON ALMOST COMING BACK TO TIE- "It's really frustrating. You're standing on the sidelines thinking, man, we almost did it, but we just didn't get it done. So it's real frustrating that we got so close, and you think you're going to break the mark, but it just didn't happen."
ON OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES AFTER BEING UP 14-3- "I guess you could say we hit a wall. I think they made some adjustments on the defense and we didn't make adjustments on offense. We didn't finish out our drives like we should have."
ON QB CARSON COFFMAN- "Carson did a great job, coming off the bench and everything. Just coming in with great poise and leadership and he did a great job out there today and I'm proud of him."
ON PERFORMANCE IN HOME STATE- "It's real hard for me because I'm such a competitor. So it is hard for me to judge on my own performance because we did lose. My performance didn't get it done, so maybe next week we can get it done better."
QB Carson Coffman
GENERAL- "We played pretty well. We scored kind of when we needed to, we almost got that one at the end, but it just didn't happen. We have to go back to work on Monday and keep getting better."
ON BEING THROWN INTO THE GAME IN SECOND QUARTER- "I was warming up on the sideline the entire game, thinking they might call my number, and they finally did. I got in there and I felt pretty good."
ON FOURTH DOWN CALL- "That was a great call by our offensive coordinator. I thought we were going to punch it in earlier, but we got to fourth down. I was thinking we might kick a field goal, but the coaches were persistent on going for it and they made a great call and Aubrey Quarles became wide open."
LB Tre Walker
ON EMOTION DURING GAME- "It really wasn't frustration. The main thing was to challenge my teammates to stay focused like they challenge me to stay focused. That was the biggest thing. We were trying to keep our heads up and stay in the game."
ON RODNEY STEWART- "Rodney Stewart is a great player. You can't take that away from him. He is a quick elusive back and at times when he hit the gap he hurt us."
ON EXPECTATIONS FOR NEXT WEEK- "I think we will come right back. We always have, and we always will. It's back to the drawing board on Monday. We got knocked down, but we will get right back up."
GENERAL- "It was a lack of execution on our part. They were ready to play."
