Tuesday Press Conference Quotes
October 27, 2015 | Football
Colorado Head Coach Mike MacIntyre
General
"I was excited about our win on Saturday night (at Oregon State), and we're also excited about playing a 12:00 o'clock kickoff. We had four night games in-a-row, our kids are excited about getting up and playing instead of waiting around the hotel. We have a tough, tough matchup with UCLA this week. I thought, losing (former quarterback Brett) Hundley that they might take a step back with their quarterback spot, but I think (current QB) Josh Rosen is an incredible freshman quarterback and I mean the word incredible. He has great arm strength, sees the field, and makes all the right throws. [UCLA head coach] Jim Mora and [offensive coordinator] Noel Mazzone have done a good job with him and with their offense. He has a lot of weapons on offense, you start with [RB] Paul Perkins, who I think is one of the best backs in the country. Then, they have the big athletic receivers that can make a lot of plays. Their offensive line is athletic. Defensively, their secondary is really athletic and moves well. They lost a couple really good players on defense of course, but they have guys that fill in right behind them who are excellent players. Their nose tackle Kenny Clark is just a sophomore, but I think he is a force inside. They have an excellent pass rusher when they put [LB] Deon Hollins outside to rush. They are a very talented football team. Also, their kicker, I think he kicked about an 80-yarder the other night. A 60-yarder, but it looked like to me it could have made it from 65, maybe even 70. He's an excellent kicker. They have a very good football team and it will be fun to go play in the Rose Bowl."
On what DB Chidobe Awuzie has meant to the defense     Â
"Everything. He's a phenomenal football player who has gotten better and better every year, you know he started as a true freshman. He's a young man that I've known since he was a ninth grader, I kind of saw him grow up there in San Jose. He comes from an excellent program in Oak Grove high school there in the San Jose area. I think, to me, he's an All-Pac-12 football player. He makes plays, he sacks, he covers, he rushes, and he does a little bit of everything. He's an excellent player for us."
On the progress made by the defense this season
"I definitely think we've improved on defense, we have more athletes out there. We've been bummed up over there too, we went into one game with all freshmen linebackers and it was tough. Then, not having [LB] Addison [Gillam] out there, he's been bummed up and now he's going to redshirt, that hurt us. I think we're making good progress there and our guys are getting better and better at understanding the defense. I think our d-line is getting better and better, understanding how we're doing that. In this league a lot of teams score different points at different times; we have to find some way, somehow to have one more point than the opponent. I do think our defense is making a lot of plays, we're being aggressive, challenging a lot of things. Still, in this league you have to be able to tackle in space and we've done that well at times and not as well at times, but I think we're getting better and better at that and understanding our leverage. Our guys are doing a good job, just have to keep moving down the road, keep improving and I think we're making some progress there."
On if the defense will try to disguise packages more to confuse UCLA QB J. Rosen     Â
"We're going to try to put 13 guys out there and really confuse him on the coverages. Their offense, one of the thing about spread offenses when they spread you way out, is it's harder to disguise (defenses), and when it's going fast. We'll definitely try to disguise like a lot of teams have, but sometimes when the (offense) is going really fast, you just have to get lined up, you can't drop down late or see the time clock because they are snapping it so quick. We will do some things to try and confuse him, just like we have tried to do against all the quarterbacks (they have played). He's a young man that came from a really good program, and of course he was there for all spring practices. But, his ability to adapt and make accurate throws within the pocket with the pocket moving he can just side step. He's made a couple throws off his back foot that you'll see NFL guys make, and really strong arm. So I've been impressed with what I've seen. We definitely have to confuse him, we definitely have to make him uncomfortable; if he's comfortable and he knows right where he's going, he'll make a lot of plays."
On the injury situation among players
"We'll know more about [WR] Shay Fileds as the week goes along and we'll know more about [LB] Ryan Severson, but we'll prepare for them not to be there at this point in time. But we'll know later in the week. Both of those guys have played enough where if they got well, they could go play. I think we'll have [OL] Gerrad Kough back, he practiced today but was not able to play in the game Saturday which we were hoping he would, but we went out there and we had about eight starters out if you go from the beginning of the season and if you take into (account) a couple of backups who became starters and then they were out. So it was kind of a mix and match. But the way the coaching staff handled all that, it also affected our special teams a lot – we had a little substitution error one time because another guy got hurt and it was just kind of hectic because you're starting to get down the road some there. We were able to handle that though. I think well have a few of those guys back, right now I could say Gerrad Kough will be back, but I don't know about everybody else. I don't know if [OL] Jonathan Huckins will be out there, I don't know if [OL] Sam [Kronshage] will be out there. We'll know as the week goes on. [LB] Ryan Moeller will not be out there. He's still in his concussion protocol and he's feeling better and better, but at this stage he will not be able to be out there. I'm not going to rush him back. He's moving better right now, but he's still at the higher stages of the concussion protocol so we'll give him some more time."
On how much a win in conference play can propel this team     Â
"I think what it does, any time you work hard at anything in life, any business or anything, and you're not having all the results you want and you're going like, 'Gosh, when is it going to happen, when is it going to happen?' When are you going to breakthrough with a big sale if you're a salesmen or when are you going to be able to finish the house, whatever, all the different things, even the stockbroker world. I think the players were kind of feeling that, and then getting that (win) kind of validated all their hard work and time and effort. Then it puts you at 4-4, we're 4-4 late in October, I don't know how long it's been since Colorado has been 4-4 late in October. We'd like to be 8-0 late in October, but it still gives us hope to reach some goals that they want to reach."
On if he's notice an extra 'pep in the step' of players         Â
"Well, we didn't have a lot of extra pep in our step when we landed and went into our houses at 6:30 in the morning Sunday morning. Then, Monday we kind of game them some time to recover. But today, I thought they had a pep in their step and I think they were excited. And of course, it doesn't hurt when you go outside and it's a gorgeous day in Boulder, Colorado like it was today. So that makes practice even more fun.
On why he is so emotional on the sidelines as a coach      Â
"If you think about your own personal family, if you spend hours and hours and time and time and invested in them and see them overcome different obstacles and see them reach different goals and then they don't get to reach certain goals and you see them hurting and trying. Just take your own family, that's what a football team is to me. All 112 of these young men are really my kids, their parents entrust them to me. I have to love them, care for them, discipline them, handle them when they're knuckle heads, keep maturing them, keep praying, keep working with them, keep pushing them, and keep finding ways to push the right buttons. A coach's job is to make a player do the things he doesn't want to do in order to reach the goals he wants to reach. When you're pushing kids and you're helping them – when you see, game after game and their eyes are like, 'Oh crud,' you want them to be successful. Then when you see that joy in your eyes and you see them proud and excited and all that, it's just like a proud dad. It's an emotional situation and it should be, if you put that much time into something it's going to be emotional. If it's not, why do it? That's the thrill of it, and that's also why a loss hurts because you put a lot of time into it. But, there's all the other things, too. When I watch a kid make a play, I think about the time the kid sat in my office, or I think about the time that something happened within his family and we had to go through it; or he's having a hard time here or something off the field that nobody knows about and I'm the only one that knows about and I see him overcome something. That's what I see. I don't just see [DB] Chidobe Awuzie, I see everything about Chidobe. I don't just see [QB] Sefo Liufau, I see everything about Sefo Liufau. I'm fully invested into these kids and that's why it's emotional to me."
On his willingness to be himself on the sidelines    Â
"I think Bill Parcells gave me the best illustration, and Bill Belichick worked for Bill Parcells and I worked for Bill Parcells; no way am I anywhere near Bill Parcells or Bill Belichick as a coach, not even close. But he told me, he said, 'Mike learn from me and do the things we ask you to do, but be your own personality, be your own person. Don't try to emulate or be someone else, or you'll be a phony, you won't be who you are.' I grew up with a dad who really cared about me and cared about people, that's what I saw and I saw that attribute. That's the same thing that I do, and I can't help it. I'm just who I am. That's who I am, and I'm passionate about it and care about them. My youngest son, he always tease me and says, 'Boy we love our wins in the MacIntyre household,' and yeah we do, we always have. Even when they were little kids and they would play and win. But, we also put the right understanding. In college football to me, it's different. You're truly trying to build young men, you truly are. Now, you have to win football games, there's no doubt about that, but I think that you definitely will win more than your share doing it the right way and you'll definitely be able to look yourself in the mirror at night."
On if the team is where he wants it to be      Â
"I think as a coach it's never where you want it to be, you're always critical and you have to be. But at the same time, you have to find the silver lining in different things. I think that we need to execute better at different times, we've had too many penalties this year. Our first year here, we had the least amount of penalties in the school's history. No excuse on it, but when you switch your offensive line around everywhere and a lot of them are holding penalties and you have new kids out there and all that, that sometimes happens, but we need to fix it. We did some running after practice today for penalties and they know that, so we'll keep working on that. Then, we need to keep working on our execution. We always want to execute better. I definitely think we're a better football team than we were last year. I think if we lined up and played our exact team from last year we would beat them pretty good, even with all the guys we have out, because those kids have gotten better. But, there's no doubt you're always looking for more perfection, and you always do that as a coach. The good thing we're doing is we're not really turning the ball over, that's the biggest key. You hear coaches say it all the time, but it is. We need to execute better and get the ball more in the end zone this week because they have a more high powered offense. We're going to have to score points. UCLA is very exceptional on offense and they're very good on defense."
On what they're doing to execute better in games  Â
"We did some good execution last week, we controlled the game there in a lot of phases. So, I thought that was good. But in practice, we're working on the plays, working on the fundamentals, working on different situations that we haven't done well at and you repeat them and repeat them, and repeat them. It's basically repetition and executing it in the right manner, the right alignments, the right speed and all those kinds of things. Try to put good on good, going the ones-against-ones and we do that in practice and we've tried to do that a little bit more recently. Sometimes injuries curtail you from doing that as much as you would like, though, because you're trying to get guys back."
On FS Jered Bell starting at Oregon State
"Jered played really well, I thought he did some really good things out there. 'Fo' (Afolabi Laguda) played a lot on special teams, he did a lot there. And Fo will play some at safety this week too, he's been doing a good job. (In the Oregon State game) with all they were doing with quarterback changes, and we hadn't busted any coverages or anything like that we just kept it rolling like it was (with Jered Bell at safety). But, Fo will be a guy that will play on every special teams, he played on every one last week and he will this week. He'll also play some safety in there. But, it was fun to see Jered out there after all that he's been through and he's a great leader and a good football player."
On CU being 2-18-1 all-time in the state of California and what a win would do        Â
"It would be a win there in LA. and the Rose Bowl, it would be a great win for us. Definitely it would be a great deal for recruiting, but it would be a great win for our team and for our University. There's probably a reason that it's 2-18-1, there's UCLA and USC that you play and they're pretty good year-in-and-year-out in the Pac-12. That just shows you the power of the Pac-12 conference and what Colorado stepped into five years ago. They stepped into a 'man's league.' We're moving that way and we'll keep moving that way. There will be a day when you turn around see that we've caught up in that area a little bit. Hopefully we can do it Saturday. That's what we definitely want to try and do."
On how much of an advantage it is to have a lot of California players on the roster Â
"It's always big for them to go home and play. Their parents come to games here, but they'll have aunts, uncles, and little cousins that look up to them. All that type of thing adds a little bit better to their motivation, they really don't need any more motivation, but I think that's a good deal. They'll have their high school coaches and pop warner coaches come to the game, all that type of thing. It makes it a big deal because of that, but it's exciting anytime you play in the Rose Bowl, too."
On upsets occurring in the Pac-12 and that inspiring the team  Â
"Our kids truly believe, and I think if you asked them they would look you in the eye and it wouldn't be B.S. anymore, they definitely think they can beat anybody they play. That's why they fight so hard and keep battling and believe that they can do it. That's our plan, is to line up and play and beat anybody that we play."
On QB Sefo Liufau's ability to run and how it alters defenses
"Sefo's ability to run, like I've said I think he's in better shape than he ever was, he's running better than he ever was. A lot of that was because of his back problem that he had his freshman year that not many people knew about and he kind of overcame all of that. He's in great shape and he's faster than he looks. He makes up ground and he's extremely tough and powerful. He's one of those quarterbacks that I think the other team doesn't really like to see running; sometimes they like to see the quarterback run and they want to go hit him, you don't see people really want to go hit him all the time. I mean, when you hit 245 pounds at 6-foot-4 that's running pretty fast, it's a big load, it's like hitting a big tight end. We'll definitely keep running him, but we're cautious about how we do it. But if we need to get a touchdown or are in a valuable situation he gives us an advantage. Because, now they have to pack the box when we spread out because you have a running back and another running back, but he can also throw it. If they pack the box he has reads to throw it, if they don't pack the box he has reads to run it, so it gives us an advantage and is something the opponent has to be aware of. It gives us another weapon. And it helps us to control the clock and grind out first downs, which helps our defense to get fresh and stay available on the sidelines."
On how to avoid getting Liufau injured with the increased running     Â
"He's done a good job of sliding or getting out of bounds, but when he has to get a first down he's going to go get it. But he understands how to do that, and I think he's done a good job with that, I really do."
On managing game situations and conversations on the sidelines         Â
"We've gone over that before the game, we practice it a lot, we have some different things that we are going to do. It also kind of goes on are we stopping them, how good are they moving the ball, if it's 45-47 it's a different thing than if it's 10-17. You're thinking, 'What do we want to do? Are we going to take chance and give them the ball right here? Can we run out their timeouts? Can we move the ball as well?' So all of that is a thought process that I have and that we're talking about. There's no doubt that you want to be able to put the game away on offense. Those are things that we talk about, work on, and go over. Sometimes you're very fortunate where you bust a run or they bust a coverage. It's a thing that we work on constantly and talk about as the game is going on."
On run defense     Â
"We did some good things against them (Oregon State), and they did some good things against us. There was a few times where our defensive tackle came clean and hit him 2-yards in the backfield and he broke the tackle. There were a couple times where we hit him clearly in the backfield, read the thing right, did it right, and he just ran over us. Then we hit him on fourth down and inches and stopped them, which was really a huge turning point in the game. It really went back to tackling the big guy is really what happened."
On Kenneth Olugbode coming back    Â
"He looks good, he looks fresh. He didn't get any repercussions from his leg after the game from getting hit, it was padded well. He looked good in practice, he was moving around well, and he played well in the game. It was good to have Kenneth back out there. There's so many things that he does. Number one: he makes tackles and makes plays, and he can run people down. But he gets us lined up right, he sees certain things, and he'll make an opportune play from time-to-time, like he did with the interception against CSU. But also, he'll make a play that you might not see. He might cover a back out of the backfield that would have been wide open, but he got him and they can't throw it to him and we get a sack. Things like that that you don't notice that he does. He's a really good football player."
Colorado Players
QB Sefo Liufau
On a lively practice          Â
"The guys are really upbeat, a lot of high spirits this week—you can attribute that to the win. A lot of guys were bouncing around, really good tempo at practice today. We'll be ready for UCLA come Saturday."
On UCLA defense  Â
"They have a really strong secondary and a couple of really good defensive linemen up front. We just have to play our game, play really smart and take away those turnovers that we had—those are really frustrating, those really stop drives, and those are something that we can control as an offense. They have a really good defense, but we have a really good plan to go against them this week."
On how much better the team needs to get  Â
"From the start of the year until now, we have improved. I wouldn't say there is a ways to go, but I still think we need to improve. Speaking from the offensive perspective, it's the little things, like the penalties took away a couple key plays. If we take away those I think that we would have had three more points, maybe seven more points on the board, which can definitely change a game and can help put the team away earlier, in the case of last week. We just have to be consistent all around, and be able to put together drives; we did a better job of it against Oregon State, but then it was the fact of being able to finish the drive—you just have to put all of the pieces together. We've learned from our mistakes against Oregon State and we'll be ready to go this week."          Â
On the confidence of finally getting a win     Â
"Anytime you go on, especially being here for three years, battling and battling and continuing to lose. We're a strong and resilient team, but it definitely has an effect on any team that ever goes through that. It's great to get a win and it helps higher the morale of the team. Even if we were to lose that game, which would have been really frustrating, we would still fight and come back this week. To get a win like that, and try to jump start the second part of our season, so that we can still try and still accomplish the goals that we have."Â Â
On celebrating after an away game     Â
"The locker room was great. A lot of guys were yelling, hooting and hollering, smiles all around. We sang the fight song on the way back; it wasn't the best one. It was about four in the morning; a lot of guys were still sleeping. It's good to see all of the guys smiling and happy to be in each other's company and get a win, especially a road win."Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
On the game plan for him to run more           Â
"I learned last Monday. We get the base game plan at the beginning of the week. I saw what the game plan looked like; you take the game plan and just run with it. I like to sit the pocket a little more and give it to my playmakers, who are a little bit better at running than me. You just have to go out there and make plays."
On preferring not to run as much        Â
"I prefer to win; so whatever it takes to win."
On the two overtimes against UCLA last year
"There are a lot of great things we did last year. I think we can, not necessarily replicate that, because they are a little bit different this year in terms of what they run on defense. I think with what we put in as a game plan for this week, in terms kind of base-downs, we have a really good idea of what we want to do and how to accomplish it. It's another great week to get a win. They are obviously a great team; even their offense is great, defense, special teams. It's going to be a great game and I think we're setting ourselves up to have a really good shot at winning it."Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
On the performance of wide receivers           Â
"They played well for going out there. Oregon State threw a lot of zone pressure at us, to find the gaps and to make the plays that they did; I think they did very well. There is definitely room for improvement, but I think Devin (Ross), Brice (Bobo), (Nelson) Spruce all played really well. Sean (Irwin) also made an athletic looking catch. All around I think they did very well, but (there is) room for improvement. I expect some really big things from them, especially this week against UCLA."Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
On playing without Shay FieldsÂ
"You definitely lose some speed on the outside; I think Oregon State knew that. Shay is one of our faster guys; him and Devin (Ross) are probably close to the top. You just lose a little bit of speed, but I trust every other receiver that I have from (Brice) Bobo to Jay MacIntyre to Donovan Lee to Devin (Ross). I trust all of those guys; I expect them to make plays and I expect them to get open." Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
On getting the tight ends more involved        Â
"With Sean Irwin emerging as a target—I think there was one more play, that if there wasn't pressure I could have given him the ball—it gives the defense another thing to worry about. In the beginning of the year, especially with the tight ends, they hardly got the ball, and so it just gives the defense another thing to worry about—their safety's just can't focus on the receivers and let the tight end go down. We definitely want to get the ball to them a little more, make it easier, make it so that the specialty DBs can't single out our receivers."    Â
On what's next after first Pac-12 win  Â
"Just to continue and do our best to go up against UCLA. They are a great team; we're really confident with the game plan given that we can go out there and put up a good showing, and even win the game. No one really believes us, that's okay; we believe in ourselves. We'll go out there and try to play a consistent game, speaking from an offensive perspective, and try finish drives—every time we get in the red zone we want to come away with points. We need to do that, especially against their offense."
On scout team players impressing him
"This week, surprisingly, even though it's only been one day, we didn't practice yesterday. This might have been their best week of practice so far in terms of energy, there's a lot more hitting—we're only wear shoulder pads, but you could hear the crack of the pads. I think Lyle is doing a really great job up front. Marquise has done a really good job. Hunter Shaw, who is the leader of the scout team, has done an excellent job. He does that on scout team, and then he goes in at special teams. He's been hurt a little, but if he wasn't, and we had all those middle linebacker issues, he definitely would have been there. I think Hunter Shaw probably stands out the most. He is the leader over there, and he always works hard."
On different factors preventing the team from scoring
"It comes down to executing and not hurting ourselves. In the first part of the season it was about players missing assignments. Against Oregon State it wasn't as much as missing assignments, as penalties, and hurting ourselves, in that regard. It's just frustrating to not be able to be clicking on all cylinders and having all of the right pieces in the right spot at the right time. Especially after Oregon State, we see what we can do as an offense. We just have to go out there, learn from our mistakes, and push forward. That's all we can do right now."
On injuries preventing the team from scoring
"It obviously plays a role, always having moving pieces. It shouldn't be a factor, the next man up should be ready to go, ready to participate because everyone is experienced in our offense. It's just a matter of mentally preparing yourself to go out there and make the plays.
On Coach Mike MacIntyre emotions after the game
"Coach MacIntyre and the rest of the coaching staff put in a lot of work. As a team, the players, we put in a lot of work. To get up prepared for Saturday's the coaching Staff does a lot. For it to finally pay off and to get a win means a lot to him. I'm really happy for coach and the team, we've been working hard to get a win finally. Not satisfied, it's over and done with. Oregon State's in the past, we are ready to move on to UCLA."
On having an early game Saturday
"It will be good. We practice in the morning, so I think we will be very prepared for this game at noon (P.T.). We'll be ready to go. It's an earlier game, which we're excited about, not sitting around the hotel all day, twiddling our thumbs and waiting to go. Excited, and happy to get back before midnight."
DE Leo Jackson III
On the run defense and the importance of containing UCLA RB Paul Perkins
"It's extremely important, because he's such a more dynamic back than the back we had last week. He's a lot quicker, he's real shifty and he has a lot of speed so he can get out quickly. So, that's our main thing, we need to wrap up."
On his frustration in missing tackles last week
"It was very frustrating to be honest with you, not even because of stats, but it could have made the game go a lot quicker or be a lot easier. It gave them a lot more drives because after the missed tackles he was gaining about 10 more yards before anyone else was hitting him. It put a lot more pressure on the defense than there needed to be."
On what the win does for the team     Â
"It was extremely important for us, because we knew that we were good enough to play with everyone in the Pac-12 but we needed to solidify it and basically show it to everyone else."
On his transition onto this team and blending in with his teammates  Â
"The transition was easy because we have a great team. Everyone was inviting and that was from the coaching staff all the way down to the equipment managers, everyone was extremely inviting coming in so it made it feel like a family. There was really no transition period."
On this team still feeling that they have things to prove even after getting a win
"That win was great just to, like you said, get the monkey off our back. But now that we have a win in the Pac-12 we need to turn it up and step it up a little bit more. Because for the rest of the (season) we have some serious teams that we are going to be playing and we need to really turn it up a notch."
On having a short memory after a win as well as a loss     Â
"Definitely, for a win it has to be short-lived, because it's such a quick turnover with how we're starting our weeks and how quickly we are going to have to play another team. We can't just sit here and celebrate one win too much. Because we have the rest of the season to go."
On Maturing and Growing Physically
"I think it was a bit of both. Coming from a JUCO standpoint, it was more for myself. I knew coming in it was going to be a bit of a slow road, because it had been a year out of football. I needed a little time to develop. I think I'm coming on pretty well."
On activities during off year
"Basically I just worked out. That was the main thing; I wanted to keep in shape and be strong when I came in. It was nothing compared to what I was expecting when I got here. It was a good start, a good basis, but nothing compared to now."
On becoming more of a Pac-12 player
"I'm taking it game by game; I'm taking the coaching, and really engulfing myself in watching film and turning into the Pac-12 player that I need to be."
On importance of limiting Pac-12 offenses
"It's very important, because it's finally showing that our defense is changing; CU is changing as a program. The margin between these teams last year was so ridiculous by halftime. It's a great point for everyone else in the Pac-12 to really see that CU means business."
On running ability of QB Sefo Liufau
"As a runner, I think he's deceptive, let's say that. I think teams underestimate it a lot and that's when he makes them pay with some of the plays he makes, especially in the red zone. I think he makes teams' pay for not really thinking that he's a runner."
On playing a lot despite being in his first year
"Yeah, it's a bit surprising, but I said, 'The heck with it; let's go. I'm here now.' Coach [MacIntyre] would come to me and ask how I'm feeling. He'd ask me that three times, and that's when I'd know I'm going to have to play a lot of reps this game. I'm kind of used to it."
On comparisons between Pac-12 and SEC
"I would say that I always thought that the Pac-12 was good conference. I used to think that it was second to the SEC just growing up in the SEC. Coming out here and actually playing in it is giving me a different perspective on it. The guys we're going up against are big and fast, pretty much like the SEC. It has changed my thought process a lot. The Pac-12 is serious."
