Tuesday Press Conference Quotes
November 03, 2015 | Football
Colorado Head Coach Mike MacIntyre
General
"First of all, I want to talk about [WR] Nelson Spruce breaking the record (Pac-12 all-time receptions leader). He broke a record which is awesome and will stand for a while, but the thing about Nelson is he's a phenomenal student, he's a phenomenal person, he's a great leader and he is going to be a success in whatever he decides to do. I definitely feel like he'll play at the next level for a while, but I know one thing: whatever he decides to do business-wise or investment-wise, I'm going to find out what it is and he'll probably be hiring some of our guys to work with and work for him one day. He's a great player, but an even better all-around person. He's been a pleasure to coach and have on our football team.
"Stanford, is an excellent, excellent football team. They are a powerful football team, is a good way to explain them offensively and defensively. Coach [David] Shaw has done a great job there with Stanford and their players. Their quarterback, Kevin Hogan, is a very, very good player. He can make all the throws, he does a great job and completely understands their offense. They give a lot on their quarterback; he'll go up there with probably three or four different calls when he goes up to the line of scrimmage on certain things they're going to do and he is able to handle all of it and get them in the right run or the right play. He makes the engine roll and he's excellent. Then, of course [Christian] McCaffrey at tailback, receiver, returner, I guess he's on the field all the time. For a minute there, I kind of got worried because they had a No. 5 on defense so I said, 'Wow they have him doing that too' but they have double numbers, although he probably could (play defense). So, they have an excellent football team and our guys are excited about playing Saturday and we'll kick off at 11:00 and it will be a gorgeous, gorgeous Colorado day, too."
On if the style of play in today's game can take away from Nelson Spruce's stats         Â
"No, I wouldn't say that at all. Football changes all the time and it adapts. He could play in any style offense and excel. We've been able to get him the ball and the other thing is he's stayed durable, stayed healthy, he's always come with great work ethic, he's always come prepared to play every game. That's also a credit to him for having so many catches and such longevity, he just keeps coming every day; that's a credit to his mental toughness and the way he takes care of his body."
On if he tried to recruit Stanford RB Christian McCaffrey from Valor Christian High
"We definitely tried to recruit him but I think he was probably going to Stanford all along there for a minute. But he's a heck of a player and of course we would of loved to have him here. That was kind of when I was coming in and it was the first year I was here and it (the recruiting process) was already kind of down the road a ways. The way recruiting has sped up so much, if you don't really know them a bunch at least by the middle of their junior year, you're already behind the eight ball in a way, unless they are a late bloomer."
On Stanford's defense and the importance of CU's offense clicking
"They're excellent on defense, they're strong and powerful up front. They do a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage and harassing the quarterback usually with just four rushers, and their secondary does a good job of coverage. We are definitely going to have to move the ball and score points in order to have an opportunity to win. I think that we are being able to do a lot of things and utilizing a lot of different weapons, so that's helping us. We just have to finish out some plays that we had a chance to finish out last week, and if we would have finished out some plays we would have won the football game, so we have to do that this Saturday, there's no doubt about it."
On QB Sefo Liufau closing in on CU's all-time leading passer record and his durability
"It says a lot about Sefo, especially doing it here in the Pac-12 which is an excellent conference. He's kind of grown with our team as our team has grown. He's made a lot of plays for us and done a lot of things. That's a great honor for him, I know he would like to have more 'W's along with that, and that will continue to come for him. I thought that he did some really good things Saturday also."
On if Stanford is a tough team to prepare for because of their pro style offense           Â
"Yes, just because who they're handing the ball too and who's throwing it, and those big tight ends they got, they have excellent players which makes it the toughest. We do a little bit combination of tight ends and fullbacks so hopefully that pays off for us (in preparation) and that's one of the reasons we do that is so we can be prepared for every type of offense. Because (in college football) you don't have any pre-season games and that type of thing like you do in pro football, so you have to be prepared. They do a very good job of what they do. David Shaw does a very good job of using multiple groupings. And [Mike] Bloomgren their offensive coordinator, we worked together at the [New York] Jets, they do a good job with what they do."
On what makes Christian McCaffrey so good
"He has excellent vision, number one. He's powerful, even though he doesn't look powerful when you see him in person. He's a very powerful runner, has a great body lean, and he can make himself small in the hole, that sounds funny but he can get into a hole and turn sideways and slip and fall through it and keep moving forward and still have power. The other thing is he's extremely fast, he's extremely fast, so he's able to pull away from guys that don't have angles on him and is able to gain some more yards. And then he's a tough runner, he doesn't tip-toe, he doesn't hesitate, he's a tough runner. And then they move him out at receiver because he has excellent hands, so he's kind of an all-purpose guy, I guess that's why he leads the country in it."
On QB Sefo Liufau and what he displayed Saturday at UCLAÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
"He did some excellent things there, there's no doubt about it. I think we've talked enough about his toughness, he exudes that every Saturday. His leadership to keep bouncing back, keep fighting, keep competing was really good. He doesn't hang his head. He's made some bad throws and he doesn't get upset about that, but he's also made some great throws and we've dropped some balls and he doesn't get upset he just keeps playing. I think that is why the guys on the offense keep playing for him, they keep pushing, they keep fighting, and I think that is a credit to his temperament, his attitude and his selflessness."
On how CU matches up with physical teams compared to speed teams
"I guess we'll find out Saturday. They're very powerful, we'll have to stay on our blocks, our running backs will have to hit the hole and slice through some arm tackles, that type of thing, to be able to run the football. Hopefully we'll be able to sustain our blocks long enough in order to get our running backs going, and stay on our blocks long enough that we can throw the ball down the field. Offensively, it's very unique, they have the same five offensive lineman in all of their games and they're good and have stayed healthy, and keep playing so they've gotten in a rhythm. Their running backs are really good, (but) their offensive line is excellent. How we play up front and how we stay stable, hopefully our linebackers stay healthy and we'll be able to fit the run up like we need to. It's going to be a physical game, but that offensive line has stayed healthy all year long and that has really helped them stay physical and be able to keep running the football. Same with their defensive front, those guys have been able to stay healthy which I don't think that was the case for them as much last year."
On if he looked to model a program after Stanford while at SJSUÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
"I thought it was an excellent program, but no it wasn't one I looked to model after. I thought coach [Jim] Harbaugh did a good job there, and then coach [David] Shaw did a great job taking it over and keeping it running and going like it is. We played them at San Jose State; I thought they were an excellent program, but it wasn't one that I was trying to model after. But I thought they were an excellent program. The people I coached under David Cutcliffe at Duke, Bill Parcels at the [Dallas] Cowboys and the [New York] Jets, when I was there and other coaches that I had coached under through the years, looking at that. Stanford is unique, though, San Jose State was a great school, but it's not Stanford. Stanford University is unique; every place you are (at) is unique and you kind of mold it to what fits you, you kind of model it to what you are and what's best for your school."Â
On learning from Duke vs. Miami game and the crazy finish       Â
"You always keep playing; both teams did. You can always learn from it. There's a lot of controversy going on with that. That's going to change how we interpret instant replay in the future. That hit pretty close to home for me. I saw it on the airplane and was yelling at the top of my lungs. I wasn't sure the guy's knee was down, but I saw the clip of it. I texted Coach Cutcliffe right as I got off the plane. That's a tough thing for everybody involved in it."
On strategy used by Northwestern to give Stanford its only loss            Â
"Northwestern played really well on defense; Stanford wasn't really clicking in the first game. Traveling all the way to Chicago and it's the opening game, sometimes you don't do as well as you would have liked to. If Northwestern came all the way to Palo Alto, it might have been a different result, because it was a close game. Give Northwestern credit, they're a good football team."
On Stanford's Christian McCaffrey
"I don't remember a guy that can do as many things as he does, as far as kick return, punt return, and catching the ball out of the backfield. I think the most amazing thing to me is when you meet Christian, he is maybe 5-10, looks like he weighs 150, but probably weighs 200. If he walked in this room, you'd probably say that's not him. He's really talented, very fast, and very fearless. Can he run the ball up inside, can he bounce it out outside, yes he can. He can do all of it. He's just a really good football player. I don't know who he reminds me of, but I think he's a special type of athlete, I really do. When I saw him play in high school, I couldn't believe how fast he was. There wasn't anybody close to him on the field, and he's that fast out here too. Wow, can he take the punishment, and he can and he'll dish it out too. He's a really good player; he's gotten stronger and bigger."
On players with concussions            Â
"Gerrad Kough had one and Jay MacIntyre had one. It looks like Gerrad won't be back. Jay might have a chance."
On the challenge of facing a dual threat quarterback      Â
"I'm a little nervous, because he can definitely do both. [Stanford Quarterback Kevin] Hogan can really run. That's something that people might overlook at times. He's able to sit in the pocket. The thing that he does really well is he understands where he is supposed to go with the ball. He gets them in the right protections and in the right running plays. Last week, I think because of the weather, they ran him a little bit more. I assume they'll run him against us, because we had a little bit of a problem of stopping a running quarterback in our games. I think they'll see that and utilize it. We need to be prepared for that. I don't think they want to run him all the time, but when they need to he is capable of doing that. You have to be careful in your rush lanes and not open them up wide open. That makes it tough sometimes too, because if you're not a little bit reckless on your pass rush, it's hard to get past that tackle to get to the quarterback. His ability to run does hamper your pass rush a little bit."
On injuries to S Ryan Moeller, LB Ryan Severson, and TB Michael Adkins IIÂ Â Â Â Â
"Severson has a chance to be back. He was out there running around today. He did some of the practice, then we slowed him down and iced him up. We'll see how he is tomorrow. I hope he'll be back, at least on special teams. We'll see. Ryan Moeller will not be back and Adkins will not be back."
On developing CU's identity              Â
"We want to be a football team that is physical on defense and athletic. We're getting there – we're not close to it yet – but we've made strides there. We're more athletic, you've heard other teams say that. Offensively, I want to be a team that is balanced, that can be able to run and throw it. We've showed good portions of that, and bad portions of that at times. You have to be balanced. That's where we're headed and looking for. We want to be more and more physical. We had some games where you could say CU was the most physical football team on the field. That hasn't happened, but it's starting to happen more often. We're getting bigger and stronger. We still got a ways to go. Our identity would be able to have a balanced offense, and on defense I'd like us to be more physical and very athletic."
Colorado Players
QB Sefo Liufau
On where Saturday's heartbreaking loss stands
"Pretty high up. As a team we felt like we really had that game. We didn't start off the best, but we fought our way back; we took the lead. It's just another one of those games where we weren't able to finish and close the game out."
On how badly he was hurt near the end of the game
"It hurt pretty bad. It's part of the game. Obviously you want to stay in and play in the game. After that I threw the ball just fine. I took a pick, which hurt the team. As of now, I feel great. I am ready to go for Stanford. You just have to heal up and get ready for the next game, next play."
On his take away from the UCLA game
"A lot of positive, especially from an offensive perspective where we move the ball up and down the field. It's just a matter of not being able to punch the ball in the end zone. When you go down there you really want to get points; in our case we wanted to get touchdowns. We weren't able to do that on Saturday, which was really frustrating because we were moving the ball well to get into the red zone. Stopping ourselves is really frustrating."Â
On the frustration of losing
"It was just one of those game we have to be able to finish. There were a lot of good things that we did, and then we weren't able to finish, which is attributed to a couple of mistakes in every facet of the game. We just have to go. We already looked at the film, fixed it, and now we need to make sure we don't do it again this week against Stanford."Â
On Shay Fields returning
"It's a great feeling. Shay Fields is a really great receiver. To have him out there is another weapon to use against the defense. It's always good to have someone back, especially when you think their injury is a lot more serious than it actually was."
On Stanford's physicality on defense and offense
"They are a big, physical team. And they want to challenge us on the outsides, which kind of packs the box. They will be a strong team, just like any other Pac-12 team. Maybe a little more so, after looking at the film for the second time this week. We have to see once we get into the game, and see how they play us. It could be different from what they have done to other teams."
On a win being what this program needs next
"I don't really care about records. No one on this team really cares about records, unless it's wins and losses. We are just focusing on this week against a really good Stanford team; trying to focus on controlling what we can control. On offense, not hurting ourselves with penalties or missed assignments. We want to play as close to a perfect game as we possibly can."Â
On looking at the stretch run
"You just take the next game that is up, and you just go out there and win it or do your best to win the game. If you try and put an emphasis on all four games at once it could really hurt a team. We just want to go out there and focus on Stanford this week. I don't want to focus on anyone after that. Focus on what Stanford does. And from an offensive perspective, try and focus on executing."
On the takeaway from the Washington State vs. Stanford gameÂ
"Washington State is also a good team. They played them tough the whole game. Some turnovers were also a factor in that game, the weather too. I think every Pac-12 team is really good this year. There is no bye-weeks. You just have to go out there and play as best as you can, try to capitalize on other people's mistakes, and try and play a really consistent game. We just have to go out there and play the best game we possible can because Stanford is a really good team. They deserve the ranking that they have. We just have to go out there and play."
On getting better at red zone offense
"Executing. We finally got to the red zone, (we had) maybe a little bit of complacency. I couldn't really tell exactly what it was. After the watching the game, it was kind of little mistakes here and there from every position. We should have punched the ball in so many times. It's just frustrating because we ran so many plays against them, and we knew they were tired. It's something we can fix and hopefully we can take care of it this week against Stanford."
On the offense hitting its stride after the UCLA game
"For the most part, this year we have been struggling. But against UCLA we followed the game plan; we did our job, for the most part. It comes down to finishing drives, and if we can put them all together now, we will be a really hard offense to stop."
On the versatility of Donovan Lee
"Donovan is very versatile. You see him in the slot; you see him at running back. The defense never really knows what he's doing, because sometimes we will put him in the backfield then we will motion him out to wide receiver or we'll have him at wide receiver and we'll motion him back in to running back. He is a dual (player) that the defense has to worry about a little more because there are so many different things that we can do with him."
On offensive line running against UCLA
"They did a really good job all week in preparation, in terms of blocking for our running backs and for me when I ran the ball. That carried over into the game against UCLA. I applaud them; they did a really good job creating those holes. And the running backs did a really good job of finding those holes and splitting the crease. Especially the one in the third or fourth quarter that had the deep pass to Devin. The play after that we ran a play, which we ran probably seven or eight times, the offensive line pulled them and pushed them five extra yards. They did a really good job last week against UCLA in terms of the running game."
On being close to breaking the all-time passing records
"It would be good. I really like to win over everything. To break the record would be an attribute to the receivers, the linemen especially, and the running backs. I can't sit back there and throw if a lineman doesn't block for me; if the receivers drop the ball or I throw a bad pass—it's not all possible. It not just my record, it is my teammates as well."
On pressure to win the final home games
"You just take it one day at a time. And just focus on the game that is coming up. You want to win at home and protect the home field; that's our goal each time we go out there and play. We treat it as that, and focus on the next game."
LB Kenneth Olugbode
On the problems the Stanford offense is going to present            Â
"They have a lot of big guys up front, and they just try and pound the ball. That's what they've done all year, and what they've done in the past. They have a great running back, Christian McCaffrey, and if we let him go loose he'll hurt us."
On what makes Christian McCaffrey successful   Â
"He runs hard. He runs with a purpose. He hits that hole going downhill, and he won't let one person bring him down."
On the ability of the offensive line to create space for McCaffrey            Â
"Up front, those are some big boys. They work really well with their technique, and they get up to the second level and make sure their running backs don't get touched. We just have to play strong, play stout, and hit them in the mouth—that's the best thing that we can do."
On enjoying having a physical game            Â
"It's always a fun game when you get to hit the linemen all of the time."
On his leg injury        Â
"It was the fifth play of the game. I got landed on. Someone kneed me in my calf. I figured it was a dead leg and that I could keep playing. As the game went on, it was getting worse and worse. Come third quarter it got to the point where I couldn't play anymore, so I came out. Then I found out I had to get surgery, which was kind of crazy. But with the recovery, I didn't think it was going to take me that long. I knew that right after surgery. I would walk a little. I wasn't in any pain. How fast I'd be able to start running and cutting would determine how soon I could come back."
On the actual surgery             Â
"What they told me is that you have your skin, then there's the fascia, and the muscle. They basically cut my skin open to have the fascia swell up out of the skin, and they cut that. I just had to wait for that to heal over the muscle."
On if he ever thought he wouldn't play again        Â
"Not me, I was going to do whatever it took to get back on the field."
On former Broncos S Rahim Moore having the same injury        Â
"They told me about his experience with it. He had waited a lot longer, so there was a lot more damage to his body than to mine."
On being told about the seriousness of the injury             Â
"They told me that, and that's why I had to have surgery right away."
On the plan to stop Stanford's quarterback           Â
"That comes from watching film and being smart. (The team has to) be able to stop the run game, first of all, because everything is set up off of the run game. We have to stop the run, and that helps eliminate the play action. It (allows) our safety's to play high and make plays."
