Colorado-Nicholls Quotes
September 26, 2015 | Football
Colorado Head Coach Mike MacIntyre
General              Â
"First of all, it doesn't get any more beautiful day than a Saturday afternoon like that. The weather was incredible and it was exciting. Our kids came out, and we always try to talk about starting fast at Folsom (Field) and they did do that. Then we kind of shot ourselves in the foot a little bit, left about 17 points on the field in the first half. The thing that was interesting is when I went in at halftime they were really upset. Which I thought was a great thing. They wanted to get back out there and finish the game. We had a lot of people play, I thought a lot of people did some really good things. I was pleased with the coaches getting them up and getting them ready for the game, and for the kids being focused. The way they started showed they were ready to play and that was exciting for us to see. Looks like we came out of the game relatively healthy which was great. Hopefully we will get some young men back that couldn't play today. Really, really pleased with the coaches and the way the players played."
On how this game prepared the team for Pac-12 play    Â
"Well, I think that physically, we played physical in this football game. We played hard. We were able to put it away so that we could rest some of those guys in the second half, about 10 minutes left in the third quarter really; I was pleased with that. And then just seeing their mentality of where they are was good. But you know, Oregon has a lot of speed so we're going to have to be able to tackle the speed is the key."
On what a three-game winning streak does for morale  Â
"Well, it means a lot. It hadn't been done since we've been here and it hadn't been done in a long time. I wish it would've been a four-game winning streak, and that's what we want to do next, is get another one and make it a four-game winning streak. That's what we plan on doing."
On if he feels QB Sefo Liufau's shoulder hampered him Â
"It wasn't really bothering him; some of them (his passes) sailed on him because he wasn't able to throw all week; he threw at the end of the week and threw well, and then he figured it out. He started throwing them a little bit lower and doing better. He was out of rhythm just a little bit, but he did a lot of excellent things, and he'll feel much better next week than he did this week. So, that's good."
On if WR/TB Donovan Lee will remain at TBÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â
"He's a good running back. He will play running back and we will also play him at receiver, some. The good thing about it is he can go in at running back and then he can move out and play receiver so that keeps the defense off balance. He'll definitely keep playing running back for a while as we have some guys down. He's a really good running back. So, that's a luxury for us to have and I look forward to watching him continue to play running back while we have some other guys still down, for sure."
On WR Jay MacIntyre's touchdown and the play call       Â
"I didn't call it, [Offensive Coordinator] Brian Lindgren called it. But, we felt like we had a chance for that to be open and [QB] Sefo [Liufau] made a great throw and Jay made a good catch and a nice run afterwards. It was fun to see and it was a big play in the game for us."
On if he was upset on how the first half finished
"We fumbled the ball on the one-yard line, the guy made a good play of pulling it out. I got the running backs together and told them that was my fault. I told them we need to put in a drill for that (type of situation). If [TB Christian Powell] would have just put his knee down quicker, the turnover wouldn't have happened. We do ball-security drills all the time but I'm going to add that one in this week. And we should have gotten the fourth down and inches. That's the first time that has been stopped, so we have to fix that."
On the play of LB Rick Gamboa Â
"Rick is really a good football player, he is very heady, he sees everything and can react before it really happens. The team does it once and he'll see it and is able to slow down and process it. Not a lot of guys can do that. I've been very pleased with Rick, he's a redshirt freshman and he's doing some good things for us. He made a lot of plays today."
On if he plans to get WR Jay MacIntyre more touches     Â
"It all depends on what we're doing offensively. We'll put him back there some on punt returns, you know [WR Nelson] Spruce is so good at catching it and doing things like that. But I think Jay will have a chance to do that some more. That also takes some hits off of Spruce. So, we'll see as the season goes along if he keeps progressing. He did make some good plays. Honestly, he got that from my dad, my dad played at the University of Miami and he was extremely quick and fast."
On getting the shutout Â
"I think it is really big that we did that. We gave up one run that popped out in the first half that was discouraging. Any time you shut anybody out, that's a good deal. It's hard to shut anybody out, it really is. I don't care who it is. There's something that usually happens. But our effort, and our tenacity was excellent, the kids kept playing hard."
On what it has meant to have WR Nelson Spruce              Â
"It's meant a tremendous amount on the football field, on the football field of course. It has been great to watch Nelson grow into a leader, and he's always been a class act, a great example, but now he is a vocal leader. I see him talking to the younger guys, I see him stepping up in our team meetings and saying stuff. He's a phenomenal player, he's a phenomenal person. If I was at a Fortune 500 company I would hire him in a second, because he is very bright and sharp. But, I think he'll be playing in the NFL for a little while before that." Â Â Â Â Â
On what concerns him most about Oregon          Â
"(laughs) Lets just enjoy this one right now. Speed, speed, speed. That's what worries you about Oregon, they have a lot of speed, all over the field. We will be working on them tonight as we watch the game (vs. Utah) and then we'll get on them hard tomorrow. They have been the class of the Pac-12 for a while, them and Stanford, it seems like. They're a really good football team."
On TB Phillip Lindsay   Â
"What a tough young man. He hurt his ribs last week and he practiced this week where we didn't hit him all week. Then he goes out there and plays and gives it everything he's got. The 'Tasmanian devil,' he gets it done. I'm really pleased with Phillip."
On K Diego Gonzalez and his emotions  Â
"He was fine (after missing his second field goal attempt). He went right back out there and hit the next one. He's a young kicker too, this is only his fourth game to kick. He'll miss one every once in a while, but it doesn't affect the next kick; kind of like a quarterback if you throw a bad ball it doesn't affect the next one, that's the key."
On if he got what he wanted out of playing this game     Â
"We scheduled it a long a long time ago, and so you don't know how that is going to unfold. The main thing is you want to go win the football game and you want to get out of there injury free, and we basically did that today. We were able to put more kids in at different spots and play more. We were able to put more kids in at left tackle and play in case something happens there. We were able to play some guys on defense in some spots and get significant amount of plays in case something happens there. All of that really, really helps in case you have something happen in the middle of a game as we go down the stretch here."
On S Jered Bell and his performance      Â
"It was awesome seeing Jered, a sixth-year guy, getting two picks today. He's playing more and more, during camp we just kind of took it slow with him. I let him tell me when he was ready. When you have both your ACL's torn, as a coach you don't push him, you just let him go. He's played great on our special teams, he was elected on to our leadership council; he'll play more and more at safety as the year goes a long and we'll have different injuries and I'm really happy for Jered, really, really happy."Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
On if the team is gaining more confidence to win              Â
"Yes, I think every time you win, you get more confidence, and you know if you just keep playing good things will happen. Winning definitely breads confidence, there's no doubt about that."
Nicholls Head Coach Tim Rebowe
General Reaction      Â
"I think it's been the same thing every week. We fumbled kickoffs, we can't get out of the shadow of our own goalpost; that's hard. It keeps being a game of field position. We kept getting backed up and backed up, and they're getting the ball at the 50. I ain't worried who you're playing; with that kind of field position like that, that's tough. We can't go 80 and 90 yards every snap. We got to clean some things up in the kicking game, we got to catch some balls, got to get a couple first downs to get out. I was proud of the guys. In the second quarter, they fought, they came in there and did some good things. We were feeling good at halftime, and it just snow-balled on us."
On Offense's Inability to Convert Opportunities             Â
"I thought Tuskani [Figaro] did a good job; he played hard. Michael Henry, he just runs, and he don't want to come off the field. He did some good things for us, but everybody's taking a turn. You miss a block here, drop a ball there, and we just got to clean it up."
On Looking Forward to First Home Game        Â
"We're going to wipe these three games away. We got to be able to start fresh, and say hey, we got conference games from here on out. It is going to be good to get back in front of the home fans, and maybe sleep in our own beds, and just prepare for a good McNeese [State] team coming in."
Colorado Players
WR Nelson Spruce
ON SETTING ANOTHER RECORD –"It's awesome. Just like the receptions record I got earlier. It's something that you start your career out aiming for and to keep working and eventually get it is [great]. It's cool to see all of that hard work pay off."
ON HIS FEELINGS HEADING INTO PAC-12 PLAY - "I feel good. I think we put three good games together after stumbling in that opener. I think even though there's times of day where we take our feet off of the gas, we can't do that going into Pac-12 play."
ON MAINTAINING MOMENTUM - "We got that big lead and when we got close a few times, we didn't have that same mindset that we had in the beginning. We need to improve on that and we'll be good."
RB Donovan Lee
ON PLAYING RB TODAY – "My whole football career, I've been playing in the backfield and playing some outside in the receiver. It's not too much for me to switch from receiver to backfield. This whole week, I've been taking a lot of reps in the backfield because I knew that some of our backs were down and I'd have to come in and fill some of those roles. I had to do my best. This whole fall camp, I've been working at receiver but they saw a little bit of what I could do in the backfield in the spring so they felt confident enough to go back there and fill some of those roles."
ON THE POSITION HE HOPES TO STAY IN - "I enjoy running back but I also feel like I'm versatile enough to be outside so we'll see how it goes."
ON BEGINNING PAC-12 PLAY - "I think we're ready for the next step. I feel that we've grow a lot this whole season. Especially after that first loss against Hawai'i, we've had a chip on our shoulder because we know we're better than that. We've been focusing on putting teams away and that's something that we've always done. We're ready for that next step."
ON HIS FIRST TOUCHDOWN AT FOLSOM - "It was exciting. That first touchdown last year was nothing like scoring at Folsom. It was incredible."
DB Chidobe Awuzie
ON THE DEFENSE'S PERFORMANCE TODAY – "It was pretty decent. There are still a lot of mistakes. The scoreboard says one thing but there are still a lot of things that we need to fix up."
ON BEGINNING PAC-12 PLAY - "We have to be ready. These Pac-12 teams, they say that the Pac-12 South is one of the most competitive divisions in football so we have to be really ready. We have a lot of big aspirations and goals for this season and going on the road of the Pac-12 South, we have to work hard."
ON TODAY'S GAME AS PREPARATION FOR OREGON - "The same challenges every week is preparation. This is a team that could have beaten us if they really wanted to. We don't ever play down to any team. So, the way we approach Nicholls State is the way we are going to approach Oregon. We're going to prepare really hard, make sure we get our checks right on defense and prepare."
ON TEAM MOREALE - "A win is always great to get so everyone's confidence is high. We've won three straight and we're going to try to keep it rolling."
ON SEEING FORMER PLAYER JEFF HALL IN THE STANDS TODAY - "He and Tedric [Thompson] and I used to hang a lot. He was here and it was unfortunate what happened but it was really nice to see him. We were just saying how it was good to see him and seeing how he is. He was a big component on this team, especially in the locker room with guys. He always had a smile on. He's a really good guy and it was sad to see him go. Everyone was happy to see him after the game."
OLB Jaleel Awini
ON THE TEAM'S PERFORMANCE TODAY - "I thought it was pretty good. The first half wasn't all that great but we came back and got to regroup after half time. We shut them down and were affective at shutting down their offense. The option was their bread and butter so I think they did a good job. Oregon is an option team too so today's game kind of helped us out."
ON BEGINNING OF PAC-12 PLAY - "We don't care about the decal on the helmet. We play against anybody. We play hard and tough against anybody so I don't think it's going to be tough to adjust."
ON FORCING MORE TURNOVERS - "It's a big defensive goal this year and a big team goal is to get as many turnovers as we can so that we can help the offense out. We want to try to score on defense too."
ON TEAM MORALE - "We're in a great place right now. These last couple of weeks, we have just been building up confidence. It's been different since last year. This year, we're just trying to take a stand and make a difference. We want to be the Buffaloes that we were in the early 2000s."
DE Michael Mathewes
ON GETTING TO PLAY TODAY - "It felt great to finally be on the field and get some actual playing time."
ON THE SHUTOUT - "I feel like that's what should be expected of us. We should shut them out every time. It doesn't matter what team it is or what the decal on their helmet is. We should shutout every time."
ON BEGINNING OF PAC-12 PLAY - "I don't see any challenges. We should play on the same caliber every game no matter who we play."
ON JIM LEAVITT'S INFLUENCE ON THE DEFENSE - "I think Jim Leavitt has had a huge impact on this defense. From last year to this year it's been a huge difference, especially on the pressures which has made a massive impact."
ON THE MAIN DEFENSIVE GOAL - "It's bringing the pressure on the quarterback to force him to throw more so that we can get more interceptions in the backfield."
LB Kenneth Olugbode
ON THE WIN - "I felt really good. That's the first shutout, since I've been here at least and it's nice to have that to lead in to Pac-12 play."
ON WHAT THE DEFENSE NEEDS TO IMPROVE ON - "I think we need to just wrap it up, do our jobs and knowing exactly where we need to be."
ON BEGINNING OF PAC-12 PLAY - "I think we're ready [for the challenge]. We just have to keep going up and getting better and better every single week."
ON NOT HAVING A BYE WEEK - "It doesn't matter to me. I like playing football. I like the 13 games but we have to play a lot more football then a lot more teams do."
ON JIM LEAVITT'S INFLUENCE ON THE DEFENSE - "I think Coach Leavitt has done an awesome job of emphasizing it [gaining takeaways]. We feel a lot more confident now in the way that we play and that helps too."
WR Jay MacIntyre
ON HIS TOUCHDOWN – "I was pretty sure the way that coverage was and the way that we ran the play all week that it was always pretty open. I knew I was going to catch it but I was hoping that those guys would miss me which they did. It was a blur. I was just in the end zone and it was an awesome feeling."
ON HIS INJURED ANKLE - "It took a while. Where it is, every time I run on it, it strains it even more. That was kind of frustrating but I kept on doing treatment and today was awesome to see my ankle doing well. I tweaked it a little bit but then it fine."
ON PLAYING TIME - "I wasn't sure. I know my role but you never know how many balls you're going to get. You just have to run your routes to the best of your ability and block as hard as you can. When the ball comes your way, make something happen which I did today. It was awesome."
ON RECOVERING FROM THE HAWAI'I GAME - "It was really tough. Just the whole Hawai'i game in general [was tough]. If we would have won, it wouldn't have been that big of a deal. I put a lot of pressure on myself if I drop a ball or something like that. Getting my first catch today, I got that out of my head and I was able to play free."
ON HIS PUNT RETURNS - "The first one, we ran a right return and so I was trying to set it up left and come back right but the center got me which shouldn't happen. People were giving me crap on the sidelines so I had to take it back a little bit. I was hoping I would score and then I thought I was going to break outside and then there was a guy that came. It was really good to be back there returning punts. It felt like high school again."
ON HIS FIRST TOUCHDOWN - "The feeling was one of the greatest feelings that I've ever had. I've always looked up to players that my dad coached; I wanted that first reception and when I scored it was exhilarating. I feel like my whole family is going to be pretty pumped. The win is the biggest thing. I just want to win games. That's why I'm here, to help my dad win games. One game at a time we need to keep winning. He tries to keep distance but he gave me a little 'good job.'Â But, we had more game to play, I scored and it was awesome but we had to keep playing."
RB Phillip Lindsay
ON THE WIN - "It's big. We need that confidence going into this next game. We have to prepare every game like it's our last game. We have to prepare like it's the number one team out there. That's the only way for us to get better. In order for us to continue to get better, we have to play hard and intense the focus."
ON WHAT THE TEAM GOT OUT OF TODAY'S GAME - "I felt like we did [get something out of it]. At times we were sloppy and that just happens at times. It's an early game but I feel like we got better today. Tomorrow we'll go look at film and learn from it because Oregon will come out and try to execute on what we did wrong."
ON HIS RIB INJURY - "I got my rib banged up in the Colorado State game pretty bad. We didn't know if I was going to be ready throughout the week but I believed in my trainers and trusted them. I came out and was able to play this game. My rib was alright."
ON HIS TOUCHDOWNS - "It's always fun. I'm not a big stats person. I don't get into trying to have all kinds of yards. I just want to help my team out as best as I can and get the wins. That's all I care about. As long as we're doing well and I play my role; my role can be big sometimes and sometimes it won't be. But as long as when I'm not there, I'm playing my role to the best of my ability."
ON NEXT OPPONENT - "Right after the game [is when we thought about our next game]. Coach Mac made it clear to us that you never disrespect you opponent by looking past them. That's exactly what we did. We went out there and focused on Nicholls State because that that's who we were playing today. Tomorrow we'll focus on Oregon and that's how it's going to go."Â
DB Jered Bell
ON TWO INTERCEPTIONS – "Oh man, it's a great feeling. I just give God the glory for letting me go out there and make some plays for the team. Coach Leavitt always preaches that we need take-a-ways in order to go place we want to go so that's one thing we really stress in practice every day."
ON HOLDING THE OPPONENT TO ZERO POINTS - "It's the best feeling ever. I think, since I have been here, the first time we have done that. So it is just a great feeling. Even though they didn't score we still have a lot to improve on defense, Coach Leavitt is going to make sure we get that done starting tomorrow."
ON THIS YEAR SPECIFICALLY - "It starts with the team. We've come together and we have matured a lot, which is starting to show in our plays later in the games. Today at halftime we came in and knew we left too many plays out on the field, so we came together as a unit and that's one thing we didn't have in the past. So it is just good now to see the young guys start to mature and to take on the responsibilities to go out there and make some plays."
ON FAST PACED OREGON – "No it is not our first time playing them so we know what to expect. We practice at a fast pace so I don't feel like it will be too much of a problem. We just have to go out there and execute our defense. If we don't go out there and do our job then things will get bad but that is what we are going to focus on starting tomorrow."
ON LEADING THE TEAM IN INTERCEPTIONS- "No, it's still a long season though. I will rub it in whenever I can but everyone is going to go out there and expect someone else to take the lead next week. So it's going to be a constant battle with the defense, I am looking forward to it."
ON THREE GAME WINNING STREAK - "Oh, it's a good feeling but its football. You can't get too high when you are on a roll. We just have to go out and take it week by week, game by game. You can't relax. Going into the Pac-12 if you relax that's when things can go downhill as a team. So we have to prepare each game like it's the championship and that's one thing we are doing this year."
ON FORMER TEAM MATE JEFFREY HALL - "Yeah it is always good to see a familiar face. I have kept in contact with him throughout the whole year, so it is just good to see him going out there and playing again. I know he loves the game of football so it is just good seeing a familiar face."
ON HIS KNEE- "This year I am not worried about my knee at all. I worked hard this off-season to get back to where I am. I just don't worry about it. It's stronger then the first time around when I tore my last one, so I am really confident this year."
QB Sefo Liufau
ON PERSONAL PERFORMANCE– "Pretty frustrating, I just think that I left a lot of throws out there, I think it's obvious. It is just pretty frustrating overall, but it's just something to work on and get better for next week."
ON SHOULDER- "Yeah it was bothering me but I don't want to make any excuses. If you are out there playing, you need to make plays, end of the story. I think fundamentals are what it comes down to and not trying to compensate for it."
ON RUNNING GAME- "The offensive line and the running backs did a really good job today running the ball outside and inside. They got us on a couple of plays but for the most part I thought they did a really good up front. The times they did stop us I kind of feel like we stopped ourselves with a missed block here or a turnover there. I think for the most part we did pretty well in the running game, which is great to see."
ON FRUSRATION AT HALFTIME – "Yeah definitely, especially when the defense was playing so well and getting those three and outs. We were moving the ball the whole time it's just being able to punch it in. I think it was just ourselves to blame for that as an offense. We just have to be able to punch the ball in. We will go look and see what we did wrong on film and get ready for next week on those mistakes."
ON JAY MacINTYRE- "Yeah he works really hard, he is one of the hard workers on our team and I really appreciate that but it showed on the field today. Nicholls State kept dropping eight guys and we found a gap in it and later got a good block out for him so he could score. I am happy for him and I expect him to do it consistently now.
ON IMPORTANCE THIS GAME WAS LEADING INTO CONFRENCE PLAY- "I think it's beneficial. We moved the ball, on an offense perspective, and we stopped them on defense. But like Jered said earlier, we are satisfied we were pretty annoyed going into halftime with leaving some points on the board. We definitely have to get better, clean up the mistakes that we made because people can pick on that. Starting tomorrow, we will watch film and get ready for our opponent next week.
ON DONOVAN LEE- "I thought he played really well. I missed him on a throw which was pretty bad but for the most part he was did well playing running back. Especially just learning it in a week is really good for him. He had that big run. He had some other really good runs that maybe didn't go over so well in terms of yards but still great runs for him. I am proud of him and I expect him to step up like that when we need him again."
Nicholls Players
QB Tuskani Figaro
ON COLORADO DEFENSE –"We figured they were going to bring pressure like previous teams had; sometimes we picked it up, other times we didn't. We've got to communicate a little bit better so that we can pick up those pressures."
ON NICHOLLS DEFENSE - "Defense played a hell of a game in the second quarter and early in the second half. We just couldn't get anything going (offensively) and couldn't put a full drive together. We couldn't get it across the 50 and that hurt us a lot this game."
ON COLORADO'S GAMEPLAN - "We felt like they were going to bring pressure and they did. I made a few mistakes trying to force the ball into a receiver and they caught two picks on me."Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
ON COLORADO'S SPEED - "They had a lot of speed and good agility. I think going into conference we might not face (teams) as big and fast Colorado, and I think that will work in our favor as well."
RB Michael Henry
ON COLORADO DEFENSE – "They played great. Their guys played really hard, they got some great players, alot of credit goes out to them. They played with tremendous effort and I admire it."  Â
ON MENTALITY IN SECOND HALF - "We were focused on winning the second half. There's nothing you can do about the first half, so we just tried to come out and win the second half and come out with some enthusiasm and get something going."
LB Hezekiah White
ON THE GAME (GENERAL) - "I'm really proud of how our defense played and responded when they first got up on us. We really settled in and started to play some really good defense and I'm really proud of that."  Â
ON SECOND QUARTER – "Yeah our coach has always told us never stop fighting until it's over. Some of those drives when we got the ball back, we've been practicing that every day. I'm just real proud of how we just never let up."
ON THE END OF ROAD TRIP – "I'm happy to get home so we can put on a show for the home crowd you and get ready for McNeese (State) and try and get this win."   Â
ON COLORADO RUN GAME - "They had a really good group of backs. They had some really good vision and they made some really nice plays but because that was a really nice group of backs they had."
