Tuesday Football Press Conference Quotes
September 08, 2015 | Football
Colorado Head Coach Mike MacIntyre
General
"We have UMass coming in here, and they have the most returning starters of any team in America this year. Offensively, their quarterback is first team all-conference. No. 7, Blake [Frohnapfel], I'll probably mis-pronounce his last name, I just know he can throw the ball really well. He is an excellent passer and a great leader for their team. They got hot at the end of the year, then he got hurt and they lost their last two games. They have an excellent receiver, who is the best receiver in the MAC. Tajae Sharp, really good player – big, athletic, fast –does an excellent job. Defensively, they have a really, really experienced secondary coming back, and good pass rushing outside linebackers. I think they are a very good football team. Coach Whipple was there before. Won a national championship, and then kind of made his rounds through the pros a little bit. Then, he was at the University of Miami for a while. When I was at Duke we went against each other. He's an excellent coach, does a great job; a very good offensive mind. I'm impressed with how their team kept improving as the year went on last year when we watched their film. The one disadvantage we have is they have a game on us, we don't have anything on them. I'm pretty sure they will have a few new wrinkles, but I'm pretty sure they will get the ball to No. 1 as much as they can."
On CU's secondary being tested against UMass
"I think it will be a very big test. I think they have excellent . . . not only is [WR Tajae] Sharp good, they have a young man, No. 10, that is really, really quick and athletic. Their other receivers are big and athletic. One thing that surprised us last year when we played them, was their big tight end No. 87 [Jean Sifrin] wasn't even on the team until two hours before our game started. He wasn't eligible. He's playing the in NFL now. He's 6'7". I was like, 'Who is that?' I asked coach Whipple before the game, 'Who is that guy?' He said, 'Well he just got eligible.' I asked, 'He couldn't know everything by now, could he?' And he sure did; he was a good player. The quarterback is a very good player. He can make all of the throws. He's a guy that can drop back, like a pro quarterback, and throw it from this hash all the way across the field, a perfect out route on a frozen rope. He can make all the throws, he's a really good player."
On TB Michael Adkins and his performance at Hawai'i
"Michael ran really well during the game. He was hampered during the pre-season with an ankle [injury], and he got going. He is extremely fast, he's a 10.7 - 10.8 hundred meter young man. He's put on about eight pounds of bodyweight from last year. He was in the low 190s now he's in the high 190s. He's a powerful runner, but also has speed and ability to pull away from people. It was a little hot there; he wore down a little bit and got his energy back and went back out there. So we look for Michael to be able to run the ball a lot for us."
On whether he believes the team appeared tight at Hawai'i
"I don't think they appeared tight. I think they made bone-head mistakes that cost us a football game. We outplayed that team, we out "physicaled" that team, we out rushed that team, we out gained that team. We just made bone-head mistakes. Maybe that was because some of them were tight, I don't know. They didn't seem tight to me, we just made some bone-head mistakes that we've got to coach better to not have happen, or we would have won that game by a few touchdowns. It's very frustrating."
On if he can explain what happened at the end of the Hawai'i game and how he saw it
"I think [ESPN radio's] Mike and Mike explained it well enough."
On leaning on the 'Leadership Council' this week against Massachusetts
"We do every week. I've got some really fine young men on this football team that want to be successful and do a lot of things right. We meet every Monday as a group on our day off at lunch; because lunch is mandatory for them, so I eat lunch with those guys. We talk about different things: things that we need to improve on and things that we need to do for our team and upcoming games. I definitely lean on those guys hard."
On teams needing to learn how to win and whether this team is closer to doing that
"I definitely believe so. We need to, that's for sure. I definitely believe we are. We need to do it. That's what we got to do now, make sure we go do it."
On the importance of having a "good showing" against Massachusetts
"All we need to do is win. I'll take a win anytime and to me that's a good showing. We need to go win football games."Â
On whether he was pleased with the defense after reviewing film of the Hawai'i game
"They played really hard and got after it. We gave up a few plays we should not have. They're going to make a few plays. We turned a 20 yard gain into a 70 yard gain. You can't do that. I thought physically up front, I thought they were stout against the run and they pushed the pocket pretty good. We only had one sack, but they were a really quick passing team in tight situations, so it's a little different. But I thought they pushed the pocket well and did some good things there. I thought we tackled well except for a couple of instances that hurt us. But overall I thought we tackled pretty well on defense."
Getting back to learning how to win…do you see it as a process that can happen in one or two games?
"When we start doing it, you can kind of point to a game. But it's a process, it's a whole mental process the whole time. You just need to do it, then you can do it again, do it again and do it again. That's what we need to make sure we take advantage of to make sure we have a chance. The one thing I will say, even the other night and about the team last year which I think has carried over: They never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever . . . ever give up. If you keep doing that, then eventually you are going to get those and you are going to start winning those games. But it is extremely frustrating for the players, for the coaches and for the fans too. But, it's more frustrating for those players; they're out there doing it. I can guarantee you that."Â
On team maintaining confidence after the loss at Hawai'i
"Confidence comes from within, and each young man has to do that. Of course, we inspire them; we motivate them every way that we can. But when they put their helmet on and step out between the lines, they got to keep their confidence. I believe they definitely have kept their confidence. When you watch the game, and they watch themselves on film they can see how much stronger they are and how physical they are. They can see that they are a step faster on closing on the ball, and they can see a little bit more power on some different things. Sefo [Liufau] is a good example of a guy that has kept working hard and improving his body. I mean watching his run from (the Hawai'i game) to his freshman year – it's night and day. I think if you see that, that's the way the rest of our team has done. Now we just have to finish these game and get ahead and keep the lead. I think he is a prime example of what the weight room and physical activity has done just in the way he is moving, to me."
On what he thought of the performance by the specialist at Hawai'i
"I thought [K] Diego [Gonzalez] did really, really well. I thought our holder Colin Johnson did a good job. We had new guys protecting up front near the field goal; I thought that operation was smooth, it was on time. I thought that Chris Graham did a good job of kicking off. It was really humid, really dense weather and it's hard to kick it out of the end zone. His placement was excellent and we had excellent kickoff coverage, which is something we didn't have the first couple years (his staff has been at CU), but we did the other night. I think we pinned them within the 15 (yard line) the first two times they got it, which is pretty impressive. Punt-wise, that was a gigantic miscommunication, glitch that we hadn't had happen like that, period. I thought it was good the way our punter kind of recovered from it. His first punt in college and it gets blocked. It's shocking to you if you are an 18-year old kid. He did some good things and he'll punt better this week; he has a very powerful leg. I thought our coverage units when we did punt, were excellent. They didn't really have any room, they fumbled a couple and we were right there. I thought they did a good job on that. The punt block was disastrous, is the best way to put it; but everything else on the kicking game, if that wouldn't have happened, you would have said we had a pretty excellent kicking game, except one of his punts was a little bit short. But after you get it blocked, I can kind of understand that for a young kid. That won't happen to him again."
On whether he would prefer Sefo Liufau running as much as he did against Hawai'i
"No, because some of them were scrambles that he had to get out of the way of the rush. I would say no on that. But his ability to run adds a different dimension to the defense. Now that defense can't just play coverage, they got to have someone spy on him, they got to make sure they rush the lanes, and they can't just get exotic wide splits and try to run by us because they know he can run now. That helps us. It helps you in the red zone because if they widen out and try to double your wide receivers and they type of thing, he's able to run it in so that will eliminate them being able to do that as much. No, I don't want him to run as much, but I am glad he can run."
On if he was surprised by how long it took Liufau to get into a rhythm
"I think he had to move in the pocket a little bit earlier in the game then I think that he thought (he would have to). When it's the first time I'm doing that. Your windows and your pocket's are a little messed up, so you're having to throw the ball from different angles, and so once he kind of got a rhythm of feeling that and he got a little better protection at times, he was a little more accurate. He might not have played as well as he'd like or I'd liked in the first half, but there were some circumstances on that. He's not going to point fingers at anybody, and we won't either. It was a whole team effort. His competitive spirit showed though, and he kept fighting, trying to find a way."
On his first impressions of the new defense under coach Jim Leavitt
"Again, I thought they played hard; I thought they did some good things. We made a couple of mistakes in the red zone, where we should have made them kick more field goals; and a couple touchdowns they got, which would have made a big difference. We need to keep getting better in that area. Teams are going to get to the red zone, in today's college football, a lot. We've got to improve in there and that is something that we will do."
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Colorado Players
Defensive Tackle Jase Franke
On the defense's overall performance versus Hawai'i
"I think as a defense we made a lot of improvement from last year. I think overall we just need to improve on our effort and keep playing hard and I think we'll have a good season."
On what improvements need to be made
"I think it just goes back to playing with some confidence. If we can play with confidence we will be a lot better. It goes back to coach [Mike] MacIntyre telling us to believe in ourselves and I think then we could have a good season."
On rebuilding confidence after the Hawai'i loss
"I wouldn't say our confidence took a blow. We just gauged where we're at right now. We have to remember that it is the first loss, yes it hurts. But we have to come back next week ready to play hard and we can't lose to UMass. It happens but at the same time we have to remember that we can be really good. We just have to play with confidence."
On playing his first college game
"It was great. It was really fun. I haven't played since high school. Redshirting was good, it was a good thing to do but it wasn't a lot of fun. You just can't overthink it. I went in there and knew that if played my assignments that I'd have a good game and that the plays would come to me."
Quarterback Sefo Liufau
On the team's confidence right now
"I think that the team's confidence is pretty high right now. It's obviously upsetting that you lose your first game of the year, especially in the way that we did. But, it's a team that never quits which is something that I really admire. This week, you definitely want to get a win. After a loss, it's good to get a win and get yourselves on track. It's definitely important [to get a win]. You want to keep confidence high and get in some wins, especially this week. I just think we need to take it one day at a time and prepare for this team, especially on offense. UMass is a very experienced defense and we have to be able to do our roles this week and prepare for them."
On learning how to win
"I think we're close. We had a terrible first half as a team all around [against Hawai'i]. It's frustrating but in the second half, we played really well, outplayed them in every facet but we just came up short at the end of that game. We just have to keep going and be able to play four strong quarters."
On the offensive's line's growth
"It's definitely important [for our offensive guards to grow up quickly]. It only gets harder from here. I think that we play a great opponent every week but in the Pac-12, if you have a weakness in your offense, defense, special teams, they'll find it. You have to grow up fast in this league. I think they're learning. If you want to mess up at any time it's week one so that you can learn and grow from there."
On his mistakes
"I wouldn't say my timing was off. I think I sucked in the beginning of the game. I couldn't hit a pass. I wouldn't say the timing was off. The receivers ran good routes. I just have to be able to get the ball to the playmakers."
On whether the team "played tight"
"I think I agree with that. We have to believe in ourselves and play loose, not cocky but with a certain confidence and swagger. We know that we're good but I think we're putting too much pressure on ourselves to go out and perform or we expect other people on the team to go do something. If you're in a close game, which we will be a lot of times this year, we have to be able to perform in those tight situations, just be able to do your job play in and play out."
On learning from the loss and the timeout issues
"I think we've learned from it already looking back at the film. Just being aware of the situation; down in distance, personnel exchanges. I think those things go hand in hand with how we used our timeouts. Being aware of the situation is key right there for saving those timeouts."
On having something to prove
"I think we have something to prove every week to be honest. But yes, we didn't play up to our standards against Hawaii. IT's frustrating to come out the way we did. We want to come out and play well this week, especially at home. We want to defend our home turf and put on a good show, not even for the fans. Obviously you want to put on a good show for them but just for ourselves to show that we can actually play and transfer over from the practice field to the game field."
On the penalties called in the Hawai'i game
"Those are the things that you can't control. It's frustrating but you have to keep playing through those things because you know it's not always going to go your way. If it goes that way then you have to move on for the next play. You just have to give your best effort each time and do your job."
On playing in Folsom Field
"It's exciting. I may not show it right now, I'm a little sick but I'll be fine by Saturday. It's exciting to come back and play in this stadium. It's my favorite stadium to play in. It's exciting, especially for some of the guys to play behind their home crowd. We'll be ready to play this week."
On UMass' defense
"They're a really experienced defense. I think most of their guys from last year which is great for them. Like I said, it'll help them to be an experienced defense. They changed a little bit from when we last played, they played a little more four down towards the end of the year instead of that Okie defense that they played at the beginning. I think they'll play similarly with maybe a few changes from last year because they didn't play a game last week. They'll have some wrinkles before us because they saw us play but I think we have a good game plan coming up for them."
On how the O-Line is improving in practice
"They have been working a lot. We got back Friday and practiced Saturday, Sunday and today. They've been working a lot on it with Coach Bernardi, going over the same stunts to make sure we pick them up. If we need to, we rewrite the play and run it again so they can pick them up. I think they're doing a good job picking it up and it just goes to translating it onto the field now."
