Colorado-UCLA Quotes
vs
Wyoming
Sep 20 (Sat)
8:15 p.m.
Colorado Head Coach Mike MacIntyre
General
“It’s awesome to get another win and take our step towards where we want to go. We were very uncharacteristic. All the penalties we had was very poor, especially the personal fouls. They were selfish things that we’ll definitely get corrected. We haven’t had that in the past and we will not have that in the future. I tip my hat to UCLA, they played extremely hard. I thought both sides played hard. Our guys played hard and their guys played hard. That’s a good thing that shows you with our team, we found a way to win. You’re going to have a game like that every once in a while, but not with the selfish penalties we had. We have to fix that. Isaiah’s [Oliver] punt return was awesome. We had great protection. The gunners did a great job of not letting the guys get to him, and he took off running. It was a great job and it was a huge play for us.”
On Team’s Penalties
“It was just selfish. The guys were away from the play, not even involved in the play. We just can’t do that. We haven’t done that in the past and we will not do it again.”
On Team Channeling Energy
“We always channeled it. You have individual battles out there. When you (referring to the reporter asking the question) played basketball and a girl was elbowing you to death, you didn’t just elbow her right back. You kept going, because you would have gotten kicked out. You’ve got to control yourself and you’ve got to be able to work that. That’s something we need to make sure that we don’t have happen again. That’ll hurt us in a big game. Every time something raises its ugly head, you’ve got to chop it off and fix it, so we’ll chop it off and fix it.”
On What He Told Team At Halftime
“It’s between me and them.”
On Defense Being Clutch
“We’ve got a lot of good players on defense. They keep competing. It’s funny, the last two games we’ve outgained the other team, we moved the ball. We just haven’t finished the drives like we’d like to. We’ll start finishing those drives. Today, we would have finished him, but we had some bad penalties that hurt us that weren’t even part of the play. On one, the ball was on the half-yard line and we missed the handoff. We haven’t done that. The defense is playing really hard and really well. They get after it. I think UCLA’s defense also played well at times.”
On Games Building Character
“I think every win is a character-building win for us down the stretch. We haven’t been here before. Now they know. I told them, every team that we’re playing now – now that we’re ranked and they see all that – they’re going to come with a little more edge. This team kind of had their back against the wall. We needed to understand that. It was going to be a feisty game with both teams battling. We’ve got to have better poise in those situations. This will be a great learning situation for that.”
On Team Getting To The Pac-12 Championship
“They realize where they’re headed and where we’re going. We had the gold games listed for November. We won one of them and we have three more. We’ve got to go play Arizona who’s beat us the last three years also. Everybody we’re beating has beaten us three years in a row. This is new for us, but our guys will be ready to go next week.”
On Time Off Causing Penalties
“We were fresh; we were ready to go. We didn’t have a lot of line-up penalties. We had some bad penalties. If you have four personal foul penalties, that’s uncalled for. That’s 60 yards of penalties right there. Two of them were critical situations that would have been touchdowns. The other ones are going to happen every once in a while; you’re going to have an offsides, you’re going to have a holding. That’s part of it. Jimmie Gilbert’s (penalty) was a little different. The guy was sliding. It’s a little different than the late hits, the pushing and the taunting. That’s not what we’re going to do in our program.”
On Offensive Struggles
“We would have had 14 more points if we handed the ball off correctly. We work on that all the time, that’s got to be better concentration. And if we don’t have a penalty by a receiver when the ball’s on the half-yard line. That’s 14 right there and it’s a whole different game.”
On Play Of Special Teams
“We keep improving there. I thought Chris [Graham] did a good job tonight. He kicked the one low there at the end and it got blocked. He made some others. He did well on his extra points. He did well on his kickoffs. We’ll have Davis Price back next week. We’ll see how he does during the week. He was cleared right before game time, but he hadn’t kicked in three weeks. We had him out there for emergency. Of course, the punt return was a huge, huge play. We another good one early that set up a touchdown. The punt returns were big in our football game. Our punt team did an excellent job. They did a good job of pinning them back. I think our punt return team did better than their punt return team. That was the difference in the game.”
On Isaiah Oliver Returning Punts
“He wasn’t really good at catching them early. We kept working with him and working with him. He scored in two events in the Pac-12 (Track & Field Championships); he’s a decathlete. He has explosion there and we’ve seen that. He needs to be consistent at catching the ball. He did an excellent job tonight.”
On What Win Means
“It’s awesome to get another win and take our step towards where we want to go. We were very uncharacteristic. All the penalties we had was very poor, especially the personal fouls. They were selfish things that we’ll definitely get corrected. We haven’t had that in the past and we will not have that in the future. I tip my hat to UCLA, they played extremely hard. I thought both sides played hard. Our guys played hard and their guys played hard. That’s a good thing that shows you with our team, we found a way to win. You’re going to have a game like that every once in a while, but not with the selfish penalties we had. We have to fix that. Isaiah’s [Oliver] punt return was awesome. We had great protection. The gunners did a great job of not letting the guys get to him, and he took off running. It was a great job and it was a huge play for us.”
On Team’s Penalties
“It was just selfish. The guys were away from the play, not even involved in the play. We just can’t do that. We haven’t done that in the past and we will not do it again.”
On Team Channeling Energy
“We always channeled it. You have individual battles out there. When you (referring to the reporter asking the question) played basketball and a girl was elbowing you to death, you didn’t just elbow her right back. You kept going, because you would have gotten kicked out. You’ve got to control yourself and you’ve got to be able to work that. That’s something we need to make sure that we don’t have happen again. That’ll hurt us in a big game. Every time something raises its ugly head, you’ve got to chop it off and fix it, so we’ll chop it off and fix it.”
On What He Told Team At Halftime
“It’s between me and them.”
On Defense Being Clutch
“We’ve got a lot of good players on defense. They keep competing. It’s funny, the last two games we’ve outgained the other team, we moved the ball. We just haven’t finished the drives like we’d like to. We’ll start finishing those drives. Today, we would have finished him, but we had some bad penalties that hurt us that weren’t even part of the play. On one, the ball was on the half-yard line and we missed the handoff. We haven’t done that. The defense is playing really hard and really well. They get after it. I think UCLA’s defense also played well at times.”
On Games Building Character
“I think every win is a character-building win for us down the stretch. We haven’t been here before. Now they know. I told them, every team that we’re playing now – now that we’re ranked and they see all that – they’re going to come with a little more edge. This team kind of had their back against the wall. We needed to understand that. It was going to be a feisty game with both teams battling. We’ve got to have better poise in those situations. This will be a great learning situation for that.”
On Team Getting To The Pac-12 Championship
“They realize where they’re headed and where we’re going. We had the gold games listed for November. We won one of them and we have three more. We’ve got to go play Arizona who’s beat us the last three years also. Everybody we’re beating has beaten us three years in a row. This is new for us, but our guys will be ready to go next week.”
On Time Off Causing Penalties
“We were fresh; we were ready to go. We didn’t have a lot of line-up penalties. We had some bad penalties. If you have four personal foul penalties, that’s uncalled for. That’s 60 yards of penalties right there. Two of them were critical situations that would have been touchdowns. The other ones are going to happen every once in a while; you’re going to have an offsides, you’re going to have a holding. That’s part of it. Jimmie Gilbert’s (penalty) was a little different. The guy was sliding. It’s a little different than the late hits, the pushing and the taunting. That’s not what we’re going to do in our program.”
On Offensive Struggles
“We would have had 14 more points if we handed the ball off correctly. We work on that all the time, that’s got to be better concentration. And if we don’t have a penalty by a receiver when the ball’s on the half-yard line. That’s 14 right there and it’s a whole different game.”
On Play Of Special Teams
“We keep improving there. I thought Chris [Graham] did a good job tonight. He kicked the one low there at the end and it got blocked. He made some others. He did well on his extra points. He did well on his kickoffs. We’ll have Davis Price back next week. We’ll see how he does during the week. He was cleared right before game time, but he hadn’t kicked in three weeks. We had him out there for emergency. Of course, the punt return was a huge, huge play. We another good one early that set up a touchdown. The punt returns were big in our football game. Our punt team did an excellent job. They did a good job of pinning them back. I think our punt return team did better than their punt return team. That was the difference in the game.”
On Isaiah Oliver Returning Punts
“He wasn’t really good at catching them early. We kept working with him and working with him. He scored in two events in the Pac-12 (Track & Field Championships); he’s a decathlete. He has explosion there and we’ve seen that. He needs to be consistent at catching the ball. He did an excellent job tonight.”
On What Win Means
“It says we’re fighting. We’re going to keep fighting. We’re going to have a never-say-die attitude. We’re going to keep pushing and keep going. We still don’t blink. We had a lot of chances to blink tonight. We’ve got to get to scoring points again like we were earlier and we will.”
On What He Told The Team Postgame
“I told them we’re here to be Pac-12 Champions. We didn’t celebrate at all in there, I didn’t. I want them to enjoy the win, because they’re so hard to come by. I don’t want to squelch it; I want them to enjoy it. When we come back tomorrow, we’re going to correct them and work on it. We have extra running we have to do for personal fouls, the whole team. They need to understand if we want to be Pac-12 Champions, we cannot do that. We have to have better poise and we can’t be selfish. We haven’t been, but we won’t be again, because we’ve got too much at stake. You don’t want to screw it up, because you have a couple selfish plays and lose a game because of it.”
On Thinking He Would Have The Same Reaction After A Win A Year Ago
“I want them to celebrate a win. I was excited we won, but at the same time I had to temper myself. We can’t have 12 penalties, that’s not right.”
On Balance Of The Offense And Defense
“I said we should be in the top echelon of the Pac-12 and be one of the top 20 defenses in America. I believe that. Offensively, I think we should be one of the top 30 offenses in the country and we should be in the top echelon of offenses in our conference. We knew [Takkarist McKinley] 98 could pass-rush. Sam [Kronshage] just got hurt. [Aaron] Haigler had just come back off of injury. He was trying to go having only practiced five or six days. We were at a little bit of a disadvantage. They had a little bit on us there. Hopefully, Sam will get his shoulder well. I believe it was his AC joint, but it was hurting him so much. Aaron was coming back off that ankle. He did some good things. The guy got after him a few times. He’s a really good player. So far, he’s the best pass-rusher in our league that I’ve seen in person.”
On Defense Playing Well
“Our defensive staff has done a phenomenal job with them. Our guys keep playing hard and keep finding ways to make plays. We will not be able to reach our goal of a Pac-12 Championship with 12 penalties and four turnovers.”
On What He Told The Team Postgame
“I told them we’re here to be Pac-12 Champions. We didn’t celebrate at all in there, I didn’t. I want them to enjoy the win, because they’re so hard to come by. I don’t want to squelch it; I want them to enjoy it. When we come back tomorrow, we’re going to correct them and work on it. We have extra running we have to do for personal fouls, the whole team. They need to understand if we want to be Pac-12 Champions, we cannot do that. We have to have better poise and we can’t be selfish. We haven’t been, but we won’t be again, because we’ve got too much at stake. You don’t want to screw it up, because you have a couple selfish plays and lose a game because of it.”
On Thinking He Would Have The Same Reaction After A Win A Year Ago
“I want them to celebrate a win. I was excited we won, but at the same time I had to temper myself. We can’t have 12 penalties, that’s not right.”
On Balance Of The Offense And Defense
“I said we should be in the top echelon of the Pac-12 and be one of the top 20 defenses in America. I believe that. Offensively, I think we should be one of the top 30 offenses in the country and we should be in the top echelon of offenses in our conference. We knew [Takkarist McKinley] 98 could pass-rush. Sam [Kronshage] just got hurt. [Aaron] Haigler had just come back off of injury. He was trying to go having only practiced five or six days. We were at a little bit of a disadvantage. They had a little bit on us there. Hopefully, Sam will get his shoulder well. I believe it was his AC joint, but it was hurting him so much. Aaron was coming back off that ankle. He did some good things. The guy got after him a few times. He’s a really good player. So far, he’s the best pass-rusher in our league that I’ve seen in person.”
On Defense Playing Well
“Our defensive staff has done a phenomenal job with them. Our guys keep playing hard and keep finding ways to make plays. We will not be able to reach our goal of a Pac-12 Championship with 12 penalties and four turnovers.”
UCLA Head Coach Jim Mora
General
“Obviously it’s a disappointing loss. We couldn’t get anything going on offense and had some struggles on special teams. That’s a good team, and when that happens, when you can’t get anything going on offense, and you give up a punt return, and have a field goal attempt blocked, it’s going to be tough to win. I thought we fought our tails off, that’s what we have to keep doing, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do.”
On Emotions and Penalties
“I thought the officials did a good job getting it under control. I thought that Mike (MacIntyre) and myself brought our teams together and said ‘let’s just play football’. They’re emotional young men, and this is an emotional game, they’re fighting hard to try to win and sometimes that happens. I commend both sides, once it got to that point, for pulling it back. Colorado is a heck of a football team, Mike’s done a great job, and I wouldn’t let (the penalties) be the story, certainly.”
On CU Punt Return TD Play
“It was a lot more than (punt placement or coverage). We were supposed to be in a rugby punt, and we didn’t rugby. We kicked it down the middle with no hang (time) and if you do that against a good punt returner, that’s what’s going to happen.”
On Snapping Problems
“Scotty (Quessenberry) didn’t really practice much this week, he has a bad shoulder, so early just trying to adjust to snapping it, he was struggling. He got back on track, he fought threw it, he’s a tough kid, he’s got great character. He hadn’t practiced all week, his right shoulder has really been bothering him and he wanted to gut it out.”
On Not Capitalizing on Penalties, Turnovers
“It’s incredibly disappointing. We had so many opportunities with four takeaways in the first half, and like you said we had field position given to us because of personal foul penalties on Colorado. We had our own problems there so I’m not saying that as a negative towards Colorado, but it’s terribly disappointing not being able to find points. Terribly disappointing.”
On How Increased Run Game Went
“Not good enough. We scored 10 points off of four take-aways. That’s not very good.”
On Josh Rosen Being Out
“Josh who?.... We’re talking about Colorado here, so if you want to talk about Colorado here, we can do that.”
On Defense Bouncing Back After Poor Performance Against Utah
“I thought their effort was excellent against Utah. I don’t think their performance was very good, but I would never question their effort. We gave up some runs against Utah that we got squared away today, I think we played well. These guys have a lot of pride, they’ve played very well for most of the season. We had a little breakdown against Utah. Our defense takes a lot of pride in their performance and they showed it again tonight. They kept on rising up, and rising up, and rising up, and I’m really proud of those guys.”
On Four Takeaways
“We just made some plays on the ball. We had a good pass rush and when the quarterback is under duress a little bit, sometimes the throws aren’t as accurate. We were able to catch it, and that’s what you’re looking for.”
On Enduring Worst Season At UCLA
“I’m not worried about me, I’m concerned about our young men. This is a test for them. It’s unfortunate, and it’s hard, but it’s also a great learning opportunity for them. They’re going to go through life and have moments of adversity, it’s not always going to go swimmingly and smooth, and they’re going to have to learn to deal with it. They’re emotional young men, they care very much about winning, so my concern is for our players.”
On Whether He Felt The Offense Found A Rhythm
“No, we scored 10 points, it’s been that way all year.”
“Obviously it’s a disappointing loss. We couldn’t get anything going on offense and had some struggles on special teams. That’s a good team, and when that happens, when you can’t get anything going on offense, and you give up a punt return, and have a field goal attempt blocked, it’s going to be tough to win. I thought we fought our tails off, that’s what we have to keep doing, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do.”
On Emotions and Penalties
“I thought the officials did a good job getting it under control. I thought that Mike (MacIntyre) and myself brought our teams together and said ‘let’s just play football’. They’re emotional young men, and this is an emotional game, they’re fighting hard to try to win and sometimes that happens. I commend both sides, once it got to that point, for pulling it back. Colorado is a heck of a football team, Mike’s done a great job, and I wouldn’t let (the penalties) be the story, certainly.”
On CU Punt Return TD Play
“It was a lot more than (punt placement or coverage). We were supposed to be in a rugby punt, and we didn’t rugby. We kicked it down the middle with no hang (time) and if you do that against a good punt returner, that’s what’s going to happen.”
On Snapping Problems
“Scotty (Quessenberry) didn’t really practice much this week, he has a bad shoulder, so early just trying to adjust to snapping it, he was struggling. He got back on track, he fought threw it, he’s a tough kid, he’s got great character. He hadn’t practiced all week, his right shoulder has really been bothering him and he wanted to gut it out.”
On Not Capitalizing on Penalties, Turnovers
“It’s incredibly disappointing. We had so many opportunities with four takeaways in the first half, and like you said we had field position given to us because of personal foul penalties on Colorado. We had our own problems there so I’m not saying that as a negative towards Colorado, but it’s terribly disappointing not being able to find points. Terribly disappointing.”
On How Increased Run Game Went
“Not good enough. We scored 10 points off of four take-aways. That’s not very good.”
On Josh Rosen Being Out
“Josh who?.... We’re talking about Colorado here, so if you want to talk about Colorado here, we can do that.”
On Defense Bouncing Back After Poor Performance Against Utah
“I thought their effort was excellent against Utah. I don’t think their performance was very good, but I would never question their effort. We gave up some runs against Utah that we got squared away today, I think we played well. These guys have a lot of pride, they’ve played very well for most of the season. We had a little breakdown against Utah. Our defense takes a lot of pride in their performance and they showed it again tonight. They kept on rising up, and rising up, and rising up, and I’m really proud of those guys.”
On Four Takeaways
“We just made some plays on the ball. We had a good pass rush and when the quarterback is under duress a little bit, sometimes the throws aren’t as accurate. We were able to catch it, and that’s what you’re looking for.”
On Enduring Worst Season At UCLA
“I’m not worried about me, I’m concerned about our young men. This is a test for them. It’s unfortunate, and it’s hard, but it’s also a great learning opportunity for them. They’re going to go through life and have moments of adversity, it’s not always going to go swimmingly and smooth, and they’re going to have to learn to deal with it. They’re emotional young men, they care very much about winning, so my concern is for our players.”
On Whether He Felt The Offense Found A Rhythm
“No, we scored 10 points, it’s been that way all year.”
Colorado Players
OL Tim Lynott
ON WHY THE OFFENSE STRUGGLED GETTING INTO A RHYTHM - “I don’t know what was going on. I think we were just playing uptight. We had a great week of practice so it was kind of weird how we came out playing uptight. We just need to improve that this week. And we are going to improve that for the next game and just focus on all of the mistakes and make sure we get them fixed.”
ON IF THE BYE WEEK CONTRIBUTED TO SLOPPY PLAY - “I don’t think it did. We had a great week of practice – we were all focused. And we are more focused than we ever were before. Maybe it’s just one of those things where it’s a Thursday game, maybe – we just weren’t focused. It’s something we definitely need to improve on. We are going to get by and try to fix that.”
ON IF THE FLAGS WERE FRUSTRATING - “Yeah, it was very frustrating seeing all of the flags going on the field. It’s like you’re so close to the goal-line and just scoring and the next things is a penalty and you are back another 15 yards. That is very disappointing to see that but we are going to get it fixed tomorrow and make sure we don’t do that ever again.”
ON IF ANOTHER EXTENDED BREAK WILL BE GOOD FOR THE TEAM, HAVING PLAYED ON THURSDAY - “I really think it is because we are so deep in the season already so it will be nice to have a nice weekend off and just kind of relax and make sure we are getting recovery. It’s going to be a good week of practice too. So it’s good to get that two days off and then we are going to have a good week of practice and get ready for Arizona.”
ON IF THE UPTIGHT PLAY IS SOMETHING TO BE ADDRESSED - “We are going to fix that obviously. It’s another game. We worry about ourselves- Colorado football. That’s the only thing that’s stopping us. That’s the only thing that’s ever going to stop us. Tonight, we stopped ourselves. We still got the win. It was a sloppy win. Once we play lose, we are the team that we’ve been the past seven weeks.”
ON IF THE BYE WEEK CONTRIBUTED TO SLOPPY PLAY - “I don’t think it did. We had a great week of practice – we were all focused. And we are more focused than we ever were before. Maybe it’s just one of those things where it’s a Thursday game, maybe – we just weren’t focused. It’s something we definitely need to improve on. We are going to get by and try to fix that.”
ON IF THE FLAGS WERE FRUSTRATING - “Yeah, it was very frustrating seeing all of the flags going on the field. It’s like you’re so close to the goal-line and just scoring and the next things is a penalty and you are back another 15 yards. That is very disappointing to see that but we are going to get it fixed tomorrow and make sure we don’t do that ever again.”
ON IF ANOTHER EXTENDED BREAK WILL BE GOOD FOR THE TEAM, HAVING PLAYED ON THURSDAY - “I really think it is because we are so deep in the season already so it will be nice to have a nice weekend off and just kind of relax and make sure we are getting recovery. It’s going to be a good week of practice too. So it’s good to get that two days off and then we are going to have a good week of practice and get ready for Arizona.”
ON IF THE UPTIGHT PLAY IS SOMETHING TO BE ADDRESSED - “We are going to fix that obviously. It’s another game. We worry about ourselves- Colorado football. That’s the only thing that’s stopping us. That’s the only thing that’s ever going to stop us. Tonight, we stopped ourselves. We still got the win. It was a sloppy win. Once we play lose, we are the team that we’ve been the past seven weeks.”
QB Steven Montez
ON WHAT UCLA CONTRIBUTED TO THE LACK OF COLORADO’S RHYTHM OFFENSIVELY - “They played exactly how we thought they were going to play. They played the coverages that we thought they were going to play. We just didn’t play well as an offense today. And thankfully our defense is a bunch of dogs and picked us up and pretty much won us the game. And Isaiah Oliver had a phenomenal punt return.”
ON IF WHETHER OR NOT HE EXPCTED TO PLAY IN THE SECOND HALF- “I thought Sefo was out once he got hit because he took an absolute shot. I was prepared to play the second half but he got healthy and got back in- so that’s good news.”
ON HOW QB SEFO LIUFAU CONTUNES TO KEEP GETTING BACK UP AFTER INJURY- “He’s a warrior. That’s exactly how I describe him. He takes a shot, gets up, and just brushes it off. I know he’s hurting - and he doesn’t let anybody see it. He’s just a warrior.”
ON THE DIFFUCLTY OF COMING OFF THE BENCH- “You never want to make any excuses but it’s difficult to come off the bench. Rather than actually staring the game and to where you know the game plan in and out you’ve had practice with it. But no excuses, you have to be ready whenever your name is called up. And that’s what I have to do.”
ON IF THE REST CONTRIBUTED TO MENTAL MISTAKES TONIGHT- “Sometimes the game goes like that- and we just have to roll with the punches and do what we can do to get a win.”
ON IF THE EXTRA REST IN BETWEEN GAMES IS GOOD DURING THIS TIME OF THE YEAR- “Yeah, definitely- especially coming down towards the end of the year. I think it’s always good to get some extra rest. Especially the guys that are running and hitting a lot like O-line, D-line, receivers. I think they need rest on their legs, so that’s good for them. As quarterbacks, we don’t run really run a whole lot so we just rest the arm a little bit.”
ON IF WHETHER OR NOT HE EXPCTED TO PLAY IN THE SECOND HALF- “I thought Sefo was out once he got hit because he took an absolute shot. I was prepared to play the second half but he got healthy and got back in- so that’s good news.”
ON HOW QB SEFO LIUFAU CONTUNES TO KEEP GETTING BACK UP AFTER INJURY- “He’s a warrior. That’s exactly how I describe him. He takes a shot, gets up, and just brushes it off. I know he’s hurting - and he doesn’t let anybody see it. He’s just a warrior.”
ON THE DIFFUCLTY OF COMING OFF THE BENCH- “You never want to make any excuses but it’s difficult to come off the bench. Rather than actually staring the game and to where you know the game plan in and out you’ve had practice with it. But no excuses, you have to be ready whenever your name is called up. And that’s what I have to do.”
ON IF THE REST CONTRIBUTED TO MENTAL MISTAKES TONIGHT- “Sometimes the game goes like that- and we just have to roll with the punches and do what we can do to get a win.”
ON IF THE EXTRA REST IN BETWEEN GAMES IS GOOD DURING THIS TIME OF THE YEAR- “Yeah, definitely- especially coming down towards the end of the year. I think it’s always good to get some extra rest. Especially the guys that are running and hitting a lot like O-line, D-line, receivers. I think they need rest on their legs, so that’s good for them. As quarterbacks, we don’t run really run a whole lot so we just rest the arm a little bit.”
WR Bryce Bobo
ON THE DEFENSE’S PERFORMANCE - “I think that our defense certainly picked up the slack that the penalties caused. The defense was on straight lock down and we just have to pick it up on our side.”
ON TONIGHT’S CHALLENGES - “I don’t think it was the week off at all. UCLA was doing their thing and we kind of retaliated back. It’s always the second person who gets caught type of thing and I think that’s what happened with us. We have to work on not retaliating to getting hit or any late hit that happens. On the goal line, Sefo [Liufau] carried the ball and one of the defenders was still dragging him by his collar after the whistle was blown. I was trying to get him off of Sefo and the guy flopped and got the penalty. But stuff happens.”
ON TONIGHT’S PENALTIES - “We’ll get right back to it. We have another game coming up next Saturday and this one is behind us now. We are going to come next week with a different mentality and not get those types of penalties.”
ON WHY THE OFFENSE STRUGGLED TO GET IN RHYTHM - “We weren’t connecting; it was more of us shooting ourselves in the foot more so than what UCLA was throwing at us. We just have to work harder this week and make more connections from quarterback to wide receivers and do a better job of blocking. Then we’ll have a way better job than this week.”
ON TEAM GOALS - “We’re always thinking Pac-12 Champions. That’s what we were thinking even before the season started. We just have to come out and execute at a higher level than we did tonight.”
ON TONIGHT’S CHALLENGES - “I don’t think it was the week off at all. UCLA was doing their thing and we kind of retaliated back. It’s always the second person who gets caught type of thing and I think that’s what happened with us. We have to work on not retaliating to getting hit or any late hit that happens. On the goal line, Sefo [Liufau] carried the ball and one of the defenders was still dragging him by his collar after the whistle was blown. I was trying to get him off of Sefo and the guy flopped and got the penalty. But stuff happens.”
ON TONIGHT’S PENALTIES - “We’ll get right back to it. We have another game coming up next Saturday and this one is behind us now. We are going to come next week with a different mentality and not get those types of penalties.”
ON WHY THE OFFENSE STRUGGLED TO GET IN RHYTHM - “We weren’t connecting; it was more of us shooting ourselves in the foot more so than what UCLA was throwing at us. We just have to work harder this week and make more connections from quarterback to wide receivers and do a better job of blocking. Then we’ll have a way better job than this week.”
ON TEAM GOALS - “We’re always thinking Pac-12 Champions. That’s what we were thinking even before the season started. We just have to come out and execute at a higher level than we did tonight.”
TB Phillip Lindsay
ON THE NUMBER OF PENALTIES TONIGHT - “We can’t have penalties. That was a sloppy showing of Colorado football. That’s not who we are so we need to go back and get it changed. We’ll get here early tomorrow and come back flying around. We have to get back to making plays. We’re not doing that right now.”
ON THE TEAM’S PLAY TONIGHT - “We can sit here and give excuses all day, but we just didn’t handle business. We had the bye week which helped us all heal and we practiced all week even on the bye week and kept the tempo, but we just didn’t go out there and play Colorado football. We played sloppy and we have to go change that. If we want to be Pac-12 Champions, we have to go out there and execute. Offense isn’t doing that, defense is bailing us out a lot right now. That will only take us so far. We have to go back in and get back to square one with everything.”
ON TEAM EXECUTION AND DISCIPLINE - “We still won but like I said, when you’re getting up to the better teams here at the stretch, the kinds of mistakes we made tonight are going to get us beat. That jut means we have to go back and execute. Special teams came up big, but we can’t get to those penalties. We can’t not execute because if you do not execute, we’re not going to win. We just have to continue to execute and play Colorado football. We’re just not executing like we’re supposed to, point blank, period. We know what to expect, we practice it. UCLA is a good defense, a good run defense. We’re not executing, period. I had that fumble, that’s a missed touchdown. We have to go back and correct those things and that comes from discipline.”
ON THE TEAM’S PLAY TONIGHT - “We can sit here and give excuses all day, but we just didn’t handle business. We had the bye week which helped us all heal and we practiced all week even on the bye week and kept the tempo, but we just didn’t go out there and play Colorado football. We played sloppy and we have to go change that. If we want to be Pac-12 Champions, we have to go out there and execute. Offense isn’t doing that, defense is bailing us out a lot right now. That will only take us so far. We have to go back in and get back to square one with everything.”
ON TEAM EXECUTION AND DISCIPLINE - “We still won but like I said, when you’re getting up to the better teams here at the stretch, the kinds of mistakes we made tonight are going to get us beat. That jut means we have to go back and execute. Special teams came up big, but we can’t get to those penalties. We can’t not execute because if you do not execute, we’re not going to win. We just have to continue to execute and play Colorado football. We’re just not executing like we’re supposed to, point blank, period. We know what to expect, we practice it. UCLA is a good defense, a good run defense. We’re not executing, period. I had that fumble, that’s a missed touchdown. We have to go back and correct those things and that comes from discipline.”
LB N.J. Falo
ON THE HIGH NUMBER OF PENALTIES TONIGHT - “The penalties were mistakes on us as players and personally for whatever the penalty was. I had two of them myself. They’re penalties that we need to fix if we want to be Pac-12 Champions. Those flags are frustrating because the way we want to play and perform on the field is as Pac-12 Champs. That’s the goal this year and everyone knows that and that’s not the way a championship team plays.”
IN LB JIMMIE GILBERT’S EJECTION - “Jimmie’s ejection didn’t really spark us. It was just that the next person to step up and everyone said ‘you do you,’ It was more motivation for me to do my job and do what I had to to get this win for this team.”
ON TEAM DISCIPLINE - “Like I said, a Pac-12 Champion team doesn’t go out there and cause as many penalties as we did. We have to fix that. Disciple is a big part of it and as a team we need more discipline and need to go out there and perform as champions.”
ON THE LAST FOUR ‘GOLD GAMES’ - “Especially this late in this year in November, that’s when the games really count and matter whether you go to a bowl or not. These last four games, Coach Mac calls them the gold games. We need to out there and play gold and tonight that’s not what we had. We need to fix that.”
IN LB JIMMIE GILBERT’S EJECTION - “Jimmie’s ejection didn’t really spark us. It was just that the next person to step up and everyone said ‘you do you,’ It was more motivation for me to do my job and do what I had to to get this win for this team.”
ON TEAM DISCIPLINE - “Like I said, a Pac-12 Champion team doesn’t go out there and cause as many penalties as we did. We have to fix that. Disciple is a big part of it and as a team we need more discipline and need to go out there and perform as champions.”
ON THE LAST FOUR ‘GOLD GAMES’ - “Especially this late in this year in November, that’s when the games really count and matter whether you go to a bowl or not. These last four games, Coach Mac calls them the gold games. We need to out there and play gold and tonight that’s not what we had. We need to fix that.”
QB Sefo Liufau
ON OFFENSE’S STRUGGLES - “Definitely struggled on offensive and that definitely starts with me. I will be the first one to say that and the first one to take the blame because the quarterback touches the ball every play and for the majority of plays they are a big deciding factor on how the outcome of each play will be. So, as an offensive we need to be better, look back at film at and see what we can do as a whole. Overall, I am just happy to get the win. It’s a good testament that good teams really find a way to win even when you are not playing at your best.”
ON DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE - “They played really well against Stanford and they played really well again tonight which is just a testament to their hard work over the summer. I’ve gone against those guys for a long time now and I have seen them grow. They are very good now, especially our secondary. I know they gave up a couple of deep passes but as a whole unit they are doing really well with carrying the team right now, which is great for the team but I think if we can get the offense firing on all cylinders it would make it a lot easier on ourselves.”
ON HIS IN-GAME INJURY - “It was just a little stinger, nothing serious. We just wanted to make sure that I could be able to play.”
ON THE TEAM’S WINNING RECORD- “With all the negatives tonight brought on offense especially it’s great to be 7-2 and it’s a lot better than being on the opposite end, 2-7 trying to fight for respect. There’s a lot to learn from this game but to be able to go into the right direction no matter how small the step is, is always a great thing to see.”
ON SLOPPINESS OF TONIGHT’S GAME - “It’s sloppy. If you want to be a Pac-12 Championship team you cannot be doing stuff like tonight. I had a couple times to where I got heated because people were doing extracurricular things underneath the pile and that’s unacceptable as well. As a group and as a team, we cannot let people get underneath our skin because ultimately we will just end up hurting ourselves and our chances.”
ON THE FACEMASK PENALTY- “I shouldn’t have turned around mid-play, I don’t know what I was doing. I think it was a spark because a lot of them had been jarring and taunting. We were just trying to give our defense a rest and give us some breathing room because we know how well we can play, we just haven’t produced as an offense in the last and that’s really frustrating. Especially given the way we preforming in the beginning of the season. We will go back and look at the film to see what we have to do because we definitely have to be better if we want to continue going up.”
ON WHY THE OFFENSE IS STRUGGLING - “I think it comes down to execution. Tonight was just sloppy. There is nothing UCLA did that was mind-blowing. Against Stanford, we really moved the ball up and down the field it was just a matter of punching the ball in; kind of like last year at UCLA. It’s a different thing every night. A big thing that we say is, ‘Do you one-eleven,’ and I don’t think we are doing that on a consistent basis which is why we are really struggling. Like I keep saying, it starts with me. I will take all the blame, all the fire. It’s not the coaches’ fault. It’s not the O-Lines fault. It’s my fault.”
ON THE BYE WEEK EFFECTING TONIGHT’S PERFORMANCE - “As a unit we need to come out and execute. It doesn’t matter what front they put up, it doesn’t matter what coverage they run, we just have to execute and adjust on the fly. The last two games we have struggled to do that. It’s frustrating but we will go back, look at film and see what we need to do to be better against Arizona next week.”
ON HOW THE TEAM WILL RESPOND TO TONIGHT’S STRUGGLE S - “We will fix it. Either I will fix it or one of the captains will fix it because we will not let this season be taken away from our own misdoing. Starting tomorrow we will fix it because it’s unacceptable as captains to have that on our team. It’s unacceptable as captains to be doing it.
ON ISAIAH OLIVER’S PUNT RETURN - “It was probably the first time I smiled all night to be honest. I have been here, was [Nelson] Spruce last year against USC. Special teams hasn’t really been our strong point this year so seeing that was a really big lift for the team to give ourselves a bigger cushion and lessen the stress on defense.
ON DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE - “They played really well against Stanford and they played really well again tonight which is just a testament to their hard work over the summer. I’ve gone against those guys for a long time now and I have seen them grow. They are very good now, especially our secondary. I know they gave up a couple of deep passes but as a whole unit they are doing really well with carrying the team right now, which is great for the team but I think if we can get the offense firing on all cylinders it would make it a lot easier on ourselves.”
ON HIS IN-GAME INJURY - “It was just a little stinger, nothing serious. We just wanted to make sure that I could be able to play.”
ON THE TEAM’S WINNING RECORD- “With all the negatives tonight brought on offense especially it’s great to be 7-2 and it’s a lot better than being on the opposite end, 2-7 trying to fight for respect. There’s a lot to learn from this game but to be able to go into the right direction no matter how small the step is, is always a great thing to see.”
ON SLOPPINESS OF TONIGHT’S GAME - “It’s sloppy. If you want to be a Pac-12 Championship team you cannot be doing stuff like tonight. I had a couple times to where I got heated because people were doing extracurricular things underneath the pile and that’s unacceptable as well. As a group and as a team, we cannot let people get underneath our skin because ultimately we will just end up hurting ourselves and our chances.”
ON THE FACEMASK PENALTY- “I shouldn’t have turned around mid-play, I don’t know what I was doing. I think it was a spark because a lot of them had been jarring and taunting. We were just trying to give our defense a rest and give us some breathing room because we know how well we can play, we just haven’t produced as an offense in the last and that’s really frustrating. Especially given the way we preforming in the beginning of the season. We will go back and look at the film to see what we have to do because we definitely have to be better if we want to continue going up.”
ON WHY THE OFFENSE IS STRUGGLING - “I think it comes down to execution. Tonight was just sloppy. There is nothing UCLA did that was mind-blowing. Against Stanford, we really moved the ball up and down the field it was just a matter of punching the ball in; kind of like last year at UCLA. It’s a different thing every night. A big thing that we say is, ‘Do you one-eleven,’ and I don’t think we are doing that on a consistent basis which is why we are really struggling. Like I keep saying, it starts with me. I will take all the blame, all the fire. It’s not the coaches’ fault. It’s not the O-Lines fault. It’s my fault.”
ON THE BYE WEEK EFFECTING TONIGHT’S PERFORMANCE - “As a unit we need to come out and execute. It doesn’t matter what front they put up, it doesn’t matter what coverage they run, we just have to execute and adjust on the fly. The last two games we have struggled to do that. It’s frustrating but we will go back, look at film and see what we need to do to be better against Arizona next week.”
ON HOW THE TEAM WILL RESPOND TO TONIGHT’S STRUGGLE S - “We will fix it. Either I will fix it or one of the captains will fix it because we will not let this season be taken away from our own misdoing. Starting tomorrow we will fix it because it’s unacceptable as captains to have that on our team. It’s unacceptable as captains to be doing it.
ON ISAIAH OLIVER’S PUNT RETURN - “It was probably the first time I smiled all night to be honest. I have been here, was [Nelson] Spruce last year against USC. Special teams hasn’t really been our strong point this year so seeing that was a really big lift for the team to give ourselves a bigger cushion and lessen the stress on defense.
ILB Kenneth Olugbode
ON JIMMIE GILBERT’S EJECTION - “It was big but as a team we always talk about next guy in has to step up. Your role could change every single game. If you’re one of those guys that has to go in, you have to play to another level and be better than what Jimmie was.”
ON TONIGHT’S PENALTIES - “It’s not us. It’s not how we play. You’ve see it in every game past. It happens but we have to clean it up. Everybody talks. It’s a part of the game, the part that makes the game really competitive. It really doesn’t matter if they’re talking or if we’re talking, we have to tone it down.”
ON TONIGHT’S PENALTIES - “It’s not us. It’s not how we play. You’ve see it in every game past. It happens but we have to clean it up. Everybody talks. It’s a part of the game, the part that makes the game really competitive. It really doesn’t matter if they’re talking or if we’re talking, we have to tone it down.”
DB Isiah Oliver
ON HIS PUNT RETURN –“The first one, they’re on the same calls, just one was a middle return. The first one, I had a seam and I tried to get it to the outside and got run out of bounds. We were able to come back to that one later in the game and that’s what we did. We came back to it when we needed it and the seam was there this time. I was able to get it outside and no one was there so it all worked out well. It was pretty much a feeling of relief because we knew as a team that we felt like we couldn’t stop UCLA’s offense for the rest of the game. We know if we could get one more touchdown or a few more points that we could pretty much solidify the game. So, that’s just what we we’re looking to do. We didn’t expect it to happen on a punt return but however you can get in the end zone, we’re happy with that.”
ON CHIDOBE AWUZIE’S PERFORMANCE - “It’s something that we’ve come to expect from Chido, a guy that’s been here for four years. He’s a senior now and has done everything he possibly could for this program. He makes plays every single Saturday out there on the field. Whenever you need it most, he’s always going to be there to make that play. You can always count on him to be able to do that.”
ON DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE - “That’s what we try to come out here and do every single time we step on the field. The whole team is down to not let them score. But it goes both ways. Sometimes offense is going to struggle to get points and we have to stop them and sometimes we might struggle and give up a couple of points kind of like the Oregon game. It just goes both ways and that’s what makes us a team.”
ON THE MENTORSHIP OF UPPERCLASSMEN - “I can learn a lot and do learn a lot every single day we go out to practice. Those are guys that have been mentoring me and teaching me the ways of how to play in the Pac-12 as a DB. So, I always look to them for advice whenever I see something that I haven’t seen before.
ON WHAT IT’LL TAKE TO WIN A PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIP - “It gives us that much more confidence and it’s a phase of the game that we’re going to have to have to win a Pac-12 Championship, You have to have a great offense and a great defense but you also have to have a great special teams to be able to win it all. So to have that coming along now is going to be really good.
ON CHIDOBE AWUZIE’S PERFORMANCE - “It’s something that we’ve come to expect from Chido, a guy that’s been here for four years. He’s a senior now and has done everything he possibly could for this program. He makes plays every single Saturday out there on the field. Whenever you need it most, he’s always going to be there to make that play. You can always count on him to be able to do that.”
ON DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE - “That’s what we try to come out here and do every single time we step on the field. The whole team is down to not let them score. But it goes both ways. Sometimes offense is going to struggle to get points and we have to stop them and sometimes we might struggle and give up a couple of points kind of like the Oregon game. It just goes both ways and that’s what makes us a team.”
ON THE MENTORSHIP OF UPPERCLASSMEN - “I can learn a lot and do learn a lot every single day we go out to practice. Those are guys that have been mentoring me and teaching me the ways of how to play in the Pac-12 as a DB. So, I always look to them for advice whenever I see something that I haven’t seen before.
ON WHAT IT’LL TAKE TO WIN A PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIP - “It gives us that much more confidence and it’s a phase of the game that we’re going to have to have to win a Pac-12 Championship, You have to have a great offense and a great defense but you also have to have a great special teams to be able to win it all. So to have that coming along now is going to be really good.
UCLA Players
QB Mike Fafaul
ON JOSH ROSEN BEING OUT-“I found out a couple days ago that he was getting surgery. It was probably two or three days before the announcement, it wasn’t far into the game.”
ON HOW JOSH ROSEN IS DOING- “It is tough for him not being out there but I think he is holding up well. He is getting ready for surgery next week and he is going to handle it like a man. I’m sure he will be fine.”
ON NOT CONVERTING ON GOOD FIELD POSITION-“Colorado has a great defense and they did a good job with our scheme. They understood what we wanted to do in the pass game and they just played really well. We have to execute on our end, it is just too bad.”
ON DEALING WITH ERATIC SNAPS- “The balls were a little slick but they were manageable for the most part; except for the first one on the first drive. It threw me off a little bit but it wasn’t anything major.”
ON TRYING TO IMPROVE SNAPS- “I was just letting him know where they were and telling him to just keep working on them. Nothing crazy just what you would think.”
THOUGHTS ON HOW SEASON IS GOING- “It is terrible, I don’t like losing. It is just hard right now but we are going to keep fighting. We are going to keep swinging till the last game.”
ON HOW JOSH ROSEN IS DOING- “It is tough for him not being out there but I think he is holding up well. He is getting ready for surgery next week and he is going to handle it like a man. I’m sure he will be fine.”
ON NOT CONVERTING ON GOOD FIELD POSITION-“Colorado has a great defense and they did a good job with our scheme. They understood what we wanted to do in the pass game and they just played really well. We have to execute on our end, it is just too bad.”
ON DEALING WITH ERATIC SNAPS- “The balls were a little slick but they were manageable for the most part; except for the first one on the first drive. It threw me off a little bit but it wasn’t anything major.”
ON TRYING TO IMPROVE SNAPS- “I was just letting him know where they were and telling him to just keep working on them. Nothing crazy just what you would think.”
THOUGHTS ON HOW SEASON IS GOING- “It is terrible, I don’t like losing. It is just hard right now but we are going to keep fighting. We are going to keep swinging till the last game.”
LB Jayon Brown
ON BEING BEAT BY COLORADO- “They played a really good game and had a really good game plan and executed more than we did.”
ON PENALTIES- “It was a chippy game, but we have to keep our composure and just not let that affect us cause that is going to hurt us with the fifteen yard penalties.”
ON HIS PERSONAL FOUL- “I’ve got to be smarter. I missed the sack so if I would have made that play we wouldn’t have been in that situation. He probably wouldn’t have gotten three and it would have been a closer game. So I just have to do better.”
THOUGHTS ON TURNOVERS BUT NO OFFENSIVE POINTS- “Well sometimes they struggle and sometimes we struggle. They weren’t perfect and we weren’t perfect so we just have to build and learn from our mistakes in film tomorrow.”
ON COLORADO’S PROGRESS AS A TEAM- “They were a really good team last year and in the same boat we were in last year. In close games but couldn’t finish and this year they have the winning formula. They are really good and I think leading the South.”
ON HOW THEY CAUSED TURNOVERS- “Just a great week of preparation and play calling from our coaches and great execution by us on defense. We just got to do better not allowing so many points so that our offense doesn’t have to put up so many.”
ON KNOWING ABOUT ROSEN BEING OUT- “It is tough but we stand by him and just have to be there for him. Whenever or if he comes back, we will be ready for him
ON PENALTIES- “It was a chippy game, but we have to keep our composure and just not let that affect us cause that is going to hurt us with the fifteen yard penalties.”
ON HIS PERSONAL FOUL- “I’ve got to be smarter. I missed the sack so if I would have made that play we wouldn’t have been in that situation. He probably wouldn’t have gotten three and it would have been a closer game. So I just have to do better.”
THOUGHTS ON TURNOVERS BUT NO OFFENSIVE POINTS- “Well sometimes they struggle and sometimes we struggle. They weren’t perfect and we weren’t perfect so we just have to build and learn from our mistakes in film tomorrow.”
ON COLORADO’S PROGRESS AS A TEAM- “They were a really good team last year and in the same boat we were in last year. In close games but couldn’t finish and this year they have the winning formula. They are really good and I think leading the South.”
ON HOW THEY CAUSED TURNOVERS- “Just a great week of preparation and play calling from our coaches and great execution by us on defense. We just got to do better not allowing so many points so that our offense doesn’t have to put up so many.”
ON KNOWING ABOUT ROSEN BEING OUT- “It is tough but we stand by him and just have to be there for him. Whenever or if he comes back, we will be ready for him
LB Kenny Young
ON THE DEFENSIVE PLAY –“I think we played well. It was playing hard and doing our job so that things worked out.”
ON COLORADO’S PLAY – “They tried to beat us, find ways to stop what we were trying to do. That’s pretty much it.”
ON IMPROVING FOR NEXT GAME- “I don’t know at this point what we will focus on in practice to be honest. I think, maybe changing our mindset, a couple of small things. At this point, I don’t know what specific things the coaches will have us work on. I’m just ready to improve and so are the rest of the guys.”
OVERALL THOUGHTS ABOUT THE GAME- “I wanted to get a W. It was fun playing out there but I wish we could have gotten a W. That would have made it even better. We came up short and we need to find a way to get better for the next game. The defense played well, but it wasn’t in our favor. We need to find a way to get things in our favor for the next game. As a team, we will look at things that could have been done better and things that need to be fixed. Then, we can work on those things in practice so mistakes don’t happen in the next game.”
ON COLORADO’S PLAY – “They tried to beat us, find ways to stop what we were trying to do. That’s pretty much it.”
ON IMPROVING FOR NEXT GAME- “I don’t know at this point what we will focus on in practice to be honest. I think, maybe changing our mindset, a couple of small things. At this point, I don’t know what specific things the coaches will have us work on. I’m just ready to improve and so are the rest of the guys.”
OVERALL THOUGHTS ABOUT THE GAME- “I wanted to get a W. It was fun playing out there but I wish we could have gotten a W. That would have made it even better. We came up short and we need to find a way to get better for the next game. The defense played well, but it wasn’t in our favor. We need to find a way to get things in our favor for the next game. As a team, we will look at things that could have been done better and things that need to be fixed. Then, we can work on those things in practice so mistakes don’t happen in the next game.”
RB Soso Jamabo
ON THE RUNNING GAME- “The (running) game was very stagnant. We couldn’t get it going, unfortunately. It’s disappointing. But we are going to keep going forward and working hard. Obviously, you can’t quit so we are going to keep doing what we can do.”
ON FINDING A RHYTHM IN THE RUNNING GAME- “I think the running game as it is the guys are trying to find a rhythm. That’s what they’re trying to do; they still haven’t found the rhythm quite yet. All we can do is keep working hard and preserving through this point in the season. We’re going to keep working hard, like I said.
ON HIS HEALTH- “It’s a long season. Obviously, I am a little banged up. I felt good enough to play a full game against Colorado, who is a pretty good team. I’m going to train a bit tomorrow and keep trying to stay healthy for the rest of the season.”
ON SUPPORTING THE QB- “It’s very disappointing not being able to help out. Obviously Mike[Fafaul] was throwing fire, and we would hope to help him out by having a running game. Unfortunately, we haven’t done that. Mike’s done a great job of leading the team and being a great leader through tough times. He’s doing a good job.”
ON TEAM UNITY- “We are going to stay together, that’s what you got to do. We are all brothers. It’s not hard to stay a family, to stay brothers. It’s not hard to stay friends. Once you are friends, you are friends. Losing doesn’t make you not friends, or not teammates. We’re going to stay together and keep working hard. We have three weeks of practice left. We have to go on a good note going into the next season and that’s what we are going to do.”
ON FINDING A RHYTHM IN THE RUNNING GAME- “I think the running game as it is the guys are trying to find a rhythm. That’s what they’re trying to do; they still haven’t found the rhythm quite yet. All we can do is keep working hard and preserving through this point in the season. We’re going to keep working hard, like I said.
ON HIS HEALTH- “It’s a long season. Obviously, I am a little banged up. I felt good enough to play a full game against Colorado, who is a pretty good team. I’m going to train a bit tomorrow and keep trying to stay healthy for the rest of the season.”
ON SUPPORTING THE QB- “It’s very disappointing not being able to help out. Obviously Mike[Fafaul] was throwing fire, and we would hope to help him out by having a running game. Unfortunately, we haven’t done that. Mike’s done a great job of leading the team and being a great leader through tough times. He’s doing a good job.”
ON TEAM UNITY- “We are going to stay together, that’s what you got to do. We are all brothers. It’s not hard to stay a family, to stay brothers. It’s not hard to stay friends. Once you are friends, you are friends. Losing doesn’t make you not friends, or not teammates. We’re going to stay together and keep working hard. We have three weeks of practice left. We have to go on a good note going into the next season and that’s what we are going to do.”