Colorado UCLA Quotes
Sep 20 (Sat)
8:15 p.m.
Colorado Head Coach Mike MacIntyre
Opening Remarks“Well, that was one heck of a football game, hats off to UCLA. That was a great college football game. I was really proud of the way our guys fought and the way we played.”
On Creative Playcalling
“We needed to be able to run the ball better, so we tried a few things to do that. We knew we were going to have to score a lot of points. We knew they were averaging 50 a game or 50 something. Unfortunately, we have been scoring half of what they have been scoring. We felt like we had a good game plan – just quite couldn’t execute on a couple times that were just right there. Just didn’t get it done. Hats go off to UCLA and the way they played.
On Lack of Execution Theme This Season
“We had chances to make some plays. We played better offensively tonight against an extremely extremely talented defense. They are an extremely talented defense. We won’t play many more talented defenses like theirs. We’re right there and we’ll keep getting better, happier days ahead.
On UCLA’s Defense
“They’re good. They’re good. We moved the ball and did some good things. Got in the end zone, got called back. Had a catch in the end zone didn’t make it. That’s 14 points right there, but I felt we moved the ball well. They just did some better things than we did.”
On How Frustrating It Is To Not Finish Drives
“We had some chances to finish some. Just didn’t make the plays.”
On Colorado’s Decision To Run A Fake Field Goal
“Yes, I’d do it again. 100 times if I had 100 more chances. Everything we saw was set up the right way, just didn’t work out. We had that plan, and we knew we were going to have to score more points to beat these guys. Thought that would be a good way to do that. I would do it 100 times after watching those 4 hours of film.”
On The Feeling In The Lockerroom
“They know were getting better. We’ll start clicking off some wins here. You know we played the best team in the Pac-12, got beat at home, played them hard. And then we played a really talented football team with probably one of the best quarterbacks in America. Just keep fixing it and we will.”
From KOA Radio Broadcast
General
“That was an exciting game to watch, we just came out on the losing end, which is really hard to swallow, it's really tough. Our kids battled extremely hard and just kept fighting and fighting and fighting and had a chance right there at the end. Give credit to them that last drive, they made a couple plays. We were all over them and they made some great throws and catches. But you know when you rush for almost 200 yards and they only had like 60, you should win the football game and we didn’t, but we’re going to keep moving, we’re going to keep working forward and we’re going to get ready for our next one. Our kids will bounce back but I was really proud of the way they fought and really proud of the way they played. Had a couple plays here or there that could have gone either way, that was the difference in the game, that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”
On The Third Down Conversions
“Yeah it does but, you know we had a couple plays here and there that got called back for some situations that happened to us. It’s a whole different ball game and we have to not make those mistakes. What a heck of a game, really proud of them and we will get back at home and get ready to work and get ready for Arizona to come in Folsom and find a way to get it done.”
On Josh Rosen's Play
“Yeah he made some nice plays, he made some really good plays, we knew he would I think we held them half of their scoring average, which I think was good and we had our opportunities to score a few more points and didn’t. The kids just battled extremely hard and we’re getting better and better and better and we’re going to get a bunch of wins before it’s over.”
UCLA Head Coach Jim Mora
Opening Remarks
“I’m proud of these young men for a lot of reasons. Number one, through two weeks of tough losses, they have gotten closer. That is what has to happen when you’re going through adversity. It was reflected in the way that these guys came to work – to their practices and meetings every day. The energy that they had, the way they talked to each other, it all reflected in their attitude and their ability to still have fun, yet work hard. Tonight was a culmination of that. We were playing without a guard, so we had to move Poasi [Moala] in at right tackle. We did lose one of our best pass receivers in Caleb Wilson, and we were in a battle there against a really good team. If our young men didn’t have the character that they did, it would have been easy to just fold up the tents. But, they did not do that. So it’s something that I have felt has been growing. That gets lost when you lose. I’m very proud of them, happy for them and it’s a nice way to go into the bye.”
On Making Progress On Defense
“We were good in the red zone and held them to field goals for the most part. Twice there, their quarterback got the edge on us, on what we call 12 personnel. Guys get hungry and defensive ends collapse, and then the quarterback pulls it and goes. One of our best players on defense made a mistake that he never makes. We have to give these guys better calls, but I was proud of how the defense played. They tackled better. They had a good energy about them. They hung in there. We gave up a few plays and we bowed our neck in the red zone. I was proud of them.”
On UCLA Running The Ball
“When we needed to run it, we did. I’d like to see us finish the game with more productive runs and never have to kick a field goal and kick the ball off [in that final minute]. Our run game is improving. We have a lot of room for improvement. Poasi [Moala] being in there for his first real stretch at tackle, he will grow from that. We just have to keep improving.”
On Soso Jamabo Getting More Carries
“It’s really been the last couple of weeks that Soso has played more. He’s healthy. His back is better. He’s running with confidence, and we will continue to use him. We’ll use Bolu [Olorunfunmi] and Jalen [Starks] and you even saw Brandon Stephens get in there. It’s hard to play with just one back. But to play with two or three or four helps us.”
On Getting A Win To Help Embolden The Team
“It’s critical. It really is. It’s important. You can take a sigh of relief, but you cannot act like it’s all fixed. There is a lot of work to do. While you’re excited about the win and you celebrate it, you go back on Sunday as a staff and then on Monday as a staff with your players and you have to be just as critical of what you did and the calls that you made. We have to be critical as if we’d just gotten the dog kicked out of us. I love that about these guys, that there is a thirst to get better.”
On Mossi Johnson Getting More Time In Nickel Snaps
“It wasn’t just practice. It’s some of the things that he has been doing on special teams. I love that kid. He’s tough as heck. He’s a Crenshaw kid. He’s been voted our captain the last two weeks. He’s always smiling and has the greatest attitude in the world. We thought he’d give us a presence as a tackler back there. I don’t know how he did, but I would like to expand his role.”
On Josh Rosen
“I don’t know what his numbers were, but I think that he has set the bar so high that we have to be a bit measured in our evaluations of him. But like with all of our players, Josh will be his own toughest critic. He’ll say that he left a lot on the table. That is one of the things that you love about Josh.”
On Penalties
"The targeting penalty on Darnay [Holmes], I think that it was a good call. We have to keep player safety at a premium, and we have to teach him to lower his point-of-aim and to keep his head up. The things that do concern me [involve] the defensive holding down the field. Those bothered me more than anything tonight. The other one that bothered me was when we came out of a timeout and had 12 guys on the field. That is my fault. That might be the first time in my career that it’s happened. But that is no excuse. But that is not to justify it. We have to continue to work hard on stressing the fundamentals – of being good with our hands, of being good with our hands and our feet so that we don’t grab.”
On UCLA’s Third Down Defense Being Tighter
“Just a lot of hard work between our coaches and players. We had outstanding execution by everybody on the field.”
Colorado Players
DE Leo Jackson III
GENERAL: “I mean it was a good game, we came out, we fought our hardest but UCLA was definitely the better team. There were a couple times we shot ourselves in the foot, they took advantage of those opportunities and they made us pay for it but it was a great game overall.”ON COMING UP SHORT ON PLAYS: “Yeah definitely. There were a couple slip-ups on our part and some things we have to work on, as far as you know making those hits and not letting get those extra yards.”
ON JOSH ROSEN: “Oh yeah they dialed up some good plays, he's a great quarterback, he was getting the ball to his playmakers, which is what he is supposed to do as a quarterback, he did his job.”
ON HOW THE BUFFS CAN GET BACK IN THE WIN COLUMN: “I think we just got to dial, the biggest thing is we got to work on the little things, that are coming up on film. As you said having a stop, those one or two yards that make the critical difference we need. We need those yards, we need to find out a way to make those plays.”
CB Isaiah Oliver
ON THE LATE DEFENSE BREAKDOWNS: “Yeah a little bit, Josh Rosen is a great quarterback, he has a lot of great receivers over there, he gets the ball out quick, on time, to the right guy every time. It’s a great offense. We played well, we fought hard, we just came up a little short.”ON HOW THE BUFFS CAN GET BACK IN THE WIN COLUMN: “It’s just about taking that next step. It starts with fixing mistakes, we had way too many penalties today, way too many coverages busted and things like that. So we’re going to fix that this week and come out strong and get ready to play Arizona.”
ON IF YOU CAN BUILD CONFIDENCE FROM THIS PERFORMANCE: “Yeah most definitely we knew how prolific their offense was so we knew we had a big test on your hands, I thought the guys played hard defensively across the board, defensive line, linebackers and the secondary. We know we’re going to bring that into next week, we just have to do a little bit more to get the win.”
ON NOT HANGING THEIR HEADS AFTER THE LOSS: “Oh yeah, most definitely and we will be ready to go come Saturday.”
QB Steven Montez
ON FRUSTRATION LEVEL LEAVING POINTS ON THE FIELD: “It’s real frustrating, actually. I thought there were a lot of plays out there that could have gone our way. Obviously they didn’t. We need to get back to practice on Monday and just use this as motivation. If this doesn’t fire you up, I don’t know what will. I thought that we played a good game. We’ve just got to finish.”
ON CREATIVE PLAYCALLING: “We drew up new formations, new plays. Some of them worked really well, some of them didn’t work. That’s football. Sometimes plays are going to work, sometimes they’re not going to work. You’ve just got to make the best out of the situation in which you’ve got.”
ON WHAT UCLA WAS DOING DIFFERENTLY: “I think they changed their front up for this game. We didn’t expect to see the front that they gave us. We adjusted to it and started to run the ball really well.”
ON WHERE TO GO AFTER STARTING 0-2 IN THE PAC-12: “The only way to go is up. That’s the only way to go is up. So we’ll try and go back on Monday and go back to the drawing board and get prepared for a good U of A team. They’re coming to Folsom (Field), so we’ll have to make it pretty tough in Folsom to get a win, so hopefully we’ll get it done.”