Colorado-San Diego State Quotes
vs
Wyoming
Sep 20 (Sat)
8:15 p.m.
Colorado Head Coach Karl Dorrell
OPENING STATEMENT
“A good win for us as a team, a difficult win. One of those wins you are hoping that you’re able to do what we did today. It was tough on us given we haven’t had much time to prepare for this game. Our players did a great job handling the information that we did have to get them at least familiar with San Diego State. I thought our defense played outstanding; they made a great number of improvements from the first two games to this third game. I’m excited about what our defense looks like. Offensively, we had some challenges today against a very good defense. It was tough to run the ball. It was tough to throw it. It was tough in protection. I think there are a lot of things we need to work on and fix on the offensive side. Sam threw his first interception for a touchdown, I’m sure he’ll learn a lot from that. All in all, I’m just glad we were able to pull out the win. It was a great win for our defense, I thought our special teams played well. It was a great win for our program.”
ON SECURING BOWL ELIGIBILITY IN HIS FIRST YEAR AS HEAD COACH
I don’t think of it that way, we still got a season to play. I’m not even thinking about bowl right now. I’m focused on the next job or the next task in front of us which is Arizona. I’m going to enjoy this victory today; you know we’ve got plans to do a lot of things as we move through the season. Right now, I’m trying to digest what happened tonight. We had a great victory, and my mind is already on the things we need to fix to get ready for Arizona. That’s great for the program and I’ve got aspirations for us to continue to win. I think all of those things take care of themselves. We’re still marching forward trying to maximize every opportunity that we have in front of us.
ON WINNING THEY WAY THEY DID
We won the game with a day of preparation. I thought our players did a great job of getting a feel of what San Diego State does. Our defense played well and offensively was a bigger challenge. That’s a very good defensive front and I think they’re third in the country in rush defense and it showed today. It was difficult for us to get some things together running the football. Throwing the ball, we were okay other than the mistake that Same had. It was a very good defense and our defense rose up to their challenges and met them and offensively we got enough points to win the game. I think good teams find ways to win and they’re not always pretty. They’re not always an explosive offense and a great defense. Sometimes you’ve got to win ugly and it was one of those games given the lack of preparation I think it was a solid win for us. I’m very proud of these young men.
ON SPECIAL TEAMS AND K EVAN PRICE
“We got a hand up on one of their kicks and they had a couple of wide left or wide right kicks. I’m very excited about Evan. He’s had experience last year which has helped him given he has the role with James retiring from football. He stepped in and did a fabulous job. We’ve got to continue to work on our mechanics with protection and the timing. He (Evan) is a lot faster with getting things in terms of his operation from snap, kick and hold. I think all of that has been going really well and he had a couple of big kicks for us today. I’m really happy that he has a couple of kicks under his belt from this year that he can continue to build his confidence and feel like he can do more for us as we march through the season.”
ON SAM NOYER RUNNING
“Sam ran some today naturally because of plays breaking down. He is going to make some plays off-schedule. We don't need to do a lot of quarterback run options for him. We have some that are naturally going to happen from week to week. The other part of it is we don't want to expose him too much, doing a lot of those things. Sam is growing and learning. This challenge for Sam today, versus this San Diego State defense, was challenging. The seams to throw the footballs were a lot more difficult because there were a lot more defenders out there it seemed like than what he had seen the first couple opportunities he had against UCLA and Stanford. He made one big mistake today. I thought he did a nice job of at least generating some drives for us. When you talk to him, he is going to feel like he could have played it much better. I'm sure he could of. A lot of these things we are able to fix and kind of shore up. At least we are winning games and still have some issues to clean up after winning games. It is a lot easier to fix than after a loss. Sam has already told me after the game, ‘I am going to be much better next week.’ He is already thinking about next week too. He is going to be fine. I think we are all going to be fine offensively. I am very proud of how our defense played. They really look like the style of defense Colorado has had in the past when I was here. I am very proud of that transition and what it is working too. We will continue to work and get better at the things we need to fix in all of the areas of our team, on offense, defense, and special teams. We have good problems to have right now. We are 3-0, but we have some things we can continue to get better at.”
ON GETTING A GAME IN THIS WEEK
“It was good to get a game in because we were off last week. To miss another week would have been a little more difficult to deal with. I didn't like the aspects of how we had to learn to do this one in a day's time. It was so good to play and our players were excited to play. I thought they played with a lot of energy today. They were inspired about doing a lot of good things today. I was very proud of what they were going through. Everybody is dealing with circumstances this year. This Covid-19 thing is so unpredictable. It is a day-to-day process. We never know where we will completely be from Monday to Friday. Anything can happen on any given day. Our players have been outstanding with keeping our health. They have been outstanding. I told them that earlier yesterday. We are still trying to stay as healthy as we can be. I think they know there are a lot of really good things in front of them if they continue the trend they are on. We are going to focus on getting better every week and fixing the issues that we have and trying to line up and stack these wins together.”
ON KICKOFF BEING DELAYED
“The information we had; we knew they were waiting on a confirmation test. They said one person was positive. It didn't seem like it was going to affect the ruling of having 53-scholarship players and the minimum number of players to be able to play. The circumstances that we knew, we felt the game was going to be played. They delayed it because they were waiting for a test result back at the hotel. As soon as they got the test result, that is when they came to the stadium. With the information we got from San Diego State, which they were in touch with us and Rick George here at Colorado, we didn't think the game was in jeopardy. It was just the timing of getting the information back.”
ON ILB NATE LANDMAN AND OLB CARSON WELLS
“It is fun to see. That was a beautiful thing seeing those guys in the backfield half the night. I like that. Our defense played inspired. They did a great job. Nate has been a great leader for us. He has been a great leader since he’s been here, from what people have told me. Having this chance to experience this year with him, he has been exactly what we have all expected him to be. He is a great player. He has been a great leader. He sets the tone of our defense. He is a great vocal piece. It is a great thing we have guys like him and Carson that have some experience and know our system. They are really helping us coach our younger players about understanding our system for our depth purposes. I was really pleased and excited about those guys leading the charge and doing a really nice thing tonight. We are going to hopefully keep that trend going. We have an Arizona game next week and a conference game on the schedule next week. We are excited about getting back into the conference. We are going to enjoy this one tonight and get back to work tomorrow.”
“It was good to get a game in because we were off last week. To miss another week would have been a little more difficult to deal with. I didn't like the aspects of how we had to learn to do this one in a day's time. It was so good to play and our players were excited to play. I thought they played with a lot of energy today. They were inspired about doing a lot of good things today. I was very proud of what they were going through. Everybody is dealing with circumstances this year. This Covid-19 thing is so unpredictable. It is a day-to-day process. We never know where we will completely be from Monday to Friday. Anything can happen on any given day. Our players have been outstanding with keeping our health. They have been outstanding. I told them that earlier yesterday. We are still trying to stay as healthy as we can be. I think they know there are a lot of really good things in front of them if they continue the trend they are on. We are going to focus on getting better every week and fixing the issues that we have and trying to line up and stack these wins together.”
ON KICKOFF BEING DELAYED
“The information we had; we knew they were waiting on a confirmation test. They said one person was positive. It didn't seem like it was going to affect the ruling of having 53-scholarship players and the minimum number of players to be able to play. The circumstances that we knew, we felt the game was going to be played. They delayed it because they were waiting for a test result back at the hotel. As soon as they got the test result, that is when they came to the stadium. With the information we got from San Diego State, which they were in touch with us and Rick George here at Colorado, we didn't think the game was in jeopardy. It was just the timing of getting the information back.”
ON ILB NATE LANDMAN AND OLB CARSON WELLS
“It is fun to see. That was a beautiful thing seeing those guys in the backfield half the night. I like that. Our defense played inspired. They did a great job. Nate has been a great leader for us. He has been a great leader since he’s been here, from what people have told me. Having this chance to experience this year with him, he has been exactly what we have all expected him to be. He is a great player. He has been a great leader. He sets the tone of our defense. He is a great vocal piece. It is a great thing we have guys like him and Carson that have some experience and know our system. They are really helping us coach our younger players about understanding our system for our depth purposes. I was really pleased and excited about those guys leading the charge and doing a really nice thing tonight. We are going to hopefully keep that trend going. We have an Arizona game next week and a conference game on the schedule next week. We are excited about getting back into the conference. We are going to enjoy this one tonight and get back to work tomorrow.”
SDSU Head Coach Brady Hoke
Opening Statement
“I thought our effort was really good. From that standpoint, I'm very proud of how our guys came out. I like how they played the total 60 minutes. Now, did we play as well as we need to? We didn’t. Too many penalties in the first half, especially on defense. Most of them were aggressive penalties that are the type you know you can live with to some degree, but we got to do a better job there. Offensively, we've got to find a way to convert third downs and got to keep working. It was a crazy week to some degree. We were delayed getting here a little bit at the hotel because of some testing. But, you know, I thought the guys were fired up and ready to play football.”
On getting ready to play on short notice
“Well, the only thing I’ll say is that the staff and the players did a really good job of getting ready to play. At one point in the week we thought we were going to play Washington. That obviously didn't go that way. Then JD worked his tail off helping to get this game. When we got it, we told the guys on Thursday night about six o'clock. We had practiced a couple days, so that we were working into whatever it was. More fundamentals than anything else. I thought the coaches did a great job of getting together and putting a plan together.”
On Darren Hall and Dwayne Johnson Jr.
“Well I think Darren and Dwayne love to play. They love their teammates. They are two guys who we count on as far as leadership. They're very much the guys that you want to have on your football team.”
On the personal fouls
“We'll address it. I think there's a lot of passion when you're playing that hard. When guys are making penalties and some of them are physical, that's part of the game. During the game itself, I think they had three targeting penalties that happened in the first half. Now I know one of them was on them, but I've never seen that in the first quarter and all three of them weren't targeting.”
On the quarterback situation
“As we went through the week all the way till Thursday we're hoping for Lucas. Weren't sure if that was going to happen. Jeff did a good job getting the other two guys ready. At the same time and then obviously, as we got closer to gameday we thought that Lucas wasn't gonna be able to go. Same with Greg Bell and Bill Dunkle. From that standpoint, we decided that we would play both of them, and see who reacted well, and who played well. I think we just got to keep honing in at that position.”
On Jordan Brookshire
“I would say I think he did some good things. He pulled the ball a couple times, he used his feet, extended plays. Then there's some things that I know he'll want to do better. Just like every guy out there. Nobody played a perfect game and we've got to obviously keep getting better as a football team.”
On why they couldn’t build off of pick-six
“I think in some ways we did build on it. I think you look at what we did defensively. I don't know how many three and outs we were able to get in the second half from a defensive standpoint. Offensively, we'd take two steps forward and then a step back. So, we just have to really become more consistent in what we're doing and how we're doing it.”
On the pick six
“That was awesome. Darren Hall ended up playing 87 snaps on defense, which is by far more than you like to play. To have D-Hall step in front of it and take it back. We talked about scoring on defense. We talked about getting the ball back for the offense. Obviously, that was a lift for everybody.”
On defending Jarek Broussard
“I thought early in the game we missed some tackles. I didn't think we tackled well. Part of that is the leverage that you get from the other 11 guys, or other 10 guys out there. I really think that the guys did a nice job of making him go east and west instead of north and south. I thought the coaches had a real good plan with different personnel groups.”
On the biggest challenge coming into today
“I never saw it as a challenge. I don't know if our team saw it as a challenge. As far as the protocols and getting ready to play. I never said that on our on our football team. That tells me that we got the right guys and tells me that their coaches are doing a great job with them. The most challenging to some degree was making sure all the testing got here and getting the results back.”
On the lack of a run game
“It's the back, it's the line, it's the receivers, it's the tight ends ,it’s the second level, it’s third level. It's really all those things and not executing as well as we would like to.”
On the craziness of this week
“Well since March, we've kind of been prepared for anything. I can tell you how we talked about how we've got to be a team that adapts to whatever is in front of us and do it together as a team.”
On what this loss means
“I think you learn something from every time you go out and play. We learned something from a coaching standpoint, you'll learn something from a player’s standpoint. Those are all valuable lessons. We're disappointed, we're ticked off. No doubt about it. But the guys in that locker room who represent San Diego State, they are definitely gonna get better because of the experience.”
Colorado Players
LB Nate Landman
ON DEFENSE GIVING UP THREE POINTS-“It’s a huge confidence booster. The attitude and energy on the sideline the entire game was great. We knew the offense was struggling a little bit and we love to step up and help win the game for the team. Even in the previous two games, I thought we played great defense, we just didn’t finish at the end.”ON BOWL ELIGIBILITY-“It’s huge. I was part of the 2017 (recruiting) class and seeing those guys in 2016 accomplish everything that they did, it kind of set the bar and tempo for us. We’ve been working towards bowl eligibility for the last 3 or 4 years and we fell short every time. Given the circumstances, it's great to be bowl eligible but we have a lot to do. We’re focused on winning the PAC-12 championship and being 1-0 next week.”
ON OPPONENT UNCERTAINTY & 3rd QUARTER INJURY-“Yeah, it’s been weird with the whole COVID thing but our team has adapted well even since the first outbreak and going through training and the first couple weeks of the season. I think the team has done a great job and Coach Dorrell has helped us through those times. I cramped a little bit on that 3rd down, kind of a freak thing, but I was able to finish the game.”
ON DEFENSE & PLAYING WITH CARSON WELLS- “Yeah today’s game was a huge step for this defense and we were able to control the line of scrimmage pretty well. They came out throwing the ball which we didn’t expect but they didn’t get it going on the ground or in the air. They have a dynamic quarterback and he was able to make some plays with his feet. Playing with Carson is always great. He’s been my best friend and roommate since I’ve been here. Seeing him make plays and playing next to him is everything I could ask for during my senior year.
ON SACKS & MAKING PLAYS ON THIRD DOWN- “You know I just go for the ball. I try and make every play on the field, but most importantly, making those plays that present themselves to me and trusting the guys around me.”
S Derrion Rakestraw
ON WHAT WIND DOES FOR CONFIDENCE - “We wanted to set a standard, and we wanted to create an identity for ourselves that we want to go out and shut teams out. We believed that we could do it for the first two weeks, we just had to make little adjustments and had to get those things fixed. We are a whole better team.ON CURTIS APPLETON’S INT-“All game we were punching at the ball and trying to get it out, it just didn’t fall out for us. I am extremely proud of Curtis Appleton for going out and making the game ending play. I know that is a confidence booster for him, and that just shows us what we can do out there.
ON BEING 3-0-“I think that we went into this season with a chip on our shoulders. We knew going into the season that a lot of people were not going to be talking about us, and a lot of people were going to be doubting us. That was our edge, we knew that we had to go out there and prove something, and that is what we’ve been trying to do week in and week out.
ON RALLYING AROUND INJURED CHRIS MILLER-“Chris (Miller) is a guy who is going to keep his own spirits up. He was on the sidelines coaching us, and he was all smiles. We have his back, and he has our back. It is just the next man up mentality, and Chris was helping coach the guy that came in for him. It was good to see that.
TB Jarek Broussard
ON GOING FROM USC CANCELLED TO PLAYING SDSU-“It was just a great team win for the team—not having a lot of time to really dig in and look at their film really played a big role in it, I must say, but we came out and we did what we had to do and got the win.”ON HIS HOT START-“I love the game of football a lot and it’s just something I really take seriously, so every time I step on the field, I just try to make the most of every opportunity I get.”
ON IMPORTANCE TO PLAY RATHER THAN NOT-“It felt good to touch the field with my brothers again—this is what we want to do every week, so it felt good.”
ON DIFFICULTY IN RUNNING VS SDSU-“Things got kind of tough towards the end, but we just played against a good team—what can I say?”
ON DEFENSE STEPPING UP-“The defense stepping up was very, very big because the offense also feeds off of that energy. The boys just came to play today, and they honestly won us the game.”
ON OFFENSIVE LINE-“Those are my guys, for sure, and they know that each and every week. They know what it is, and they know of they get it open; I’m going to hit it.”
LB Carson Wells
ON HOW HE FELT-“It felt so good to just be back out there after a week off. USC canceling was kind of a heartbreak, but we had to come out here and play today.”
ON DEFENSIVE GAME PLAN-“We held them to three points. That was really good preparation all around.”
ON PLAN FOR NEXT WEEK“Just keep playing hard.”
ON DEFENSIVE GAME PLAN-“We held them to three points. That was really good preparation all around.”
ON PLAN FOR NEXT WEEK“Just keep playing hard.”
S Isaiah Lewis
ON DEFENSE-“We had to come together. We kind of fixed our main issues from our last two games to make sure we are not making the same mistakes and that we are staying strong throughout. It just became a goal to keep continuing to harbor.”
ON MAKING PLAYS ON THE BALL- “It’s just the defensive mentality to swarm, so at the end of the day, we have to get the ball. Ideally, we want interceptions, so that chase has not stopped, and they got a lot more picks.”
ON IMPROVEMENTS FOR NEXT WEEK- “Not yet, just because of COVID. Right now, we are just enjoying this and then making sure we are good to go.”
ON MAKING PLAYS ON THE BALL- “It’s just the defensive mentality to swarm, so at the end of the day, we have to get the ball. Ideally, we want interceptions, so that chase has not stopped, and they got a lot more picks.”
ON IMPROVEMENTS FOR NEXT WEEK- “Not yet, just because of COVID. Right now, we are just enjoying this and then making sure we are good to go.”
WR Jaylon Jackson
ON HIS TOUCHDOWN- “We just ran a little console, popped out open so Sam made the pass and the endzone we go. That was my first touchdown of the season, first touchdown of my career actually, I’m happy we got a win today and that everyone executed.”
ON SHORT PREP TIME- “I think it’s hard to do that, but in our offense, we are just worried about us. When we execute our offense then no one in the nation can stop us, I don’t care who it is. Clear operation- it’s going to be a sight to see.”
ON HAVING NIXON BACK-“Oh man, that man is a joy to play with, he has such an energy and love for the game. He just makes us all better when he’s there.”
ON SHORT PREP TIME- “I think it’s hard to do that, but in our offense, we are just worried about us. When we execute our offense then no one in the nation can stop us, I don’t care who it is. Clear operation- it’s going to be a sight to see.”
ON HAVING NIXON BACK-“Oh man, that man is a joy to play with, he has such an energy and love for the game. He just makes us all better when he’s there.”
WR La’Vontae Shenault
ON OVERALL PERFORMANCE-“I am really just trying to work to get my feet wet in this game. I’m just blessed to have this opportunity.”
ON QUICK TURN AROUND“They are for sure a great team. They had a good game plan versus us. We had to just do what we could, execute the best that we could.”
ON SIDELINE CATCH TO TOUCHDOWN-“It was a scramble, so I really just had to get open. I saw that he was scrambling so I knew that the ball could go anywhere so I just had my body ready and balanced if I had to lean up if I had to, and that’s what I had to do.”
ON BEING 3-0-“We are feeling like we need to finish business. Our goal is to keep working, go to a bowl, and go to a championship.”
ON QUICK TURN AROUND“They are for sure a great team. They had a good game plan versus us. We had to just do what we could, execute the best that we could.”
ON SIDELINE CATCH TO TOUCHDOWN-“It was a scramble, so I really just had to get open. I saw that he was scrambling so I knew that the ball could go anywhere so I just had my body ready and balanced if I had to lean up if I had to, and that’s what I had to do.”
ON BEING 3-0-“We are feeling like we need to finish business. Our goal is to keep working, go to a bowl, and go to a championship.”
DE Mustafa Johnson
GENERAL-“I think we did great, we only allowed three other points. We did a great job, and I am proud of us. We executed.”
ON SHORT TURN AROUND-“The adjustment was pretty difficult; I could see it in the guy’s faces when they were talking about it. As soon as we walked in though, things were good.”
ON NEXT GAME-“We just keep going and take It game by game, back to zero zero, just like that.”
ON SHORT TURN AROUND-“The adjustment was pretty difficult; I could see it in the guy’s faces when they were talking about it. As soon as we walked in though, things were good.”
ON NEXT GAME-“We just keep going and take It game by game, back to zero zero, just like that.”
QB Sam Noyer
GENERAL-“I think we came out and we took it down there on the first drive and they had a tough defense, so we need to do a better job of playing complimentary football.”
ON HIS PLAY-“I definitely thought I could do better. We just had a little over 24 hours to prepare for, but that is no excuse. Rushing, passing, that doesn’t really bother me because I gave them a touchdown too. I just need to clean up on that and keep progressive through and get better each and every day.”
ON ENCOURAGING O-LINE-“It doesn’t matter the play call; we just need to continue to do what we can control. When things are not going our way, it is easy to hang our head. Our coaches did a good job of keeping us in the game. We didn’t put up all the points we wanted to our yards, but we overall did a good job.”
ON TD TO JACKSON-“They brought a lot of pressure off the edge, they stepped up in the pocket. I saw him flash and I knew I wasn’t going to get there with my legs, so I had to float him the ball and make a quick play.”
ON HAVING NIXON BACK-“It’s awesome. We have guys all around us. It’s great to have everybody back. I think we’ll have Daniel back next week and we’ll get some other guys going and things will be good again.”
ON BEING 3-0-“We feel great. Obviously, we didn’t play as good as we wanted to but 3-0 is a lot better than 2-1. Just heading into next week with a great Arizona team starting tomorrow.”
ON HIS PLAY-“I definitely thought I could do better. We just had a little over 24 hours to prepare for, but that is no excuse. Rushing, passing, that doesn’t really bother me because I gave them a touchdown too. I just need to clean up on that and keep progressive through and get better each and every day.”
ON ENCOURAGING O-LINE-“It doesn’t matter the play call; we just need to continue to do what we can control. When things are not going our way, it is easy to hang our head. Our coaches did a good job of keeping us in the game. We didn’t put up all the points we wanted to our yards, but we overall did a good job.”
ON TD TO JACKSON-“They brought a lot of pressure off the edge, they stepped up in the pocket. I saw him flash and I knew I wasn’t going to get there with my legs, so I had to float him the ball and make a quick play.”
ON HAVING NIXON BACK-“It’s awesome. We have guys all around us. It’s great to have everybody back. I think we’ll have Daniel back next week and we’ll get some other guys going and things will be good again.”
ON BEING 3-0-“We feel great. Obviously, we didn’t play as good as we wanted to but 3-0 is a lot better than 2-1. Just heading into next week with a great Arizona team starting tomorrow.”
San Diego State Players
CB Darren Hall
ON CONFIDENCE BOOS FROM INTERCEPTION-“I just watched the whole play develop right in front of me. I didn’t think that he was going to throw it and then he threw it, so I made a break on the ball and took it all the way back. It feels good though, to score, because my redshirt freshman year I had a pick against Boise State. It was like the same play and I slipped and fell when I could have had the touchdown. It feels good to have my first pick-six collegiately.ON PICK 6-“When I caught the ball, all that I could hear was the Colorado sideline yelling ‘get him (KD) Nixon’ so I had to turn on the afterburners and make a play for us.
ON BENCH ATMOSPHERE AFTER TD-“Momentum is a very real thing. They had momentum going into that play, on the last series they had scored. It just brought the momentum back onto our side for the offense to go out there and do their thing. Momentum is real and that brought some energy to our sideline.
ON STOPPING JAREK BROUSSARD-“He was a very good back, but our defensive line and the things that we have in our playbook just helped them to get into the backfield and make plays on him. He was a very good back, he is explosive, he’s quick, and he runs very hard. We just did everything that we could to contain him.
ON LOSS-“Every loss is tough. We go out there and play together as a team, and when we come out without a victory, it hurts. We are going to go back to the drawing board this week and try to come back with a win next week.
ON STOPPING CU OFFENSE-“We just played Aztec football. We did everything we could, we performed our jobs on every play and we came out semi successful. We did come out with a loss, but we did everything we could on every play out there just to stop them on offense.
ON PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE HELPING AGAINST CU’s NOYER-“Yes, I believe that for sure. I think that we are battle tested and we have gone through a lot of things, at least as long as I’ve been here as an Aztec. Seeing people with similar playing styles also helps.
ON IF THEY CAN FINISH SEASON STRONG-“We just have to finish. Every game and every practice we just have to go out there and play our football. Sometimes we get the short end of the stick, but if we go out there and do everything, we should come out victorious the next couple weeks.
ON HAVING WEEKLY IMPACT-“It feels very good just knowing that my team looks to me to make plays on defense just being the player that I am, and for some of the accolades that I got before the season. I’m supposed to be the type of player who makes plays on defense and that’s what I’ve been doing the last couple weeks. It feels good to just help my team try and get a win:”
DL Cameron Thomas
ON HAVING HAD THREE QBs-"We just keep trusting our offense, they work hard every day. It doesn't matter really who's back there, we just make sure we trust our offense and keep going."ON OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES_"I just think they keep working hard. Obviously, they didn't accomplish what they wanted to, but I know they're going to keep their chins up next week and we're going to keep going."
ON DEFENSE KEEPING CU TO 20 POINTS-"Well a lot of people look at 20 points as success, for us, we look at zero points of success. Obviously, we have some stuff that we can keep working on and our coaches are going to keep giving us the game plan, so we're just going to go out there and execute."
ON BIGGEST CHALLENGE THIS WEEK-"Just make sure we keep our heads up. I don't think that was very hard for us, but we deal with a lot of adversity and I think that we just stay strong as a team and we went out there and played hard."
ON DEFENSE OUTSCORING OFFENSE-"I don't really think of it much. The offense and defense are both going out there, we're giving it at all. Sometimes the outcome is a little different than other times, but we're just going out there as a team, together and fighting."
ON STOPPING CUs NOYER & RUNNING GAME-"We don't really look at it like that. We go out there and play Aztec Football at the end of the day. Our keys don't change—it doesn't matter who's in that backfield, we're just going out there and we're playing as hard as we can, as physical we know we can, every day."
ON HOW TOUGH THE LOSS WAS-"Every loss is hard for us. We take every loss personal in this program, but we're going to make sure we come back tomorrow—we have a 24-hour rule here, in 24 hours we forget about this game and we worry about next week."
ON GIVING UP PENALTIES-"We have to be more disciplined as a defense and as a whole team. We really should have stopped them on that drive. We kept giving them opportunities that they didn't really deserve, so we have to make sure we are more disciplined as a defense and a whole team."