Nov. 26, 2016
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SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State-Colorado State Postgame Quotes
SDSU head coach Rocky Long
On the team's defense tonight:
"I can't explain it. I think the defense has played well up until the last two games, and I don't know why they have been playing this way or else it would have been fixed. I can venture to guess that we're tired and worn out because Colorado State is a good football team, but they looked a lot faster and a lot quicker than we did tonight. Maybe the season has taken a toll on them a bit, but I don't know if that's the case or not. That's not an excuse, but we haven't played well the past two weeks, so we have to find a way to play better than that to win the conference championship."
On losing to Colorado State:
"I hate to admit this, but I've been in games like this, on both sides, where everything you do is right and everyone is happy. I've also been on the other side like I was tonight where nothing seems to work and nobody on the sideline is happy and it just gets worse and worse. It was a total team effort. We couldn't play defense, we gave up a punt return for a touchdown, we turned the ball over three times on a short field and I think they scored every time that happened. It's a total team deal, and it's as much coaching as it is anything else. When your team doesn't play well, it's the coaches fault. I'd like to say that's the worst coaching job I've ever done, but I'm not sure that it is because I've been in this situation before and just as bad. I need to get better by next week."
On getting another chance:
"That's the good thing about athletics. No matter how bad things are, you always get another chance. It might not be until next year, but we get another chance next week. As bad as that game was, we still have another chance of winning a conference championship and that's the number one goal in our program. We've been qualified for that championship game for four weeks, and that may have been one of the reasons too, we lost our edge. We didn't have to win, which is why we lost that edge. I'm not saying that's the case either because I don't want anyone to think we're making excuses. We played terrible. They played good and we played bad, that's what happens when a good football team plays well and the other team plays bad."
On junior running back Rashaad Penny:
"We think Rashaad is a very good running back and also a great kick returner. The combination of him and DJ Pumphrey complement each other. They have different styles, so we think Rashaad is a good running back in his own right, and obviously as he gets better, he gets the ball more often. He's an important ingredient to any success that we have."
On addressing the team:
"I told them as exactly as I told you, we played terrible, we coached terrible, but that's the good thing about athletics ââ'¬" we get another chance next week to play and win the conference championship. In my opinion, there's only two teams in this league that have a chance to win the conference championship, and there's 10 teams that would like to be in that game, but guess what, we're one of those teams in the game. So, no matter on how bad we played tonight, that's a pretty good deal."
SDSU quarterback Christian Chapman
On offense's rhythm throughout the game:
"Even though we made some plays in the first half, in the second half we came out and couldn't do much. We couldn't move the ball very well so a lot of credit goes to them. They were on it tonight."
On Colorado State's defense:
"Credit to them. They were stopping us on first downs, putting us in second and long situations, putting us in the third and long situations, and they were just playing tough defense. They were making plays across the board and leaving us in the whole a little bit."
SDSU linebacker Calvin Munson
On the defense's struggles tonight:
"I think just flat-out, they out-executed us. They were making blocks, we weren't getting off blocks. They were running through tackles, we weren't tackling. They ran routes, caught the ball, we didn't cover. We didn't get any heat on the quarterback and didn't force any turnovers. So, I mean they just flat-out out-executed us. A lot of credit goes to them. We have a lot to work on."
On the shock value of losing by such a huge margin:
"Yeah, you never have the idea that you're going to go out there and have the opposing team put up that many points. It was hard to believe just being out there. Each drive, they were just driving down the field making plays and making more plays. So yeah, I was kind of stunned, but we're lucky enough to have another chance this week. It's good that we got it out now, so this week we can just get better and learn from it. I think the biggest thing for us is to forget it and move on."
On the disappointment of a loss on senior night:
"It's disappointing that it was on senior night. But I think any other night, that kind of performance that our team put on, especially the defense, I think is disappointing in any other game. Like I said, I feel bad for all of our seniors. Everything that they've put into this program to get it where it is now, I feel bad that that happened tonight, but we have bigger goals this season. We want to win out 21st championship this week, and we have the opportunity. So we've just got to learn, move on and go from there."
On the anticipation of next week's rematch vs. University of Wyoming for the Mountain West Championship:
"That was a heartbreaking loss, but we're kind of familiar with it now. We've been there. [There's] a lot of motivation to go back there and do better than we did the first time. I know everybody else is excited to go back there and get another chance and a fresh start starting this Monday to get ready for that game. I feel like we'll have a lot of motivation, a lot of things to work towards and just try to accomplish that goal."
Colorado State Head Coach Mike Bobo
Opening Statement:
"A phenomenal effort by our guys; I'm really proud of our coaches and our players who have continued to prepare and work like a champion. We talk about having a championship mindset week in and week out. A championship football team, in my opinion, is a team that leaves a legacy of hard work and continues to get better throughout the year. That's a credit to our coaches for continuing to push and hold these guys to a high standard; it's a credit to our players who have continued to work and fight for each other. That was a great example of that tonight. I couldn't be prouder of our defense, coming out and playing the way they did. We were banged up defensively; had some guys out and had some guys go down. They did a great job against the run; (San Diego State was) able to complete a few passes, we were allowed man coverage and committed to the run; we played outstanding. (The defense) created the two turnovers. We wanted to be plus-two in the game, we were plus two. (We needed to) win special teams; (San Diego State is) dynamic in their return (game) and I thought we covered kicks extremely well. We started off the game trying to squib them and it was a little bit wet (due to the rain). After that we said, 'Let's just kick it to them and cover," and we did a great job after that. The punt return (for touchdown) was huge. It was a great effort by everybody on that team. Great run by (punt returner) Robert (Ruiz); a great block by Tyree (Simmons) down on the sidelines. Offensively, I can't say enough about the execution. We need to be good on third downs, we need to protect the ball, we need to score points in the red zone, and we did all three of those things. It's a really good plan by our offensive coaches, it was great execution up front and another really great performance by (quarterback) Nick Stevens of going to the open guys."
On how Colorado State's offensive output against the San Diego State defense:
"You have to give respect where respect is do and that's a defensive football team that week in and week out, not just the season but over a period of time, has been a dominant defense. We needed to realize going into the game that we needed to execute at a high level, but at the same time (offensive coordinator Will) Friend kept telling those guys that we're a good offensive football team and playing the top three defenses in the (Mountain West) the last three weeks, he gave them a mission. We wanted to dominate all three games and those guys came out and did that. They did that tonight at a high level."
On holding San Diego State running back Donnel Pumphrey to 53 rushing yards:
"We were a little concerned (heading into the game); we were banged up up front and had some guys inside that hadn't played a lot of snaps, but I thought (defensive coordinator Marty) English had a great plan of playing one corner and an extra linebacker at safety and really stopping them. We contained him, we didn't really let him bounce outside. The field might have helped a little bit, it was a little bit slick out there, but our guys played tremendous."
Colorado State quarterback Nick Stevens
On the Colorado State offensive effort:
"We showed tonight against the number one defense in the Mountain West, if I'm not mistaken, that we can really move the ball when we're playing on all cylinders. We definitely have had that the last few weeks and we have a lot of different guys that can contribute, which is helpful."
Colorado State running back Izzy Matthews
On three Colorado State running backs rushing for more yards than San Diego State running back Donnel Pumphrey:
"We have the best running back crew in our conference, it shows night in and night out. I think what makes it special is that every single one of us does everything well, but does something different exceptionally well."
Colorado State linebacker Evan Colorito
On the game plan for San Diego State and holding Donnel Pumphrey to a season-low 53 rushing yards:
"We knew to stack the box and shut down (Pumphrey), Rashaad Penny and any other guy they gave the ball. I don't think we set a number, we just knew (Pumphrey) wasn't going to rush for his game average or break any kind of record on us. We just played hard and didn't want anything bad to happen."