Oct. 21, 2000
Mike Price Post Game Quotes:
MP: I don't think our team deserves to have this happen to them two weeks in a row. These kids really don't deserve this and it's going to be a real gut check for us now. The character and integrity of the team and the program is on the line right now, so it's going to be interesting to see how we come back. I thought we bounced back pretty good (after the Arizona game).
MP: No question about it, we lost the football game in the first half. We didn't win it in overtime or in the fourth quarter, but we lost that game in that first half and there isn't a guy in that locker room that shouldn't stand up and say, ?you know I didn't cover the kick-off right or I didn't block for the extra point or I didn't make it.' Everyone made mistakes in this game, myself included. So it's a character builder for us and something we have to find a lesson in and improve and work from there.
MP: A lot of things went wrong, you all saw the game. What went wrong really was pretty much what we talked about before the game couldn't happen and of course it happened. We turned the ball over too many times. Offensively they couldn't stop us in the first half, but we need to score touchdowns. We gave them a short field and they capitalized on it. Right before the half they block a punt and we're supposed to block the punts around here, not them. They block a punt and throw a ball that goes right through our kids' hands and a couple of freak plays happened. We're just not physically proficient enough I guess to just execute past those things. We're just not physically better than enough teams to just physically maul someone and knock them over and run them over.
How do you bounce back?
MP: I just know that they don't deserve it and I have a lot of confidence in them. I believe that they're winners and they're competitors.
The interception in OT, why did he throw?
MP: It was an instinctive thing. Gesser is an instinctive player and sometimes his instincts are perfect and right on, but he shouldn't have thrown that football, I don't know why he didn't throw it earlier.
MP: I think our defense played a lot better today. We challenged them before the game. I thought the defensive line came to play. We played hard and it was a better football team that played out here than the one that played against Stanford.
MP: We're young and this is a great learning opportunity. I told the players, like I tell them all the time, it's not what happens to your life, but how you react to what happens to your life, and here's a great lesson right here.
How does Gesser work through this?
MP: He's putting a lot of pressure on himself right now, but he knows how to work through this. He worked through a poor performance against Stanford and we had two weeks to prepare. He worked through that and he worked through it last week when almost the same thing happened, so he'll be able to work through it.
Have you ever heard of back-to-back OT losses by anybody?
MP: No and I don't want to here about it again, but I'm sure I'll here about it all week. I've never experienced anything like this. So it's a gut check, it's a gut check for the team, myself included, everybody. These kids need each other's support right now. It's just like a parent. If your kid goes out and has too much to drink and gets in a wreck in a car, what are you going to do? I mean you are mad at him, but you're going to support him and you're going to pray to God that he's okay and that he's going to make it through and you're going to be there to help him. I mean,you can't cry over spilt milk. Right now we have a little spilt milk around here, but we can't cry about it, we have to get going. It does no good to go backwards. We're not going backwards, we're going forward.
Do you feel Dave Minnich was rusty from not practicing this week?
MP: Could have been. He always strives to go for extra yardage though and hits people with his arms when he has the ball and that's exactly how the fumbles happen.
Bruce Snyder Post Game Quotes:
Talk about the defensive and offensive performance.
BS: We scored real early and fast and we felt like we were in rhythm. Then we lost our starting center (Scott Peters), who is a real warrior and has been in a lot of football games. Then we discovered (QB) Jeff Krohn was a bit dingy. He started mixing words and numbers together. It really stopped our momentum at that point. We started to reel a bit offensively. Washington State is really a fine offensive football team. You won't see better wide receivers. Big (guys) and they go up and get the ball. I like Gesser. He's a great competitor. I know they got quite a few yards on our defense, but we held them to less (points) than what we got on offense, and that's the name of the game.
Special team?
BS: We have faced good and bad, nightmares and dreams, this year. We had a punt snap sail over our punter's head. We blocked one of their punts, and we had a punt return that set up one of our early scores. It was crazy, but all-and-all, that last field goal was really very sweet.
Status of center Scott Peters?
BS: What I heard last is that it was an MCL sprain. There was no way he was going to go back into the game today, and I would assume we will not have him for several weeks.
Status of tailback Mike Williams?
BS: He's fine. He did a nice job. Tom Pace was the guy who came in and started. Finding the little creases that we needed, Tom got over 100 yards. We're still struggling trying to get Davaren Hightower into the game. They are all key members of out team.
Field Goal on third down?
BS: That is why you do that. I had to make a decision. At that point, we were running at three or four yards per carry inside. We could have run on third down, and gotten three or four yards closer for the kicker. Or kick it on fourth down. Why do you make the decisions that you make? I just said, "let's do it now." I called (holder) Griffin (Goodman) over and said if something were to happen, don't try to make something out of it. Just get on it and then we'll have fourth down. I hope I didn't plant a seed in his mind to put more excitement in than it needed, but it worked out fine!
Have you seen that happen before (failed try on 3rd down)?
BS: It's never happened to me. That's a first in a 38-year career.
Defensive play (interception) in overtime?
BS: That was all (Adam) Archuleta. I'm happy for us, but I feel badly for Gesser. He's a tremendous competitor. He threw that ball, and I bet he wishes he could have that back. That's the second week in a row now that an interception in overtime really hurt. But Archy made the interception, right on about the one-inch line, and that did it. It gave us a chance to go out there with a field goal to win.
WSU offensive line?
BS: We didn't have Terrell Suggs, out leading sacker, or Danny Masaniai, who has been a key member of our defensive front. But I think their offensive line did a really nice job, and they ran the ball at us. They got a lot of yards, and that's a concern to us. I think we got blocked a bit, and they did a nice job.
Tough games coming up?
BS: Right now every game is (tough). There's not a bit of breathing room. We have Oregon next week, USC, Stanford and then the University of Arizona. It's four games that are very tough. It's a great league right now. And this team, Washington State, is going to win some games. They're doing too good of a job coaching and those kids really played well today.