Oct. 29, 2005
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery
Arizona State Head Coach Dirk Koetter
On the game:
"I'm proud of our guys for hanging in there. They had plenty of chances to cave. Nobody really knows how bad our injury situation really is, but I'm real pleased with the guys that stepped up. A guy like Paul Fanaika who's never really played in a game before is a walk-on player and he played right guard in the second half. Of course Rudy (Carpenter), as a redshirt freshman coming in two weeks in a row playing the way he's played. I'm just proud of our guys for hanging in there."
On the decision to start Rudy Carpenter at quarterback:
"The decision was easy because we found out yesterday that Sam (Keller) is going to have thumb surgery next week. So Sam's season is done. I just want to say publicly what a warrior Sam Keller is. The doctors can't believe that he's able to throw at all with the situation his thumb is in. We were hoping that we would be able to put the surgery off until after the season, but Sam saw the hand specialist yesterday and they felt like further throwing would jeopardize his long-term recovery and we can't mess around with that at all because Sam has got one more great year here and probably a future in the NFL. That made that decision easy and Rudy (Carpenter) is the man now. He's the guy that we ride and in the last game and a half when he's had the opportunity he's done a nice job."
On the backup quarterback:
"Chad Christensen will be our backup (quarterback). There's Chad, all week he's ready. What a great kid. He plays receiver, quarterback and tailback when we need him. Right now, his role will be to finish it out as the backup quarterback."
On ASU's secondary:
"We just haven't been as productive at safety, other than Zach Catanese, as we would have liked to have been. With R.J. Oliver's reemergence as a factor at cornerback, we just thought that we had to do everything we could to get all of our best guys on the field at the same time. So we moved (Josh) Golden inside and started R.J. alongside Mike Davis at corner. We're going to get Maurice London back next week so that will give us another good player at safety as well."
"For the season, we've had nine different guys start on the offensive line. Of those nine only two were seniors so that bodes well for the future. We may have a 10th next week because Paul Fanaika might have to go next week as well. We were within seconds of burning Shawn Lauvao's redshirt tonight. We decided to go with Paul Fanaika instead just to try and hold on to that redshirt of Shawn's and it worked out. God bless Paul Fanaika for being able to go in and battle like he did. We finished with only one starter in there with Brandon Rodd at left tackle. Robert Gustavis got his first start tonight at right guard and had to finish the game at left guard. What an effort by him. Mike Pollak was very solid at center. We have a chance to maybe get Andrew Carnahan back next week and if we have any luck maybe we'll get Grayling (Love) back too, but I'm afraid it doesn't look too good for (Stephen) Berg."
Arizona State QB Rudy Carpenter
On chemistry with Matt Miller:
"Matt did a great job. I didn't know I was going to have that kind of connection with him before the game. It just kind of happened."
On the much needed win:
"We had to get back on that winning track and this was a good game for us to do that. We need to win the next couple of games to get into a good bowl, which is our goal. We can still salvage our season. We needed to come in here and get a win. That is one way we were going to build our confidence. We need to take it one game at a time and play very well."
On Washington being a tough opponent:
"Washington gave us a good game. We didn't look past them in one bit. We've been struggling a little bit and they've played some great teams like USC, UCLA and Notre Dame. They were playing tough with those guys. They are going to play tough with us too. We didn't over look them at all."
On help from quarterback Sam Keller:
"Sam helps me a lot. He's been in my ear all week about certain coverages. I don't get a chance to play a lot so when I would come out on the field he would tell me what they were doing. He was making sure I was calm and kept my head in the game and not worrying about other things that were going on."
On breaking ASU's pass completion percentage record:
"I was just trying to complete passes wherever I could. I just wanted to get out here with a win. I didn't care how well I played. We have three more games and hopefully I'll get an opportunity in those games. I think the most important thing is that we won and that's all I cared about."
On being sacked multiple times:
"It didn't matter how many times I got sacked. For who we had on our offensive line, I think they did a great job, especially at the end of the game."
Arizona State WR Derek Hagan
On the team's play tonight:
"Everybody on the team played well tonight. It feels good to win. We have been down lately and we don't want that feeling. We can go home happy tonight."
On the play of Rudy Carpenter:
"He played great tonight. It was up to us to give him confidence and let him now that he can do it. We just told him to focus on what the defense was doing and to just go out there and play."
If the job of quarterback is now Rudy's:
"I have no idea; that is up to the coaches. Both Sam [Keller] and Rudy [Carpenter] can get the job done. Our team has confidence in both of them."
Arizona State PK Jesse Ainsworth
On punting for the first time:
"It was fun. I can always do better. I think our punt team as a unit improved this week in practice. We fixed what we were doing wrong in practice and then executed it in the game. It was nice to get a good one off first."
Arizona State CB Josh Golden
On the defense forcing fumbles:
"It was very crucial today. I think they punted only once, the fumbles and turnovers changed the confidence of this team."
On the change of position from defensive back to safety:
"I only worked on it for a week. It was difficult. I had my fair share of [missed assignments]. Overall, it was defiantly a lot of fun."
Arizona State LB Dale Robinson
On the fumble recovery impact:
"It was real big. The coaches kept emphasizing turnovers over and over, so it was great we got some."
On the question, "Do you think there were too many yards on the ground?":
"Yes, I think so. There were too many. We need to not let penalties on third down happen next week to stop them. Hopefully we can play better against the run next week."
Arizona State WR Matt Miller
On winning the game after losing three straight:
"It's been nice. We have a few games left and we want to make the best of them. I felt like I finally had a chance to show what I could do out there. Rudy threw me some great balls and we had a great practice. Rudy threw me some of the best balls I've caught in my career here. There were right there for me. All I had to do was run underneath them."
On chemistry with Rudy Carpenter:
"One thing I liked about Rudy [Carpenter] this week is he kept asking me `if I was open on this play, what did I see on that play'. That shows me Rudy really knows what he's doing out there. He has some good experience and we connected all week. I don't know what it is, but he was throwing perfect balls tonight."
On ASU's confidence:
"When we came out today, I could tell the team had a swagger about them. We were all ready to go. We were walking out there like we were really confident and we kept that swagger throughout the game. I'm real proud of the team and Rudy."
Washington Head Coach Tyrone Willingham
On falling behind:
"Turnovers were a big reason why well fell behind. Too many mistakes also attributed to falling behind the eight ball and made it more difficult to try to make a come back. You can not do that against an explosive team like Arizona State. There were many times on third and long to make plays on defense and we didn't and that kept Arizona States offense on the field and the hurt us".
Commenting on team performance:
"Well, it is difficult to tell right now how we played. We had some things going for us but the taste of losing clouds that right now. I can not comment on how we played until I have reviewed the film. Kenny James stepped in and did a good job today for us. I can't comment right now if he will start today, but that might be and understatement. There is always good and bad".
On Arizona State's offense:
"It was not a surprise for us to see Rudy Carpenter at quarterback. We focused much of our attention on Arizona State's receivers. We disguised our defense and put there receivers in position where we could control them. They were able to explode our defense by running the tight end up the seam and that caused some problems for us".
Defense in the second half:
"We had momentum coming out in the third quarter. We were able to put pressure on the quarterback (Rudy Carpenter) and sack him. Chris Stevens was trying to put pressure all game long and it was just a gutsy effort on his part and what you saw was a young man giving all he has. He is a tough you man and a worker and he did everything possible to help this team, and spark our defense".
Feel of the team:
"Right now they are down, disappointed and upset. There are all of those emotions in the locker room."
Washington LB Scott White
"We missed a lot of opportunities tonight and didn't capitalize. We held them at 24 points for most of the second half and didn't take advantage of that."
"Too many missed assignments and blown coverages, including myself. We got hit with some big pass plays at the end of the game and it cost us in the end."
On the play of Rudy Carpenter:
"(Rudy) Carpenter (ASU QB) played well for his first collegiate start and made some big plays for them."
About the mood in the locker room:
"Very somber. We are disappointed of course. We had a chance to put away a quality opponent and we didn't. We continued to make the mistakes we have all year and that is the most frustrating thing."
"We are not finishing and doing the things we need to do to win. It is just disappointing and the way we are losing just makes it more so. We made some plays and were stopping them in the second half but we just didn't finish."
Washington WR Anthony Russo
On the fourth and one play in the fourth quarter:
"I wanted to go for it. I know coach has confidence in us but it was the best move to play it safe at the time."
On the frustration level of the team:
"It is frustrating because it's the same mistakes that we're making every week."
Washington LB Chris Stevens
On the pass rush:
"That's basically it, we were just trying to put some pressure on the quarterback."
On pressuring the quarterback:
"We're working on it every week, and we're getting better at it. We're getting there."
On the different pass rushes:
"That's it, we were just trying to spread it out and hit them from everywhere."
Washington DE Greyson Gunheim
On the play of the defense:
"We tried to keep our feet moving forward, toward the quarterback instead of side-stepping him. I was trying to do that in practice and listen to my coaches. It worked."
On the different number of pass rushers:
"We did a couple stunts inside to create more space. So we could get through the hole and get to the quarterback faster."
Washington QB Isaiah Stanback
On the running game:
"That was our plan coming into the game. We wanted to get the running game going. The offensive line did a great job and our backs did a great job of finding the holes."
On this loss hurting more than others:
"To me it did. In the fourth quarter, I don't know what I was doing. I wanted to make a play so bad."