Sept. 11, 2010
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Quotes
Arizona State 41, NAU 20
September 11, 2010
Arizona State head coach Dennis Erickson
Describing the game:
"Probably the best word was sloppy. We were sloppy on both sides of the football. We dropped balls or didn't throw it very well. We made some plays but it was not a good day. We didn't execute very well and sometimes that stuff happens. It usually happens in a game like this. We didn't play very well defensively. We gave up some points, we gave up the big play. Nothing against Northern Arizona, they are going to do very well in their league but we play like that next week and it is going to be a long day."
On what went wrong tonight:
"There was just no rhythm. We got a little bit and we'd get down there but we had trouble running the football. We didn't run the football very well. In this offense, when you drop balls or you miss a throw in the rhythm of a drive- either of the two- the drive gets killed, and that's what happened to us. Whether it was a bad throw or a dropped ball or we didn't pick up a blitz or something, as much as I thought we played pretty well last week, I look at it this week and we didn't improve like I thought we would going into that second game."
On WR Mike Willie and the receiving corps:
"Yeah, Mike [Willie] made some plays, we threw the ball deep. T.J. Simpson made a great play. Mike [Willie] had an outstanding game so we have to look at tape and see where we're at. We're two and zero as we go into the thick of our schedule. We have to continue to improve. It was a disappointing night as far as I'm concerned, that's how it is. We just have to correct it."
On the penalty situation:
"We had way too many penalties and that's my fault. I'm the one that has to control those, I'm tired of them. It's just ridiculous. I addressed that and didn't even talk about the game, I talked about [the penalties] in the locker room. It's ridiculous. It's going to cost us a game. When are we going to learn? When we get beat by Wisconsin because of a couple dumb penalties? It was that kind of a game, so hopefully we can learn from it and go against Wisconsin. I'm not going to dwell on this game for very long to be honest with you. We'll talk about it tomorrow but then we have to get ready to go."
On what they have to do to beat Wisconsin next week:
"Obviously we have to try and take away or slow their running game. With the two or three backs they have, I watched their game on TV today and they very physical. Their offensive fronts are huge. We have to find a way to try and slow that down and try to force them to throw the football. I mean, they have some good receivers but that's what we have to do on defense. It's totally different from what we've seen in the first two football games and really other than Stanford, what we see in our league."
On the health of the defensive line for Wisconsin:
"Saia [Falahola] played today, he's better. We'll have Lawrence [Guy] and [Bo] Moos. I think Toa [Tuitea] will be back to play. I don't know if Corey [Adams] will be back to play, I really don't know about him. But we're starting to get our guys back and we're going to need them all in this game."
On what will happen if LB Vontaze Burfict keeps committing penalties:
"Well he won't play. If he doesn't get his emotions [in check] he won't play. We can't afford to have that happen. As good of a football player as he is, we just can't afford to have that happen. I don't know exactly what happened, so I have to look at the tape. I think a couple of those calls were a little iffy but we'll see."
Junior Quarterback Steven Threet
On plan coming into the game:
"I'm not sure there was a plan coming in. We had a slow start in the first half and we were able to use it, move the ball up and down the field a little bit and put up some points."
On reasons for slow start:
"Poor throws by me. We had a couple of penalties that first drive. We had poor execution by the offense in general, a lot of which I attribute to myself. I just wasn't completing passes in the first half."
On wide receiver Mike Willie:
"Mike did a great job. He had that catch on fourth down. He had the diving catch in the end zone also. He's done a great job. He's worked hard during summer when he got here and at fall camp. He helped me out a lot today."
On NAU's defense:
"They did a great job. They played really hard. They came in and gave us everything they had. A lot of it is you have to complete those easy passes."
On offensive improvements:
"There was some improvement but way too many mistakes with poor throws and a couple penalties. We need to take care of that. We need to be hitting on all 10 cylinders these next ten games."
On how the receivers played this week:
"They did a great job. They were getting open and it was up to me to get them the ball. The offense is quarterback driven so I need to be more successful in the first half. If I complete those easy passes we move the chains more and get running a little but quicker."
On pace of the game tonight:
"I think we did a better job with our drives but I still think we can play faster."
On the message at half time
"We have to play better, plain and simple. We have to execute plays. The plays were there. We made a couple of adjustments in the run game trying to get it going. We just have to execute better."
On the offensive line:
"They did an amazing job. We threw the ball a lot. Protection wise, they did a good job of communicating."
On what needs improvement:
"You know I think it's just execution. There are mistakes I made on plays. The plays were there. We just have to execute them."
Sophomore wide receiver Jamal Miles
On his performance tonight:
"I think the offence came out a little slow, but toward the end we started to pick it up. I'd like to thank the offensive line for my big plays tonight."
On how he was tackled by NAU's punter:
"Everybody is talking about it. When it's one-on-one I can't be letting one person bring me down, so I've got to work on that."
On the differences on offense between this game and the first game:
"Offensively, I think that it took us a little longer to start up this week than last week. We made too many mistakes this week, but I think we did alright as a group. But we need a lot of improvement on this side of the ball."
On execution problems:
"It's a little bit of execution and effort. It's a little bit of everything. We just need to clean it up in practice and come out better next week."
Junior wide receiver Mike Willie
On getting involved in the offense:
"It was a night where I didn't really have to worry about it being my first game, so I was more comfortable. I got to go to work and not worry about too many people. I could just worry about working on my routes and catching the ball. Steven [Threet] threw the ball, and I caught it."
On if he thought the game slowed down for him:
"Yeah, it slowed down a lot. It was kind of fast, because it was the first game. So I had to focus. I was not really nervous, but I was thinking too much. When you're thinking too much, you're not really playing well. I got to the point where I could just play."
On if he feels like they're ready for Wisconsin:
"We have the speed and we have the talent. We just have to work it week-by-week and bring it. Everybody has to play well. It's up to us how we approach it. We're ready for Wisconsin, we just have to strap down and get ready for the big teams."
Northern Arizona head coach Jerome Souers
On the game overall:
"Well, I'm proud of the way our guys came out and played. We had a good plan, and we knew our offense matching up their defense was going to be really tough to be productive today, be tough to run the football, tough to get our receivers loose. So we had to work hard to manufacture first downs. While we were getting touchdowns, and we really needed our special teams and our defense to play big, and I thought when we did, we had the right mix that kept us in the game. Defensively I thought we were very physical against the run, which is what we had hoped to be. I was proud of the way we played our run defense. The pass defense at times was pretty good, then at times it really bent, and it showed. They came up with some big plays that let their receivers run loose. And you see their big play ability by getting deep and behind their secondary, and they hurt us. I really thought, that stretch late in the third quarter, where they held our offense, we had a punt right to the returner. We had poor coverage on big returns, and that ate up a lot of real estate, set up a couple of quick scores for them. I think the game was definitely out of reach at that time. Again, I think this has the makings of a good team at our level. I'm proud of our effort, and the way we worked today."
On whether or not their defense was `burned out':
"I think a lot of it had to do with execution. I think there were some times when we made plays, when we did what we were supposed to do and it worked. I think they executed some really great plays. They caught us rolled up. They caught us in some things. You saw what they did to Portland State last week. They murdered them back out in the flat and short screen game. They're lethal out there in open space like that. We felt like we had to do some things to do that. Well, taking some chances, rolling the corner up, getting the ball stuck behind is what happened a few times. We ended up having to play Randy Hail, the true freshman, on corner. I think they went after him a little bit, and he got better as the game went on. But there were a couple of times they got behind and went after him. We got a few guys nicked up. I don't know exactly the report on that one yet. But I think that also contributed. I don't think our front wore down though. I think our front stayed with us. We stayed against the run all day."
On defending ASU's running game:
"Yeah, they went after it, and I don't think they got it like they did last week. It was a good plan by our coaches and we just executed. We didn't want to be outflanked. We had to do a lot of team tackling. I think we got in trouble a couple of times when we were in blitz. We got one-on-one out there, and that hurt us a time or two, but all in all, we played much more disciplined. We played the way we need to, to defend that. So I was happier with the result that we had defending that than Portland State did."
On the NAU defensive line:
"I thought our D-line played very well, and not just the starters. We rolled guys in. We played five D-tackles and five D-ends, and I think they all played well. We have things that obviously we learned and that we could get better at in the pass rush. We missed some assignments that we need to do on blitz, and a few things like that. We got to clean up a few things, but I think we have the means to make it a strong defense."
On ASU's defensive line:
"Their defense is so good. We tried to penalize them for their pursuit. They're so fast at the ball, try to do something to draw them away and then go back. Even their reverse is fast. We tried to set up running a nice little trick play, but, again, it only got us a couple of first downs. It wasn't enough to change the game or anything. But we had to do that kind of stuff."
On overall progress and looking toward the future:
"I think we made good progress. In camp, we knew that the jump in competitiveness from last Thursday to today was going to be significant, and it was. But I thought we played up. We played a lot of kids today. I think we'll learn a lot from it. I think in these games, there's one thing to do. If you're doing it wrong, you're going to get exposed. There's some technique work that needs to be shortened up. We'll learn a lot from this one."
Linebacker Reid Worthington
On the game representing a moral victory:
"This was definitely a moral victory, we flew around. Played hard. Sometimes the ball doesn't bounce our way and we need to capitalize on turnovers and play team defense for four quarters."
On the reflection of the final score:
"We were in it the whole game. The score doesn't always reflect that. Sometimes you can't do that. People are going to see the score and make their own judgments on that, but were a solid team, a fast team, we scored and we held their team on fourth downs and we showed that tonight."
On NAU's defensive efforts:
"I'm proud of all sides of the ball, offense, defense and special teams. We showed a lot of the heart. We made good plays. We just have to be more consistent all around the ball."