Nov. 26, 2011
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Cal at Arizona State Postgame Quotes
Cal at Arizona State
Arizona State Quotes
Arizona State head coach Dennis Erickson
On if Utah losing to Colorado earlier in the day had any effect on how the team played today:
“I don’t know that it had very much effect at all. It’s kind of hard to tell. Each situation is different. I was afraid something like that would happen. If you don’t control your own destiny yourself, it doesn’t work. I’ve been involved in that before. I don’t know that it had any effect. Maybe a little but we didn’t play very well, particularly defensively. It was not pretty.”
On what went wrong this game:
“We kicked one field goal but we turned it over three times there. We had one at the end of the game where we were driving down and Cameron [Marshall] got it knocked out. I think we had four turnovers. You can’t do that, particularly when you aren’t playing well on defense. I thought offensively they matched them pretty well, score-for-score until the end. Then that last turnover just ended up killing us.”
On if there is a specific point where he saw the defense start struggling:
“You can start the second half of the UCLA game when they came back and beat us on that third and 30. You hate to point to one particular thing but then you end up losing that game and then defensively from then on we weren’t even close to what we were earlier in the season. I wish I had a total answer for that but we weren’t tackling very well. All of a sudden things start going backwards for you - you don’t have very much confidence on defense. All those things go into it and you just don’t have a chance to win when you play defense like that, you just don’t have a chance.”
On positive things that happened for ASU this game:
“We played pretty well at linebacker. Ollie [Oliver Aaron] and Colin [Parker] were two seniors that I think stepped up extremely well and did some really good things. In the secondary we just weren’t tackling very well we weren’t making plays we needed to make. A lot of those seniors I thought played well and I thought the offensive front guys played pretty well. A lot of those are seniors. We made some plays. [Rashad] Ross emerged as a pretty darn good receiver so it’s just disheartening. Coming in I thought we were ready to play without a question. Normally the emotion part of it goes to the defense more than it does the offense and it just wasn’t there.”
On how much this game meant to him and the seniors:
“It meant a lot to me and a lot to this program and you hate to see them go like this. Obviously, they will have a bowl game to play in some place so we have one more football game. Hopefully we can get that thing turned around.”
On his job security:
“I’m not sure. Lisa [Love] and I will sit down. Everybody wants an answer to this and I don’t have one, I really don’t. I’m not trying to be smart or anything but I don’t have an answer. I know that we will probably meet early this week and talk about where the program is at and the direction it needs to go and if I’m involved in it hopefully. She has to sit down with I’m sure President Crow and talk about what they think. Then she and I will visit and we will go from there.”
On the past month:
“I don’t know that I have ever been through a month like this. It was hard to see our team play like we did as we went into the month with so many things that we could have done. We were sitting there 6-2 with confidence and playing like heck. We felt that we had the chance to have a great year then you lose four in a row and just end up with a very, very average year.”
Arizona State Player Quotes
QB Brock Osweiler
On Utah Losing:
“To be 100% percent honest, it wasn’t a let down at all. We still had a lot to play for. We were playing for our senior class who I just love so much and they have done so much for this program. We were playing for bowl positioning. We still had a football game to play.”
On the last four losses:
“It hurts a lot just because we as a team worked so hard this off-season. I mean there was group of guys who didn’t even go home for Christmas to stay here, to make sure that this stuff didn’t happen ever again in this program and to have that happen, it hurts. I don’t know why it happened, but I’m a firm believer in this life everything happens for a reason. We might not know it right now, but one day we will.”
On motivation for next season:
“Shoot, I might pass out dead if we work any harder. Obviously it’s motivation. Nobody likes losing so when you’re losing, that’s the ultimate motivation. I promise Sun Devil fans and the rest of this football team that I’m going to do everything in my power to get things right.”
On extra weeks before a bowl game:
“I think so, some guys will get the chance to go home and just breathe a little bit. This month was intense and I think having a few weeks off, some light practice, just some nice easy work out to get our bodies healthy, I think it will be good for our football team. We’ll have some fun this month and we’ll just do our best to go out in a bowl game and play Arizona State football.”
On coach Erickson’s comments after the game:
“He just wanted to thank the seniors for all their hard work over the last four or five years. Then we brought it up as a team and then broke it out. Like I said, we started this year as a band of brothers and we finished this year as a band of brothers.”
On preparing for a bowl game:
“We still have a lot to be happy about. Obviously we didn’t win the South like we were set up to do, but you’re right, we are going to a bowl game. Shoot, I haven’t done that since I’ve been here. I’m pumped about that. We are going to regroup, get healthy, get refreshed and the bowl game should be a lot of fun. We will come out and play hard.”
WLB Colin Parker
On competing on senior night:
“We came out and played our hearts out. It didn’t work out in the end. It was weird. I was hyped at some times. I was sad at other points. It’s an emotional rollercoaster out there when I’ve been a Sun Devil my whole life. I wish we got the win, but I wouldn’t trade my experiences or my teammates for anything. “
DT Bo Moos
On the emotions of senior night:
“It was emotional, just kind of the whole experience. We go to Don and Charlie’s so many times. It’s the last time. It’s the last time we stay at the Crowne Plaza. It’s the last time we take that bus ride. Last Devil Walk. It’s crazy. Once you get out there, you have to be prepared to play. You can’t be emotional.”
Cal Quotes
Cal head coach Jeff Tedford
On the pace of the game:
“It was going back-and-forth. Arizona State has a great football team; explosive on offense very athletic on defense. I am really proud of our guys for continuing to battle. Our offense I thought played very well today, ran the football, threw the football. I thought they put a complete effort together. Great win because that is a very good football team we played and it was a back-and-forth affair. The guys just kept believing and kept battling and competing hard.”
On how this win affects the bowl game:
“I don’t know actually. I have no idea how the bowl picture will be played out. More than that, it is about how we finished the season.”
On Zach Maynard’s progression:
“I think if you took from the Utah game on and you put the stats together I think you would see a quarterback playing very well. Great efficiency, he hasn’t thrown the football over, managed the offense very well, made big plays both with his legs and his arm. I think his maturation through the season has been great.”
On the balance of the team:
“I haven’t seen the stats but it seemed that way. Seemed like we were productive in the run game and made some big plays in the pass game.”
On the offensive line on Sofele’s touchdown run being best play of the season:
“No, no. One play doesn’t define anything. It was a great run by Isi and those guys were in position to just keep playing. I think a four-yard, five-yard run can be a great play.”
On the way they finished the season on the road:
“Arizona State has a very good football team. To come on the road, to play, to travel in a short week over the holiday and continue to stay focused with what we were doing. I thought that it was a great week for us. To end the season like that was a great win.”
Cal Player Quotes
TB C.J. Anderson
On how the offense is coming along:
“With us it’s all about us understanding what we are doing with the running game and understanding how to win a bowl game. Get back to the Cal game in the past how they used to win a bowl. Understand what is going on and how we want to show our identity on the field.”
On how key it was to balance the tackles:
“With Isi with the shakes and the wiggles that he has and me being a bruiser I wear the defense down - Isi just runs around the corner like he always does.”
TB Isi Sofele
On how the offense is coming along:
“The line is getting better each week. The run game is starting to improve and they’re starting to get better as well. It’s all about just coming in and executing on our plays and getting everything down.”
On how key it was to balance the tackles:
“C.J. came in when I needed a break and I came in when C.J. needed a break. So that kept us out there 100% each time. That’s what coach wanted us to do and it works so we kept doing it.”
On hearing about ASU not making the conference championship:
“We heard Utah won but we didn’t know what was really going on; we don’t pay attention to that. We just focus on us and go out there and play football.”
Kicker Giorgio Tavecchio
On how he feels after winning the game:
“I feel great; I feel so blessed to be a part of this team. As much as you said that I was a winning margin of the game, I felt like this win was won in offseason from January until spring and it all came together today. It feels great to be a part of it.”
On the consistency of his kicking:
“I think it’s a lot of different factors. I’m more mature and coming into this year I wanted to enjoy it as much as possible my senior year and not worry too much about the results. I think that my focus on my execution and not the finish has really helped me just become more consistent. I hope just to continue being in that kind of mental state and stay in the mental routine before each game and into the bowl game to help us win.”
On how it feels to finish the season with a win on the road:
“It feels magical and great to finish the season with a victory. We played a good Arizona State team and we knew coming in that they were a great team. For us to play and get a hard-fought victory feels great. We’re going to continue that mentality onto the bowl game.”