Oct. 12, 2012
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Head coach Todd Graham
General
"I'm really proud of our guys we faced a lot of adversity right there before the half. You got to give Colorado a lot of credit they came out with their home crowd and really had a lot of intensity. Our guy's responded with great poise and great character. We came out and shut them out in the second half. I'm really proud of our guys, especially being on the road. We just calmed down and relaxed, I think our guys showed great character."
On What He Said At Halftime
"I always talk to them right before they go out and say, hey guys lets calm down, do what you're coached to do, we've got to be the most passionate team on the field and if we do that, take care of the ball, no penalties, we'll dominate and that's what we did. It's more about us; we worked really hard this week to make sure we were focused on this game. Maybe early in the show we weren't but I'm really proud of our guys. I think these young men have done a great job of buying into a completely new system and we're sitting here 5-1, 3-0 in conference and I'm really proud of them."
On Rashad Ross's Kickoff Return
"That was about as excited as I've been all year, I've been waiting for that one and Rashad (Ross) just responded in a big way and hit that thing big time. I like how he hit it I think that gives him great confidence, that's the kind of playmaker we need. I'm really proud of the guys on their blocking and I'm proud of their efforts."
On Marion Grice
"He was impressive, we got some impressive backs that do a great job. I thought Cameron (Marshall) ran the ball really physical tonight. (On the fumble) He can't reach the ball, he reached the ball out and turned it over. We have some talented players I thought Taylor (Kelly) had, I don't know how many touchdowns he had, probably four or five, but he did a great job. I'm proud of our special teams. I thought our special teams did a good job tonight, we won special teams. Every game that we win we win special teams so I'm proud of them."
On Taylor Kelly's Running Ability
"That's what he does, that's part of it, that's part of having a guy that can extend plays and make good decisions like that. I think each game he's gotten better and better. He did a nice job."
On His Mood At Halftime
"I just came in and I strained them a little bit because they know how I feel about some things. They were doing some extra shoving after the whistle and our guys we're acknowledging it. We don't do that, because that distracts us from our game. Saying stuff to the officials, we don't say anything, there were just some things like that I'm going to get pretty hot about. I'm pretty calm other than that, I told them at halftime `here's the deal, here's what we did, now let's go to the second half and forget about it.' I'm proud of how they responded to that. I know people think that's little bitty stuff, but that's the difference winning and losing."
On Looking Forward To Oregon
"I can tell you for the last week and a half I've been watching Oregon every day. It's hard not to do that especially when everyone keeps asking you about it. I will tell you that our players didn't look at Oregon at all. I think you got to give Colorado a lot of credit. They came out with energy and all of a sudden boom boom you have a couple of big plays and that's what happened. It's hard to get guys up for every game but you got to, you got to get up for every single week and it won't be hard to get them up this week."
Linebacker Brandon Magee
ON WHAT THE COACH SAID AT HALFTIME
"It's the little mistakes that cost us in the close games. He said come out and be more disciplined; we kind of mouthed off to some of those players. And they were mouthing off to us and we can't have that in this program; just go out there and shut them out."
ON PLAYING OREGON NEXT WEEK
"I know how the Pac-12 works. I wasn't overlooking anybody and I knew we had a tough game with Colorado [tonight]. But it's time to focus on Oregon. It's a big time matchup; I hope it's going to be sold out. I'm excited to play them, who wouldn't be? We're ready."
ON KEEPING MOMENTUM IN THE SECOND HALF
"[The fumble] was huge. You know, I only the sack because the D-line was beastly. It's big, a lot of players stepped up today and I was proud of our defense. I'm just proud of us."
Safety Chris Young
ON THEIR FIRST HALF STRUGGLES
"Obviously we came out struggling in the first half. We were just feeling it out. Like you said, it was just sluggish. I couldn't you why it was like that. We've prepared for Colorado all week and there have been many different distractions. We have to turn that around for future games that we have."
ON THIS WIN - "We might have overlooked Colorado just a little bit. But we came out with the `W'. We played a great second, shut them out and that's a great win for us."
ON WHAT THE COACH SAID AT HALFTIME
"He told us that we just need to stick it out. Just to do what we've been coached to do. We had a lot of blown assignments in the first half. We had a lot of misalignments. So basically he just told us to read our keys and do our assignments and that's what we came out to do in the second half."
ON PLAYING OREGON NEXT WEEK
"We can't have any mishaps or anything like that. The only thing that goes through my mind is preparation and determination. We just need to find a way to win when we play Oregon."
ON RASHAD ROSS' RETURN FOR A TD
"That was a big turnaround for us. We obviously got some momentum from that."
ON SECOND QUARTER DEFENSIVE STRUGGLES
"People have a lot of downfalls and adversity. We face adversity from time to time so we really just have to pull together and stick together to pull it out in the second half."
Running back Marion Grice
ON THEIR SECOND HALF RETURN FOR A TD
"It just shows that we don't give up. We're going to keep going, keep fighting because there's four quarters to a game."
ON HIS RAPID IMPROVEMENT
"I still have to get better. Coach tells me that I still have to work on things."
ON HIS NEW ROLE OF RECEIVER
"My opportunity was there and I took it."
ON PLAYING OREGON NEXT WEEK
"Basically we have to take it a game at a time, we can't skip a game, we have to play every game. We're all excited; we just have to keep practicing and keep preparing for the next one."
Colorado head coach Jon Embree
On ASU's Quarterback Taylor Kelly
"I think Taylor does a good job of playing within the system, I said that last week, he plays well within the system and doesn't force things. He is a gamer, he's a good player. I was talking to (ASU's Head Coach) Todd (Graham) about him, before the game, that he's just one of those guys that is a quarterback; he knows how to play the position well, and he protects the ball, and when things weren't there he makes play with his feet."
On Most Frustrating Aspect Of Loss
"Just that we weren't able to do some things offensively, that's probably the most disappointing, and the kick off. We talked about how important that first play was going to be to start the third quarter, and trying to pin them down there and then let's go. So I would say those two things."
On ASU's Execution Of Screen Plays
"We were in man coverage, we play a lot of man coverage. When you play team's that run the spread (offense), you play a lot of man and you mix a little bit of zone. The screens didn't have an effect on the other aspects of the passing game."
OLB Jon Major
ON ARIZONA STATE'S OFFENSE
"I think they prepared for us very well. It seems like they had an answer for everything and they adjusted well. It's good coaching and good players. It's hard to beat a team like that."