Arizona State head coach Todd Graham:
On the Sun Devil fans:
“Number one: our fans. Sun Devil Nation was awesome tonight. It was a huge factor in the game. I just wanted to shout out to them. I’m so proud that they packed the stadium tonight, and we need to pack this thing next week. I’m so excited and happy to bring the Pac-12 Championship to Tempe and for everyone to see what Sun Devil Nation is all about.”
On tonight’s win:
“Our guys are thrilled obviously with the Territorial Cup ®, and the fans said that’s the number one thing they wanted when we came here. But I can tell you this: our guys are determined, and we need everyone in these seats. We need to be loud and proud, and make it a great home field advantage. Our guys want to win this and go to the Rose Bowl. I’m really proud of our players and how hard they’ve worked. The leadership is phenomenal and our players deserve all the credit.”
On the different factors contributing to tonight’s win:
“I’m really proud of D.J. [Foster] and De’Marieya Nelson. Both those guys did great tonight. Deantre [Lewis] got banged up so he wasn’t able to play much, so De’Marieya moving over from tight end was big. D.J. Foster is a special tail back. To be able to go and do what he did tonight, it’s not surprising to me at all. He’s a big time player and a big time leader for us. We physically dominated the game. I thought we dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Special teams was stellar. We won special teams tonight—had a big punt that flipped the field. Our guys did a great job of executing. Arizona made some adjustments and created some things, but we’ve got real defense. We have championship caliber defense.”
On the team in general:
“I’m really proud of our football team and of our coaches and how they worked. Offense went out there and scored 58 points—what can you say? That’s the most ever since Territorial Cup ® games in the 1950s. We’ve got some special players. These guys love each other. The core of our program is about relationships—it’s about family. And what motivates us is competition. These guys are intense competitors and these guys have done a tremendous job. We’re just getting started, but we’re pretty excited right now.”
On tonight’s interceptions:
“[Damarius] Randall is a big time player. Our secondary has played big time all year long, and doesn’t get a lot of credit. The interception for a touchdown was phenomenal. Arizona ran that punch pattern earlier, and when they went back to it we changed what we were doing. Demarius read it perfectly—pick six. Tremendous job.”
On the Pac-12 Championship game next week:
“This was great tonight, but it’s not the one we’re after. The one we’re after is next week. I can guarantee you we’re going to work every second of this week. It’s going to be devoted to bringing home a Pac-12 championship and a return to the Rose Bowl.”
Arizona State running back DJ Foster
On preparation and knowing that Marion would be out:
“My coaches and my teammates challenged me. I just tried to step up and my coaches and my teammates prepared me well for this week and I just wanted them to have the trust in me that nothing was going to let down.”
On stepping up in a feature role:
“It wasn’t not difficult at all, I felt at home, I felt good being back there. It was just getting my mindset out of the receiving stuff, and get myself into the playbook as a running back again. Everything else it felt good, it felt comfortable to get back.”
On being one game from the Rose Bowl:
“It’s unbelievable. We’re anxious, but we know we have got a lot of work still. There is still a big game coming up, so we can’t get ahead of ourselves. We still have to work hard and prepare like we always do. We just have to understand what we have in front of us and how close we are to our goal. But, we have to finish strong.”
On being the hometown guy:
“It feels good, and at the end of the day it’s all a blessing. My coaches just gave me the opportunity, just let me try to be the player that I can be. I just thank my coaches and my teammates and the community for definitely supporting me in everything I do.”
On interactions with Marion Grice:
“I have been talking to him all week. He’s definitely a great leader and a great teammate. He has been keeping me mentally sharp telling me things that I am missing out there, certain reads that I can look for blocking and stuff. During the game he was always in my ear making sure I was staying focused.”
Arizona State Quarterback Taylor Kelly
Statement about the fans:
“I just want to say I am proud of the fans that came out. You guys are our 12th man, and we need you to come out and support us in the championship game.”
On offense without Marion Grice:
“I had a lot of confidence in the guys that were going to step up and play that role. DJ Foster did a great job tonight. Some people forget how good a player he is and how he runs the football. De’Marieya Nelson did a great job tonight, running the football and protecting, and the offensive line did a good job opening up the holes for him.”
On Jaelan Strong:
“He played great, we wanted to get that matchup going, he beat his guy plenty of times, and go over the top and just made some plays. We expect big plays out of him, and he had a great week of preparation and watching film and it showed up today.”
Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez
What do you think ASU did early on:
“We played poorly and they didn’t. They played hard. After half time, there were adjustments on both sides, but they took it away. We have to give them credit, and unfortunately we didn’t have a very good game tonight. It was embarrassing.”
On feelings about the rivalry game:
“I am not embarrassed of my players, and I am not embarrassed to be their coach, but I am embarrassed by the way we played. We have to give them credit for being a good team. We are capable of playing better.”
On the team’s performance last week compared to this week:
“Well I told them that it shouldn’t define them. We are all going to be mad for 24 hours but this shouldn’t define our senior class or our team. We will be better.”
Arizona quarterback BJ Denker
On the three interceptions:
“The last one he undercut. They knew the route, but if I had just put it on his chest it wouldn’t get intercepted. The one over the middle, I read that as pass but I didn’t trust my eyes. With the pick six, they just had someone out there watching my eyes. He knew where I was coming and played it well.
On coping with the loss:
“This one stings, but we have a bowl game with a month to prepare. I know we are going to be focused on that, so if we go out with a win at the bowl game I’ll feel better about that.”
On the attempt at a comeback:
“It was a 13 point lead, and after the drive in the second half we were feeling pretty good. We made some corrections, and it was efficient and affective, but there were to many mistakes on my part. Defense was great, they put up a lot of point but 28 of those were our fault. They did a good job.”
Arizona running back Ka’Deem Carey
On the extra defenders:
“Of course, they put in that extra guy and we pick it up but it was just to late. That is all there is to it.”
Arizona safety Jared Tevis
Overall thoughts on the game:
“You can’t let a good team like that keep momentum. We have to do a better job of making a play and giving offense a chance. We need to step up and make a play, and take the momentum away from them and we weren’t able to do that tonight.”