Head coach Todd Graham
Opening remarks on tonight's game:
"We are really proud of these guys. I love coaching this team. The character on this team and their belief in what we are doing is amazing. I am just really proud of them. Zane is a big time kicker. I am proud of our defense, our offense and our entire team. Hats off to Utah and their coaching staff and players. They have a lot of heart and character. It was a very physical and hard fought game. I am proud of Sun Devil Nation for coming out and supporting our team. I am very proud of our team for coming out on top."
On Gonzalez' game-winning field goal:
"Zane is a big time kicker. I was just worried about the snap. I just wanted Shield to make a good snap, that is all. I was not worried about Zane. He just has one of those personalities that gives you a lot of confidence in him. If he lines up right, he will make the field goal. The only time he misses is when there is a bad snap. After the game everyone may be talking about how Utah and the best kicker in the nation missed the field goal in overtime but I think the best kicker in the nation made the field goal tonight and that is Zane."
On the coaching this team:
"I love coaching this team. I give a lot of credit to Coach Paterson, Coach Ball, Coach Randolph and Coach Chip. They deserve a lot of the credit. I am very proud of the players and how fast they have improved. Their growth the last few weeks is amazing. They have a lot of heart and believe in our system."
On Utah's defense:
"We took a lot of sacks. We got beat on some big plays. We just held onto the ball too long. We do not want our quarter moving out, backing up or moving to the side against this team. Nothing good is going to happen when our quarterback is forced to do that. We have to give them credit for making it harder on us."
On winning in overtime:
"These guys are winners. When you win close games it makes you better. When we beat Wisconsin last year, that game really helped us. It builds characters and belief. It helps the team tremendously down the line because when you win an overtime game it helps you win the next overtime game. There is no substitute for experience and there is no teaching experience in winning close football games. You cannot be a champion without winning the close games."
On the next game against Notre Dame:
"It is a game that the players are excited about. It is a game that all our fans are excited about. This is the type of game that coaches want to coach and players want to play in. It is a possibility that two top ten teams will be playing each other next week. I have tremendous respect for Coach Kelly. He is a very good football coach that knows how to compete. So, we are very excited about the opportunity and where we're at. It is another football game and another week. We are looking forward to playing in this game. They are one the best teams in the country and with that comes great opportunity for us."
On Demario Richard:
"He is going to be a fantastic running back. I think as he learns and continues to be mentored by DJ, he will be a great back. Our running back core is special. Not just Demario but also Kalen Ballage. We have a great group of backs but Demario gives us power and diversity in our backs.
Sophomore Kicker Zane Gonzalez
On his thoughts coming out for the game-winning kick:
“I was just ready and excited for the opportunity. I told TK (Taylor Kelly) early on, give me another chance and he set me up and just did what I had to do.”
On forgetting about his miss earlier in the game:
“Every kick is a new kick. If you miss it, you just forget about it and move on to the next one.”
On Utah’s kicker Andy Phillips:
“Andy Phillips is a great kicker. I don’t know if any of you know about him, but tremendous respect to that guy. He’s a great kicker. I just hope he doesn’t be too hard on himself tonight.”
On if he had ever had a game-winning kick before in his career:
“My junior year of high school. That’s about it.”
Redshirt Senior DB Damarious Randall
On what he told Zane Gonzales before the game-winning kick:
“I just said he was the best kicker in the nation and do what you do.”
On being the only one-loss team in the Pac-12 South:
“Honestly, I don’t think this game was won tonight. I think it was won over the summer with Gris’s (Shawn Griswold) training. We just have a better state of mind than other teams because of our trainer.”
On making the game one dimensional defensively:
“It started up front with guys like Marcus Hardison, Jaxon Hood getting pressure on the quarterback and making our job a lot easier in the back end.”
On the defense’s progress over the last four weeks:
“Guys believing in each other and trusting the scheme. Basically, just listening to our coaches and doing what we’re coached to do. I just think we have a swagger about ourselves. Once that swagger gets established, we just swarm the ball and everybody trusts each other.”
Redshirt Senior Quarterback Taylor Kelly
On what’s going through his mind as Zane makes the game-winning kick:
“He’s the best kicker. We got our destiny and that’s what we want. We want to be in the driver seat. We have to put this one behind us and start preparing for Notre Dame. It’s a big game. We just have to keep handling success like we have been and just keep getting better each week.”
On the offensive strategy in overtime knowing just a field goal wins the game:
“We’re just going to run our offense; take what the defense gives you; own the football. We’re in the redzone, so protect it. We have points. We have the best kicker in the nation.”
On the offense stalling in the second half:
“We just kept hurting ourselves whether it was penalties, missed reads, sacks, those kind of things. Utah is a great defense. You can’t do that to yourself and put yourself in that position.”
On how often overtime scenarios are worked on in practice:
“We do those type of situations every week. Tuesdays, we always have a last play, second overtime last play. We have to get it in the endzone. The coaches do a great job of putting us in those situations in practice.”
On being the only one-loss team in the Pac-12 South:
“We’re in the driver seat. That’s where we want to be. We just have to keep getting better each week. That’s the big thing for us, how we’re going to handle success. The coaches do a great job of emphasizing that part to our guys on our team. We just have to keep getting better each week.”
Redshirt Junior DB Jordan Simone
On confidence in Zane Gonzalez:
“We were extremely confident. He's the best kicker in the country. We believe that and he believes that, and he proved that tonight. That's a lot of pressure on a kicker, and it just tells you about the preparation that these guys, the specialists, do everyday. Most specialist guys in the country will just hang out at practice, but these guys go to work. It paid off today.”
On playing in big game environment:
"We love playing at home, and we got the best fans in the nation. We're just doing what we're coached to do honestly. We got guys that believe in each other, we believe in the scheme and we believe in our coaches. When you got a defense like that, that's a national championship type of defense."
On the race in the Pac-12 South:
"Our coaches do a great job of preparing us every week, and our preparation leads to our success on Saturdays. We work hard in practice. I really do believe that we're the hardest working team in the country, and it shows in times like these. We have so much heart on both sides of the ball."
On progress over the past four weeks:
"We're practicing hard. Like I said before, it's the little things like being disciplined, staying after and working on things that we need to get better at. Shout out to our d-line and our linebackers for a great game. Those guys up front work so hard."
On Devontae Booker:
"He runs hard, man. The Pac-12 has a lot of great running backs, but like I said earlier in the week, he's just another good running back in the Pac-12 that we have to stop. We're going to see some other good ones too."
Redshirt Junior DB Lloyd Carrington
On mentality on defense:
"We pride ourselves as the bird gang. We try to be lockdown each and every game. It's a mentality we take in each game. We go out and just try to dominate, and make sure they don't get too much in the passing game."
Utah Head Coach Kyle Whittingham
Opening Statement on overall game:
“It was a physical football game, a tough game. But I am proud of the way our guys hung in there and I give credit to Arizona State, because they made more plays than we did. Both defenses played well and I think each offense only found the endzone one time. With each of the offenses out there, we didn’t play as well as we usually do, dropped a few interceptions, had a couple chances there with the interception balls and we couldn’t come up with those. Offensively, we’ve got to throw the ball better; in order to attack the kind of aggressive blitzing defense that we faced tonight, we’ve got to be better putting the ball up the field, make them pay for that a little bit, and we weren’t able to do much of that. But, there is a tough group of guys we’ve got in our locker room both physically and mentally, they slug it out to the final play, it’s just unfortunate we came up short. But I am proud of our guys and we have to regroup because we have a tough Oregon team coming into our place next week. Arizona got beat tonight so everyone has got two losses at least in the South, except for the Sun Devils, obviously, they are sitting in first place. We’ve had to break the season up into thirds, so we are 3-1 in the first third, 3-1 in the second third, and have got to find a way to get some wins in the final third. That’s our objective right now, and it starts with Oregon.”
On Missing WR Dres Anderson:
“Well Dres is a heck of a football player, we miss him, he’s talented, he’s our deep threat, but he’s not there so it’s a moot point. We’ve got to carry on, next man up. It really makes no sense to talk about what if, because there is no what if.”
On moving away from the pass in the second half:
“In hindsight we should have thrown a little bit more, their DBs were doing a nice job of clubbing us up; up the field we didn’t have much separation, we couldn’t get much separation either.”
On not being able to capitalize on the blitz on offense:
“We needed to go over the top a couple times, that would have been the best answer to loosen them up. Maybe a little more in the screen game, but they know what they are doing they and are a good defensive football team, and they brought the pressure at good times, and we’ve just got to be better.”
On defensive adjustments at halftime:
“A little more man coverage in the second half than we did in the first half, we changed up the zones, a little more three-deep zones in the second half, but, the first couple series were really our worst series defensively. After that we settled in and played them pretty well, except, like I said, we were a little soft on the run tonight and we are usually much more stout versus the run than we were tonight.”
Junior Quarterback Travis Wilson
On how it is to be on the other side of a close victory:
"It is really tough. It hurts this whole team. This team played hard all the way to the end, we have a lot of heart. Us on offence have to make some more plays, help out the defense. We aren’t doing it, and it is something we need to do."
On Dres Anderson not playing:
"He a great weapon to have, a great wide receiver. The whole team misses him. He would have been helpful to have."
On not being able to replicate the success of the first two drives of the second half later in the game:
"I think we finally got in a rhythm, going a little faster and went a little faster, which helped out a lot. But only scoring one touchdown in the second half isn’t going to win games. We got to improve a lot on offense."
On getting off to a sluggish start offensively:
"I have no idea. Things happen. We just need to make sure that we start fast. As an offence we need to help our defense out more. Our defense has been playing great every single week. We need to put some more points on the board and help them out."
On ASU’s defense being the same as what Utah had been watching on film:
"Yeah. We knew they were going to blitz a lot, and they did. We did well with it at times and at others not so well. This is another area we need to correct. Overall I am happy with the heart that we have on this team. I know we will get things corrected."
Sophomore wide receiver/defensive back Dominique Hatfield
On the play where it looked like he had the ball in his hands (near the end of the game):
"I just got to bring it in, focus more. During practice I need to get on the jugs a little more, make sure I bring the ball all the way in."
On the match-up with Jaelen Strong:
"I felt like I did pretty well. I knew what he wanted to do coming into the game. I gave up a couple of passes but that’s what receivers do; they are meant to catch the ball, that is what they are paid for. I feel that I did a good job. I wouldn’t trade my performance for anything else."
On coming out on the field after the offence wasn’t able to put up any points:
"Just play like we had been playing, keep playing with heart. Believe in the coaches, believe in the team, go out there and try to get a stop."
On the adjustments made between the first and second half:
"We knew that they ran the ball a lot in the first half. When we got into the locker room at halftime coach made some adjustments to the ‘D’ line and linebackers. The back ends and ‘db’s’ kept doing what they had been doing. Playing more physical."
Junior running back Devontae Booker
On the frustration of being on the other end of a close game:
"It is really frustrating. We took a tough loss tonight. I felt like we should have done better on offense at the end. Defense played great. We all left our hearts out on the field tonight; we should have come away with the victory."
On the problems on offense:
"We were not getting a lot of push. They (ASU) blitzed every down. We had a couple of missed assignments. Whether it was the lineman or I. We need to watch the film on Monday and correct it."
On if the game was going to turn around after the touchdown:
"Yeah absolutely, we felt good after the score. We felt like we could continue to score, but it did not go as planned. We just need to fix the mistakes."
Sophomore kicker Andy Phillips
On emotions and thoughts right now:
"Obviously disappointed. I feel like our team fought really hard tonight. Usually those kinds of situations are ones that I thrive in. No one is harder on themselves than I am on myself for not putting the ball through the uprights."
On how the kick felt:
"It was just a misjudgment on my part. The wind was going right to left so I played the first one right, but coach had called the timeout. I thought that the wind didn’t push it too much so I would play the next one more to the left. The wind caught ahold of it and I should have gone with my instinct. It was just a misjudgment on my part."
On what happened with the first timeout:
"The play clock was running out. I have no idea why we were late (in regards to the clock). I was just lining up, getting ready to kick then I heard all of the whistles. It all happened so fast, I couldn’t tell you."
On the missed kick:
"That was the misjudgment I was talking about. I over compensated. When it comes to field goal kicking it’s a game of inches and I put that one barely outside the upright."