ASU head coach Todd Graham
Opening Remarks
We have a lot of respect for coach MacIntyre. Their kids played hard. Really the story tonight was controlling the line of scrimmages and I was really pleased with our special teams play. I thought Daz (Dasmond Tautalatasi) blocked a punt -- he's phenomenal. He's really just a special teams demon, man, he does a great job on special teams for us. I think our special teams have steadily gotten better and better and better and it needs to be, because we're fixing to face the best in the league this week on special teams.
On Devil backer Anthony Longino
Tony Longino was phenomenal. I think we had over 10 TFL's and eight sacks, something like that. So we got after the quarterback pretty good. Got a little sloppy with the three score lead and made some mistakes. He's coming off the edge most of the time, so it's something he does pretty well and we have adapted what we're doing to what he does well. So, I think he's played really well. He played really well last week and I thought tonight was his best game of his career since he's been here. So a lot of productivity and a lot of production. So any time you can have that kind of production then he's in the right spot.
On first half of the season
We're right where we need to be. It's like anything. You’ve got to win a lot of close football games. We're six games into this thing and we have six left. If we can win all six of them, then that's exactly where you want to be. We control our own destiny and nothing matters except -- I like our sign over there, 1-0. That's basically the deal. I'm proud of our guys and where we're at and we got a whole bunch of winners out there that we have gotten better every week. And this week is just like every big game in the Pac-12. We get to go on the road and play a Top-5 team in the country. So we're excited about that and we're exactly where we need to be. I don't know, if I could change it, I would add two wins to it, but you don't get to do that. I think the challenges that you go through make you stronger and I think we got a really strong team.
Hopefully we have all of our guys and we don't lose anybody to injury. I think we're okay, from what the preliminary told me. We held Laiu out, he could have went. We held him out. So hopefully he'll be okay. I don't know what Demario's status is. We basically held him out, so we're hoping that that will be a good prognosis. But, no, I'm proud of where we are right now and doesn't matter where you start, don't matter where you are in the middle, it matters where you finish. So this is the grind, man. This is the time of year that you got to grind, you got it fight to stay relevant. So every week it's kind of like a single elimination tournament. Right now, we're in control of our own destiny and we got to go figure out a way to beat one of the best teams in the country next week.
On plays going ASU’s way
Well, that fourth and one was an interesting play. I, we had a little conversation with Coach Norvell and he said, "I guarantee you this play's going to work." And then when I seen that, I thought, well, I was just about getting a little upset. But it worked out. No, one of the things we talk about is you play to the end of the whistle. That's one of the things we talked to our guys about. There were some plays early in the game where we quit on the play, where we stopped on the play. I don't know if you guys noticed that -- like on some balls thrown deep and stuff like that. So really that was a real emphasis in the second half. So, obviously, that was a big play in the game. The fourth and one or two -- whatever it was -- and he tipped that ball and then the first drive, that was huge. And what it is, it's guys hustling. We talk about covering the ball. So our guys are hustling and making things happen there. So you work hard and you play every play and max out every play, good things happen to you. Sometimes it bounces your way.
On where Tim White has made strides this season
Wow, there's lots of things I like about Tim White. Such a great young man. Tremendous young man. A guy that exemplifies what our program's about. I think he's improved every week as a returner. I think he's getting better with his route running. He's a guy that I love getting him the ball quickly where he can have time to do things with it. So, he's just gotten better. Probably one of the big things is just understanding and comprehending the fundamentals it takes to execute and play and then moving around and playing him in a lot of different spots. He's really a smart kid. He's done a good job, so I think he's no doubt one of our go-to guys.
On getting off to a quick start on offense
Yeah, man, I tell you, I don't know. Obviously it's about four quarters, but if we can get a rhythm in a game and what I mean is get a lead, when we're leading at halftime, we got a pretty good record. Because by the time you get to halftime, they have kind of done their deal, we have kind of done our deal, we have kind of gone back, all the little things have kind of done, and then you got to go play.
So, then I think our conditioning kicks in. So, it's really important that we start fast and obviously I think that we're a team that plays well when ahead. I don't know what our record is when we're ahead at halftime -- 27-1. That's pretty good. So I would like to be ahead at halftime. That would be a pretty good deal. But, no, that's been huge, big. But what you see today, blocking a punt, getting take aways, that's something that, in the early games, we didn't get a lot of those. One, we were playing triple option teams and you don't get a lot of opportunities like that. So setting up scores and things like that is big for us. There's a reason why we attack and we do the things, because we have to generate those type of short fields and things like that for our offense. So that is critical for us, is to get a fast start.
On ebbs and flows of first half of the season
Oh, I don't know, what I spend most of my time thinking about is these seniors, these guys like Vi, Christian, Berc, DJ, Demetrius Cherry and Antonio Longino, and I'm just trying -- I don't think much about all that. And also, I realize that people are going to love you when you win and they're not going to love you -- and they should not love you -- when you lose, period. And we have got them where they expect us to play well and win every game here and that's exactly what the plan's been. So that puts a little pressure on you and but that's what we signed up for. I like it. That's the way I think that to move our program where it needs to move, that's what it's all about.
So, this has been a great year. I've had a lot of fun. To get kicked in the gut and knocked down and that and then, man, go over to L.A. and win like that that's pretty cool. I kind of like that. But I would rather just win them all and make it easy, you know. But we're not quite there yet. But we're going to get there. But I can tell you, this has been, this group of guys are incredibly enjoyable to work with. They would probably say that, that I'm sometimes enjoyable to work with. My staff might not say it very often at all. Coach Cassidy says it. I pay him really good to say it.
ASU quarterback Mike Bercovici
Opening Statement
Obviously a big team win for us in the Pac-12 South. The South wins are never easy, and obviously we took care of business tonight. Special teams did outstanding, offense moved the ball. Moving onto next week already our mentality is to enjoy the win for 15 minutes, and already our mentality is to go 1-0 against Utah. We’re focused on that right now.
On wide receiver Tim White
Tim is one of the most selfless players on our football team. We all knew that the second we walked on campus, he always has a big smile on his face, he's always singing, dancing, jumping around, that's just Tim and that shows on the football field. He is a high-energy guy and what he does, he is a team player so you know you can count on him wherever he is at on the football field. That wide receiver core is one of the closest knit groups that we have and we worked on that play going over the top all week. Something we saw on film and Tim is a heck of a route runner so it is no surprise to see him in the end zone.
On Kody Kohl’s first touchdown of the game
You know we never want to put the ball on the ground, but we practice those situations, and fumble drills, you know hectic situations. Kody is one of the fastest football players on the team, and a tribute to his character, and being around the football, following the ball. I mean that’s our mentality on offense -- if the ball is on the ground, we are going to go get it. And it was six points, so we’ll take it.
On first half of the season
I think if you were to ask, would we want to switch the situation we are in right now, I would say no, because we have dealt with adversity. We are excited about the situation. We are more hungry now that we do have those two losses and we have already moved passed it and the mentality is 1-0. You may laugh about that because every single rep, every single thing that we do, it's 1-0 and that is the mentality that our brotherhood has adapted to and we are just excited to get back out there on Tuesday to go 1-0 on Tuesday and then Saturday night against Utah, take care of business.
ASU wide receiver Tim White
On tip touchdown
You just play the game. If the ball comes your way then you have to make the play -- the ball was tipped, and I was fortunate enough to be in the position to make the play.
On settling into offense
I feel like I'm getting more comfortable, and just ready to contribute to the team.
ASU safety Jordan Simone
On Colorado
I thought we played a great game in the secondary, obviously there's always things we can get better at and our motto is no cheap ones and everything inside and front. So when things like that happen, it's tough but you got to have a quick memory as far as that and just forget about it and go to the next play and our coaches do a great job of getting it corrected and then moving on.
On Devil backer Antonio Longino’s quarterback pressure
It helps in everything to what we do. For the secondary not having to cover for as long, and when you got a guy like that making plays and disrupting the quarterback, they then start thinking about that. Then start getting rid of the ball quicker and making choices and we were able to capitalize on some of those mistakes he made.
On the first half of the season
It's sad that it is going by so quick. We were just talking the other day, like man I can't believe we are about to be midseason. It feels like the other day we were just finishing our bowl game and going to work in the weight room. But I'm very proud of the way this team has fought and battled. If we just do what we are coached to do, like I say every week, the sky is the limit for us. Our offense is looking great and our special teams play is really what has taken is to the next level. Guys are just giving tremendous effort all across the board and that is really the biggest thing for us.
Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre
Opening Remarks
I thought Arizona State played a good game. Todd does a great job with those guys, they’re very opportunistic, made some big plays on us. Again, we can not shoot ourselves in the foot and expect to win a Pac-12 football game. We’ve got to stop doing that. So we’ve got to find a way to coach it better and a way to play it better. You’re not going to win with that many turnovers, that’s the bottom line.
What do you do to fix turnovers?
Everything we work on in practice and the kids got to go do it in the game. If we don’t do that in games we’ll win games, if we do that in games we’ll lose games. It all goes back to turnover ratio. We just gave them plays today. They had that one lucky play that we call a fumble, and they get it and run it in. In the NFL that’s not a play, it goes back to where it was. So that’s one there, but after that we’ve got to quit shooting ourselves in the foot to be able to have the opportunity to win against good football teams.
Good plays still seemed to not help…
It was one of those times that you just got to make your own breaks. The kids are still fighting, they’ll always fight, they have good character. We’ve got to coach smarter and play smarter, and take care of the football. We can beat anybody we play in the Pac-12, anybody, if we take care of the football. And we’ve got to cause some more turnovers.
Pressure to the QB from ASU
We got behind so they were able to feast a little bit. At the end there we were still throwing and doing some things. I could have just run the ball and run the clock out and we would have eliminated three more sacks. They made some pressure. We had some guys wide open down the field. If we could have got it off and if would’ve been big plays. They did a good job defensively, applying pressure. We picked it up quite a few times too. We were kind of playing behind the eight ball and they knew it so they could kind of attack it a little bit, and if you just run the ball every time there and don’t gain many yards you’re not trying to win the football game. So we had to try to find the way to come back and win it.
Surprised about Bercovici running?
No, it did not. I thought in the UCLA game they started using him as a duel-threat guy, and he was more comfortable, so I thought they would run him this game. We were prepared to stop it, we did sometimes, sometimes we didn’t. We misread it a few times, something we’ve worked on I’d say 100 times since fall camp started, and our kids didn’t play it right.
How much growth does offensive line need?
Well we just keep putting in replacements. And then when you fall behind like that, then you kind of get out of your game plan and you have to throw and they know it. So we’ve just have to keep working at it, and keep maturing. Some of those guys that played tonight for the first time they’ll be better next week.
Reason for moving Callahan to RT
We were getting beat pretty good. Wanted to see what Shane looked like and moved some guys around on the line to see if it would work better.
Why put Sefo back in
We were trying to keep the ball moving, trying to keep going, so that’s why we did it.
On how to keep team’s morale up
That’s up to those kids in that locker room. We’re doing everything we can to tell them we believe in them, how much we believe in them. They just got to keep fighting. If they don’t turn the ball over they’ll win football games, bottom line. They’ve got to make sure they do that.
What does the staff have to do?
Everything we’re doing, we’re just going to keep doing it. Keep pushing with them, keep working with them, keep loving them, keep caring for them, keep believing in them. That’s what you do. Find a way to uplift them and keep pushing them, but they’ve got to go out there and make the plays.
Colorado defensive back Ankello Witherspoon
On the lack of momentum throughout the game
Definitely, you play the game you understand that you have to go out there and make plays and bad things are going to happen. Obviously as a player you want to put yourself in better situations to make a play for your team but sometimes the ball just doesn’t go the right way and you just got to live with it, move on learn from it.
On his interception
All week we knew that their back shoulder fades and so we just came out playing almost their facemasks, if they turn around look for the ball, ball is coming and I was just in a good position from preparation to make the play.”
On facing Bercovici
I honestly don’t think it was difficult. He’s a great player but being the player I am, obviously I think we can go out there and be much better. Little things is what kind of hurts you but you got to give props, don’t get me wrong he did go out there and throw five touchdowns but as a competitor you feel like you can go out there and make a difference and fix some things.”
Colorado quarterback Sefo Liufau
On the loss
Definitely frustrating, no one ever wants to get blown out in anything so it’s definitely frustrating. We just have to learn from the mistakes and get ready for next weekend and take advantage of that.”
On how his body is holding up
I feel good if you guys want to play a couple more quarters we can go. You have to have a certain mindset and a certain toughness in college football especially the PAC-12 especially when teams are bringing a lot of pressure but I feel good and will be ready to go next week.
On the pressure by Arizona State defense
Ya they’re known for bringing lots of pressure bringing one or two guys off the edge and we had some things to counter that but we didn’t execute tonight and we have to do better at that.
On difficulty of being hit a lot
I’m not going to lie, it’s tough but you just have to put it in the corner of your mind and push yourself and be tough especially if you’re on this team you have to be a fighter. You’ve just got to get up and keep going. I feel sore after games and that is the only time I think it’s affected me.
On how to keep a positive mentality
You have to put a huge freaking chip on your shoulder because I don’t want to take any steps backwards. I think we had a pretty good start to the season and I don’t want to go back to last year or even the year before that because that’s really frustrating and really upsetting because I know how much talent this team has and we’re just missing something and we just need to fight.
Colorado wide receiver Shay Fields
On what is “missing” from this team
I feel everything is there we just need to execute to a high level and do what needs to be done and everybody just do their roll and that’s when it’ll come together.
On if pressure being put on Sefo effecting timing of the offense
Kind of, if we can just hold up then we can make plays at the receiver spot.
On injuries on offensive line
That’s not affecting the offense at all. If one person goes down then the next person steps in, they know what to do they just have to execute.
On falling in a hole early on
It was tough to get things going, you had no momentum, things are not going your way and we put the defense in a bind. We have to get the ball past the 50 for the defense at least.
On how to fix the season
We just have to come together. We don’t want to be a three-win team so we just have to come together and get that mindset of we can win every game. We just have to come back next week, practice and be ready for the next team.