Arizona State Head Coach Kenny Dillingham:
On (Arizona State LB) Caleb McCullough’s performance tonight:
“Caleb i mean first off that was a guy that was here through all the mess. He was here when all the bad things were happening, he was here when we were 3-9 and then I had to show up and tell him to just stay, just stay. He’s here again and we’re 3-9 and we suck again and I had to convince him to just stay, believe. He’s one of the few people that stayed. And for him to make that play is awesome. I mean kudos to him, I gave him a game ball. And then the defensive performance was unbelievable the way they stepped up, specifically in the first half in the running game.”
On what this type of win means for the program:
“I think the biggest thing today is when you look at the rushing statistics, we ran the ball decent. We stopped the run decently versus a program where that’s their identity. And listen, I would love to say this one win puts us on that level and gives us that consistency but it doesn’t. Right, it just shows that we’re in the right direction. It It shows that we’re trending in the right direction and shows that what we’re doing is working. But it takes a lot of commitment, it takes an entire organization in order to build what they built. And I know with Graham (Rossini) and with the new leadership, I know that we’re going to be a program that can sustain this and that they’re invested in investing into our strength staff, invested in our recruiting staff, invested into our assistant coaches salaries and they’ve made some guarantees to me that they’re going to invest in one of the best programs in the country and i think we have one of the best staffs in the country so I’m excited to try to create some continuity here.”
On the postgame antics and the field storm:
“Chaos. Absolute chaos. And then all of a sudden I was shaking coach’s (Whittingham’s) hand and then there was thousands of people on the field, swarming around us and it was awesome. That’s what college sports was about. That’s what activating the valley is about and that’s what coming to a college is about. You go to a school that way you can remember moments like this. Yes, you go to school to get your education to go into the real world, but you remember moments like this, not just our players. The fans and the students remember these moments and I think that’s the fun part about college football is you get to create memories not just for your team but at Arizona State at least 80,000 people, 100,000 people at a time that are students here and that’s pretty cool.”
On the ability to produce turnovers tonight in the victory:
“Our defense played really really well, especially off turnovers and in the red zone. We talked about if you want to beat Utah you have to win the margins. They’re a team that usually shortens the game. They limit games to nine possessions, they get you frustrated because you’re on the sideline on offense. But in order to prevent that you have to run the ball, you have to win the turnover battle, you have to win the margins. And the margins are the red zone, the margins are third and fourth down. You got to win those margins if you want to beat Utah and we won the margins when it becomes to the red zone and that was really the difference in the football game was that margin. Kudos to our guys that has been an Achilles heel for us going into the bye week. We made an emphasis to get better at it and they pointed it out, worked it in the bye and we’ve been better at it since we’ve come out of the bye. And all about the guys. This team. I don’t even give pregame speeches. Our own guys give pregame speeches. I leave and they talk. It’s not about the coaches it’s about these guys.”
On what it was like when (ASU QB) Sam (Leavitt) went down in the 1st half:
“We have a lot of confidence in Jeff (Sims). We put him in there and put the ball in his hand and he goes and scores a touchdown. We go in there the next drive and first down, would call a run, doesn't really go anywhere. Second down would call a pass if I remember correctly, he throws a little snag route to the single receiver. That was a good ball, good read. We got stopped a little bit short. We get the first down and then they get us to get off the field, but it wasn't due to him. He went in there and executed the calls and kudos to him for being ready, he's a veteran. He's a guy who in today's day and age of football transferred here not to be the number two, he transferred here to start. There's great power in what it means to the football team that you have a guy who was a senior who transferred here to start to win the job and he didn't. He's a great teammate, he's a great person, and he goes in there and he gets the job done when he was called upon. That's the culture we're trying to build and that's the program we're trying to build. I think that what he did tonight and how he's handled himself just tells you everything you need to know about him.”
Arizona State Running Back Cam Skattebo
On his late game heroics:
“Coach Dillingham says big time players may take big time plays. I tell him, like I tell you guys every week, I tell him to give me the ball every play. Sam trusted me, we called a play that we knew was gonna work at that time. Funny enough, me and Sam actually worked that over the shoulder all week, on a whole bunch of different other plays. It wasn't that one play.. I didn't run that play specifically one time all week - first time running that, but I was working that over the shoulder every time.. He gave me a chance and I made the catch. On the touchdown, the Offensive line did a great job moving sideways and I was able to find a hole, a guy slipped underneath me and I was able to get loose.
On going from a 55-3 loss to Utah, to a win over Utah in less than a year:
“Different football team.. We had different guys on the field. We had guys that are playing together every snap. We have guys that trust me, trust the defense, trust Sam (Leavitt), trust the O line, everybody trusts each other. It's incredible. We got our fire back since Texas Tech and I mean, guys are playing for each other and it's a whole different football team than it was last year. The talk with JT (Jordyn Tyson) at the beginning of the game is if I go for 400, or you go for 250, this can't be a selfish game. We have to play together. It went with him for a 30 yard catch, me for a 50 yard run.. Him for a 20 yard catch, me for a 15 yard run. The whole game. It was awesome to see him being happy even though he wasn't getting the ball every play and that's what it's all about. The guys are playing together and I love it.”
On defense creating turnovers and key 4th downs on offense:
It gives us more hope. Every time the ball gets turned over or we stop them on fourth down, it just gives us that much more hope that we have another chance. We were up four, they get a stop on fourth down. It was my call. I told coach Arroyo - he wanted to punt, to give me the football. I said ‘give it to me, I'll get the first down,’ and we got stopped. It won't happen every time. It might happen every ten times I do it. But he trusted me, I didn't make it work and then he kept handing me the ball. I just love these dudes and we're gonna keep winning football games.
Arizona State Linebacker Caleb McCollough
On two interception performance:
“It means everything to me. Before the game, I kind of visualize things. Making plays and things that I'm gonna do. So when they happen, I'm not too surprised. I tell my dad everything. I'm more happy just to go see what my dad has to say because I tell him everything I'm gonna do before the game. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't. It just means the most to me to just be able to make plays. I've been dreaming of this since I was a kid. And finally at the big stage being able to make plays. My team is winning and we beat a ranked team. So I'm just happy.”
On game sealing interception:
“It meant a lot for me just to know that we got to win. I'm doing whatever I can to win. I'm not really a stat player. It's amazing, but at the end of the day, I just want to win. This is my last year of college and my main goal is just to win because when you win, everything goes good for everybody. So just to know that I got that interception and we got the win, I was very happy.”
On getting the win being a long-time Sun Devil:
“It means a whole lot. I put in a lot of work to get to this position. I just tell my family and everything that one day, I'm gonna get my opportunity. When you do get that opportunity, the work you put in is gonna show. Tonight it showed.”
Arizona State Quarterback Sam Leavitt
On late 4th quarter pass to Cam Skattebo:
“(We work through it) on a bunch on walkthroughs. When we're just walking through stuff, I just kind of pop it over his shoulder pad and he'll catch it. We probably have 50 of those all week, which is a lot for a running back. It was a zero check and he's supposed to run the now and he uncovered because you're supposed to uncover late. I saw him coming out, we busted, slid the line and I was able to find him and make a play. Talk about a kid who wants the ball in the big moment.. That's just a situation where it's not like we ever said he was supposed to get the ball right there. He just uncovered and I found him, so big props to him.”
On Caleb McCollough’s game winning interception:
“We’re just out here playing as a team. Our defense is always stepping up in the big moments, week in and week out. A great job for him finding the ball - it looked like he bobbled it, and then he came up with it. A big time play and I'm just super happy to be on this team and have this culture that we do.”
On chemistry with Jordyn Tyson:
“Dating back to spring ball, I feel like it just kind of clicked instantly. He's got a really good feel for the game. We're constantly just working. Getting more comfortable within the offense and timing. He feels how I'm going to throw the ball and how I want him to come out of breaks. Last night we went and watched 50 clips on one play and I saw a bunch of different looks and said exactly what I wanted on different looks and what he was thinking. So, it's just stuff like that. Putting the work outside of here, (so on) game day it just comes second nature.”
Utah Head Coach Kyle Whittingham
Opening Statement:
“Very similar conversation to what we had after the Arizona game, got out rushed, we were awful in the red zone, lost the turnover margin and missed a bunch of tackles. So unfortunately and very disappointed. It's the same storyline and as long as we have our holes in the red zone, we may not win another game this season until we get it fixed. That's just how important it is. It was not due to lack of time spent on it. We tripled the practice amount of time over the last two weeks and again, very disappointing that we didn't see better results. You cannot win football games rarely if ever with a bunch of field goals. You just can't, it just doesn't work. We had four field goals and that's as negative as it is a positive because you can't win kicking field goals as a general rule. So we've got work cut out for us. We're a good football team, I firmly believe that. But again, shame on us for having the same storyline two games in a row. Give them credit, the tailback was tremendous, number four (Cam) Skattebo, well over 100 and 50 plus yards. I think we had made some nice plays on defense at times. Micah Bernard had a terrific game for us, nearly 200 yards of total offense. So there were some positives but again, it goes back to the same dialogue I had after the Arizona game and the same problems and the same things that we've got to address and work on even more. That's where we're at.”
On if there was any conversation sitting (Utah QB) Cameron Rising at halftime due to injury:
“No, he wanted to play and he felt very strongly that he wanted to stay in the game and he’s won a bunch of ball games for us. It's very apparent that he's not at 100% but it's a coaching decision to decide who gives you the best chance to win the game and that's who you put in there. Like I said, Cam (Rising) has been terrific for us in the past and you could see the rust, it was three weeks off, four weeks, whatever it's been. But, he's a heck of a quarterback and he'll bounce back.”
On why they weren't able to stop the run:
“We ran some zone pressures and some of our slant guys got cut off and when that happens, there's dead gaps and that back is as good as any back that we faced finding those gaps. Injuries are part of the game and we had guys out, but the guys that are in there have got to get the job done and that was it. The majority of those runs that popped were on the zone pressures, not all of them, but the majority. We either lost the edge or lost an interior gap by getting cut off.”
On how he would rate the tackling tonight:
“Not good, not good. It seemed like we missed 20 tackles tonight. There probably won't be that many, but we are typically a single digit miss tackle team week in and week out. We had 13 or 14 against Arizona, I bet we had more than that this game. We worked on tackling in the bye week. We had full gear practices the week we didn't have a game and worked on tackling, worked on red zone. It's not for lack of work, it's not for lack of work.”
On how they regroup after back-to-back losses:
“Well, you certainly lean on your leadership, your seniors and captains. We got to be better as coaches. We got outcoached tonight, no doubt about it. It's very similar to what I said two weeks ago, we got to find out each and every one of us on what we can do to be better as coaches, as players. How we can improve. We know our deficiencies, I guess that's a positive, but we haven't seemed to be able to get them rectified.”