ASU Head Coach Todd Graham
Opening Statement
“Just really proud of our guys. It was a big time win, a monumental win for our program. We’re not surprised. I know people think ‘Well that’s kind of a bold statement,’ but when you don’t cut corners, you don’t take short cuts and you build young men with values in mind with character, smart, discipline and tough, we came together. I’ll be honest with you; Earlier in the year, it was trying to get everybody on the same page, not our players. I knew we had a good team. I’m so proud of our defense and how they played. I’m proud of our special teams. I’m so proud of our offense. It was a total team effort and it was a heck of a win. Awesome. I want to thank the fans. The fans were absolutely incredible. That’s the best atmosphere I’ve ever been associated with in a football game. That was absolutely incredible.”
On what he told the team in preparation for tonight
“I came out and told the players, I said ‘It’s time. It’s time’. We’re in the Pac-12 and we’ve got the toughest team on our schedule, a top-5 team in the nation. We’re going to defer. We’re going to kick off to them and play defense. If you’re going to win a championship, it’s got to start right there. Our guys met the challenge. You saw character tonight. You saw a smart football team. You saw a disciplined football team. You saw a tough team. These guys love each other and they care about each other. I’m really, really proud of them.”
On the defense
“We showed blitz and then we would rush three and then we sometimes would rush a different three. It was masterful. Coach (Phil) Bennett and the staff did a great job and made great adjustments. We had 42 plays in the first half on offense. That was exactly our plan. They ran 20. I think they finished up with 61 plays and we had 73; that’s about on par with where we wanted to be. I think we had one penalty. That shows the discipline that our guys play with. I couldn’t be more proud of them. I’m proud to be a Sun Devil. I thank the good Lord for letting me do this and get to coach and be a part of this. It is really rewarding to be around this program and these men because they are champions. Men of character and guys that are going to be champions in life. That was really gratifying to see that come together like that and to know we’ve done it the right way. I saw Dr. (Michael) Crow after the game and he and I talked about that when he hired me six years ago. Not just winning, but winning and doing it the right way. I’m really proud of our guys and the values of our program and what it stands for. I’m proud of our fans. That was an entertaining night. That was awesome.”
On no one assuming ASU could win
“Oh yeah, no one gave us a chance. But you know what, I think we did a pretty good job pressuring and confusing a guy that has won a whole bunch of football games. Those guys are like 21-2 or 3 in the last few games. But you know what? They ain't coming here and winning.”
On giving his wife the game ball
“I gave Miss Penny (Graham) the game ball. She deserves it. She's sacrificed a lot for me to do this. I want to shout out Sun Devil Nation. I'm just so grateful, so grateful for the high standards that they demand and so proud of them showing up. What an atmosphere that was tonight. They were absolutely incredible.”
On the team effort
“It was a whole team effort. That's probably as good a defense we've played against since I've been here. They were really, really good. I thought Coach Napier and the offense did a great job. We went 100 percent ball security, we took care of the ball, had one penalty, kept the ball, punted it away, didn't let number eight (Dante Pettis) be a factor in the return game. We kicked balls out of the end zone. We covered kicks well. It was just a great night.”
On fourth down conversions
“Three for three on fourth downs. That's pretty good. Go Devils.”
ASU Redshirt Junior Manny Wilkins
On the fourth down pass play to close the game out
“You know we just executed. I think that’s what we did the whole game is just execute the game plan. [Ceejhay French-Love] made a hell of a play. It was a low ball and for a tight end that guy has really good ball skills and he just trusted his training and we executed there at the end to seal the game.”
On the importance of the defense
“Huge huge huge huge huge. Like I said, I wish that they could have all defensive players up here because they deserve it. I’m really proud of how they prepared this week and truth be told, it’s the poise that they showed when adversity struck knowing that when they put themselves in the situation when certain things happen to just stay grounded, stay level - make sure you’re never too high, never too low - and I think going against the No. 5 team in the country they just held their ground the whole game. They shut them out basically the whole game. We have to do a better job as an offense, I have to do a better job as the leader of this football team - the leader of the offense - of putting more points on the board. You know I think there were some points left on the board but you know at the end of the day we came out with the win so that’s all that matters.”
On the balance and pace of the offense
“I think it goes to coaching. We game planned the right way. We knew that they were subbing their 2’s in early in the game which is almost a little disrespectful but we just know that our offensive line did a really good job of staying firm on the run game. You know I think we could’ve done some things better but like I said we came out with the win and that’s all that matters.”
On having a bye week the game before
“Having a bye week before a game like this obviously is huge. We had time to basically have two weeks instead of one week to prepare for the team and we got to recycle what we learned. Learn it again, write it down again - when you write things down memory stays a lot more - so writing things down twice, three times more than previously, that’s what helps us prepare for these situations. It helps us prepare for when we’re backed up; to learn what to do with the football, be smart with the football and things like that. And like I said it’s just a testament to the coaching. We told ourselves for the past two weeks, ‘Believe.’ Nobody else is going to believe, we’re an underdog, whatever. They’re however many points favorite, blah blah blah. If you believe, you can get it done and we told ourselves everyday we’re going to go out there and we’re going to win. And that’s what we did.”
On what it feels like to see the defense play the way they did
“It’s encouraging. The mindset was just different this week. They got after (Jake Browning) and you could see he was a little flustered from it. He’s a great quarterback and all but when you’re getting hit constantly and constantly and constantly, it widens your eyes. Trust me I’ve been there before. I think that that was a big part of the game was there was sometimes where he would have a clean pocket and he’s moving just because of what they’re doing, stunting and how they’re pressuring him and defense just did a hell of a job tonight so I’m really proud of how they prepared and how poised they were.”
On looking forward to the rest of the season
“It’s in our hands. The Pac-12 is such a tough conference to play in because on any given Saturday there’s not one team that just dominates. Everybody is so level, everybody has the same amount of players, everybody has the same amount of playmakers, so it’s just about who wants to go out there and who’s more hungry. And I think tonight we were hungrier.”
ASU Senior Running Back Kalen Ballage
“We know what this team is capable of, we’ve always known that so it’s frustrating to have this record, you know, losing a few close games, but I think it’s going to just put us in the right place mentally and with our momentum to be able to move forward and attack any team that we play because now, you know, we just beat the No. 5 team in the country. We know we can play with anybody. So that’s not a question, our talent is not a question, it’s the mindset.”
UW Head Coach Chris Peterson
Opening Statement
“Tough day at the office. We could not get any rhythm going whatsoever. And when we did on offense, we’d get a penalty or couldn’t chaptalize in the red zone. I’m anxious to go back and analyze this, we all are, so we can figure out how we can do better. We fought hard, we played hard. If we don’t play how we are capable of playing, we will get beat by anybody on our schedule.”
On if they underestimated ASU
“We weren’t underestimating these guys (ASU) by any stretch. We’ve had talks all week long. We just couldn’t make anything happen early on. We need something to spark us, and they did a nice job of taking away big plays from us.”
On restoring confidence of kickers
“That’s hard because they can make those (field goals) in their sleep, and they do at practice over and over again. That’s hard on everybody. We’ve got to play better red zone football. It’s never going to be pointed at any one person around here, that’s for sure. We don’t want to settle for field goals anyways. They can make those field goals, that’s what is discouraging about it.”
On going for 4th and 2
“I’m always tempted to go for it, but I thought we could just get on the scoreboard and get something going. You think those are going to be for sure points. They make those like clockwork in practice.”
On ASU’s extra week to prepare
“They did a nice job on defense mixing it up, like we knew they would, bringing pressure. It’s going to be one of those games where we put the tape on and we’re going to be kicking ourselves, we already know it. That’s what is so painful. We all know we have to score more points.”
On the injuries
“You saw what I saw. Both guys left the field, and that’s all I know. We’ll know more tomorrow, but it obviously didn’t look good.”
On their bye week schedule
“They’ll get time off, we’ll practice a couple of times. We’ll work hard when we do practice, but they’ll get some time to hopefully recharge and refresh for the second half. This is how football goes, we’re not going to mope around and we’re not going to feel sorry for ourselves. We are going to reload and fix our mistakes.”
UW Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach Jonathan Smith
Opening Statement
“I first start with them. Give them some credit. I thought those guys were playing physical and hard. Early on we weren’t matching them physicality. That first half we struggled to get some rhythm. In the second half we got things moving more and didn’t finish some drives. Tough place to play. Good defensive and well prepared. That’s what it looked like.”
On the pressure from ASU’s defense
“They weren’t blitzing a ton. I do think the pocket was getting squeezed on, but they weren’t overloading the pressure to the extent that they have shown on tape. That’s why I give them some credit on what they were able to get done.”
On if they were prepared
“I thought we were prepared. We knew exactly what we were coming down into. We had a good week and we talked about it each week that everyone on our schedule can beat us. So I don’t think there is any type of letdown or anything to that extent.”
On what was said during halftime
“We needed to find a way to stay on the field. The first half, we had no rhythm, going three-and-out. That was tough. I give them some credit and the physical play they played with. You just don’t go out there and do nothing without that defense playing well. We’ve got to be able to compete, come down with some contested balls, protect the passer. That was a struggle for us in the first half. In the second half it came down to finishing some drives. We had some opportunities. We go to be able to punch the ball in and score some touchdowns.”
UW Defensive Coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski
On what they could’ve done differently
“There’s some plays out there that we could have made, that could have been the difference. It’s a team sport so one side doesn’t win it all and one side doesn’t lose it all. We’ll go back and look at it and see what plays could have been made that was the difference. It’s never one play that loses it but there is plays that you can make that could win games.”
UW Junior Quarterback Jake Browning
On what ASU was doing on defense to give the offense a hard time
“They mixed it up a little bit. They played their base stuff, we’ll have to see the film. I don’t want to say anything before we watch the film. Obviously we have to improve in a lot of things and have some answers. The way to stall us on offense, is what they did. So we have to watch the film and improve.”
On if the defense surprised him
“I thought they were going to do something different. Had a whole week to prepare and do some different stuff. I don’t think they really pressured a ton. I could be wrong but I don’t think they did.”
On if the poor performance was a team issue
“Like I said, I’m not going to say anything before I watch the film. So we will handle that internally. There is definitely going to be a fire lit under the offense’s ass. We have to get some stuff going because the defense played pretty lights out. That starts with me, I have to play a lot better.”
How disappointing is this?
“Very disappointing.”
On if they’re shocked on the outcome of the game
“No, we say everyday ‘anybody on our schedule can beat us and we can beat anybody on our schedule.’ Am I shocked that they came ready to play after an off-week, at home, at night? No, and anybody can lose to anybody. If you are shocked that somebody came ready to play, then you are going to lose a lot of games. We need to play fast and start faster. We kind of got it going at the end, we punched it in the red zone. We missed some key plays in a close game like that. We will watch the film, we’re pretty motivated to improve.”
On how he felt out there visually
“Fine, felt like I was going through my reads pretty well. I was throwing the ball pretty accurately. I think part of the reason we were stalled in the first half was because we only ran like 20 plays. We were going three and out. It’s hard to get some stuff going when that’s the case. It was just too little too late.”
On the “slow start”
“This wasn’t a slow start; it was a slow game. We didn’t play well until the last couple drives. It’s too little too late. I don’t think it really has anything to do with coming out with a bunch of energy. You have to come out and execute. We’ll look a little deeper. Obviously, we didn’t start well today and that caught my attention. It’s something we’re going to look at and we have to start faster. I think have the momentum is when you execute well things start rolling. I don’t know what is it; human nature once things start rolling, defense is on their heels, we start attacking. We never really got in that mode until the fourth quarter.”
On ASU’s defense not being aggressive or blitzing
“I think they were stacking the box pretty well, playing safeties pretty low then playing high over Dante (Pettis). We kind of missed on a couple things. The holding on the reverse hurt. I’m sure there’s some things I missed on, that I need to improve on. We knew they were going to be ready to go because they had a bye week, then at home. It was kind of the perfect storm. I mean all that crap doesn’t matter, if you don’t play well then you don’t play well. We didn’t.”
UW Senior Linebacker Keishawn Bierria
On the defense
“We get to have an extra week of game plan. So that speaks a lot of how we play our defense today. They’re going to throw their best at us. I think the defense did a great job about it against that. We didn’t have enough turnovers. Just saw it, we didn’t have any. That’s part of our game too. Give the offense good field position. Be able to have momentum and swing it. Other than that, we just didn’t play our type of ball.”
Opening Statement
“Just really proud of our guys. It was a big time win, a monumental win for our program. We’re not surprised. I know people think ‘Well that’s kind of a bold statement,’ but when you don’t cut corners, you don’t take short cuts and you build young men with values in mind with character, smart, discipline and tough, we came together. I’ll be honest with you; Earlier in the year, it was trying to get everybody on the same page, not our players. I knew we had a good team. I’m so proud of our defense and how they played. I’m proud of our special teams. I’m so proud of our offense. It was a total team effort and it was a heck of a win. Awesome. I want to thank the fans. The fans were absolutely incredible. That’s the best atmosphere I’ve ever been associated with in a football game. That was absolutely incredible.”
On what he told the team in preparation for tonight
“I came out and told the players, I said ‘It’s time. It’s time’. We’re in the Pac-12 and we’ve got the toughest team on our schedule, a top-5 team in the nation. We’re going to defer. We’re going to kick off to them and play defense. If you’re going to win a championship, it’s got to start right there. Our guys met the challenge. You saw character tonight. You saw a smart football team. You saw a disciplined football team. You saw a tough team. These guys love each other and they care about each other. I’m really, really proud of them.”
On the defense
“We showed blitz and then we would rush three and then we sometimes would rush a different three. It was masterful. Coach (Phil) Bennett and the staff did a great job and made great adjustments. We had 42 plays in the first half on offense. That was exactly our plan. They ran 20. I think they finished up with 61 plays and we had 73; that’s about on par with where we wanted to be. I think we had one penalty. That shows the discipline that our guys play with. I couldn’t be more proud of them. I’m proud to be a Sun Devil. I thank the good Lord for letting me do this and get to coach and be a part of this. It is really rewarding to be around this program and these men because they are champions. Men of character and guys that are going to be champions in life. That was really gratifying to see that come together like that and to know we’ve done it the right way. I saw Dr. (Michael) Crow after the game and he and I talked about that when he hired me six years ago. Not just winning, but winning and doing it the right way. I’m really proud of our guys and the values of our program and what it stands for. I’m proud of our fans. That was an entertaining night. That was awesome.”
On no one assuming ASU could win
“Oh yeah, no one gave us a chance. But you know what, I think we did a pretty good job pressuring and confusing a guy that has won a whole bunch of football games. Those guys are like 21-2 or 3 in the last few games. But you know what? They ain't coming here and winning.”
On giving his wife the game ball
“I gave Miss Penny (Graham) the game ball. She deserves it. She's sacrificed a lot for me to do this. I want to shout out Sun Devil Nation. I'm just so grateful, so grateful for the high standards that they demand and so proud of them showing up. What an atmosphere that was tonight. They were absolutely incredible.”
On the team effort
“It was a whole team effort. That's probably as good a defense we've played against since I've been here. They were really, really good. I thought Coach Napier and the offense did a great job. We went 100 percent ball security, we took care of the ball, had one penalty, kept the ball, punted it away, didn't let number eight (Dante Pettis) be a factor in the return game. We kicked balls out of the end zone. We covered kicks well. It was just a great night.”
On fourth down conversions
“Three for three on fourth downs. That's pretty good. Go Devils.”
ASU Redshirt Junior Manny Wilkins
On the fourth down pass play to close the game out
“You know we just executed. I think that’s what we did the whole game is just execute the game plan. [Ceejhay French-Love] made a hell of a play. It was a low ball and for a tight end that guy has really good ball skills and he just trusted his training and we executed there at the end to seal the game.”
On the importance of the defense
“Huge huge huge huge huge. Like I said, I wish that they could have all defensive players up here because they deserve it. I’m really proud of how they prepared this week and truth be told, it’s the poise that they showed when adversity struck knowing that when they put themselves in the situation when certain things happen to just stay grounded, stay level - make sure you’re never too high, never too low - and I think going against the No. 5 team in the country they just held their ground the whole game. They shut them out basically the whole game. We have to do a better job as an offense, I have to do a better job as the leader of this football team - the leader of the offense - of putting more points on the board. You know I think there were some points left on the board but you know at the end of the day we came out with the win so that’s all that matters.”
On the balance and pace of the offense
“I think it goes to coaching. We game planned the right way. We knew that they were subbing their 2’s in early in the game which is almost a little disrespectful but we just know that our offensive line did a really good job of staying firm on the run game. You know I think we could’ve done some things better but like I said we came out with the win and that’s all that matters.”
On having a bye week the game before
“Having a bye week before a game like this obviously is huge. We had time to basically have two weeks instead of one week to prepare for the team and we got to recycle what we learned. Learn it again, write it down again - when you write things down memory stays a lot more - so writing things down twice, three times more than previously, that’s what helps us prepare for these situations. It helps us prepare for when we’re backed up; to learn what to do with the football, be smart with the football and things like that. And like I said it’s just a testament to the coaching. We told ourselves for the past two weeks, ‘Believe.’ Nobody else is going to believe, we’re an underdog, whatever. They’re however many points favorite, blah blah blah. If you believe, you can get it done and we told ourselves everyday we’re going to go out there and we’re going to win. And that’s what we did.”
On what it feels like to see the defense play the way they did
“It’s encouraging. The mindset was just different this week. They got after (Jake Browning) and you could see he was a little flustered from it. He’s a great quarterback and all but when you’re getting hit constantly and constantly and constantly, it widens your eyes. Trust me I’ve been there before. I think that that was a big part of the game was there was sometimes where he would have a clean pocket and he’s moving just because of what they’re doing, stunting and how they’re pressuring him and defense just did a hell of a job tonight so I’m really proud of how they prepared and how poised they were.”
On looking forward to the rest of the season
“It’s in our hands. The Pac-12 is such a tough conference to play in because on any given Saturday there’s not one team that just dominates. Everybody is so level, everybody has the same amount of players, everybody has the same amount of playmakers, so it’s just about who wants to go out there and who’s more hungry. And I think tonight we were hungrier.”
ASU Senior Running Back Kalen Ballage
“We know what this team is capable of, we’ve always known that so it’s frustrating to have this record, you know, losing a few close games, but I think it’s going to just put us in the right place mentally and with our momentum to be able to move forward and attack any team that we play because now, you know, we just beat the No. 5 team in the country. We know we can play with anybody. So that’s not a question, our talent is not a question, it’s the mindset.”
UW Head Coach Chris Peterson
Opening Statement
“Tough day at the office. We could not get any rhythm going whatsoever. And when we did on offense, we’d get a penalty or couldn’t chaptalize in the red zone. I’m anxious to go back and analyze this, we all are, so we can figure out how we can do better. We fought hard, we played hard. If we don’t play how we are capable of playing, we will get beat by anybody on our schedule.”
On if they underestimated ASU
“We weren’t underestimating these guys (ASU) by any stretch. We’ve had talks all week long. We just couldn’t make anything happen early on. We need something to spark us, and they did a nice job of taking away big plays from us.”
On restoring confidence of kickers
“That’s hard because they can make those (field goals) in their sleep, and they do at practice over and over again. That’s hard on everybody. We’ve got to play better red zone football. It’s never going to be pointed at any one person around here, that’s for sure. We don’t want to settle for field goals anyways. They can make those field goals, that’s what is discouraging about it.”
On going for 4th and 2
“I’m always tempted to go for it, but I thought we could just get on the scoreboard and get something going. You think those are going to be for sure points. They make those like clockwork in practice.”
On ASU’s extra week to prepare
“They did a nice job on defense mixing it up, like we knew they would, bringing pressure. It’s going to be one of those games where we put the tape on and we’re going to be kicking ourselves, we already know it. That’s what is so painful. We all know we have to score more points.”
On the injuries
“You saw what I saw. Both guys left the field, and that’s all I know. We’ll know more tomorrow, but it obviously didn’t look good.”
On their bye week schedule
“They’ll get time off, we’ll practice a couple of times. We’ll work hard when we do practice, but they’ll get some time to hopefully recharge and refresh for the second half. This is how football goes, we’re not going to mope around and we’re not going to feel sorry for ourselves. We are going to reload and fix our mistakes.”
UW Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach Jonathan Smith
Opening Statement
“I first start with them. Give them some credit. I thought those guys were playing physical and hard. Early on we weren’t matching them physicality. That first half we struggled to get some rhythm. In the second half we got things moving more and didn’t finish some drives. Tough place to play. Good defensive and well prepared. That’s what it looked like.”
On the pressure from ASU’s defense
“They weren’t blitzing a ton. I do think the pocket was getting squeezed on, but they weren’t overloading the pressure to the extent that they have shown on tape. That’s why I give them some credit on what they were able to get done.”
On if they were prepared
“I thought we were prepared. We knew exactly what we were coming down into. We had a good week and we talked about it each week that everyone on our schedule can beat us. So I don’t think there is any type of letdown or anything to that extent.”
On what was said during halftime
“We needed to find a way to stay on the field. The first half, we had no rhythm, going three-and-out. That was tough. I give them some credit and the physical play they played with. You just don’t go out there and do nothing without that defense playing well. We’ve got to be able to compete, come down with some contested balls, protect the passer. That was a struggle for us in the first half. In the second half it came down to finishing some drives. We had some opportunities. We go to be able to punch the ball in and score some touchdowns.”
UW Defensive Coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski
On what they could’ve done differently
“There’s some plays out there that we could have made, that could have been the difference. It’s a team sport so one side doesn’t win it all and one side doesn’t lose it all. We’ll go back and look at it and see what plays could have been made that was the difference. It’s never one play that loses it but there is plays that you can make that could win games.”
UW Junior Quarterback Jake Browning
On what ASU was doing on defense to give the offense a hard time
“They mixed it up a little bit. They played their base stuff, we’ll have to see the film. I don’t want to say anything before we watch the film. Obviously we have to improve in a lot of things and have some answers. The way to stall us on offense, is what they did. So we have to watch the film and improve.”
On if the defense surprised him
“I thought they were going to do something different. Had a whole week to prepare and do some different stuff. I don’t think they really pressured a ton. I could be wrong but I don’t think they did.”
On if the poor performance was a team issue
“Like I said, I’m not going to say anything before I watch the film. So we will handle that internally. There is definitely going to be a fire lit under the offense’s ass. We have to get some stuff going because the defense played pretty lights out. That starts with me, I have to play a lot better.”
How disappointing is this?
“Very disappointing.”
On if they’re shocked on the outcome of the game
“No, we say everyday ‘anybody on our schedule can beat us and we can beat anybody on our schedule.’ Am I shocked that they came ready to play after an off-week, at home, at night? No, and anybody can lose to anybody. If you are shocked that somebody came ready to play, then you are going to lose a lot of games. We need to play fast and start faster. We kind of got it going at the end, we punched it in the red zone. We missed some key plays in a close game like that. We will watch the film, we’re pretty motivated to improve.”
On how he felt out there visually
“Fine, felt like I was going through my reads pretty well. I was throwing the ball pretty accurately. I think part of the reason we were stalled in the first half was because we only ran like 20 plays. We were going three and out. It’s hard to get some stuff going when that’s the case. It was just too little too late.”
On the “slow start”
“This wasn’t a slow start; it was a slow game. We didn’t play well until the last couple drives. It’s too little too late. I don’t think it really has anything to do with coming out with a bunch of energy. You have to come out and execute. We’ll look a little deeper. Obviously, we didn’t start well today and that caught my attention. It’s something we’re going to look at and we have to start faster. I think have the momentum is when you execute well things start rolling. I don’t know what is it; human nature once things start rolling, defense is on their heels, we start attacking. We never really got in that mode until the fourth quarter.”
On ASU’s defense not being aggressive or blitzing
“I think they were stacking the box pretty well, playing safeties pretty low then playing high over Dante (Pettis). We kind of missed on a couple things. The holding on the reverse hurt. I’m sure there’s some things I missed on, that I need to improve on. We knew they were going to be ready to go because they had a bye week, then at home. It was kind of the perfect storm. I mean all that crap doesn’t matter, if you don’t play well then you don’t play well. We didn’t.”
UW Senior Linebacker Keishawn Bierria
On the defense
“We get to have an extra week of game plan. So that speaks a lot of how we play our defense today. They’re going to throw their best at us. I think the defense did a great job about it against that. We didn’t have enough turnovers. Just saw it, we didn’t have any. That’s part of our game too. Give the offense good field position. Be able to have momentum and swing it. Other than that, we just didn’t play our type of ball.”