Quotes: ASU 37, Oregon 35
ASU Head Coach Todd Graham
Opening Statement
“I’m really proud of our players. We worked hard. People don’t realize how much newness these players have had to deal with. I knew we were getting better. I knew we were getting close. We lost a couple of games we should have won. It starts counting now. We’re 1-0. We just knocked off one of the top-25 teams in the country. I couldn’t be more proud of our players. It’s a great night to be a Sun Devil.”
On being aggressive on both sides of the ball
“You have to be adaptive. These guys were recruited here to play in a certain style system. Oregon was 1/11 on third downs and 0/2 on fourth downs. That was the difference. We got off the field on third down tonight. I think Oregon is one of the top-scoring offenses in the country. I’m really proud of our guys. We held Oregon to 120 yards rushing. I don’t care about the yards. I don’t care about any of that stuff. It was too good of a win to point out anyone individually. There at the end, they had three timeouts so all we could run off was 16-18 seconds off the clock. They burnt two of their timeouts. We make a first down and we win. We talked about it. We wanted to win the football game and not have to go back out there on defense. We went out there and the defense did a tremendous job. The defense went after the quarterback. It was just a great, great win. I couldn’t be more proud of our coaching staff and our players. We stuck together and believed in each other no matter what. They never, ever doubted themselves and to come out here 1-0 feels great.”
On not making all the play calls
“I’m not calling anything but I think our guys are doing a great job and our coaches are doing a great job of adapting. That’s the key: Finding our niche and what we do. I think our kids like that and got after it. I look at the effort Tashon Smallwood, JoJo Wicker and A.J. Latu, the three-man pass-rush at the end there, they were putting pressure on the guy there. I’m really proud of them and our football team. We were out there for a half and gave up a punt, and basically give them seven points. They’re pretty good, they have some good players. What really impressed me was the second half first drive. I told them that we have to take this ball and score. There are lots of things we can do to get better and we’re going to continue to do that. I just can’t tell you how proud I am of our players. To ignore the noise, go play and believe in yourself…I think we showed tonight that we have the potential to be a really good football team.”
On the offensive line
“I thought we’ve had our two best games on the offensive line. It’s going to eliminate the negatives. We had a few sacks, too many negative yard plays, but we put up close to 500 yards. What I like is 92 plays on offense and 65 plays on defense. That’s the formula. That’s what we’re after.”
On the new coaching staff
“I think our guys earned some respect tonight. I’m so proud of them. We weren’t surprised at all at the way we came out and played. I’m proud of our guys and our coaches, Coach Napier, Coach Bennett and the staff. They’ve done a tremendous job and I’m very, very proud of them. I know it’s been grueling. It’s been great because they’ve been so willing to adapt to our players instead of our players having to adapt to them. It was a great win and I’m proud to be a Sun Devil. I’m just so blessed and thank the Lord for the opportunity to do this.”
ASU Redshirt Junior Manny Wilkins
On the having a similar situation as last week but coming back to win
“I think we just prepared for it. Our mindset is every time we’re on the field our goal is to score seven points. I think we did a really good job of executing our game plan. They threw some stuff at us that was really good but at the end of the day we just executed a little bit better. Guys make big time plays in big time situations. N’Keal Harry - that catch there on third and however long was huge. Big time players make big time plays in big time times. We got out of this one, now it’s time to go to the next one and just keep on going.”
On the confidence in the locker room after a rough start
“We played a hell of a game on defense. I think we put them in a couple of situations that we shouldn’t have put them in, but I’m really proud of how those guys really went out there like [A.J. Latu] said with a chip on their shoulder and really played their butts off.”
On the importance of having a healthy Demario Richard back
“You know those guys are running the ball downhill. You know as you see it there in the second half those guys did a really good job of getting skinny in the hole and getting yards after contact and being dominant with the football in their hands. It’s good to have him back; he brings another element. Having him and Kalen Ballage, Nick Ralston as well, but everybody made some really good plays tonight and I think our effort when we watch it on film you’re going to see how hard we really played tonight and that’s what I was really proud to see.”
On how it feels to beat Oregon
“Any win feels great. This one really felt good just because you go after two losses and your mindset is a little like ‘We just need to get one, get this rolling.’ That’s why I think this one felt really good because it showed how well we practiced throughout the week. Guys were out there at practice taking every rep with 100 percent effort and it showed here on Saturday night.”
On the team’s momentum
“I just see a team that’s hungry. When I look in Chase Lucas’ eyes I see that dog in him right now. When I look in N’Keal [Harry’s] eyes I see ‘throw me the ball.’ When I see Kalen [Ballage]: ‘Let me run the ball up the middle.’ Demario [Richard] as well. Our offensive-line, they’re hungry. I just think this team plays really well together and when we’re clicking it looks beautiful. It’s a thing of art.”
On the fan effect
“The fans were great tonight. When we had the momentum and they were loud at the end of game, they are another element to this game and winning the game. When they’re loud and the offense is on the other side, when we’re on defense they don’t always know what’s going on because it is so loud up there. It is to our advantage. We appreciate the love that they show and the passion they show for this team. We look to put some wins on the board to make them proud for what we put on that field. It also helps us out a lot on third down situations. That is what we emphasize, trying to get off the field on a third down and the crowd really helps out on that.”
On external talk
“[I] ignore it. I ignore all the noise. This team ignores all the noise. When you lose, there is going to be negative talk and when you win, there will be positive talk. No matter what, people will always find things to talk negatively about. We have to continue to keep our head down and as long as we put wins on the board, nothing anybody says matters.”
On the focus in practice
“When I throw you the ball, go get it. There is no such thing as 50/50 balls. We always throw to receive 100 percent. I need to put the ball in the right location and give these guys and playmakers the opportunity to run with the ball after the catch. I think these guys are doing a really good job of high point the football, grabbing the ball and tucking it in which has been a significant difference this year.”
ASU Redshirt Senior Linebacker A.J. Latu
On the confidence in the locker room after a rough start
“We always talked about just finishing, and today we just had that edge, that little chip on our shoulder, and we just built off each other’s energy, off the offense’s energy, and just getting it done. I’m just happy we got it done.”
On getting off on third downs
“This whole week we emphasized getting off the field. We have struggled with that the first few games on getting off the field on third downs”
Oregon Head Coach Willie Taggart
On how the team responded to playing from behind
“I thought we responded well. We got ourselves back in it and took the lead in the fourth quarter. I was really impressed with our football team. They fought, we took the lead, and we just didn’t finish it off there near the end, but I was impressed our guys came back and took the lead in the fourth quarter.”
On if the team felt “off” during practice
“No, our guys do a great job of practicing. We had a great week of practice. That’s one thing I can say about our guys. They’re ready every day to come out and practice well and we just didn’t execute. It was bad, we didn’t execute, we didn’t stay on schedule, and we didn’t go like we want to go. It was lack of execution by everybody, not just one person, myself included. We just didn’t do a good job.”
On if getting Justin Herbert to run more was part of the game plan
“Not necessarily. They were giving us some things and we were focusing on our other guys and we felt like some quarterback runs could help us. Justin did a good job of reading them and running the ball when he did.”
On the atmosphere difference between Pac-12 and non-conference play
“It was a good atmosphere. The level of play was kind of like Nebraska. We have talent, they have talent, and they executed more than we did. It was like any other environment: They had their home crowd and made the plays we didn’t.”
On being surprised the offensive line was not more physical
“I was [surprised] in the first half. I thought our guys did a better job in the second half, but in the first half I would say I was surprised but I was ticked off that we weren’t executing. We weren’t doing the thing we are capable of doing and I was more frustrated by that than anything. Again, in the second half I thought our guys came out and started to play like we are capable of.”
On the halftime message
“I told them you have to love it, it’s college football. This is an opportunity for us to go out and get a win from behind and that’s what makes great teams. Don’t get flustered or quit or put your head down. You have to be excited, let’s go out and try to get this win. I was really excited about the way our guys came out and played in the second half and gave us a chance to win the ball game. They kept fighting and we took the lead, so they listened but we just didn’t do enough to finish it.”
On confidence in scoring on the last drive
“If not score I thought we would get down there and kick a field goal. Again it’s just lack of execution there at the end. It’s a lesson to our guys to get down there and not panic when we are in that situation and just execute the offense like we are capable of.”
On N’Keal Harry being a difficult match-up
“He’s a big guy. He’s a big receiver and he uses his body well. Our guys were in good coverage, he just made some good catches.”
On the penalties and if they made a difference
“That was a big difference. Penalties killed us tonight. Penalties and execution, especially on first down. We found ourselves in a lot of third and long situations and it is just tough when you’re in those situations. Before we were doing a lot better on first down throughout the season, and tonight we didn’t do a good job. We didn’t execute. We just didn’t play well at all offensively.”
On the defense
“I thought our defense did a good job. They kept us in the ball game, and gave us an opportunity to get back in the game. And not only get back in the game, but we took the lead there in the fourth quarter. I wish we could have got a stop there in the fourth quarter, and not allow them to get down there, but I thought they did a good job. And even after that they gave the ball back, and they stopped them and we still had a minute and some seconds there left in the game. But I thought our defense played well enough at times to give us an opportunity offensively, and we just didn’t play well at all, especially in the first half.”
On the long drops and unexplainable penalties and if they hurt
“It really does. I mean the penalties, the drop balls, it is hard to get in a rhythm. It is hard to go faster. You know like we want to do when we are off schedule, and you don’t get the yards, the things that you want to get. It affected our offense, and when again you drop a ball that’s there or get a penalty, that takes away a lot, especially on offense.”
Oregon Running Back Tony Brooks-James
On what slowed the team down
“We definitely shot ourselves in the foot a lot with penalties and mental errors but we just have to come out and play our ball.”
On the difficulties of running the football
“Them stacking the box, crazy blitzes and looks that we did not previously see.”
On playing more at wide receiver due to Charles Nelson’s injury
“Yes, as soon as Charles went down Coach came up to me and said I just needed to be ready for it.”
On Coach Taggart’s message in the locker room
“This is adversity, this is what we have been waiting for, step up and make the play and stay disciplined.”
On Coach Taggart’s message after spiking the ball
“It was just to be smarter than that, don’t make dumb penalties and next time just be the player that I am and hand the ball to the ref.”
Oregon Cornerback Arrion Springs
On if ASU did anything offensively they didn’t expect
“No we expected everything, we just have to play better on third down and make the plays when its time.”
On the defensive line
“Jalen [Jelks] was balling. They did really well in the second half and second quarter too at stopping the run. We just have to get off the field and stop the big plays.”
On what made N’Keal Harry and Jalen Harvey difficult to guard
“They weren’t. [N’Keal] had a great game tonight.”
ASU Head Coach Todd Graham
Opening Statement
“I’m really proud of our players. We worked hard. People don’t realize how much newness these players have had to deal with. I knew we were getting better. I knew we were getting close. We lost a couple of games we should have won. It starts counting now. We’re 1-0. We just knocked off one of the top-25 teams in the country. I couldn’t be more proud of our players. It’s a great night to be a Sun Devil.”
On being aggressive on both sides of the ball
“You have to be adaptive. These guys were recruited here to play in a certain style system. Oregon was 1/11 on third downs and 0/2 on fourth downs. That was the difference. We got off the field on third down tonight. I think Oregon is one of the top-scoring offenses in the country. I’m really proud of our guys. We held Oregon to 120 yards rushing. I don’t care about the yards. I don’t care about any of that stuff. It was too good of a win to point out anyone individually. There at the end, they had three timeouts so all we could run off was 16-18 seconds off the clock. They burnt two of their timeouts. We make a first down and we win. We talked about it. We wanted to win the football game and not have to go back out there on defense. We went out there and the defense did a tremendous job. The defense went after the quarterback. It was just a great, great win. I couldn’t be more proud of our coaching staff and our players. We stuck together and believed in each other no matter what. They never, ever doubted themselves and to come out here 1-0 feels great.”
On not making all the play calls
“I’m not calling anything but I think our guys are doing a great job and our coaches are doing a great job of adapting. That’s the key: Finding our niche and what we do. I think our kids like that and got after it. I look at the effort Tashon Smallwood, JoJo Wicker and A.J. Latu, the three-man pass-rush at the end there, they were putting pressure on the guy there. I’m really proud of them and our football team. We were out there for a half and gave up a punt, and basically give them seven points. They’re pretty good, they have some good players. What really impressed me was the second half first drive. I told them that we have to take this ball and score. There are lots of things we can do to get better and we’re going to continue to do that. I just can’t tell you how proud I am of our players. To ignore the noise, go play and believe in yourself…I think we showed tonight that we have the potential to be a really good football team.”
On the offensive line
“I thought we’ve had our two best games on the offensive line. It’s going to eliminate the negatives. We had a few sacks, too many negative yard plays, but we put up close to 500 yards. What I like is 92 plays on offense and 65 plays on defense. That’s the formula. That’s what we’re after.”
On the new coaching staff
“I think our guys earned some respect tonight. I’m so proud of them. We weren’t surprised at all at the way we came out and played. I’m proud of our guys and our coaches, Coach Napier, Coach Bennett and the staff. They’ve done a tremendous job and I’m very, very proud of them. I know it’s been grueling. It’s been great because they’ve been so willing to adapt to our players instead of our players having to adapt to them. It was a great win and I’m proud to be a Sun Devil. I’m just so blessed and thank the Lord for the opportunity to do this.”
ASU Redshirt Junior Manny Wilkins
On the having a similar situation as last week but coming back to win
“I think we just prepared for it. Our mindset is every time we’re on the field our goal is to score seven points. I think we did a really good job of executing our game plan. They threw some stuff at us that was really good but at the end of the day we just executed a little bit better. Guys make big time plays in big time situations. N’Keal Harry - that catch there on third and however long was huge. Big time players make big time plays in big time times. We got out of this one, now it’s time to go to the next one and just keep on going.”
On the confidence in the locker room after a rough start
“We played a hell of a game on defense. I think we put them in a couple of situations that we shouldn’t have put them in, but I’m really proud of how those guys really went out there like [A.J. Latu] said with a chip on their shoulder and really played their butts off.”
On the importance of having a healthy Demario Richard back
“You know those guys are running the ball downhill. You know as you see it there in the second half those guys did a really good job of getting skinny in the hole and getting yards after contact and being dominant with the football in their hands. It’s good to have him back; he brings another element. Having him and Kalen Ballage, Nick Ralston as well, but everybody made some really good plays tonight and I think our effort when we watch it on film you’re going to see how hard we really played tonight and that’s what I was really proud to see.”
On how it feels to beat Oregon
“Any win feels great. This one really felt good just because you go after two losses and your mindset is a little like ‘We just need to get one, get this rolling.’ That’s why I think this one felt really good because it showed how well we practiced throughout the week. Guys were out there at practice taking every rep with 100 percent effort and it showed here on Saturday night.”
On the team’s momentum
“I just see a team that’s hungry. When I look in Chase Lucas’ eyes I see that dog in him right now. When I look in N’Keal [Harry’s] eyes I see ‘throw me the ball.’ When I see Kalen [Ballage]: ‘Let me run the ball up the middle.’ Demario [Richard] as well. Our offensive-line, they’re hungry. I just think this team plays really well together and when we’re clicking it looks beautiful. It’s a thing of art.”
On the fan effect
“The fans were great tonight. When we had the momentum and they were loud at the end of game, they are another element to this game and winning the game. When they’re loud and the offense is on the other side, when we’re on defense they don’t always know what’s going on because it is so loud up there. It is to our advantage. We appreciate the love that they show and the passion they show for this team. We look to put some wins on the board to make them proud for what we put on that field. It also helps us out a lot on third down situations. That is what we emphasize, trying to get off the field on a third down and the crowd really helps out on that.”
On external talk
“[I] ignore it. I ignore all the noise. This team ignores all the noise. When you lose, there is going to be negative talk and when you win, there will be positive talk. No matter what, people will always find things to talk negatively about. We have to continue to keep our head down and as long as we put wins on the board, nothing anybody says matters.”
On the focus in practice
“When I throw you the ball, go get it. There is no such thing as 50/50 balls. We always throw to receive 100 percent. I need to put the ball in the right location and give these guys and playmakers the opportunity to run with the ball after the catch. I think these guys are doing a really good job of high point the football, grabbing the ball and tucking it in which has been a significant difference this year.”
ASU Redshirt Senior Linebacker A.J. Latu
On the confidence in the locker room after a rough start
“We always talked about just finishing, and today we just had that edge, that little chip on our shoulder, and we just built off each other’s energy, off the offense’s energy, and just getting it done. I’m just happy we got it done.”
On getting off on third downs
“This whole week we emphasized getting off the field. We have struggled with that the first few games on getting off the field on third downs”
Oregon Head Coach Willie Taggart
On how the team responded to playing from behind
“I thought we responded well. We got ourselves back in it and took the lead in the fourth quarter. I was really impressed with our football team. They fought, we took the lead, and we just didn’t finish it off there near the end, but I was impressed our guys came back and took the lead in the fourth quarter.”
On if the team felt “off” during practice
“No, our guys do a great job of practicing. We had a great week of practice. That’s one thing I can say about our guys. They’re ready every day to come out and practice well and we just didn’t execute. It was bad, we didn’t execute, we didn’t stay on schedule, and we didn’t go like we want to go. It was lack of execution by everybody, not just one person, myself included. We just didn’t do a good job.”
On if getting Justin Herbert to run more was part of the game plan
“Not necessarily. They were giving us some things and we were focusing on our other guys and we felt like some quarterback runs could help us. Justin did a good job of reading them and running the ball when he did.”
On the atmosphere difference between Pac-12 and non-conference play
“It was a good atmosphere. The level of play was kind of like Nebraska. We have talent, they have talent, and they executed more than we did. It was like any other environment: They had their home crowd and made the plays we didn’t.”
On being surprised the offensive line was not more physical
“I was [surprised] in the first half. I thought our guys did a better job in the second half, but in the first half I would say I was surprised but I was ticked off that we weren’t executing. We weren’t doing the thing we are capable of doing and I was more frustrated by that than anything. Again, in the second half I thought our guys came out and started to play like we are capable of.”
On the halftime message
“I told them you have to love it, it’s college football. This is an opportunity for us to go out and get a win from behind and that’s what makes great teams. Don’t get flustered or quit or put your head down. You have to be excited, let’s go out and try to get this win. I was really excited about the way our guys came out and played in the second half and gave us a chance to win the ball game. They kept fighting and we took the lead, so they listened but we just didn’t do enough to finish it.”
On confidence in scoring on the last drive
“If not score I thought we would get down there and kick a field goal. Again it’s just lack of execution there at the end. It’s a lesson to our guys to get down there and not panic when we are in that situation and just execute the offense like we are capable of.”
On N’Keal Harry being a difficult match-up
“He’s a big guy. He’s a big receiver and he uses his body well. Our guys were in good coverage, he just made some good catches.”
On the penalties and if they made a difference
“That was a big difference. Penalties killed us tonight. Penalties and execution, especially on first down. We found ourselves in a lot of third and long situations and it is just tough when you’re in those situations. Before we were doing a lot better on first down throughout the season, and tonight we didn’t do a good job. We didn’t execute. We just didn’t play well at all offensively.”
On the defense
“I thought our defense did a good job. They kept us in the ball game, and gave us an opportunity to get back in the game. And not only get back in the game, but we took the lead there in the fourth quarter. I wish we could have got a stop there in the fourth quarter, and not allow them to get down there, but I thought they did a good job. And even after that they gave the ball back, and they stopped them and we still had a minute and some seconds there left in the game. But I thought our defense played well enough at times to give us an opportunity offensively, and we just didn’t play well at all, especially in the first half.”
On the long drops and unexplainable penalties and if they hurt
“It really does. I mean the penalties, the drop balls, it is hard to get in a rhythm. It is hard to go faster. You know like we want to do when we are off schedule, and you don’t get the yards, the things that you want to get. It affected our offense, and when again you drop a ball that’s there or get a penalty, that takes away a lot, especially on offense.”
Oregon Running Back Tony Brooks-James
On what slowed the team down
“We definitely shot ourselves in the foot a lot with penalties and mental errors but we just have to come out and play our ball.”
On the difficulties of running the football
“Them stacking the box, crazy blitzes and looks that we did not previously see.”
On playing more at wide receiver due to Charles Nelson’s injury
“Yes, as soon as Charles went down Coach came up to me and said I just needed to be ready for it.”
On Coach Taggart’s message in the locker room
“This is adversity, this is what we have been waiting for, step up and make the play and stay disciplined.”
On Coach Taggart’s message after spiking the ball
“It was just to be smarter than that, don’t make dumb penalties and next time just be the player that I am and hand the ball to the ref.”
Oregon Cornerback Arrion Springs
On if ASU did anything offensively they didn’t expect
“No we expected everything, we just have to play better on third down and make the plays when its time.”
On the defensive line
“Jalen [Jelks] was balling. They did really well in the second half and second quarter too at stopping the run. We just have to get off the field and stop the big plays.”
On what made N’Keal Harry and Jalen Harvey difficult to guard
“They weren’t. [N’Keal] had a great game tonight.”