ARIZONA STATE
Head Coach Herm Edwards
On Oregon State’s offensive success:
“Oregon State found a way to make big plays and obviously they did it tonight again. They really hurt us on the run. Our integrity on the run wasn’t very good. They got outside a couple of times where they allowed them big plays. We knew we had to score. This is my first time being a coach in college football and when scores get into the 50’s, I don’t even know what that looks like. Its 50 points and we needed all 50. For a while there, I thought in the fourth quarter the defense figured some things out and kept them off of the board. It was a game of momentum. We had early momentum in the game and then they had a flea flicker and got us off balance and for some reason we kind of struggled for a series or two and that’s not good. They made it a game again. They got close but our offense continued to run the ball and make big plays.”
On RB Eno Benjamin’s performance:
“He’s a good contact runner. He makes yards after contact and he can run inside and outside. I think if you look at our backs this year, I think what I am liking even more, is that we are trying to get them involved in the passing game. We only had 35 passes to the backs last year and I think we are going to be well past that already. He had three catches tonight. He touched the ball 33 times. 30 runs for 314 yards, I don’t know what the records are. Mark Brand told me records and I got mixed up. There are a lot of records to be broken. We gave him the game ball. He was very emotional in the locker room. I think he thanked his offensive line and he thanked his team. It was an emotional moment for him but it was well deserved.”
On the successful rushing attack:
“That's a lot of yards. It’s a carryover from last week if you think about it. We ran the ball last week. I think that’s kind of what we are about right now and I think we are doing a pretty good job of controlling the game with the run. I like what we did at the end of the game in the fourth quarter. We really took a lot of time off the clock. We let the clock go all the way down to about five seconds. We got called on one of the delays. Manny [Wilkins] knew that we were playing the clock after that lead. It wasn’t a matter of trying to play fast, it was letting the 40-second clock get all the way down so we could keep melting the clock, keep melting the clock and make first downs and we were able to do that.”
On time of possession:
“The time of possession was about the same for both teams. Plays were about the same as well. I thought we needed to make some stops and I liked what our defense did in the fourth quarter. They needed a little confidence. They were hit where they scored two times on us in a row when they had the ball in the second quarter. That’s a kind of funny quarter for us now. That second and third quarter hasn’t been good for us, and then in the third quarter we scored. Then they scored in the third quarter and again in the fourth quarter. We seem to play very well in the fourth quarter. We seemed to hold our own and we were able to put points on the board.”
On pressuring the quarterback:
“That is what we have to do. We don’t have a dominant pass-rusher, a guy that can just put them out there and beat anybody. We have to bring pressure and I thought we got to him a couple other times and he got away. He is a nifty quarterback. He got away and made some runs with his legs which hurt us on the one touchdown. We had him the backfield and he got out and threw a touchdown pass.”
On being consistent on the road and at home:
“That would be good and I have talked to the team about that after we all came in the locker-room and I said that we are really good at home, but we got to find what we need to do on the road to win a football game because we haven’t been very good on the road.”
On Manny Wilkins having the flu during the game:
“He had the flu bug. You have to give him a lot of credit. They gave him an IV at halftime and I asked him if he was okay and he said 'Coach I’m going, I’m good,” so no he’s not coming out and I see him now in the press conference and he’s smiling, so he will be okay.”
On the injury report:
“Hopefully we get Casey [Tucker] back next week and Jay Jay [Wilson] will be back and two of our players were out this week with ankles. That offensive line, I can’t say enough about those guys and Coach [Dave] Christensen.”
On running the football:
“We have seven guys that are in that rotation and they have really done a nice job the last couple weeks. It started in Washington. We have a lot of confidence now. We're running the football and we’re not afraid of it. I know these stats are probably not ASU stats of the past. We had 48 runs again. Last week what did we have, 50? I know man it’s funny, people probably think “Coach don’t want to throw it.” It’s not that so much. I think when you’re struggling sometimes on defense and you have to run it because you have to take time off the clock, you don’t want to put your defense out there and I think that’s what happens to us this game. When they got hot, they got a hot hand and I said we have to take time off the clock now and score, but we have to play the clock now. Our defense, I liked what they did in the fourth quarter. They did a nice job. They got off the field the two times they were in position to do that and that’s a good thing.”
On QB Manny Wilkins running the ball:
“He has to get down quicker. He makes me nervous. He thinks he’s a runner for some reason and I tell him he’s not a runner. Just get down, stop all that stuff. He always wants to hurdle. I’m like, “Why do you hurdle so much?”
On not turning the ball over:
“Don’t turn it over. That’s a good thing, when you don’t turn the ball over and can run the football you got a chance, you really do.”
QB MANNY WILKINS
On bouncing back from two losses:
“Any time you come off of two straight losses, it’s good to get a win to get some momentum rolling. Now what we have to do is go on the road and win versus a really good football team. We just have to continue to work our butts off in practice and come with a great attitude and we are going to be up for the challenge this upcoming week against Colorado.”
On what it’s like running an offense with such an effective running attack:
“Just let them guys go to work. All of our running backs do a really good job. Eno just reaped the benefits tonight, but really it’s just all credit to the offensive. They did a really good job of setting the right tone and getting to the right spot like I was talking about earlier this week and it payed off.”
On having a run game as well as weapons like N’Keal Harry:
“Obviously, running the ball is going to open up passing and passing the ball is going to open up running, but I missed some throws that could have opened it up even more. I’m disappointed in how I played.”
On whether an effort was made to get N’Keal Harry the ball in the second half:
“The plan was to get the ball in the running backs hand and run the ball well. We just missed a couple. I missed a crossing route to him that went over his head right before half. We’re not really focused on trying to put stats up and the individual awards and rewards. We’re just trying to win football games and that’s what we did.”
On how they’re going to translate their home success to road success:
“Just little details, little things that make the difference in football games like owning the football. It’s little things like the quarterback making the correct read and receivers running the right route at the right depth. On the road, you can’t give the opposing team any gifts, you can’t say ‘Here you go here’s an opportunity for you guys.’ When they give us opportunities, we have to capitalize, and that’s the biggest thing. When we get the ball back, when defense gets the ball back, we have to capitalize those and put points on the board and get momentum and start rolling. That’s all it is. We got to start fast and we can’t wait until the third quarter to start rolling. We have to start rolling in the first quarter, especially against a team like Colorado. They are going to go fast.”
On how it feels to have your running back go over 300 yards:
“Lovely, lovely. To have a back run for 300 yards anytime, I mean, it just doesn’t happen often. I’m really proud of him because I know how hard he works in practice, I know the beating his body takes. It’s not easy to get 30 carries a game. Not a lot of people can do that, so I got a ton of respect for him. He’s the first person to know that I’m not going to be all happy-happy with him. It’s time to go back to work.”
On the deep ball:
“I guess I got too excited. I knew he was going to be open. Those are throws I really have to make and it’s inexcusable. We took some shots down field, we connected on a couple. There’s a couple we didn’t connect on, just timing things. We need to hit those next week. We threw the ball 25 times. 14-for-25 is average for me, so I need to be better than that. My personal range should probably be 21 to 25 if I correct some issues with my mechanics.”
RB ENO BENJAMIN
On breaking the ASU rushing record:
“It was a great feeling, but honestly we had a game plan and we knew we were gonna run the ball on them. We went through practice and we executed. If you saw the way we practiced this week, you would have known it was going to happen and it’s just a testament to our offensive line.”
On sitting out last year and finally getting to have his moment:
“We had a blueprint from my senior year of high school when I sat down with coach Simon and we had goals. I knew what had to be done to get those goals and sitting that year, I learned a lot from those two [Kalen Ballage and Demario Richard] and that is one thing I really enjoyed and appreciated. I think last year really set me up for something like this: just going out and being hungry on the field.
On having two runs of 40+ yards:
“I honestly don’t even recognize I’m doing it. It just happens. One thing that coach Simon preaches is being able to square a guy up and make him miss, so I felt like I was balanced enough to give him a spin move and keep my balance. Like I said, I don’t even notice I’m really doing it.”
On how much gap scheme running had an effect his performance:
“It was a big factor. Gap scheme runs is what I did in high school a lot. My high school team was tough and physical up front and these guys here are tough and physical up front and play with a lot of heart.”
On who his biggest support system is:
“I would say my parents and I would also go with my running back coach, who is here today, back from high school. I would say he is probably my biggest support outside of my parents.”
On what he thinks his family and his high school coach Matt Tiejen are going to say:
“I don’t know. I was just out there because my mom has a flight to catch. I was waiting for her and she was jumping and screaming, so I would say she’s quite proud.”
On how many 300-yard games he had in high school:
“I’m not sure how many 300 yard games I had. I touched the ball a lot. I think over my 4 years of high school I touched the ball over 1,000 times. Is tonight the best performance I’ve had? I wouldn’t say so.”
LB MALIK LAWAL
On how crucial the stop on fourth-and-goal in the third quarter was:
“We knew it was a pivotal moment for us. We had an issue against San Diego State taking the momentum away. We went out on the field and had a game plan and got it done this time around. Stuff like that is about execution, so we have to execute in a pivotal moment and we are starting to learn how to do that. We have a young core and we have guys learning day-by-day how to get better on plays like that when. We’ll keep doing that further down in the season, so expect that from us.”
On what their issues where during third downs:
“At one point in time the DB’s are doing their job but we’re not getting enough pressure so then the quarterback sits too long. Other times its coverage mistakes, you know, one of those issues where we allowed the quarterback to give them the right reads in order to make the plays he needs in order to get the first down. It’s still a process to work on, so we’ll just have to go over it in film to figure it out.”
On how they were able to pressure the Oregon State offense:
“It was just keep ramming it in on the boys, just keep coming after the offensive line. They have to give up eventually. We got to be relentless. That’s one of those things that coach [Antonio Pierce] preaches with the linebackers and the defensive line: just keep coming relentlessly. I got two, [Kyle] Soelle got two, Merlin [Robertson] got one, and I think [Darien] Butler got one, so I think that’s showing our linebackers are taking into account what Coach Pierce is preaching throughout the week. We just have to be relentless on every play.”
On the fact that the defense had no penalties tonight:
“I didn’t even realize that. We expect to play like that. When you lose your cool, lose your composure, then that’s how you play. We played a poised defense and we expect to play poised all the time, and it’s just a testament to what we do day in and day out to keep our mentality right.”
OL COHL CABRAL
On when the offensive line realized it was going to be a special night for Eno Benjamin:
“We weren’t even paying attention to that. We just ran the ball and knew what we had to do.”
On what it means to see Eno have such a big night:
“Exciting. We didn’t even know he had that many yards until that last run when someone came up and said he only needs 16 more yards to get it. We just went to work.”
OREGON STATE
OSU Head Coach Jonathan Smith:
“Well obviously it was disappointing. The largest topic is just tackling. We just have to get guys on the ground. They had plenty of opportunities at the line of scrimmage, we had a couple in the backfield. We have to improve in that area, I just don’t know what other way to say it. Offensively, early on we had protection issues. I think we got that cleaned up made a couple of adjustments, ran the ball well enough to move it. We have to be able to finish a couple of drives. I think this game is so much about momentum. When we’re scrapping out there and clawing and to be able to get within a score is just huge. Had a couple of opportunities to do it at end of the half. To keep it within a seven point game at halftime would have been huge, but we couldn’t get over that hurdle and then we got the ball to start the second half and we can't do anything. I think that is a huge part momentum, and we just have not caught that break yet.”
QB CONOR BLOUNT
On how the team performed offensively:
“I think it’s another week of showing flashes, but ultimately, just some missed opportunities. We were on the one, got a false start, and then got back to the six and can’t score it.”
On the momentum swings in the game:
“I think it’s just football. Coach Smith just preaches that 60-minute game. You’re going to have those. It’s just how you respond. Some of those, I think we responded really well. Other times I think we just go into a shell. I’m the leader so I’ll take that on me. I think we need to respond when things hit.”
On RB Jermar Jefferson’s performance:
“I’ve said this every single week, it’s nothing I don’t expect. I see it every single day. We’re going to continue to need him. I got his back.”
RB JERMAR JEFFERSON
On what he was able to accomplish in the run game:
“I think I did decent. I could have more physical and more patient. All that matters is that we lost.”
On having two of the top four running games in Oregon State history:
“All that feels great, but I’m still not satisfied, still lost the game.”
LB JONATHAN WILLIS
On the mood of the locker room:
“Nobody likes losing. We just have to come out, watch the film. We just have to make the play. That’s all there is to it.”
On the momentum when they stopped ASU on fourth down
“We felt like we were doing great. We stood up to them, but then it started happening again: people not getting to the ball, people not leaving their feet and not wrap up.”
S JALEN MOORE
On another game struggling on defense:
“I feel like we are still missing tackles. We still are not making those tackles. I missed four. It’s in the game. It’s like life you’re going to win some, you’re going to lose some. Obviously, we lost today, but we just have to keep fighting.”
On missed his pick:
“I could have had a pick. It was a one-score game. I could have changed the game right before the half before they scored. I’m taking a lot in that. That’s my fault. I should have made that play. Like I’ve said, when plays come our way, you got to make them. I missed that play. I dropped the ball. I have to take ownership for that and make the play when it comes my way. That would’ve changed the game.”