Football Postgame Quotes vs. Washington State (Oct. 28, 2023)
Arizona State Head Coach Kenny Dillingham
Opening Statement:
“I think it's fun. I think the guys have really embraced the challenge and I think it's the effort that they gave tonight, it's the detail. I mean I can't come in here and tell you right now that there were over four busts. I mean there probably were, but I couldn't say based off the tape and that hasn't been the case in games past.”
On knowing when he had to change the offensive scheme to win games
“You got to run the football. I still think you have to run the football to win in college football. You know, throwing the ball is fun right, and it's exciting and it's good, but at the end of the day you have to be a physical football team. And teams that win championships, play physical football and they can run the ball. And so we were just trying to be creative to find an identity to how to run the ball. And if that meant, get under center and run speed sweeps from cut splits and run toss sweeps, a lot of teams do that and have a lot of success. So it's not about what I'm comfortable with, it's about what puts our players in the best position to be successful.”
On how much confidence was gained after making the 51 yard FG before half
“Oh, I mean, it could be the difference in the game. You're talking about a two possession game there, versus a one possession game. Because we won the middle eight. You know, when you have a 10 point swing in the middle eight, you get the ball back in 40 seconds and go get three points and execute that…and you know, I was more intense on the field goal unit than I think I was on offense or defense watching everybody. When you have a multitude of guys going in there getting run over and defensive guys just getting run over, that's a thankless job. I was just so happy with a huge play in the game and for us to execute a scenario like that. We haven't gotten to execute many scenarios at the end of the game. For us to win a four minute drill at the end of the game. And for us to win at the end of the second half and get the extra three points, that's winning football.”
On what changes were made in the second half on the defensive side
“Situational football. I mean we won the situations, we won third down in the second half, and then we won the low red zone battle. When you get them in the low red zone and give up two drives, give up three points. That's a win. I mean, that's what happened to us the week prior, right? You can't get in the low red zone or get in the red zone in general and not score offensively, and our defense, two possessions in the fourth quarter, held them to three points when they got inside the 15 inch yard line. That's winning the moments that matter and that's winning football.”
On main tactics on defense
“Attacking. The entire program is about attacking. You can't say you're going to attack on defense and not on offense and not on special teams and not be aggressive and go for it. If you're going to be in a mindset that we're going to play to win games and we're not going to play scared, then you have to attack in every phase. I think that's just how we coach, it's how we play. We play free and we play attacking… and I really don't know of a better place to play defensive line in the entire country than in this scheme. I don't. I think if you're a defensive lineman in the country and you watch our defensive linemen, you watch all the transfers that are brought in in the production they've had with the within coach Ward scheme. I think it should brighten everyone's eyes to say that could be me.”
Arizona State Quarterback Trenton Bourguet
On how it feels to have good offensive performance:
“I think first and foremost giving thanks to God. Just keeping our brothers here healthy, we got a lot of people with minor setbacks, but just sticking together I think that's the one thing that we kind of came into this year. There's a lot of new guys, new coaches in the building, but they're just sticking together. It hasn’t been easy these last three weeks, really this whole season but we are right there and finally to play a game in all three phases. Yes, there were mistakes that we can improve on but to see special teams have that big field goal at the end of the first half, offense able to drive down and get us into field goal position, then defense at the end of the game to stop them in the red zone inside the five, I believe. It is just awesome to see everything work together and it’s the start of something special.”
On how this past week has been:
“It’s been exciting, being quarterback is pretty much like another coach on the field, to have so many offensive masterminds with Coach Dilly, Coach Baldwin, Coach Agauno and Coach Ma, I mean everybody on the offensive side. They put their two cents in and to see them all work together and find different ways to get the ball in the playmaker's hands, it makes it easy for me. I’m not having to throw the ball 50 yards down the field, but I can throw a bubble to Badge and he makes the guy miss and turns it up for 25, Jalen and having running backs I can catch on the backfield is huge. It all starts with the guys up front and they did a great job of allowing us to have some explosives in the run game and it makes everything easier.”
On being successful in the small details this week:
“That was one of the big things that we emphasized on all week. Not just on the field but off the field as well. Defense has done a great job in the past of making sure they are executing those small details. Offensively we are a play player here, play a player there, that flips the whole season around. For us it was just making sure we fixed our mistakes and it definitely showed up tonight. There were definitely a couple of mistakes we missed here or there but definitely improved and just can’t wait for the rest of the year.”
Arizona State Linebacker Tre Brown
On the defensive stand and stop plays:
“We just had to come out and do our one eleventh. We were up two scores so we were trying not to let them score at all, that’s the goal. When we executed, we executed on our plays. We had good communication which was one of, I think the big keys to stop and our D line was eating tonight. I gotta give it to them, our D line was eating tonight and it helped us on the back end too.”
On emotions getting the win against former team:
“It’s crazy because I prayed during the week and prayed throughout the week. I had a lot of prayers going into this week, and got to give glory to God. That's all I wanted when I was looking up to God. I am saying thank you father for answering my prayers. Coming from that school I had a lot of revenge that I wanted to get, but I learned that revenge is not mine to take, but his. I let that go to him, I gave him everything that there was to be mad or pissed about. We came out with this victory today so it meant a lot.”
On the second half:
“It was really the finish. We always put together our first half and this game was one of the biggest games where we wanted to put together a whole game. We told them we need to finish and make sure we are doing our one eleven, one play mentality and make sure that we are executing on every single play and after that, the score shows.”
Washington State Head Coach Jake Dickert
Opening Statement:
“Well, first off, give credit to Arizona State. I thought especially on offense they kept us off balance really the whole game and we didn't make enough adjustments to even get ahead of them at all. Offensively, I thought we fought, gave ourselves an opportunity to go in there and win a game. We just didn't quite finish in the red zone. Disappointing outcome. Disappointing point in the season after starting off 4-0, to lose the last four is not where this team wanted to be and we need to come back ready to work. We got four more opportunities that we can go out here and get better at and we gotta keep swinging together.”
On how ASU’s run game gave them problems:
“They did a good job. They ran at least half of their plays in unbalanced, got us in certain checks, got us communicating and some misfits and and getting reached. But at the end of the day my job is to put our guys in the best situation to win a game and I obviously did not do that on the defensive side of the ball to go out there. We're better than that personnel wise, we are. I believe it. I believe in our coaches. I believe that we gotta get it corrected, but it's gotta be faster, we gotta get our guys answers and we gotta fly around and knock the run down. We knew that they were gonna be a run team. We need to force them to pass. We didn't get off the field on third down. It was not good enough on the defensive side of the ball and that's on me.”
On the biggest problem with their run defense:
“I gotta see the tape right now. It's hard to see. You're getting some information from the box. We're either getting reached or we're not spilling the ball when we need to spill it. We're not communicating on a lot of the shifts and motions. Every time it just seems like one thing and then tackling. We had some opportunities. (ASU WR) Elijah Badger is a great player. There's no question about that, but there's some opportunities we just got to run through our angles and make the play. Once again, this team isn't gonna point fingers, we're gonna band together, we're gonna stay connected and we'll keep fighting in the same direction. That's what we need to do.”
Washington State Quarterback Cameron Ward
On how to break out of this four-week slump:
“Doing what we did the first four weeks and we've been doing that honestly, the past eight weeks of the season. We just got to get back to making routine plays on offense. Defense continue to step up and make plays when we need them to. But we missed some plays out there on offense for sure, especially in the red zone. We weren't good, but we just get back to making routine plays, getting the ball out, everyone doing their 1/11, we finish all good.”
On how he likes having multiple receivers in the rotation:
“I think every quarterback should want that, because then the defense can't really gameplan for one specific guy. So, our receiving room is deep. We have guys who step up just like (WR) Josh (Kelly) did today, (WR) Isaiah (Hamilton) making plays, (WR) Kyle (Williams). . So, our receiver room is deep, even the tight ends. So, it's good to have guys like that who can go when their number is called. I know they’re gonna make plays for us.”
Washington State Free Safety Sam Lockett III
On what the main issue with tackling has been:
“It’s just all around, like you said, not wrapping up, it's just about finishing. You just gotta know that there's not another guy coming to help. You should be the first one to finish that tackle regardless of who's running behind you.”
On not being able to get pressure:
“I feel like we have some of the best edges in the Pac-12 and I feel like they just have to know that they are the best and just play with that chip on their shoulder because those are two really good guys. We got some good interior guys, too and they just need to play with that confidence, that's all.”
Arizona State Head Coach Kenny Dillingham
Opening Statement:
“I think it's fun. I think the guys have really embraced the challenge and I think it's the effort that they gave tonight, it's the detail. I mean I can't come in here and tell you right now that there were over four busts. I mean there probably were, but I couldn't say based off the tape and that hasn't been the case in games past.”
On knowing when he had to change the offensive scheme to win games
“You got to run the football. I still think you have to run the football to win in college football. You know, throwing the ball is fun right, and it's exciting and it's good, but at the end of the day you have to be a physical football team. And teams that win championships, play physical football and they can run the ball. And so we were just trying to be creative to find an identity to how to run the ball. And if that meant, get under center and run speed sweeps from cut splits and run toss sweeps, a lot of teams do that and have a lot of success. So it's not about what I'm comfortable with, it's about what puts our players in the best position to be successful.”
On how much confidence was gained after making the 51 yard FG before half
“Oh, I mean, it could be the difference in the game. You're talking about a two possession game there, versus a one possession game. Because we won the middle eight. You know, when you have a 10 point swing in the middle eight, you get the ball back in 40 seconds and go get three points and execute that…and you know, I was more intense on the field goal unit than I think I was on offense or defense watching everybody. When you have a multitude of guys going in there getting run over and defensive guys just getting run over, that's a thankless job. I was just so happy with a huge play in the game and for us to execute a scenario like that. We haven't gotten to execute many scenarios at the end of the game. For us to win a four minute drill at the end of the game. And for us to win at the end of the second half and get the extra three points, that's winning football.”
On what changes were made in the second half on the defensive side
“Situational football. I mean we won the situations, we won third down in the second half, and then we won the low red zone battle. When you get them in the low red zone and give up two drives, give up three points. That's a win. I mean, that's what happened to us the week prior, right? You can't get in the low red zone or get in the red zone in general and not score offensively, and our defense, two possessions in the fourth quarter, held them to three points when they got inside the 15 inch yard line. That's winning the moments that matter and that's winning football.”
On main tactics on defense
“Attacking. The entire program is about attacking. You can't say you're going to attack on defense and not on offense and not on special teams and not be aggressive and go for it. If you're going to be in a mindset that we're going to play to win games and we're not going to play scared, then you have to attack in every phase. I think that's just how we coach, it's how we play. We play free and we play attacking… and I really don't know of a better place to play defensive line in the entire country than in this scheme. I don't. I think if you're a defensive lineman in the country and you watch our defensive linemen, you watch all the transfers that are brought in in the production they've had with the within coach Ward scheme. I think it should brighten everyone's eyes to say that could be me.”
Arizona State Quarterback Trenton Bourguet
On how it feels to have good offensive performance:
“I think first and foremost giving thanks to God. Just keeping our brothers here healthy, we got a lot of people with minor setbacks, but just sticking together I think that's the one thing that we kind of came into this year. There's a lot of new guys, new coaches in the building, but they're just sticking together. It hasn’t been easy these last three weeks, really this whole season but we are right there and finally to play a game in all three phases. Yes, there were mistakes that we can improve on but to see special teams have that big field goal at the end of the first half, offense able to drive down and get us into field goal position, then defense at the end of the game to stop them in the red zone inside the five, I believe. It is just awesome to see everything work together and it’s the start of something special.”
On how this past week has been:
“It’s been exciting, being quarterback is pretty much like another coach on the field, to have so many offensive masterminds with Coach Dilly, Coach Baldwin, Coach Agauno and Coach Ma, I mean everybody on the offensive side. They put their two cents in and to see them all work together and find different ways to get the ball in the playmaker's hands, it makes it easy for me. I’m not having to throw the ball 50 yards down the field, but I can throw a bubble to Badge and he makes the guy miss and turns it up for 25, Jalen and having running backs I can catch on the backfield is huge. It all starts with the guys up front and they did a great job of allowing us to have some explosives in the run game and it makes everything easier.”
On being successful in the small details this week:
“That was one of the big things that we emphasized on all week. Not just on the field but off the field as well. Defense has done a great job in the past of making sure they are executing those small details. Offensively we are a play player here, play a player there, that flips the whole season around. For us it was just making sure we fixed our mistakes and it definitely showed up tonight. There were definitely a couple of mistakes we missed here or there but definitely improved and just can’t wait for the rest of the year.”
Arizona State Linebacker Tre Brown
On the defensive stand and stop plays:
“We just had to come out and do our one eleventh. We were up two scores so we were trying not to let them score at all, that’s the goal. When we executed, we executed on our plays. We had good communication which was one of, I think the big keys to stop and our D line was eating tonight. I gotta give it to them, our D line was eating tonight and it helped us on the back end too.”
On emotions getting the win against former team:
“It’s crazy because I prayed during the week and prayed throughout the week. I had a lot of prayers going into this week, and got to give glory to God. That's all I wanted when I was looking up to God. I am saying thank you father for answering my prayers. Coming from that school I had a lot of revenge that I wanted to get, but I learned that revenge is not mine to take, but his. I let that go to him, I gave him everything that there was to be mad or pissed about. We came out with this victory today so it meant a lot.”
On the second half:
“It was really the finish. We always put together our first half and this game was one of the biggest games where we wanted to put together a whole game. We told them we need to finish and make sure we are doing our one eleven, one play mentality and make sure that we are executing on every single play and after that, the score shows.”
Washington State Head Coach Jake Dickert
Opening Statement:
“Well, first off, give credit to Arizona State. I thought especially on offense they kept us off balance really the whole game and we didn't make enough adjustments to even get ahead of them at all. Offensively, I thought we fought, gave ourselves an opportunity to go in there and win a game. We just didn't quite finish in the red zone. Disappointing outcome. Disappointing point in the season after starting off 4-0, to lose the last four is not where this team wanted to be and we need to come back ready to work. We got four more opportunities that we can go out here and get better at and we gotta keep swinging together.”
On how ASU’s run game gave them problems:
“They did a good job. They ran at least half of their plays in unbalanced, got us in certain checks, got us communicating and some misfits and and getting reached. But at the end of the day my job is to put our guys in the best situation to win a game and I obviously did not do that on the defensive side of the ball to go out there. We're better than that personnel wise, we are. I believe it. I believe in our coaches. I believe that we gotta get it corrected, but it's gotta be faster, we gotta get our guys answers and we gotta fly around and knock the run down. We knew that they were gonna be a run team. We need to force them to pass. We didn't get off the field on third down. It was not good enough on the defensive side of the ball and that's on me.”
On the biggest problem with their run defense:
“I gotta see the tape right now. It's hard to see. You're getting some information from the box. We're either getting reached or we're not spilling the ball when we need to spill it. We're not communicating on a lot of the shifts and motions. Every time it just seems like one thing and then tackling. We had some opportunities. (ASU WR) Elijah Badger is a great player. There's no question about that, but there's some opportunities we just got to run through our angles and make the play. Once again, this team isn't gonna point fingers, we're gonna band together, we're gonna stay connected and we'll keep fighting in the same direction. That's what we need to do.”
Washington State Quarterback Cameron Ward
On how to break out of this four-week slump:
“Doing what we did the first four weeks and we've been doing that honestly, the past eight weeks of the season. We just got to get back to making routine plays on offense. Defense continue to step up and make plays when we need them to. But we missed some plays out there on offense for sure, especially in the red zone. We weren't good, but we just get back to making routine plays, getting the ball out, everyone doing their 1/11, we finish all good.”
On how he likes having multiple receivers in the rotation:
“I think every quarterback should want that, because then the defense can't really gameplan for one specific guy. So, our receiving room is deep. We have guys who step up just like (WR) Josh (Kelly) did today, (WR) Isaiah (Hamilton) making plays, (WR) Kyle (Williams). . So, our receiver room is deep, even the tight ends. So, it's good to have guys like that who can go when their number is called. I know they’re gonna make plays for us.”
Washington State Free Safety Sam Lockett III
On what the main issue with tackling has been:
“It’s just all around, like you said, not wrapping up, it's just about finishing. You just gotta know that there's not another guy coming to help. You should be the first one to finish that tackle regardless of who's running behind you.”
On not being able to get pressure:
“I feel like we have some of the best edges in the Pac-12 and I feel like they just have to know that they are the best and just play with that chip on their shoulder because those are two really good guys. We got some good interior guys, too and they just need to play with that confidence, that's all.”