Tuesday Press Conference Quotes
Colorado Head Coach Mike MacIntyre
General
“Well, we sustained the winds in practice today, but it was fun. Utah is an excellent football team, excellent running football team, Devontae Booker I think is one of the best (running) backs in the country. I think he is an excellent back, a powerful runner, I saw him play in high school and he is an excellent, excellent player. Defensively, Utah presents a lot of problems, their pass rusher number eight (Nate Orchard) is an excellent, excellent player. Nate Orchard, I think he is one of the best defensive ends in the country, and I know he’ll be a high draft choice. They present a lot of problems to us. Special teams’ wise, they’re electric, they’re ranked I think in the No. 1, No. 2, in every category in special teams. That’s where they’ve made up a lot of situations in their ball games made a big difference maker in that area, so we have to be (prepared). Their coverage units are good, their return units are excellent, so we are going to have to be very, very good in those phases to be successful in the game.”
On There Being A Different Vibe To This Game, Because It Is The Season Finale
“I think anytime you know it’s definitely your last game, I think there is always a little bit of a different vibe because you know those guys in there it’s their last time being there with you – the seniors. Our guys are excited, we’ve had two good days of practice and I think they are ready to go. They’re very excited about playing at home on Thanksgiving weekend, and they definitely want to definitely go out with a ‘W’.”
On What The Defense Can Do To Have A Better Performance Against The Run
“Tackle better. We’ve got to tackle better, we’ve had times when we’ve done well against the run, we’ve had times when (opposing) quarterbacks have scrambled and made some running yards on us. But, [Utah RB Devontae Booker] is a guy that’s 225 pounds, he’s athletic, he’s strong, he’s powerful, he’s run on everybody in our league well. We have to be able to tackle him well, tackle him low, especially when he gets into the secondary, we have to minimize his long runs. He’s going to get yards because they are going to give it to him about 30 times, I’d imagine, I think he has over 250 carries this year. It’s going to be a game that we are going to have to tackle him well, and fit-up the run well, and hopefully we will do that.”
On Whether He Sees Improvement In CU’s Run Defense
“Yeah, I have seen improvement. When you play teams like we’ve played that have good running quarterbacks, your stats are going to be not as good at the end of the day because they make scrambles on you and scrambling is rushing yards, they make a move and here they go. So, I feel like we’ve gotten better in that area but we still have a long, long way to go, there’s no doubt about that.”
On Avoiding Going Winless In Conference Play Being An Added Incentive To Win
“No, we just want to go win the football game, there’s no doubt about it. I’d say week-in-week-out, we’ve played better in the Pac-12 this year than we did last year, and we got one Pac-12 win last year. This year, I definitely think we should have had four or five (conference wins), and we didn’t. So, I think it will eventually come, there’s no doubt about it. We want to win every game we play, but we definitely want to win this one, and it would be nice to win it for sure.”
On Who He Would Vote For As The Recipient Of The ‘Buffalo Heart Award’
“Wow. There’s a lot of them (senior players) I would (vote for). There’s not just one guy that I would single out, there’s a lot of guys that play with tremendous heart and give a lot of effort, and keep fighting. In situations, sometimes it doesn’t look as good to fight, and they kept fighting. So, I would say a lot of them deserve it and it will be interesting to see who they pick. I think Parker Orms won it last year, and I think he was a good recipient of that in that he always fought hard and played hard, fought through injuries and so I’m pretty sure they will pick a good guy.”
On Outsiders Comparing Colorado and Utah Because They Joined The Pac-12 At The Same Time
“Well, I think Utah in 2010 went 13-0, spanked Alabama pretty good in the Sugar Bowl. They’ve had a good program for a while. The coach (Kyle Whittingham) is in his 10th year as the head coach and he was the defensive coordinator for a long time before that. So, they’ve had tremendous stability there, they’ve built new facilities there, they have a program that I would say is a top-BCS, Top 25, program for a while now. To me, they are not even close to what we are when it comes to rebuilding or anything like that. I think they were established and ready to go (when they entered the Pac-12 Conference). They’ve had good stability, and I know they were down a little bit last year compared to what they have been, but I think they are a very good football team with a lot of stability in their program, and their facilities, and their support. I think they are ahead of where we were when we jumped in the Pac-12, I think everybody would agree with that. Of course, I wasn’t here when we jumped in the Pac-12, but just looking from the outside in. We played Utah when I was at San Jose State, and they were really, really good. And they have a really good football team now.”
On Finding More Consistency Within The Injured Secondary
“I think all the kids that played last week are back, [CB] Ahkello [Witherspoon] practiced through a little bit of a sprained knee and he’ll be able to go (against Utah). [S] Evan White was able to practice today, without contact, so we’ll figure out how he does tonight and hopefully he’ll come back tomorrow and be able to have contact tomorrow. So, we’ll add Evan White back in the mix which will give us a little more depth to help us. But those guys just need to go play, they’ll have another week (of playing) under their belt and so hopefully they’ll improve and keep playing.”
On Senior Cornerback Greg Henderson, Who Has Now Started The Most Career Games Than Any Defensive Back in CU History
“Greg has been fun to coach. Greg is an excellent competitor. He’s just really, really quiet. He’s really a quiet kid. He’s done a really good job. He’ll graduate this May and I think he’ll have an opportunity to play in the NFL. I’ve really enjoyed coaching Greg. He’s been a worker, a guy that shows up every day. He shows up every game and competes as hard as he can compete. He’s a very consistent guy.”
On Senior Offensive Linemen Kaiwi Crabb and Daniel Munyer
“They’ve meant a lot to our group. They’ve done a good job on the offensive line. They’ve solidified our guard area. They also have the flexibility to move out to tackle and different things. Both of their best positions might be center, but the way it worked out, the best for our team was for them to play guard. I think they did a good job. Kaiwi really changed his body over the last ten months. I thought he had a really excellent senior year, a lot better than his junior year. Munyer was one of our team captains and a heck of a leader. I really think a lot of Daniel. So, both of those guys have been very stable for us and done an excellent job.”
On the Leadership Qualities of Crabb And Munyer
“Number one, they’re personable guys. They’re sharp, they’re smart. Then, (Offensive Line) coach (Gary) Bernardi (instills) that within the offensive line. He has a way of getting those guys really close and to understand that they’re all counting on each other. That’s a great nucleus. He has a great way of doing that with the young men and they all buy in. So, there’s part of coach Bernardi in there. Kaiwi and Daniel can communicate so well. They’re guys that are respected within our team, they show up at everything, they work hard, they do everything in school. So, they’re easy guys to be leaders for that. So, when they speak, those guys listen.”
On The Impact Of This Year’s Senior Class
“I’ve told them a lot. I think they’ve built an excellent foundation for our group. The way these young men have played each week and played as hard as they can play. (They) competed, fought back, fought through different adversity, the way they’ve come out to practice, what they’ve done in the classroom …….This group is really building a true foundation. I told them ‘We’re not building a little house that will only take a small slab, we’re building a skyscraper. So, you have to dig down deep. There’s a lot of hard work and there’s a lot of setting on that with the foundation, a lot of adversity that goes into that. So, there’s a lot of things that happen and to be successful, eventually, you have to have that foundation. If you don’t, you don’t have the basis to sustain it and build what you want to build. These young men have started that foundation and I’ve talked to them about that a lot. We’ll talk about it a lot at the banquet because there’s a lot of things they’ve done. I’m very sad to see these seniors go but, at the same time, in the two years that I’ve been here with them that they’ve bought into everything that we’ve asked, they’ve done everything we’ve asked and they’ve worked at it as hard as they can. They set a good culture with our young men. I think their attitude and their belief has helped our team to keep battling and show up and play each week.”
On Who Will Start At Quarterback For The Season Finale Against Utah
“We’re going to make a decision tomorrow.”
On What He Learned About Jordan Gehrke, Who Started His First Game At Quarterback Last Saturday, And Sefo Liufau, Who Came Off The Bench To Relieve Gehrke In The Second Half
“I thought that both players handled everything maturely. I thought that was excellent on how they handled it. Their attitudes this week have been excellent . I think that giving Jordan an opportunity to start a game is a little bit ……It’s different to start than come off the bench, to kind of go through that whole process and being ready to do all that. Then, the way Sefo handled everything and was able to come in and go, I think it was a good learning experience on both sides of it. They’re going to both have to play in games again in the future with the way things happen to quarterbacks as far as their concussions and that type of thing. So, I thought it was a good experience for them and we’ll see how that plays out this week. Hopefully, it does play out well.”
On The Rollercoaster Careers Of Many Of These Seniors Who Have Played For Three Different Coaching Staffs During Their Time At CU
“I can honestly tell them that I went thru the exact same thing. I played for three different head coaches. So, I’ve told them that from the first day I walked in here. I had four different position coaches. So, I had a different position coach….Four of the five years I had a different position coach every year. So, I know exactly how they feel to be honest with you. When I was a senior, the team I was on at Georgia Tech, we scrapped through…..My junior year I think we won two games and my senior year we won three. We didn’t win one ACC game for those two years. But, coach (Bobby) Ross kept talking about how we set it, how we kept pushing. The next year, about halfway thru the season, they won their first ACC game and they never lost another one until they won the national championship. So, I’ve been through that and seen it. So, I see us building and doing that. So, these young men truly do leave a foundation. I truly relish my moments back at Georgia Tech thru all those times and all those different changes. Honestly, when I look back, of course I would have loved to have won more games, but when I got into coaching it truly helped me. Because I had so many different position coaches, I had so many different head coaches and I could see all of that would handle and how different people handle different things, all the different emotions I felt when I got hurt and when I didn’t get hurt.
All of those situations and those coaches, I still care tremendously about all the head coaches I’ve had: my dad, George MacIntyre, Bill Curry and Bobby Ross. I think all three of those men were phenomenal coaches and phenomenal men at their time. I want to say all of them were coaches of the year in their conferences at one time or another. Some national coaches of the year….maybe all three of them were national coaches of the year at one time. I really do feel for what these young men have gone thru. I know the emotions they’ve gone thru. I feel like they’ve all been able to bond with that. I’ve had a lot of them tell me that they wish they could come back for another year, not just for college but because they just see it happening. They feel the change. Jered Bell said he’s lucky because he’ll hopefully get a sixth year to just be a part of everything and also gets to be a part of the new facility. So, they feel a big change and everything. So, I think they’re proud of where they pushed us to. Of course, they would have loved to have had a lot more wins like all of us.”
On Injured Safety Jered Bell And When The Team Might Find Out If He Will Be Eligible For A Sixth Year
“We’ll find out in the spring, I think. He missed a full year and never played with that ACL. He missed another full year and never played with an ACL. He wants to come back and he’s……He’s been accepted to grad school. So, I don’t see any way how he wouldn’t get it. So, hopefully he will, but I think it’s just a slam dunk I think.”
Quarterback Sefo Liufau
On Utah’s Defense
“They’re a good defense. Every defense in the Pac-12 is but this front seven specifically. They’re up there with some of the best in the league. That’s totally fine. We’ve moved the ball on everybody in this league, except for last week. It was a little tougher for us going against that Oregon defense. I expect us to move the ball against them and put some points up, be consistent through all four quarters and get the win.”
On Whether He Or Second-String QB Jordan Gehrke Will Start On Saturday
“I think it’s harder on you guys because you keep asking the question. It’s a team sport, like I’ve been saying. Whoever Coach MacIntyre puts in, he feels like he’s the best person to take the job and lead the team. That’s how you leave it and being on the team, you should come in knowing that.”
On Watching The Oregon Game From The Sidelines For The First Half
“You definitely get a different perspective from watching your position and seeing what the defense is doing. I wouldn’t say I learned anything different. It was just a different viewpoint of seeing what the defense was doing. It was definitely different coming in after half time. You always have to be ready to play and come in and fill in.”
On The Outgoing Seniors And Their Final Game
“They seniors have definitely been role models to us. That started last spring when he previous seniors from last year left. Obviously we haven’t gotten the wins that we wanted but they’ve been the most positive guys throughout the whole experience. They’ve definitely been resilient in fighting each week. Being seniors, they could totally say, ‘I’m done, I’m going to protect myself for my career after this’ or ‘I just don’t want to go all out.’ But, these guys have played hard every week and every practice. They’ve given everything so we definitely look up to them and they’ve definitely helped to propel us into next season.”
On The Buffalo Heart Award
“That’s a good question. There are a lot of guys on this team that could definitely get that award. We’ve been in so many close games this year where we haven’t come out on top. This year, everyone’s fought through four quarters even against all odds. We’ve been down a bunch and we came back. I don’t want to give it to one single person, but the whole team just based on fighting all game and then coming back next week and doing it all over again without complaints in practice.”
Defensive Back Terrel Smith
On Utah’s Running Back Devontae Booker
“Basically you just have to roll tackle him. He’s a fast runner, a downhill runner and you can’t go at him lightly. You have to give it all you have and you have to roll tackle him down.”
On Why CU’s Defense Hasn’t Been Tackling So Well The Past Few Games
“I’m not sure. We practice it mostly every day. We have a tackling circuit every day and I think it’s more of a mindset. You have to have that mindset to tackle somebody. If you don’t and you approach him lightly, he can break off that tackle. So, I’m not quite sure why we’re doing so bad of a tackling job but I think it’s just a mindset before you go into a game.”
On His Emotions Going Into His Final Game
“As the day gets closer, I’m starting to feel lit and get the emotions going. Folsom has been great to me, it’s been great to the seniors. It’s going to be bittersweet and I’m going to soak it all in on Saturday.”
On CU Not Having A Conference Win This Season
“We don’t really look at the conference wins. It just goes in our minds that we want to win. We came up short four or six times this year, double overtimes and losing by a touchdown or a field goal. It does bother us, it does frustrate us. But, we just keep fighting, having that fight in us. We approach Utah with a winning mindset.”
On Utah’s Quarterback And Receivers
“Their quarterback (Travis Wilson0 is 6’ 7” and he can move as well. We just have to play his running game and his passing game as well. The receivers, number 8 (Kaelin Clay) is a pretty fast guy, their deep throw guy. So, we have to keep hands and eyes on him so we don’t let that deep ball get past us. They’re an overall balanced team if you look at them.”
On How The Seniors Have Built A Foundation For This Football Program
“I do believe that we did build a foundation. If you look over the past years, we’ve lost to UCLA, all these big teams by 40/50 points. Now, us seniors and last year’s seniors have built that foundation and throughout this year, we’ve been right with those top teams that blew past us last year. I think that foundation is on the right track and building forward for next year and the year after. I think that instead of being close, we’ll be able to win those games.”
On Utah Being A Rivalry Game
“I do think that it is carrying over to a rivalry game. It’s the Rumble in the Rockies. It is having that rivalry aspect to it. We’ve been close to them pretty much every year. It’s been back and forth with Utah so we do approach it as a rivalry game. They’re a great team.”
On Recruiting From The East Coast
“I’m not sure. I think me and Tony [Jones] may be the last of the New Jersey/East Coast pipeline. If you look at it, it’s always the West Coast. Being in the Pac-12, their families are able to watch their kids play so. There may still be a pipeline there but I’m not too sure. There haven’t been many East Coast guys besides the three players from D.C to come to Colorado. Hopefully they don’t shut the door on the East Coast.”
On His Mental Approach To The Special Teams Aspect Of Every Game
“The mindset? I just take special teams very seriously. It can make or break a game and I approach every special teams play like it’s my last, especially going into this game having that elusive guy back there. I want on get down there and make sure he doesn’t out flank us in the open. That’s pretty awesome.”