Oct. 6, 2008

Opening Comments
“Saturday’s win against UNLV was a good win for our program obviously. I was pleased to see our team come back after the Cal week and have a good solid week of practice and that transform over to the field last Saturday. Our previous two wins had been involved in some close games. This was also was a close game, but the fact that we went down 14-3 real early and didn’t get a bunch of ‘deer in the headlights’ looks on the sidelines and just kept working and stuck to the plan is a credit to the players and the assistant coaches. So we enjoyed that one briefly and are back at work for what will be a very difficult game against a good opponent this Saturday in TCU.”

On the TCU defense, ranked No. 1 in the nation
“Well they’re very talented on defense, they’re fast on defense, good on every position on defense. They don’t really have any real weakness in terms of personnel. They’re very well coached, not a real difficult scheme but they’re consistent and they play it well. And, like some defenses, they commit to stopping the run. There will be a seventh, eighth, and sometimes ninth guy at the line of scrimmage based on your set and personnel group. They’re giving up 1 yard a carry on the ground so we’ll have our work cut out for us trying to establish a run game, but that’s our method of operation around here, we always look to run the football.”

On whether there is extra pressure to win because of Homecoming week
“No more than normal. It’s just another opportunity to play at home, which we certainly enjoy doing. The way our team is looking at it, it’s just another league game, another conference game. TCU is, along with some other teams, arguably one of the elite programs in our conference right now and I’ve said all along that’s where I thought we were in the late ‘90s. Now they’re the benchmark and this is a good opportunity for us to measure our program, so to speak. We will catch them, that’s our desire here as a football program over the coming games, years, what have you. We’ve got to get back to being able to play at that level.”

On whether the players are developing a protect-their-turf mentality, having won five straight at Hughes Stadium
“I hope they do. I hope we make this a very difficult place to come in and play. Right now, rather than establishing any long-term identity, any respect with our program, we’re just day-to-day. The main thing we’ve got to do now is have an outstanding practice on Tuesday to prepare for this football game.”

On whether the TCU defense is predicated on speed and playing as a unit rather than relying on one or two standout players
“Yes, definitely. It’s not that they don’t have standout players, because they certainly have all-conference type of talent on that team and probably some guys who will be looked at in the NFL Draft, but they are an extremely fast defense that just feeds of each other and plays together. Like I said, they’re well-coached, they’re sound, they’re simple in scheme but they do it well. That’s usually the mark of a good defense.”

On whether former TCU and current Buffalo Bill DE Aaron Schobel gave him an idea of what TCU likes to do
“Well, we had a few bets here and there when I was with the Bills, he and I on the CSU-TCU games; I think I lost a few of those (laughing). Speaking of Aaron Schobel, when we were up and rolling, he was on that team. They came in here in the ‘90s with (LaDainian) Tomlinson and we were able to win that game (1998). But they’re a very good football program with a lot of tradition. They’ve got a lot of resources now. This is a program that’s trying to take a back seat to nobody in terms of how they fund it and how they operate. They have, in a sense, become one of the elite teams in the league and it’s our desire now to close that gap.”

On how they go about slowing down the defense from an offensive standpoint
“I don’t think you can slow them down. I think we have to be sound. I mean, our way of playing here is balanced. We’ve got to be able to do both to be successful. We’ve got to fit them up and stay on them when we’re running the ball and protect the quarterback and execute in the passing game. It will be a big challenge, there’s no question. This is by far the most talented defense that we have played thus far.”

On how they simulate that kind of speed in practice
“The same way that you do anything in practice. I mean, you’ve got to put our look-team personnel in the right spots and coach them up as well. You don’t just walk out to practice and expect to get a look. Those kids are up here looking at tape of TCU’s defense and we tell them, ‘Hey, you’re this guy, you’re No. 29. You’re doing this. This is how he lines up. This is how he plays.’ That’s a real underrated aspect of coaching, I think, is how you prepare those guys to get the right look. Time and reps are valuable out there. You don’t want to be repeating something just because you can’t get lined up on defense and show the right look for your offense.”

On how DB Klint Kubiak is doing
“Good. His X-rays were negative. They put him in a boot, he’s being treated and all the way up until practice tomorrow we’ll be evaluating just what and when he’s going to be available.”

On how he likes the play of the team’s secondary
“I thought we played good. I like what our secondary did. I liked our corners against Cal, I think we’re building on that. Larry (Kerr) and our defense have done a nice job of not giving up huge plays. If we can not give up huge plays and tackle and just keep getting better at pressuring the quarterback as the year goes on, I think we’ll see some good things from our defense.”

On updated status of CB Brandon Owens, LB Ricky Brewer and G Adrian Martinez
“Well, not updated definitively. Again, all those guys, we get them looked at after the game and there’s this 48-hour period now where they’re constantly being treated. We’ll go all the way right up until tomorrow’s practice and say, ‘Alright, this guy is available to do this, this guy’s full go, this guy we’re going to hold for a while.’ But I don’t want an answer right now. I just want the guys to get as much treatment and have Terry (DeZeeuw) look at them and when we go out to practice, we’ll have some answers on everybody’s status.”

On whether any of the injured players could have played against UNLV if they were absolutely needed
“Luckily, it didn’t come to that. We probably could have put Adrian Martinez in the game. Brandon Owens is close, guys are close. You know, either a guy is out or he is full go and then there’s that in between thing where it’s a judgment call based on how we feel we’re doing and what Terry says and the game and all that. So yeah, there were a few guys that probably could have gone in.”

On Ricky Brewer specifically
“He probably could have played some. I anticipate Ricky will be back this game.”

On whether CB Gerard Thomas has established himself to play even once Brandon Owens comes back
“Well Gerard is playing right now and I’ve tried to make this clear. Like I’ve said from Day 1, nobody’s established anything ever around here. You’re going to play or the next guy will play if you’re not getting it done. But Gerard, like I said, I like what our corners have done. Nick Oppenneer, I like what those guys have been doing the last few weeks. That’s an area where we knew we had to progress, as is a lot of areas on our team, and they’re certainly taking a lot of steps in the right direction.”

On RB Gartrell Johnson’s performance, now that he’s been named co-offensive Player of the Week
“You could tell he had that bounce and that look so we decided to kind of leave him in there and feed him a little bit and he certainly responded. Gartrell’s a very physical back as you know and he can wear you down and he did. He wore some of those defensive guys down and just played tremendously. I thought he broke a lot of tackles and kept fighting. Sometimes when a guy is doing that, that warrior-type spirit that he displays transcends your team and people start to feed off it. That last drive was a thing of beauty I thought.”

On whether he went into the last drive with the intention of running the clock down and kicking a game-winning field goal
“If we could. Now, always offense is based on what kind of looks you’re getting and so forth and you’ll make play calls accordingly. But there was 6 minutes left and if you draw it up the way you want it to, you score with very little time left, and that’s what we were able to do. It helped having a couple of timeouts at our disposal. Once again, we burned a timeout on a substitution thing on defense and those things can be precious now. You can’t call that last play to Gartrell without a timeout and we had a couple and we were able to do it. But yeah, if you could write a script, that’s what you would have happen in that situation.”

On whether the defensive plan will change depending on who is at quarterback for TCU, injured starter Andy Dalton or backup Marcus Jackson
“They’re going to try to do the same thing. They’re going to try to run the football. But he’s (Dalton) is certainly a little bit of a different type of athlete. I wouldn’t say it changes them a ton, but as we study them, there are certain things one guys does a little but better than the other guy.”

On whether the defensive identity is a little ahead of the offensive identity at this point
“I think we have identity on both sides of the ball. I think both our identities need to keep improving. That’s probably the best way to put it.”

On whether last week’s passing performance was comforting considering the strength of TCU’s run defense
“Well I think we had flashed in the passing game all year. Other than the Cal game I was pleased with where we’re headed. We still have a lot of room to improve – timing up things and how we step routes and how we split things. Our quarterback even last week was not in great sync at times. There were a couple of sacks that were his alone. It may appear like it was the offensive line, but it was the rhythm of the quarterback. So we can improve in all areas, but I felt that even in the CU game and certainly in the next two games that we’re headed in the right direction. I thought Cal was a bump in the road but now that I look at it, we’re back headed in the right direction. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got a ton of work to do on both sides of the ball.”

On whether there are new wrinkles that are needed to be put in the offensive game plan
“You always kind of draw the fine line between what looks good against them and then what can you get installed, repped, and feel confident in calling. But you are who you are. And they do what they do and we do what we do. There’s always a wrinkle or two, but there’s a fine line in giving up practice reps for something that all of a sudden doesn’t look good in practice and you’re afraid to call it. You got to be careful in that area.”

On the state of the special teams
“I thought we made some improvement. We got to cover kicks a lot better than we are. Even the ones that we got them down, at times it looked like they had a chance to pop. We got to do a better job kicking the ball as I’ve stated before. But Larry Lewis did a nice job. We switched a little personnel in there and I think those switches were an improvement. We’ll continue to look at it because we all know we have to get a lot better in that area. Certainly those special teams plays when the ball gets out in open space challenges us and we’ve got to be right in terms of how we avoid blocks, what kind of angles we take to the ball and our effort in getting down the field and getting enough guys around the ball.”

On whether he was pleased with the way the front four rushed the passer
“We’re getting better. When we’re a very good football team here, it will be when we can generate some sacks and consistent pressure with four people. That’s the key defensively. We’ve been able to do that in the past and we’re getting better. But there’s nothing like being able to harass a quarterback with just four guys.”

On his reaction to an e-mail from Cal RB Jahvid Best’s mother complementing him on the class of the CSU program “Yeah, I got an e-mail from her and it was very thankful of Nick Oppenneer’s reaction to her son’s injury, the coaching staff and the training staff how we got to him as quick as we could and tried to console and treat him. It was very classy on their family’s part. I took it as a compliment for our entire program because while we want to play fierce between the whistles, we want to have a lot of class. I think Rich (Bircumshaw) mentioned that on the radio about our program. So it was a good thing and I am going to e-mail her back. It was unexpected but a nice thing.”

On whether they have to play a perfect game to win on Saturday
“I’m not going to use the word ‘perfect’ but I visited with each part of our staff today and told them we’re going to have to play a good game. We’re not going to be able to roll out there Saturday and not play a good game and be in it. I mean, they’re a good talented football team and, like I said, they’re one of the elite teams of our league. They’re beatable, but we’re going to have to have a great week of practice and we’re going to have to show up and make plays and play a good game.”

On TCU this year compared to other years
“They’ve been one of the top two or three teams in the league and they look like that again. They’ve got a lot of guys back, even though they lost some talented guys. They’re playing with a swagger and they know they’re pretty good. Like I said, at one point around here, that’s the way we were, and we will be again.”

On whether his team is licking their chops in anticipation of the game
“There’s a good chance. Any chance to go out and measure ourselves like this is a great opportunity. It won’t define our program, but it’s a great opportunity for us.”

On whether he was disappointed with the attendance last week
“Nah, I’ve got enough on my plate or job description. I’ll let somebody else handle that. You know, we’ve won three games at home this year, and although we haven’t played perfect football by any means, we’ve put a good product out there. I believe if we continue as the years progress to put a good product out there, those things will take care of themselves.”

On whether Homecoming week will bring a higher turnout on Saturday
“Anytime there are more people it helps. I know the kids really appreciate playing in front of our crowd, particularly our student section.”

On whether he likes the way the schedule has worked out (five of first six games within Colorado)
“Yeah, I mean that was good to start. But we’ve got to pay the piper now. Now we’ll end up going to Utah and all that. But weather, schedule and all those things, you just kind of play them as they are. I’m a little more concerned with what we’re doing.”

On LB John Clark’s performance with Ricky Brewer being out
“I visited with Larry (Kerr) right after the game. We both thought he did a nice job. Ricky, certainly, and Mychal Sisson at times during the game, you notice them. They’re athletic and they can run to the ball and do some nice things. But I thought Clark held up well. Like I said, as long as Larry’s got them tackling and the ball is in front of us, it gives yourself a chance to play defense.”