B
Brie Thomas
Guest
Wednesday Practice Report:
BOULDER-- Last night the 8-2 Colorado Buffaloes were ranked No. 10 in the College Football Playoff and Coach MacIntyre was mentioned as the top candidate for national head coach of the year.
"Credit to all our players, our coaches, our whole organization, you know when you're winning they say nice things and when you're losing they want to fire you so that's just part of the territory, we just have to keep going and I'm so proud of these young men and these coaches how they fought through everything."
The Buffs will have their hardest challenge this weekend against Washington State's high-powered offense although the Buffs secondary is top notch they will still have hard test this weekend.
"If you're a good secondary player you kind of have to have a little bit of swagger and you have to a memory that's gone just like that on a good play or a bad play," as MacIntyre snapped. "So I think they are excited about playing against Washington State when you watch them on film they are excellent at what they do."
"I think they are a lot better at it (one-snap-and-clear) cause they have played a lot and so that helps, you get beat on one play but you can make it up on the next play."
Washington State has won eight games in a row not only has their offense improved tremendously but so has the Cougars defense.
"Defensively they are playing really well, they play extremely hard, they stunt a lot, they call a lot of negative plays so we have to be able to handle that, with our offensive line and our quarterbacks have to see a few things and handle that and I think he will."
The team will need to trust each other this weekend to make plays and pull off a big win against the Cougars.
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Tuesday Press Conference:
Coach MacIntyre:
"Their (Wazzu) philosophy and how they do it, they tweak it a little bit according to each game, add a few wrinkles but the whole key is honestly being able to tackle the receivers in space, one thing that they have done a better job of is they have three really good running backs and they have been able to run the ball better which keeps you a little bit more off balance, so we're going to have to be able to stop the run and tackle those guys and again we're just going to have to play relly well and play aggressive at times and hopefully we are able to make more plays than their receivers are able to make."
"The way that Derek handled it just like I knew he would, he's a young man that has deep faith, everybody knows Coach Mac's stand on that and he lives it every day, he has been a team captain for us, he just won the NCAA Good Works, they only give it to 11 players in the United States of America, he represents that well, he was a blood donor and so he is a shining example of a young man who lives it, walks it, breathes it, everybody respects, he is also a very hard tough-nosed football player. He's just an outstanding young man and he handled it with grace."
Sefo Liufau:
"I think it is easy to be efficient in one week but when you play a team like Washington State where they have such a high powered offense and they score so many points no matter what team they play, I think it's important for us to go out there and have another good performance this week."
"I think there is a couple, I'll mention a couple, I think one of them is Andrew Bergner, he plays DB, he plays special teams for us but some of the looks he gives on scout team when he plays cornerback and to be able to give us a good look on defense and be able to challenge some of our receivers cause sometimes you can't always get the best looks from your scout team, sometimes you don't have the depth, sometimes you don't have the players that go out there and give us a half decent look, he's done a really good job this year of going out there and playing ball. Another one I think Tim Lynott, I know he plays a lot on offense but like I said earlier, our lineman doesn't get a lot of recognition but to be a young guy and stepping up and coming out especially blocking for me, it goes unnoticed a lot in mu opinion but he's done a lot of good things this year."
Ryan Moeller:
"My new role definitely took a bit of a learning curve to get there I think, you always got to know when you're playing safety what's going on in front of you and I think coming to play this new position I have a greater appreciation for what the guys have to do down there, you take a big beating down there having to take on those lead blockers, those pulling guards, sometimes it goes your way sometimes it doesn't but now I think that it has given me a lot better perspective on where I can expect everyone else to be when I go back to playing safety."
"I think it's easy to see where we could get carried away with the different stories this season that being said I think the coaches have done a really good job of humbling us and I haven't seen problems with anyone around, people getting carried away personally in any aspect so I think that everything is really just going on as it would as if we have been here before, the confidence is there."
Derek McCartney:
"Honestly the reward is really cool, it's a great honor, the coolest part about it is really the reason I got the reward, I got to donate peripheral blood stem cells to a man with cancer and I recently received a letter that he is cancer free now and that is the most rewarding thing about it just knowing that someone gets to extend life a little bit longer."
"When Coach MacIntyre got here he wanted us to give back to the community in different ways, however, we could, one of the biggest things was signing up for Be the Match, I didn't even really know what I was signing up for, to be honest at the time, it was just really cool to see how things unfolded."
"Honestly the first thing is it's just an answered prayer, it's just a real blessing that someone was able to be helped by something like this, I got the chills when I was reading it just because it was so cool, I just didn't know what to expect, it was really just a blessing to see how it helped somebody else."
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Monday Practice Practice
BOULDER-- The 8-2 Colorado Buffaloes take on the 8-2 Washington Cougars Saturday night at Folsom Field. This game has big implications for both the Buffs and the Cougars. Washington State has won eight games in a row and now lead the PAC 12 North.
"We win out, we go to PAC 12 Championship so it's exciting, it's a lot of fun, basically when you start the PAC 12 play it is a playoff game each week the way it works out cause everything matters, it's exciting it's great to be here at home, we play an excellent team in Washington State." Coach MacIntyre said. "I hope it's (intensity) always high, I think it's always high, there's more at stake with a win so hopefully their intensity is always high and ready to go."
Coach MacIntyre has said several times this year at his team has finally tasted victory and it taste "sweet" so they want to keep on tasting it, now is the time for this team to by even more hungry heading into their last two gold games.
"They want to leave an excellent legacy and they are doing that, they can inspire in the moment, what they do now with the culture they leave with these guys and their work ethic and how they show up to play. They have already left a really excellent legacy if they can just keep doing what they are doing it kind of puts more icing on the cake."
Not only do the Buffs play a dominant football team but they also are playing against a great Coach in Mike Leach and Coach MacIntyre is fully aware of that and what his team needs to do to come out on top.
"Their quarterback is extremely accurate, Falk, he does an excellent job, number two their running game has improved this year, Mike is running the ball more so it's given them another dimension and Falk does an excellent job of getting them in the runs and run the plays that Mike wants to get them into, so I think the combination of Mike Leach, he understands their offense, understand wants they want to do and their quarterback completely thinks like Mike does."
In two out of three last game the Buffs have struggled to find their offensive rhythm but against Arizona, they were able to get the ball moving on the ground and in the air. With their two biggest games left this season they have found their rhythm again at just the right time.
"We made some mistakes, we have some penalties, we dropped the ball or we would have had more points but those defenses are good (Stanford and UCLA) defenses but yeah I think that just keep concentrating and just keep playing, I think they showed that, can't get frustrated you just have to keep going and make sure you do the little things right."
Gerrad Kough didn't participate in practice today, Jeromy Irwin and Sean Irwin both were at practice today moving around. MacIntyre said they will see later this week if Kough and S. Irwin will be able to play Saturday.
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