Head coach Jimbo Fisher’s opening statement …
It was great for our team to get a win. I’m proud, we did some very nice things in the game. It was a typical first game, we did some really good things and we did some things that need to get cleaned up. We got some very young players in the game, some older guys in new positions doing some different things we are asking them to do. There were a lot of very, very productive things in the game, but there are also things we need to get clean up like assignments communications discipline in how we are running some packages. On defense we need to seal up some areas. In the rush game we were getting pushed by the quarterback a little bit, the inside guys need to press. I call it sticking your nose in the honey. Guys want to go make the tackle, instead of doing their job and staying in the gap and forcing it to the unblocked guy. If that happens upfront sometimes holes come out. We took the back door on a couple blocks trying to make tackles instead of pressing and compressing the whole line of scrimmage and not leaving anywhere to run. We left a couple little seams in there. We made two nice turnover plays on defense, had some big points right before the half. A critical one that turned into points. Any time you can score on the defensive side of the football, that’s awesome. We need to improve our open-field tackling a little bit, but overall it was a solid day. We played a lot of guys offensively. We moved the ball extremely well up and down the field. When you are the quarterback and you have a turnover, it’s ultimately your fault. What we need to do is continue to play well around our quarterback and not put him in situations because other guys aren’t where they need to be at certain times.
I tell our guys all the time, do ordinary things better than anybody else. Ordinary things lead to big things, and not doing ordinary things leads to bad things. It all comes back to fundament mistakes and being consistent in everything at you do. I thought, for the most part, the young offensive line did a good job against a group that brought multiple blitzes, multiple looks. They put hats on hats. We started a true freshman center, I thought he did an outstanding job for it being the first game. Of course there were a few little mistakes here and there, but we were able to control the line of scrimmage and block very well. We had a couple holding calls during the game. We need to eliminate those things out of there, but we ran the football well. I thought Isaiah Spiller played outstanding, he ran the football well, caught he football well. He is becoming such a complete back. I thought [Devon] Achane came in and was just such a good football player. He played great football. Big plays on the run, consistent plays on the run. I thought Ainias [Smith] came in the backfield again and played really well. He was leading on some short-yardage plays, hitting linebackers in the mouth. He played really well back there. [Earnest] Crownover got back there and in did some nice things. The tight end position was solid, Jalen [Wydermyer] did some really nice things, there were a couple things we need to get cleaned up and some communication on run-blocking things. Receivers, I thought Ainias had a really nice game. He made some big plays, short, long. He had the one critical drop. I thought we could have scored early. He blocked so well on the perimeter. He’s like having another tailback out there on the edge. When you talk about getting to those second levels on those long runs, your o-line blocks but those receivers are the secondary blocking and blocking downfield is critical and we did a nice job. [Caleb] Chapman, having him back was huge. He made a couple of really nice plays in the game. He needs to be consistent, but he blocked well, he got his big body in there. I thought Chase [Lane] was consistent. You didn’t hear a lot, but Chase played a really, really good football game. There are lot of little things you don’t see sometimes, opening guys up, he made critical when he had the opportunity to, he made blocks. He played a really solid game. Kicking off we did a great job. Without Caden [Davis] being in there we were walking in with a freshman kicker, but he did an outstanding job in the game. He had one kick that got to the middle of the field that was displaced just a little bit, but otherwise we returned kicks very well. Seth [Small] made his kicks, he did a great job there. Punt return, they were so all over the place. Our guys got all lined up and got the eligible covered for the fakes and all that. They had so many pooches and squibs.
It was a typical game, there were a lot of really good plays. Offensively we moved the ball extremely well, got it distributed across the board. And on defense we did some really good things. There are a lot of things we need to get cleaned up in all areas. We got our young players in the game and hopefully we’ll get better because Colorado is a very good football team. They have pro coaches. Coach Dorrell is a really good coach, he’s been around a long time in pro ball, college ball. They do a really good job with pro schemes on offense. Defensively they bring multiple blitzes, multiple fronts.
We need to keep building our identity. We got challenged in the game and we responded. I liked the way we responded in the second half. We did what we had to do and we’ll continue to get better.
On Bryce Foster’s debut and starting at center …
I thought Bryce was outstanding in the game. He made a couple little mistakes. But to go in there as a freshman, and there were a lot of looks in that game, there was a multitude of things that they did. He was physical, making moves, point of attack, snaps. There was not one bad snap in the game. A couple little mistakes here and there on some things. You go make 80 calls in a game, see if you make 80 of them perfect. With all the different looks, blitzes and things that go on, it’s hard. And I thought he did an outstanding job in the game, he played very well, and I think the sky is the limit for the guy.
On the veterans helping freshman defensive lineman Shemar Turner…
I think he has great examples. [DeMarvin] Leal and those guys inside and what he watches help a lot. The other thing is, he’s going against Kenyon Green, Jahmir Johnson. He’s going against our big offensive linemen. Layden Robinson, all of those big, physical guys. It makes him better quick having to play those guys. He had all that production and still has room to improve. There are so many little things that he has to get better at, but he’s still being productive. He’s another one, he likes to play and he knows how to play and he’s going to get better and better. The quicker he gets better the better we are going to be. I think the guys around him, Leal and those guys, teaching him and who he is going against every day has really developed him. He lives, eats and breathes ball.
