On the heels of another lopsided loss -- albeit one in which his team was competitive in the early part of the game -- Colorado interim head coach Mike Sanford spoke with the media to discuss the Buffs' 55-17 setback Friday night against USC.
Below is a transcript of everything he had to say about the defeat.
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Opening statement
“I thought it was a good start, particularly on defense. I was really pleased with how we prepared. We came out and gave some different looks. Obviously, Caleb Williams is one of those guys where if you give him a chance to pick you apart, he’s going to pick you apart. I think some of the drop-eight stuff we did helped us be able to present different looks. We started slowly offensively. I was pleased with how we ran the football against a top-10 team in the country, but ultimately the turnovers and the intentional grounding and safety was too much to overcome against a team with the firepower they have. We’re going to keep on fighting. We’re going to keep on finding a way to put ourselves in a position to win games. I thought we did that, but it got away from us today. There’s no rest for the weary. We’re going to come back to work and find resolve to go play two more really good football teams.”
On USC’s adjustments
“Outside of the fourth quarter and some of the screen game, it was a lot of those second plays we talked about. Play-design was, there wasn’t a lot that was really open. They did a nice job of running the football and sustaining drives and really holding on to the ball. I thought they did a nice job. You could say that was an adjustment versus a drop-eight look. I still thought we had some stops here and then, but on third down, Caleb moves around and finds some type of small crease and checks the ball down and it’s enough to get a first down. The third-and-longs, particularly in the hits quarter, those stood out. That was really Caleb Williams and their receivers making plays when the play broke down.”
On USC capitalizing on CU's mistakes
“The thing that’s frustrating is our defense is playing as well as they are, particularly in the first half, and giving USC a short field with a combination of what ended up being a safety where you’re kicking the ball off at the 20-yard line and you immediately give up field position. The fumble really, really was a huge piece of the game. It was a self-inflicted wound. Obviously, it’s frustrating, but there’s nothing else we can do but continue to go back to work.”
On Alex Fontenot
“Alex ran really hard. You could see it last week with a couple of his runs that he had. Deion was a bit of a game-time decision. We want to have everybody ready to go these last two games. Deion wasn’t quite 100% in warmups and we made the decision in warmups. I thought Alex really competed at a high level and ran hard. I thought our offensive line did some good things. Tuli [Tuipulotu] is as advertised. I think he’s probably the best pass-rusher we’ve seen all year. But overall, outside of Tuli’s individual performance, I thought we matched up fairly well, both in the run game and in the pass-protection game. I was pleased with that unit in particular. Obviously, we’ve had some attrition at the receiver position, some guys banged up. Quarterback-wise, I thought we did some good things at times, but it wasn’t consistent enough, particularly on third down in the first half. I think we were 0 for 7 in the first half. Obviously, the second half, we converted third downs better.”
On having to move away from the run when the game got lopsided
“At times, that’s kind of been our season, right? You want to continue to run the football and you want to continue to play to your strengths, but at times, if you’re down two or three scores, you also have to be able to mix in some explosive pass game. I think that’s where you saw the second-half interception – really kind of playing catch-up. That’s a challenge. Overall, I think we did a good job of running the football.”
On Nikko Reed’s penalty for celebrating after his interception
“That’s such an emotional play, right? That’s his former teammate and he goes up and actually Mosses the ball from his former teammate. We all know those types of things happen all the time in college football. I didn’t think it was anything completely egregious. I thought Nikko was just playing inspired football. It’s disappointing because we knew we were going to inherit the ball at a decent spot and all of a sudden, we’re playing backed up.”
On red zone offensive struggles
“That first drive, yes, and we didn’t run the ball well in the red zone as the game progressed. You’ve got to try to get seven at that point. We had some decent runs, but when you’re in that position and the defense is playing the way it is, you want points on the board. At the time, it led to us being in the ballgame and possessing the ball and moving the ball down the field. I think seven there makes it a little bit different. Continuing to address that and finding the playmakers in the pass game, that’s going to be important for us these last two weeks.”
On Trevor Woods’ absence
“He traveled. He was here. Trevor was probably a little bit further along than Deion was. They had very similar statuses going into the game, but I fully believe he’ll be back up these last two games. I’ll tell you this – I was pleased with the play of J Mack and Striker. I thought they filled in adequately. That just shows a lot of growth from earlier in the year, where we felt like we had to have Trevor Woods in the game. Down the stretch, they start finding their way, but I was pleased with how J Mack and Striker played today.”
On the defense being more active
“If you look at the last two weeks in particular, there’s all the reason in the world to hang your head and not start fast defensively. It shows the resolve and the fight and the belief those players have. I think you’re starting to see some great individual efforts. Jamar is doing some really good things. Guy is doing some really good things, even Robert Barnes. You’re seeing some good individual efforts. Aaron Austin stood out to me, just rushing the passer. He’s a guy I wanted to see more of. He has been a contributor on special teams all year. I think some of this young talent is starting to emerge and some of those fifth- and sixth-year seniors that probably haven’t had the success, they’re starting to believe in themselves. As we all know, it’s just piecing it all together. It’s super challenging when you’re not playing perfect football against these kinds of teams. That’s really where we’re at. We’ve got to execute at a very high level for four quarters. The margin for error is small when you’re playing against SC, with the athletes they have and the quarterback they have and even the defensive athletes they have. They move the front a lot. They have a lot of different pieces and arguably one of the best pass-rushers in college football.”