Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State-Wyoming Postgame Quotes
Fresno State at Wyoming
Nov. 18, 2017
Head Coach Jeff Tedford
On the game…
“It was an awesome football game. It was a great environment. You have to give Wyoming a lot of credit, they’re of tough discipline football team. I had to clarify that we were the West Division Champions before I told the team. We will go back and get healthy. This was a really physical football game. Today’s game showed two of the top defenses that you are going to see. It was a defensive battle between two teams that thrive off turnovers. We won the turnover battle today. It was a great football game. We fought through adversity today and found a way to win. I am proud of our guys.”
“I can’t be prouder of this team. And I can’t be happier for them. The turnaround that they’ve made, the belief and confidence, the hard work they’ve put in, the coaching staff has done a phenomenal job. It’s a great feeling when all the hard work pays off.”
“We knew it was going to be defensive battle, and we knew it probably wasn’t going to be a high scoring game. These are the two top defenses in the conference. We needed to be patient with the run and stay away from third and longs. We had a few penalties that hurt us, but for the most we played well. We gave up a few long passes at the end, when we didn’t tackle as well as we could of. We had a turnover in the fourth quarter in a situation where we had the opportunity to ice the game. We have a lot of respect for their defense.”
On the weather conditions the last two weeks…
“This team stays focused on the job at hand. When you get to practice on Tuesday, you forget about the team you played the weekend before. It was a couple tough trips with weather, but our players didn’t flinch. It’s a characteristic of a good team to not panic, and just play. “
Marcus McMaryion, QB
On the game…
“I can’t give our defense enough credit, they play lights out. These were the best two defenses in the conference. We all expected it to be a slug out to the end, and it definitely came down to the wire. This weather isn’t what we are used to, but after the first couple of plays we adjusted. The staff did a great job of taking care of us on the sideline, keeping us warm. It’s exciting to have the opportunity to play in the Mountain West Champion and in a bowl game. We can take this win in and enjoy it tonight, but we are going to start preparing for Boise State as soon as we get back.
On the game coming down to the wire…
“It was nerve wracking but I have complete faith in our defense. They have proved how good they are over and over throughout the season that we have one of the best defenses in the conference.“
On the weather conditions the last two weeks…
“It shows the toughness of our team. Football is football, whether it’s rain, shine or snow. It doesn’t matter, we just have to go out there and so what we do.”
On transferring back to Fresno State…
“These are the moments I came home for. It’s unbelievably, believable. Those are the words I’d chose to describe it. It’s a blessing to be here and to share moments like this with these guys.”
George Helmuth, LB
On what being the West Division Champions means…
“It proves that predictions don’t mean anything. In the preseason polls we were picked to come in sixth place in the west. We just won the west, and we are going to the Mountain West Championship. I want to thank all the new coaches. When they got here they changed the whole culture of the program and got us to this point.”
“We were able to do this through a lot of work, a lot of work. We have prepared for every situation. Coach Tedford has had his hand in everything throughout the season. It came down to us trusting in ourselves.”
On the game coming down to the wire…
“The guys were calm. I missed the tackle that lead to their touch down, so I put us in that situation. I give credit to the Wyoming quarterback because he kept them in the game until the end of the game, he’s a heck of a competitor. Robert Stanley made a great play to for us to end the game.”
On recovering the fumble…
“I broke passed my blocker and when I saw it bounce off his chest, I jumped on the ball. We had confidence in our defense today, we knew we could get stops. We wanted to give our offense the chance to run out the clock.”
Ronnie Rivers, RB
On being West Division Champions and being bowl eligible…
“This what we’ve been working for all season. We are excited to have the opportunity to compete in the Mountain West Championship and a bowl game. This is one of the longest seasons I’ve had a chance to be a part of in my football career.”
On the game coming down to the wire…
“You definitely get some butterflies in those moments, but you just have to put your faith in your defense to make the stop.”
On his runs and touchdown catch…
“Our o-line did a good job and Josh Hokit did a great job blocking for me. I just tried to hit the gap as hard as I could. On the touchdown catch, we run that in practice so I just needed to run my route and catch the ball. Marcus McMaryion through a perfect ball.
Nov. 18, 2017
Head Coach Jeff Tedford
On the game…
“It was an awesome football game. It was a great environment. You have to give Wyoming a lot of credit, they’re of tough discipline football team. I had to clarify that we were the West Division Champions before I told the team. We will go back and get healthy. This was a really physical football game. Today’s game showed two of the top defenses that you are going to see. It was a defensive battle between two teams that thrive off turnovers. We won the turnover battle today. It was a great football game. We fought through adversity today and found a way to win. I am proud of our guys.”
“I can’t be prouder of this team. And I can’t be happier for them. The turnaround that they’ve made, the belief and confidence, the hard work they’ve put in, the coaching staff has done a phenomenal job. It’s a great feeling when all the hard work pays off.”
“We knew it was going to be defensive battle, and we knew it probably wasn’t going to be a high scoring game. These are the two top defenses in the conference. We needed to be patient with the run and stay away from third and longs. We had a few penalties that hurt us, but for the most we played well. We gave up a few long passes at the end, when we didn’t tackle as well as we could of. We had a turnover in the fourth quarter in a situation where we had the opportunity to ice the game. We have a lot of respect for their defense.”
On the weather conditions the last two weeks…
“This team stays focused on the job at hand. When you get to practice on Tuesday, you forget about the team you played the weekend before. It was a couple tough trips with weather, but our players didn’t flinch. It’s a characteristic of a good team to not panic, and just play. “
Marcus McMaryion, QB
On the game…
“I can’t give our defense enough credit, they play lights out. These were the best two defenses in the conference. We all expected it to be a slug out to the end, and it definitely came down to the wire. This weather isn’t what we are used to, but after the first couple of plays we adjusted. The staff did a great job of taking care of us on the sideline, keeping us warm. It’s exciting to have the opportunity to play in the Mountain West Champion and in a bowl game. We can take this win in and enjoy it tonight, but we are going to start preparing for Boise State as soon as we get back.
On the game coming down to the wire…
“It was nerve wracking but I have complete faith in our defense. They have proved how good they are over and over throughout the season that we have one of the best defenses in the conference.“
On the weather conditions the last two weeks…
“It shows the toughness of our team. Football is football, whether it’s rain, shine or snow. It doesn’t matter, we just have to go out there and so what we do.”
On transferring back to Fresno State…
“These are the moments I came home for. It’s unbelievably, believable. Those are the words I’d chose to describe it. It’s a blessing to be here and to share moments like this with these guys.”
George Helmuth, LB
On what being the West Division Champions means…
“It proves that predictions don’t mean anything. In the preseason polls we were picked to come in sixth place in the west. We just won the west, and we are going to the Mountain West Championship. I want to thank all the new coaches. When they got here they changed the whole culture of the program and got us to this point.”
“We were able to do this through a lot of work, a lot of work. We have prepared for every situation. Coach Tedford has had his hand in everything throughout the season. It came down to us trusting in ourselves.”
On the game coming down to the wire…
“The guys were calm. I missed the tackle that lead to their touch down, so I put us in that situation. I give credit to the Wyoming quarterback because he kept them in the game until the end of the game, he’s a heck of a competitor. Robert Stanley made a great play to for us to end the game.”
On recovering the fumble…
“I broke passed my blocker and when I saw it bounce off his chest, I jumped on the ball. We had confidence in our defense today, we knew we could get stops. We wanted to give our offense the chance to run out the clock.”
Ronnie Rivers, RB
On being West Division Champions and being bowl eligible…
“This what we’ve been working for all season. We are excited to have the opportunity to compete in the Mountain West Championship and a bowl game. This is one of the longest seasons I’ve had a chance to be a part of in my football career.”
On the game coming down to the wire…
“You definitely get some butterflies in those moments, but you just have to put your faith in your defense to make the stop.”
On his runs and touchdown catch…
“Our o-line did a good job and Josh Hokit did a great job blocking for me. I just tried to hit the gap as hard as I could. On the touchdown catch, we run that in practice so I just needed to run my route and catch the ball. Marcus McMaryion through a perfect ball.