FS-UW Post Game Quotes

Matt Burkholder / Director of Communications

Fresno State at Washington Post-Game Quotes
Husky Stadium
Sept. 16, 2017

Fresno State Head Coach Jeff Tedford

Coach, just what are your overall thoughts on your performance tonight?
Well, not very good. Obviously we played a great football team and they executed very well. We fell behind early and, you know, it’s hard to comeback against a team like that, they are coached very well, and they execute very well.

Did anything about their offense surprise you?
No, really nothing different. They just do a great job of executing and they have a great quarterback who is very efficient, and finds match ups and works the field very, very well. And they have very good guys around him and they protected him well. When he gets protection like that, he can contend with pretty much any defense. But, they ran the ball, we let contain go on the first long run for a touchdown – we didn’t contain on that play. We got a couple penalties tonight that hurt us pretty bad. Stopped them down inside there, and had a horse-collar penalty that kept the drive alive. But no, not really anything out of the ordinary for what they do.

Six penalties tonight. Do you think the problem was discipline or were they just too excited out there?
No, I think they are trying to play hard. You know, we had a horse collar and then a targeting, which shouldn’t happen. Our strike point is between the shoulders and the waist and we got too high on that, so that shouldn’t happen. We got a couple holding calls, but they’re really good on the edge. We’ve definitely been really good in that department, but just not as good tonight with that.

You know Dante Pettis a little bit, but how tough is he to handle?
He’s an awesome player, he really is. You know, we punted the ball into the boundary and tried to pin him in and he still got out of there. He is so slippery and has great balance and great speed, and, you know everything he does as a receiver as well. We should of had the long one covered, we had guys back there and just lost sight of the ball and he made a play on it and we didn’t. He’s an excellent player.

How would you compare Alabama and Washington?
Well, they are both great teams. You know, they were both in the final four last year. They are very physical. Both teams are very well coached, they are very fast. It’s really hard to sustain anything on them. They are very physical and they can really run. There’s a reason they were in the final four, they are great teams. And they play well all around. It’s not just offensively or defensively, in special teams, in all three phases of the games they do a great job.

Fresno State at Washington Post-Game Quotes
Husky Stadium
Sept. 16, 2017

BULLDOGS’ PLAYERS

OL Aaron Mitchell
What are your thoughts of this game and your performance out there?
They are the No. 6 team in the nation for a reason. They came out with some fire, I thought we matched it and came out with some juice. Sometimes you just don’t come out in the end, you don’t come out with the opportunity you want to come with. Great exposure, couldn’t ask for a better team. We fought until the end, and I feel good about that, we played as a team. We win and lose as a team, it’s no one’s fault.

How much do you think playing Alabama last week had an effect this week?
I don’t think so at all. It’s football. Little nicks, little things here and there, you have to fight through it. We pride ourselves on going and playing physical football, and that’s what it comes down to. It’s football, that’s what happens.

Penalties seemed to be a big deal, what did you think of the performance and the discipline from you guys?
It was just the flow of the game, usually the past couple of week we have really been on it, today just wasn’t our day. We didn’t play how we needed to play. Sometimes, you can’t do anything about the calls. Refs had a hell of a game, they did well, they called a good game, it’s is just on us, and little technique things. We just have to keep our hands inside and play smart.

On settling for field goals:
It is definitely hard to settle for fields goals, we have to learn how to take advantage of the short fields. Our defense played their asses off, they put us in great situations, we just needed to finish better. Bottom line. It’s definitely something we can pick it up on. Everyone knows, that when you are in the short field, you have got to capitalize on it, especially in games like this. You have to take advantage of the short fields. You don’t want to have to be driving 80 yards to go get some points. So when we have a short field, it’s got to be blood in the water, we have to go attack it when it’s short field and use it to our advantage. And of course that is something that we can build on. Just being perfect in practice, and in all of the situations, and in the red zone. We need to be hungry to get in that red zone. I think that is one thing that we need to be better at, we need to be hungry when we are that close. We need to go get it. We have to attack that end zone and go get some points on the board.

WR KeeSean Johnson
What are your thoughts of your performance today?
Our team came out with a lot of fire, I feel like we came prepared, we prepared all week to have a good game. But Washington came out with some fire that we matched in the beginning, but they took it over a little bit. We needed to work in the third quarter to finish the drives, and stop trying just for field goals.

Do you think you guys were tired out there coming off of that Alabama game last week?
No. It’s football, we play a new game each week. We were ready, so you cannot blame it on us being tired playing against Alabama. We just had to come out with more energy and the will to finish.

You had two quarterbacks, how would you describe their play out there?
Both of them played well, both of them slipped up on a couple of things, but that is to learn from, that is a part of the game. I feel like we will go tomorrow and watch film and they will learn from the things that they did, and our opportunities as a team, and we will just go from there.

The stadium is known for being loud, how did the atmosphere affect the game and did it compare to Alabama?
They were both loud, but it wasn’t anything that I feel like we couldn’t handle. You can’t think about the crowd when you are playing, you just have to focus in on your assignment and what is going on on the field.

Fresno State Athletics