Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State-Michigan Postgame Quotes
Interim Head Coach Tim Skipper
On the game…
“We tried to slow the game down. It was going our way. I thought during the first half we controlled the line of scrimmage, and did a good job on both sides of the ball. The third quarter was slow, like we wanted it to be. We wanted to step on the pedal in the fourth quarter. We had opportunities that we didn’t capitalize on. They had the heart of a champion. We have a lot of respect for them. Their defense is fundamentally sound, and their offense is trying to pound you. It got a little out of hand at the end for us. I’m proud of our guys, but no moral victories. We have to bounce back. We can’t let Michigan beat us twice.”
“They’ve got a lot of size. We didn’t know which quarterback we were going to see so we had to prepare for both of them. They have a little salt and pepper action, mixing it up. You have to get used to what you’re going to get. I think their defense is really good, they had a lot of good looks. Their kicker was knocking down those long field goals. They’ll be a good team.”
“We were all about the trenches and we did a great job most of the night. We scored to make it a six-point game and we needed a stop, and they did a great job to get that for us. Michigan started running the ball more and breaking tackles, then punched it in the end zone. That was gut punch for us. Other then that drive, I think we did a pretty good job. The first touchdown they scored was off a short field on the interception, so other than the second touchdown we did a good job. It’s definitely something to build off of.”
On the stadium atmosphere and noise…
“We were ready for the noise. We practiced most of training camp getting ready for the noise. I don’t think that the noise effected us at any point in the game. Especially with the helmet communication. The noise wasn’t a factor for us we still operated the way that we operate.”
On quarterback Mikey Keene’s performance…
"He was a little up and down tonight. He’d be the first one to tell you that. He missed some throws that he had. We had a double move that he had, but he got a little too excited and the ball got away from him. He made some nice plays tonight too. Mikey is a competitor. He’s going to keep working. We have no issues with Mikey, he’s going to be just fine.”
On the Red Wave making the trip to Michigan…
“We love the Red Wave. We travel. We always have and always will. It was a great atmosphere tonight and its always awesome to look up and see that red. There were patches of red spread out and really high up there, but they all came down to the tunnel when we came out. It was good to have a little feeling of home here.”
“Red Wave, we’re coming home. Let’s pack the house. We are the Valley’s team. We are excited to get home and start playing some football in Valley Children’s Stadium.”
Mikey Keene, QB, Jr.
On the game…
“The defense did a phenomenal job. I’m really proud of them. I’m proud of the way out guys played. We played against a great team. I wish them the best of the luck on the rest of the season. They presented a lot of problems for us on the offensive side of things as well as the defensive side of things. They’re going to be a great a team this season, but I’m proud of the way we fought tonight. Especially our defense’s grit on third downs to get off the field and give the offense chances. I take full responsibility for us not being able to convert on third downs. I take those personal. I have to put the ball in a better position to allow our athletes to make plays. Coach did a great job calling plays tonight. I’m going to learn from tonights game. The exciting thing is that we have another opportunity next week. We have 11 guaranteed opportunities left to have a great season.”
“We were blessed to be here and have this opportunity. People all around the country dream of this. This is the dream you have when you play college football, this is a big time stage. The fight that we showed tonight makes me super excited for the rest of the season. We are going to sit on this loss and let it sting. It should sting. We wanted to win. We obviously didn’t come out victorious. The defense did a phenomenal job. The offense has some things to clean up. We are going to get better from this game. It’s week one, there’s still a lot of time for improvement. We are excited to get back to it on Tuesday. We are going to leave here with our heads held high and prepare for Sacramento State who is also a great opponent.”
On the scoring drive…
“We were running a lot of uptempo plays. I was seeing the coverage well. It’s not that I wasn’t seeing it well the rest of the game, I think that I didn’t have the best feet to get myself in position to make my throws. Which I have to do a better job of. I need to watch the film and work on it. I thought we executed well on that drive. The guys made plays when I would scramble. I think there were a lot of guys that made some really good plays tonight.”
On Michigan’s defense…
“They are one of the best defenses in the country. It was a good thing for our offense to go against a defense like that this early in the season. Especially in an environment like that. It was a really hostile environment tonight. I thought we handle the communication aspect well. I take responsibility for the execution on third downs. When the ball hits someone in the hands, I take full responsibility for not putting it in a better spot. Those guys are doing a phenomenal job for me, making plays and putting their bodies on the line. I have to hang in there an be able to deliver the ball accurately to them.”
“Michigan presents a lot of problems on defense. That was probably hardest time period of preparation that I’ve had in my college career, and I’ve seen a lot of football. They do a whole lot of things on defense that poses a lot of problems to offenses. I give them kudos for what they do on defense, their schemes and the ball players that they have. We just have to execute a little bit better.”
Tuasivi Nomura, LB, Sr.
On the game…
“It was a great experience. We came out and played a great team, and I feel like we really brought it to them. We want to give them their credit. We just need to comeback and get better from this tape.”
“We came out strong. I’m proud of the boys. I’m proud of guys upfront and the guys in the back. We are a tough team and we will continue to be a tough team. We are going to go out and compete. It doesn’t matter who we are playing, just put the ball down.”