UW vs ASU coach and player quotes

Head Coach Tyrone Willingham

On the team's play:

"I thought our young men gave effort this evening. I thought they bounced back and fought. But what it all came down to - we didn't make enough plays at the appropriate time and had turnovers. That created a separation that in the end we just didn't overcome. But I did think our guys made effort."

On the difference between first and second half intensity:

"To me, we just didn't make the plays. There were no drastic changes. We anticipated some things, but just didn't make the plays. We didn't wrap up, we didn't tackle. We didn't do the things we needed to do. On offense, we had some opportunities, but just didn't make the right plays to get it in the end zone."

On calling some different plays:

"Well we've been saying for the last couple of weeks one of the things we wanted to do was have our coaches be aggressive. And I thought we tried to do that. And we also wanted our players to play aggressive and play physical. And we've been talking about that and trying to reinforce that. Having Cody [Bruns] healthy gave us an opportunity because he does throw a wonderful ball and I think you saw that."

On the running game and calling trick plays:

"We didn't have what we wanted in terms of the running game all day. It wasn't as consistent and we couldn't get it off the way we wanted. We did have the one run prior to starting those passes down there that seemed to be pretty effective. But then we wanted to mix it up, keep them off-balance and then we put ourselves in a situation where we felt like we had to throw to get it in the end zone."

"You can't replace [the running game]. That's something we've got to have and it's something we've struggled with. If you don't have a running game, you put too much pressure on the quarterback. And that's any quarterback unless you throw the ball 60 times a ballgame."

On difference in intensity level today vs. the rest of the season:

"I think our guys have made an effort, a concerted effort, that they wanted to end the situation that we're in. That they wanted to really come out and play football the way they're capable of playing it. That's what I felt like they wanted to do. This week we had some practices that had kind of picked that up after last week's practices. They were much clearer and much more focused about what they wanted to do."

Arizona State Coach Dennis Erickson

On snapping a six-game losing streak:

"We'll take any win after six losses. It's just good to get that feeling back. It's been a while. Washington played their rear ends off. I have to give credit to Tyrone and that coaching staff. That's hard when you're out there and a coaching change has already been made, you have to get those kids ready to play and I'll tell you what, they did that. He and his staff deserve a lot of credit. They gave us everything we wanted, obviously, and we were able to do some things in the fourth quarter and win the game. It's nice to have that win.

On the running game:

Any time we can run we're a lot better. Keegan (Herring) had a great game but we were able to throw it too. Mike Jones made some big plays. When they start bringing safeties down there and you have one-on-one outside, their pretty young at corner, so we were able to take advantage of that too. I thought defensively we played extremely well. We had some penalties which hurt us but then again we dropped some interceptions too. But we played good when we had to and that interception by (Mike) Nixon was huge. That was a great play."

On sack by James Brooks deep in UW territory mid-third quarter:

"Without a doubt, that was the turning point. Terell (Carr) has to cover for the pass so he has to hold so there are two things involved in it, but he got the sack and that was a huge, huge field position change. We didn't have good field position most of the night. Their kicking game was good and they had the blocked punt, but that sack changed the game, there's no question about it."

On getting a win in Husky Stadium:

"First of all, just getting the win is the most important thing. This stadium is some place I grew up around and I haven't been very lucky here, so it was nice to win here but that wasn't the biggest thing. The big thing is getting a win for our team."

Defensive Lineman Johnie Kirton

On differences defending the ASU offense:

"It's the same as the other weeks. We had a game plan and we knew what we were supposed to do against certain formations and how to attack certain things. We came out with more intensity today and that was a big key in the first part of the game."

On getting hits on QB Rudy Carpenter:

"It is very important for setting the tone. But at the same time you need more against a guy that has been back there for five years. He knows how to take the hits and he knows how to avoid them. He is a good quarterback."

On blocking a punt:

"That is a big turnaround for us because we have been waiting for a spark from our special teams all year. That is something that helps out both the defense and the offense and you just hope you can get more of that."

On staying positive:

"You take the good things out of it and you move on for the next week. It is one of those ones though that we did so many things well in so it hurts a little bit more than some of the other ones."

Safety Nate Williams

On the defense against ASU:

"We knew what they were running. We really prepared for them well. They made a couple of good plays on us. We need to rally in the end and finish stronger. It felt the same the whole game tonight. We just have to work on finishing, rallying around each other and playing hard the entire game. There isn't the same scheme every week. Every team is different. We just have to make the plays every week."

Running Back Terrance Dailey

On the struggling running game today:

"We need to go back and watch film. We made a lot of mistakes today. Not one person individually but the entire offensive unit. We just made a lot of mistakes and that is why we could not get the run game going."

On the increase of deep passes:

"We had to look for the deep ball because the run game was not there today. We made so many mistakes running the ball that we had to look for the deep ball more."

On the increase of trick plays in the offense today:

"We planned on running some trick plays for this game. We were looking to mix things up and catch the defense off guard. It seemed to work well the majority of the time. Overall I thought we were successful in that aspect of the offense."

On his 39-yard run late in the third quarter:

"It was a draw and the defense seemed to get sucked to the inside so when I got the ball the field was really open. It was really just one-on-one and when I cut to the outside I had some room in front of me. After that I just did what I could and then got out of bounds to make sure to stop the clock."

On what to take away from this game to get ready for next week:

"In the locker room we were really intense and I thought we started out the game with a lot of intensity. But in the second half it seemed to die down and I think we need to find a way to keep that intensity. We also made a lot of mistakes tonight, and I think if we can clean those up then we will be fine."

Tight End Michael Gottlieb

On any changes made in the offensive scheme for the game today:

"We have tried to tweak things a little bit every week; we just have not been able to stay on the field long enough in the last couple of weeks to really bring our gadgets out and show our new schemes."

On coming up short in the red zone:

"That has kind of been our Achilles heel for a couple of weeks. Obviously ASU was playing great defense in the red zone and all of the credit goes to them for stopping us, but it is something that is really frustrating and that we need to work on. The defense was playing well tonight and we just needed to capitalize on opportunities."

Quarterback Rudy Carpenter

On the early field goals and struggles to get in the end zone:

"It's kind of been the story of our season though, we get down there and have trouble scoring points. Good thing tonight, Thomas [Weber] was making field goals early. You know, we just had to stay with our plan, stay patient, keep on going, we were going to get our chances to score, which we did. Mike [Jones] made two good catches. I think the important thing tonight was that our offensive line did a great job, we ran the ball well, and they protected pretty well. When you do those things you're going to win games."

On when the momentum shifted ASU's way:

"Yeah, it was obviously that drive when Mike [Jones] got the first touchdown. Then we came back and got good catches right away. They were doing a good job returning punts, too, and got us in good field position."

On wide receiver Michael Jones:

"Mike made a lot of big plays. They were playing off of him, so they were giving us chances to open up the field and run some comebacks and some stuff like that. We need things to go our way, and we need guys like Mike to make big plays for us, and that's what happened tonight."

On snapping losing streak:

"Yeah, it's been forever. It's been the longest two months of my life; it's been terrible. You know, it's just the course our season has taken this year and I'm happy our guys have hung in there and not quit and practiced hard and played hard."

On Washington:

"People don't understand, this is the Pac-10 and everybody has some pride and everyone wants to win it, and Washington is like that as well. They want to get a win. They don't want to go winless it's been a long season for them, as well. You know, Coach Willingham is a great coach, it's unfortunate what happened to him to be honest with you."

Wide Receiver Mike Jones

On the win:

"We haven't won in like two months, and it was great to be with my teammates singing the fight song in the locker room just now. I'm just excited."

On the potency of ASU's offense:

"Oh, it was great. In the first half, they played a couple things that we didn't expect, so we had to make some adjustments at halftime and came out on fire."

Running Back Keegan Herring

On winning on the road:

"Coach (Erickson) always tells us, going on the road is like a business trip. You've got to be locked in whatever you do, no matter what the record is. You've got to treat it like a business trip."