OU Coach & Player Quotes on Colorado

NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma head coach Photo Gallery | Notes (PDF)

OU Head Coach Bob Stoops
Opening Statement:
"Colorado is a great football team. Coach Barnett and his staff did an excellent job overcoming everything in the off-season and putting themselves in position to represent the North and compete for the Big 12 Championship. We're excited to play in the game. Our players came back Sunday and we had an excellent practice and scrimmage for about 30 plays and got into our normal practice routine. I sense our guys are excited about the opportunity. I feel like we come in rested, healthy and anxious for the moment. We'll prepare hard this week and hopefully get ourselves in a position throughout the week to win another Big 12 Championship. That's our first and primary goal at this point. That's where all our focus is at."

On this year compared to last year:
"I felt strong about our team a year ago as well. In the end we answered all these questions at the end of last year, answered them all preseason and we're back answering them for another week. The bottom line is we have to go play. We're playing a very good team and we need to be on top of our game to be in position to win. I feel good about the way we're playing in all parts of the game that give us an opportunity to play well and get us an opportunity to win. We'll have to play well and execute when we get the opportunities."

On Dan Cody:
"Dan has been a strong leader for a great number of years. He's one of our hardest workers in the off-season with the way he trains, lifts weights and runs. It's been well spoken about that in the off-season he runs with the defensive backs and makes all their times and keeps up with them. On the field, he's tenacious, plays hard all the time. He's physical and fast and a great pass rusher. He's a great leader in his toughness on the field. The players recognize what he does off the field and they see what he does on the field. When he speaks up they listen and he's done a nice job of that throughout the years by speaking up time to time and presenting an attitude."

On special teams:
"We made the change with Garrett Hartley and feel good about it. He was very solid in the Baylor game and has been very solid in practices. Technically, his skills and fundamentals have been excellent since the time he's been here and excellent since before he arrived here. In the end, when he has to trust that he will and execute well. I've seen that through the entire year to feel comfortable with it."

"Blake has been very good. Colorado has an excellent punter as well. In the end, Blake has been solid all year also. I feel like we're coming in in good shape. Getting Antonio back as a punt returner will hopefully give us a boost as well."

OU Quarterback Jason White
On a "bad-taste" in the team's mouth from last year's Big 12 Championship:
"I think more than anything it's motivation. We completely laid an egg in last year's game. You can tell this week in practice with the intensity and focus so far that we know we have to be ready to play. It doesn't matter who the other team is or anything. We just have to be ready to play and go out and play our game."

On the seniors coming back to play this year:
"A lot of the young guys realize that a lot of guys came back to make sure this goal got accomplished. A lot of guys could be making a lot of money right now, but they came back to get to our goal. That's the reason I came back and I think a lot of our young guys realize that and they're going to want to give it their all for the older guys. It's a lot of work just to get back to one spot. Between winter workouts, spring ball and summer condition it's a lot of work and we're going to give it our all on Saturday."

On how healthy he was last year compared to this year:
"I'm 100 percent healthy. Last year, I really struggled with my knees throughout the whole year and not just one game. I had a couple bumps and bruises that weren't any big deal and then I kind of hurt my hand in the second quarter of the Big 12 game. You know though, injuries happen and I don't think injuries played any part in how I played. I just made physical mistakes. I made the right reads, but I just didn't get the ball there. I think I'm in way better shape than I was last year."

On playing in cold weather:
"As long as it's not extremely cold I'm all right with it. It wasn't bad last year at all. A lot of people thought it was really cold, but once you're out on the field playing you don't realize how cold it is."

On playing in rain versus cold:
"Rain isn't that bad. Sometimes it even helps by keeping the ball a little tacky and you can throw a little better. I don't think rain has a factor with quarterbacks. It might with receivers trying to catch it, but I don't think has a factor with quarterbacks."

On how Colorado's defense plays:
"Last year, they ran a lot of blitzes. They played us tough up there."

On Adrian Peterson's impact:
"He's brought a lot to the team not only with hard running, but he's starting to learn how to pass block and it's really helping us out. Adrian does a lot for the team as far as just the presence of him being out there. The defense has to be ready for him. It's a mix and match with him and Kejuan and it becomes a guessing game for the defense. Adrian is a great player and continues to improve. He's going to be great in the future."

On having to win for a chance at the Orange Bowl:
"It definitely changes from last year. We know we have to win this game to get into the bowl game. That's been our goal all year to win this game. We don't really look at the bowl game until we get done with this game. I think that's the route everyone's taking this year."

On Colorado being as aggressive as last year:
"From what I've seen, they're definitely not the same as when we played them last year. We got a lot of blitzes and man last year. This year they're more of a zone team. They still have some blitzes, but not near as many as they had last year. They do a great job in the zone though. They're always in the right position and very rarely give up deep balls. They're very well-coached."

On OU's defense:
"It's always great to have a great defense to complement the offense. It's great just in the fact that if you turn the ball over you know that you're going to get it back. It's always been that way here. The first two or three years here it was always about the defense. The offense knows it's always about the defense. I still think it is about the defense. We're still going to be a defensive team. The offense just felt like they needed to step it up and play at the level of the defense. Just having the defense on the field makes you feel extremely comfortable about that."

On Colorado playing in the Big 12 Championship:
"You've got to give them credit, that's a lot of adversity to go through, especially in the off season. The way their players responded to it by coming out and winning the Big 12 North and playing in the Big 12 Championship, you have to give them credit. They've been through a lot and they're going to be a tough fighting team."

OU Offensive Guard Davin Joseph
On being mentally prepared for the Big 12 Championship...
"We have a lot of momentum going into this game. We have a lot of confidence and just knowing that we have a very experienced team and we have everything that we need in order to win a championship."

On the lesson learned from last year's post season...
"The difference between last year and this year is that last year we went kind of flat towards the end of the season because we peaked so early. We went into the post season with no momentum and we tried to gain in back too late in the season. When you're talking about football, that really can't happen. This year we have a different presence at this point in the season and we have a lot more momentum."

Thinking about the Big 12 Championship during the off-season...
"It was one of those things that you have in the back of your head. But realistically, there is a chance for us to play in this game almost every year. You have to go ahead and take care of other big games against teams like Texas, Texas Tech, and A&M, but also keep this game in the back of your head. You have to take it step by step."

On Colorado's rocky off-season...
"I have a tremendous amount of respect for those guys and what they went through. For them to pull together as a team and to win these last four games in a convincing fashion says a lot. For them to be in this championship game this season just shows you how good of a team they are."

On having two Heisman candidates in the backfield...
"If you just go out there and play hard every week, that stuff will take care of itself. But it is pretty nice to have those guys back there. If one of those guys can win it, we would gladly take it. But realistically, we are just trying to win championships and if that stuff comes along, it comes along. We make them look good just as much as they make us look good."

OU Defensive Back-Return Specialist Antonio Perkins
On being healthy...
"I feel like I am strong enough to where I can go without the brace and I feel confident about it. I'm confident [on punt returns], I feel like I can still cut and make great moves. Hopefully I will have great block and we'll see, maybe something big will happen."

On the big-game experience of the team's veterans...
"That helps a lot. We have great senior leadership. We have 23 seniors and just about every one of them has played in a big game or got to witness the Orange Bowl or the Big 12 Championships that we've won in the past."
On OU's receivers...
"Mark Bradley has performed well the last few weeks and is doing a great job and so is Travis [Wilson]. But you guys forgot we have Brandon Jones, Will Peoples, and numerous other receivers that are capable of getting the job done if they get the opportunity. We feel like every time they get in they try to make the most of it.

On punt returns...
"It all starts with Bradley and Chijioke, they do a great job of holding their man up. Most of the time when I catch the ball I will have guys within 10 to 15 feet of me, so it makes it a lot easier by giving me great vision to see what's going on."

On the motivation that last year's post season has provided for this season...
"That's all thought about. When times got tough and the workouts were hard, the thought that we didn't have any rings to show for all of our hard work last year was great motivation. We want it pretty badly and we are ready to just go out there and compete."

"We know that we have to get out there and be ready from the jump. Last year, the band kind of pushed us off the field when we were still warming up and that was kind of a disappointment for us. That kind of set the tone for the rest of the day."

On playing Colorado in the conference title game...
"I'm not surprised. Early on, I thought it would be Colorado or Kansas State. Sometimes teams in the North will start off bad and then finish really well. That's been the case with Colorado. They always have a strong finish, but we're trying to finish strong, too."

On Colorado...
"Their offense is pretty tough. They have physical linemen, a great running back, some great receivers, and a quarterback that is capable of making big plays happen at anytime."

"Last time we played them it came down to a last minute fourth quarter play in order to win that game. That may tell you what type of a game it's going to be this year."

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