Arizona vs. Colorado 
Arizona Stadium -- Tucson, Ariz.
Dec. 5 2020
 
Arizona Head Coach Kevin Sumlin
 
On being inside the 5 yard line multiple times and not scoring...
"We were able to run it in the middle of the field. I need to look at it, but we got some zero and some coverage and blitz that we didn't handle. There were some run through things on Defense that brought a lot of pressure and we didn't handle it or pick it up. Obviously we didn't make any plays down there. There was an interception going in, and I think the other thing is that we only had three points off the turnover and those are wasted opportunities. In any game, when you have those opportunities in the red zone, you need to come away with touchdowns instead of field goals and we didn't."
 
On the game plan to make things easier on Will Plummer...
"We switched up the lineup and the offensive line to try and give us a better chance. Some of the things we did in the run game were good. He ran it himself sometimes on some read plays and some quarterback draw situations to help him and give him short game, quick throws which I think he utilized early in the game. A lot of things that we have done are specifically to get the ball out of his hands and being able to run the ball. We ran it effectively in the middle of the field but not effectively in the red zone."
 
On Gary Brightwell and Michael Wiley's performances...
"They are about 120 a piece, so part of the game plan was to get those guys going. They have shown they have been able to do it, so I thought they both ran hard and ran well."
 
On Will's performance in practice...
"Whenever you lose, there are always things you can do better. For a guy in his first start, he only missed one play last week. There's 10 other guys on the field too and with a young guy like that, we had to take some pressure off of him by running the ball. In those third down situations, we were 3rd-at-14 and that's not good enough. That's not all on the quarterback."
 
Running Back Gary Brightwell
 
On when they found out about Grant Gunnel not playing:
"We found out that Grant was not going to be playing around the Monday after he got hurt."
 
On Red Zone issues:
"It is frustrating, even you know that just from watching the game. We just need to execute. That's our biggest thing."
 
On where the team is mentally:
"We are still here. There is still a lot of business to do. We are not going anywhere and we are not backing down for anyone. We are locked in right now."
 
On Will Plummer's performance:
"I think Will did a great job. Especially coming in as a freshman, not expecting to play, he did an awesome job."
 
On Michael Wiley's performance:
"He blew me away. He was very decisive in his running. He wasted no time. Leading up to the game, he had a great week of practice. That might have helped him. Hopefully we can go back and do it next week."
 
Defensive Lineman Roy Lopez
 
On the defense summed up:
"I think we did good beside the big plays. We let up too many big plays. You take those away and that's a completely different game. We had a lot of missed tackles, including myself. I had a big one, so those are corrections that we need to continue to make."
 
On what Colorado did to make such big runs on Arizona:
"They were pretty much stacking us on. They were having a Tackle Over or a Tight end with a wing and then a bunch to the same side. They had a lot of blockers to the same side. That Running Back is good and the Quarterback is good so they played well."
 
On Anthony's first interception:
"It was nice. I have to give him pros. He is a leader, he is a veteran, he understands the game is long and the game is going to go on. We celebrated and he was the first person to say, 'Alright next play, we need to move on.'"
 
On what he tells the younger guys during this losing streak:
"I came from a school that doesn't win a lot either. I'm not going to say i'm experienced at losing but I just remind them to keep their heads up. This season is a little shorter but usually I will say that it's a long season, it's a long game. Each play counts, each play matters. The young guys that may be frustrated between not making a play or not playing, they just need to understand that it will be their time eventually. When their number is called they need to make a play. Just keep reminding them that, everyday counts, every play counts and every game counts."
 
Colorado head coach Karl Dorrell Quotes
 
Opening Statement:
"It didn't start out quite the way that I hoped. We had a little bit of a slow start where I think they were very challenging right from the start. They had a couple big runs and got up on some scores. Before we knew it, it was 13-nothing. We made some mistakes offensively where we were just out of rhythm. We threw a couple interceptions, which is uncharacteristic of us. But we ran the ball pretty well and I think by the time halftime rolled around we did find a way to get ourselves back in the game and we were actually leading at halftime 14-13.
 
"It just tells me a lot about this team. It was the first time this year that we've been down by at least two scores; two major scores. There wasn't any panic, there wasn't any concern that we were in trouble or that look that you get on players faces when they seem to lose confidence or something like that. I didn't sense that at all. There was more problem solving. Trying to find answers and solutions as we're on the sidelines making adjustments.
 
"Our defense did a nice job of kind of getting themselves back in control. Obviously the second half we shut them out. They had a couple of great opportunities to put points on the board. They went for a couple fourth down situations and the defense came up big. Particularly the one that was the second to the last drive of the game where they were inside the five yard line, I think it was first-and-goal at the three. They had a tackle for a loss play and obviously it was a fourth and five situation and we ended up creating a huge play. Then I asked the offense, I said "You know what? We need to go 95 yards here. We need points right here." We would've loved to have gotten seven points.
 
"I told Jarek as soon as he sheds that knee brace, he might have three touchdowns. You know with him still wearing that knee brace, he's obviously very productive and doing a great job. I was joking by the way with him. I'm so excited about what that kid does for us offensively. He creates such a spark plug for us.
 
"I was encouraged with a lot of things. Ashaad Clayton got some carries and got his first touchdown today. It was good to see that. All the backs played, all of them had production. On the defensive side, Nigel Bethel came in and had a big, big stop with an interception. That was a big play for a guy who hasn't had a lot of time. There have been a lot of really good positives of guys coming in and making some plays for us. It was a good team win. It wasn't the prettiest, but we got the job done, basically."
 
Can you talk about third downs for you guys. How big was the pressure that you guys were bringing tonight?
"We needed that. We wanted to get after their quarterback and create some havoc within the line of scrimmage and mess with his timing, things like that. That was huge. I thought our defense did some nice things in the passing situations, particularly on third down and fourth down. We had a few fourth down stops I believe, too. That was something that I think was huge for us. They were 0-2 on fourth down. It was complementary football in a lot of ways.
 
"There was some shakiness on both sides of the ball, but it seemed like either side kind of picked up the slack when one of the sides was struggling a bit. That was something that was really encouraging that this team has found a way to pull out wins. It wasn't easy being 13 down, but I'm really encouraged by what they've done."
 
After Sam's second interception, it looked like you were having a heated exchange on the sideline, could you go into detail what that was about and how you guys are doing now?
 "He's going to have to because I'm going to have heated discussions with everybody that makes a mistake. That's the nature of what I am and he knows that. It was a bad mistake. The things that I'm teaching him about being down in the red zone. You have to be a little bit more cautious with the football, you can't just throw it into places. Even though I think the receiver was open, it was just a poorly thrown ball, but it's one of those things. We're going to continue to have those discussions as long as I'm the head coach here. If I see something wrong, I'm going to address it right away. But he was pretty upset about it and that's part of the game. I think that's part of the competitiveness that we all have as coaches and players. We don't take anything personal from it, it's just the competitive nature of being in the game."