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VALERO ALAMO BOWL: OKLAHOMA STATE v ARIZONADecember 29, 2010Nick FolesRobert GoldenMike StoopsSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS Oklahoma State – 36 THE MODERATOR: We have Arizona for the postgame press conference. Questions, please. Q. Nick, three interceptions. What did their defense do particularly problematic for the passing game? NICK FOLES: They did what we studied. They were moving around a lot and did a good job of mixing stuff up. It was on me. Those balls just weren't good throws. One was too low, one I threw it too late. On my part, just wasn't a good job on those passes. Q. Coach, what type of effect could this loss have on this program as far as a national scope is concerned? COACH STOOPS: Well, it's hard to say. Obviously we're not there yet. There's still a lot of room for improvement in a lot of different areas. We have to reevaluate, you know, all aspects of our program: coaching, philosophy, personnel. That's obviously the most important part. It's unfortunate. I thought we prepared well. We should have played better than we did. Turnovers were certainly a big part of it. Just lack of execution is a big part of it. Like I say, I don't know. We'll have to reevaluate a lot of things we're doing within our program. It's hard to say. It's disappointing we didn't play better in back-to-back Bowl games. We lost to two really good football teams. There are no excuses. They played better than we did. They were a better team than we were tonight. It's disappointing. I just know we're better than the way we've played here of late. For whatever reason, we didn't finish very strong. Q. Robert, what was Blackmon like in person? Was he what you saw on film? ROBERT GOLDEN: Yes, he was a great receiver, had great technique. I feel like we held him down pretty much, just getting one big play for 71 yards. Other than that, he didn't do too much. He's a great receiver. He's one of the best. Q. What did that play do? ROBERT GOLDEN: The defense and the offense, we always get a chance to come back and compete. We never was really out of the game. We kept trying to fight, and they just made more plays than we did. Q. Coach, did you sense when they took the interception back for a touchdown like that was a wind out of the sails? COACH STOOPS: No. I thought our defense was playing well. Obviously we busted a coverage on the long touchdown. I thought we could fight our way back in the game because I thought our defense matched up well. I thought we would be able to give ourselves a chance to get back in the game. I thought the couple scoring drives before the half, not getting points, really hurt us. We had a couple opportunities there. You know, the play before the half, I thought it was 4th and 25. That was my fault. Again, I thought offensive interference lost a down. So we just missed those opportunities to close it to a two-score game. I don't know, offensively we struggled every gain getting down to the 30 yard line and not being able to push the ball any further. That was a story of a big part of our season offensively. But defensively I thought we'd be able to give ourselves a chance to get back in the game. Q. Coach, how do you put a wrap on this once-promising season where two months ago you stood at 7-1? COACH STOOPS: Well, it's hard to say. I mean, again, there's good in every season and there's bad. Obviously the end. I don't know. Those are questions, obviously disappointed we didn't finish. We played a schedule on the back end. Again, there's no disgrace in losing to the quality teams we did. Again, I'm proud of our players. I'm proud of what we've accomplished up until this point. You know, it's disappointing we didn't go further. But, again, we have to do some things to get better as a program, and that's universal. That's not just me, it's not just the players. This is a philosophy that it takes to win in big-time athletics. That's what we're in. Again, I'm really proud of our players, what they do on a consistent basis. Now, we're far from perfect, all of us in this room. So I'm not going to criticize my players. They play hard and they prepare well and they're a very disciplined group of guys that I enjoy. So we'll retool, regroup, and bounce back. We did this year, but everyone thought, again, we lost a bunch of guys. But tomorrow I'll be excited about the future. We got good players in this program, certainly some good quarterbacks to build this team around. Again, our players will fight back and we'll try to do a better job next year. Q. Coach, you talked about busted coverage on the play. Was the safety supposed to be there? Did the corner think he was supposed to be behind him? COACH STOOPS: We were rolling that side, pushing our coverage over to Blackmon. It was just a mental mistake. Q. Nick, coming back to Texas, coming into this game, what were your feelings playing back in Texas? NICK FOLES: I was excited just to be in my home state, real close to where I grew up, play in a place that I played three times my senior year. It was exciting to go out there. I didn't play near as well as I wanted to. The outcome wasn't what we wanted. He worked hard. The guys fought and gave everything they had on the field. Like Coach said, the mistakes were too much to overcome. That's on me, on everybody on the team. We win as a team; we lose as a team. We'll move forward and have a great off-season, be back next year. Q. Coach, talk about the 2011 campaign. Can you give us a short list of your priorities you think could change before 2011? COACH STOOPS: Obviously, our ability to run the football or identify with the run game is something that offensively we need to do a better job more consistently. If we're going to have our big sets, then our big players need to play big. For whatever reason, we've struggled this back end of the season running the football; play-action passes need to be set up off the run. That's what we like to do. But we need to get better at that. Again, we need to run the ball better, more efficiently offensively. Defensively, again, I thought replacing those two defensive ends, we have some great interior players, young players. I think we have some great secondary guys. I think we have all the linebackers back. So, again, I'm excited about what we're doing philosophy-wise defensively. We may need to retool some things. But, again, I think we have a great nucleus of players coming back. We lose some great ones every year. That's what happens. But, again, all these guys sitting at the table tonight will be back. Again, we have some great players. We'll see what Juron does, but I think Dan Buckner can be an immediate impact guy to add to an already great stable of wide receivers. Again, I'm encouraged by what we have coming back. Change is good every year. We all go through it. But we'll compete. Like I say, our players, we'll get better. I'm sure the PAC-10 is going to be just as competitive as it is. But we'll match up. I'm confident of that. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. End of FastScripts |
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