Washington at Arizona Arizona Stadium | Sat., Nov. 15, 2014 Postgame Quotes Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez On the team getting to full intensity: " I am just proud of our guys for playing 60 minutes. We talk a lot about not being average because we want our guys to feel special and elite. As a football player or football program, your status is based on wins. No matter how you win, you're considered better than average when you do. I'm proud of our guys and this team. Coming out of high school, they may not have been the special recruits, but I think they're pretty special." On the fumble forced by Tra'Mayne Bondurant: "I didn't have as clear of a view on the fumble. I thought it was out and it was a clear recovery, so if they called it a fumble, it was our ball. We still had to have the defense ready, but after seeing it, I was still getting the first call ready." On conditioning causing fourth quarter comebacks: "I think that conditioning is always a factor, but they played hard all the way until the end, too. Our guys are in good shape and our strength staff gets a lot of credit for that. We aren't a big team, physically, so it should be easier for us to be in shape than a team that is bigger. I think that is part of it and that ours guys believe now that how we practice and approach things allows us to play as hard as possible. We have a lot of guys playing a lot of plays. When you have guys playing 100 plays on offense or defense that's a lot, and they are doing pretty well with it." On thinking about playoffs and bowls: "I think they are aware of it, but we don't talk about it a lot. This week I talked a lot about not being average, but being special. I don't worry about our guys thinking too far down the road because I think they worry about just getting through practice. You want to see them focus on getting better. My coaching staff does a great job, and I think I have the best staff in the country. We don't even talk about the win today because we talk about getting ready for the next play." On safety Jared Tevis: "Jared Tevis is just a tough guy. He is a great football player that loves to play, and I have a bunch of guys that love to play.” Arizona redshirt junior kicker Casey Skowron On the game‐winning kick: "It felt fantastic. Any time we get a chance to hit a field goal and we make it is a great win. Anytime we win a game, I’m happy whether it’s off of a field goal, whether it’s a blowout or whether it’s off of a last‐minute touchdown. It doesn’t matter how we get the win as long as we get it." On the fake field goal: "The fake was something we’ve been working on all week. It was a type of fake that we knew we were going to run and it was just a matter of getting the ball in the right area. I just put my head down, waited for the snap and I was ready to go.” On the moments leading up to the kick and being ‘iced’: "Every time I kick, I think about the USC game, but part of being a great kicker is being able to overcome things that have happened in the past and just go on to the next kick. It was just about making that kick. I wasn’t necessarily expecting (icing), but I knew it was a possibility. I actually heard the whistle blow before I took the kick so I was kind of relaxed and I think that might have been a factor in why it went wide. You always know it’s a possibility, especially after the USC game, but I wasn’t necessarily expecting it." Arizona senior safety Jourdon Grandon On winning dramatic games: "It’s gone down to the wire before but that’s the definition of a good team, when you find ways to win and pull it out. We’ve just come miles since the beginning of Coach Rodriguez’s era. You never know what can happen. Football is a crazy game and that’s why it’s not played on paper. You just have to keep playing as hard as you can and good things will happen for you." Arizona senior safety Tra’Mayne Bondurant On forcing the last fumble: "It was just one of those plays where I saw a guy still running so I took the ball out of his hands and it was a great play. I knew we had time outs so I understood that they were going to run a couple plays, so we just wanted to buckle down as a defense and make sure we knew what we had to do to stop them and make sure that we got the ball back to our offense and it worked out. I saw the opportunity and I took it, but like I said it wasn’t just me, it was my team.” Washington head coach Chris Peterson Opening statement: "We played how the game is supposed to be played. You go out there and play hard. You play every snap and that's what they did. When you do that and give yourself the chance to win that doesn't mean you're always going to win, but you give yourself the chance; they did all of that. If you make too many errors, too many penalties, and too many fumbles that will catch up with you. Eventually, it will slip away. But I am proud of how hard they fought." On losing in the final seconds: "We all feel it and we are all suffering from the loss. It's not just one play though. I appreciate how hard the guys played today. We came out with passion and a fighting spirit." On starting strong in the first half but losing: "That's how the game goes. Arizona is a good team and that's why I'm so proud of them for competing hard and giving everything they had. We played well enough to have the chance of winning. We didn't have enough of the details taken care of there's no doubt about that, but we'll continue to compete that hard and practice hard." On penalties: "They were painful and I don't know what else to say. There were a lot of them and we have to coach them better and clean them up. We just have to play smarter in crucial situations." Washington senior wide receiver Kasen Williams On the game: "We worked so hard in practice this week, and it was probably our best week of practice so far this season. Everybody really wanted this win, but sometimes you don't end up on the right end of the game. I'm proud of everybody though, it has been a tough season. It was a good game and we just got beat by a good team" On the early offensive success: “The play calling, our quarterback and our receivers were catching everything. We were clicking how we wanted to at first, and it really showed.” Washington senior linebacker Hau’Oli Kikaha On playing well for most of the game but still losing: "It’s really frustrating, especially that fake field goal for a touchdown. It’s a little crushing, but we still had opportunities later in the game and we didn’t execute.” On how to respond after a game like this: "Everybody has a game like this. It is a team effort, so you can't blame it all on one guy. Everything just accumulated throughout the game." Washington senior defensive end Andrew Hudson On how to react to a game like this: "Confused, and there were definitely a lot of emotions in the game. It was one of the best games we played, and it was great cause everyone was in it and ready. Every single drive was live while on the sideline. Everyone who was wearing a Washington jersey was out there today it felt like." On playing against Arizona’s offense: "They got some huge plays here and there early on, but all you can do is execute your job and keep playing. Hats off to them though, too, they kept fighting and it went their way."
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