Sept. 10, 2005
Arizona State Head Coach Dirk Koetter
On the game:
"That was a hard way to go down. As a coach, all you can really do is ask your guys to compete as they can and our guys competed as hard as they could tonight. I'm very proud of how hard we competed. We had a couple of chances in the third quarter to put the game away and go up by two scores and maybe break it open, but we weren't able to do it. LSU turned it around and got ahead on us twice and we were able to come back both times. Even down the last fourth and ten I still thought we were going to come back and do what it took."
On the blocked field goal:
"On the field goal, there's a 10-point turnaround right there. If you go all the way back to the first extra point of the game where we went up 7-0 we were having penetration all night on the right side of our line. They had that one defensive tackle that we just couldn't get blocked. We were trying to make adjustments all night, but he was slipping in there on all those PATs. We tried to get it corrected, and again he came clean in the middle on the field goal and blocked it. It took a perfect bounce right to their guy. That was the play of the game."
On the blocked punt:
"On the punt, we were in a run-kick option. That's something we've been working on and we just had an assignment breakdown up front. That's one of those things where we had one guy who didn't turn back like he's supposed to and his man came clean and blocked the punt. If that one guy does what he's supposed to do Chris MacDonald might run for a first down or the other option was to kick it down in the right corner because we were trying to keep the ball out of Green's hands. There are going to be breakdowns in a game and some are much more costly than others. We did have two breakdowns in special teams that cost us. In those errors it was just a case where a blocker got beat by a rusher. A part of it is that you have to give the LSU players credit for making the plays. To make big plays against a team like LSU you've got to take some chances and you're never going to make big plays if you don't try them."
On ASU's defense up front:
"With two of our top three defensive linemen out tonight, that's just another thing I'm proud of. Those guys answered the scratch up front. Dale (Robinson) and Jamar (Williams) are always there when you need them. If you saw Dale down in the locker room right now he looks like what every coach tells his players should look like at the end of a game. Dale left everything he had out there on the field today."
On the fan support:
"I just want to say to our fans that I appreciate everybody supporting this game like they did. It was for a great cause. This team is going to win some games. Let's rally behind this team. We've got a heck of a football team and a bunch of competitors. We're going to keep getting better so let's fill this stadium up again next week."
Arizona State QB Sam Keller
On the final drive:
"They were playing deep coverage. Their safeties were watching my eyes. I got hit on two of the downs and their corner held Derek (Hagan) up. It was a tough drive."
On the resiliency of this team:
"We have one of the best offenses in the country. These are two of the Top 10 teams in the country in my opinion. We played a great game; I have to give a lot of credit to the offensive line. This is one of the best games that I have been in as far as competing goes. I just wish we had gotten the win."
Arizona State WR Derek Hagan
On feeling about the game:
"I felt we played a good game, four great quarters. We had two Top 15 teams playing out there. I take my hat off to LSU. We should have come out with a `W'."
On the play of the offense and defense:
"We have a great offense and defense. Our defense really showed up. We showed we could do it on the field, not just in practice."
On using several receivers:
"We knew we could put points on the board. We have so many guys that can mix it up."
On breaking John Jefferson's (career receptions) record:
"Right now I'm not really thinking about it. It is great to break the record. We didn't win the game though. If we had won the game it would have made getting the record better."
Arizona State LB Dale Robinson
"On the last series, we had everything going. The coach made some good calls. We had LSU down to fourth-down; they threw a `Hail Mary' and caught it. It was a good play on their behalf. We had two guys there who tried to make a play and they caught it. That's how it ended."
"Defensively I think we played real well. We made some mistakes, but overall, some questions were answered on the defense. They were going full speed and we were hustling to the ball. It's just disappointing when you lose like that when we played so tough. But there is nothing we can do about it."
"The reverse caught us off-guard. Other than that, we had them on third and longs and they were just making plays. Coach had us in the right positions; we just had to make the plays."
Arizona State TE Jamaal Lewis
"As a team, all we can do is learn from our mistakes, move on and hit the reset button. Anybody who watched this game can see the character of this year's team. A couple of years ago, we may have just lay down and stopped. This year we came back and fought until the last seconds."
"I think those special teams plays were the momentum turners when they scored those touchdowns. We were able to bounce back and answer; that was big on our part. We just weren't able to finish it in the end. For the most part, we contained our composure real well. We weren't shaky, but we were calm and relaxed. We just focused on our breathing and made plays."
LSU Head Coach Les Miles
"I really think that the players did a great job in this game. I felt like they could not come away without victory, would not be denied. They had great courage and no matter what obstacles were presented to them, they were going to find a way to win. We talked about putting on their helmets a decal that represented our home that was destroyed in some aspects and life changed. That was going to be an outward show and we talked about our effort being what we really wanted to show our country. I think that we did. It was not a perfect game, but Arizona State is a heck of a ball club and played extremely well. But the LSU Tigers were not going to be denied. I think my coaches did a great job of preparing for this game and we are thrilled."
"Within the scheme that we employed as coaches, our players would not be denied. Our players won this game. It was a specific effort that they had that said, 'There's no way we are leaving here without victory.' I'd like to tell you that we had the double-roll called. I liked to tell you that certainly after we blocked the field goal we had the other guy ready to catch it and run it back for the touchdown. And of course, after we tackled the punter and it bounced, we always have a scoop-and-score guy back there ready to roll. Our players would not be denied."
On the fourth-down touchdown:
"It was an old double-roll that you've seen on Sundays many, many times. It was a ad-lib and a guy with a very strong arm. Our man got open in the end zone and that was it."
On the logo for the back of the helmet:
"We had a three-state area that was affected most significantly by the hurricane. We had the fleur-de-lis, which is reminiscent of southern Louisiana and we had the American flag on the back of our helmets."
On the special-teams blocks:
"We felt like we could get pressure on special teams. Throughout the week, we looked at film and talked about attacking B-gaps. The B-gap that we wanted to attack they had done a good job of defending and it was really the other B-gap that came clean. We ran right through, got a hand on the ball, and we scored. Then they fake a punt and we score again."
On the distractions leading into the game:
"Our team has had the longest camp in the history of camps. It has been surrounded by a real-life trauma. This is not a made-for-TV movie. This was a real-life trauma where friends and family had to stay in the dorms and the town swelled to take the New Orleans evacuees. We are treating people that are injured and disadvantaged 200 yards from our stadium. We have a scrimmage and Blackhawk helicopters are flying people from New Orleans over our heads into the Pete Maravich Athletic Center so that they can be triaged and moved to other areas. It was a terrible distraction, but this team had tremendous balance. They stepped across the white lines for two hours every day and they played football, and they played it hard. They wanted this game for the people back home. We are thrilled. I am looking forward to the rest of this season and this was a great start."
On the feeling of wanting to play at home:
"The guys in the helicopter that flew overhead. They looked in that stadium and said, 'I'd like to be there one day. I would guess that a lot of the people in Louisiana, and the Gulf region, kept their eye on the Tigers tonight."
On what he said to the team after the game:
"Our coaching staff really enjoyed being a part of that effort. What they set out to do, they did. If they play with that kind of heart, we'll have a lot of victories in front of us."
LSU LT Andrew Whitworth
On the team's effort:
"It was team character. That's all you can say about it. The things the team has been through the last four or five weeks and the way we overcame that, the way we tried to do what we could to help there, it is kind of reminiscent of how the team is playing. We came out, we were shaky, it was our first game and the guys came out and just overcame every bit of it and made enough plays to win the ballgame. You can't say enough about the overall play of the team."
On the team's first game:
"If you talk to any good coach they will tell you that the biggest difference in your team is from the first game to the second game and for us it was coming into that first game and trying to be ready to play and be ready for your second game and your first. It was a tough situation, but the team came in and played well, but little tiny things were killing us and that is something that this team will be able to work on and we're extremely proud to be where we are at and see the team character that we have."
LSU SS Craig Steltz
On what the game meant to the State of Louisiana:
"With all that stuff happening and plus us even having to come to Arizona State to play an away game, it was just a lot of stuff that we had to put behind us to bring the state together. We just wanted to get the victory to take the people's minds off the hurricane and to have something to cheer for."
On the defense not being able to get to ASU late in the game:
"We had a couple of soft spots and they were just making good plays against the calls we had. We have an off week coming up this week and that is going to be something that we improve on and get ready for Tennessee."
LSU RB Joseph Addai
On the team going for the win:
"We have been in situations like this before. Just staying together as a team through four quarters and working as a unit."
On momentum change:
"Believing in each other, trusting each other. We have been working really hard for this and there is no way we were going back home with a loss."
On being emotionally drained:
"We made a lot of mistakes and that is expected for the first game. We are going to go home and work on those mistakes to become better."
On the play of special teams:
"It was a wake up call for the offense. The defense was doing its job all day and it was time for the offense to come together."
LSU QB JaMarcus Russell
On the last touchdown:
"We were going for another play and by the grace of God we scored a touchdown. The offensive line gave me enough time to get the job done."
On the extra motivation:
"Yes, because of the hurricane and all the practicing we have been doing. We were ready for this game."
LSU DT Kyle Williams
On the last touchdown:
"It was a crazy game and I have never been involved in a game like this. It's good to come to Tempe and play against a good team that had one game up on us. We fought hard on both ends and we were fortunate to come away with a win."
"We you come here and play against a Top 15 team like Arizona State, that pitches and catches well, you know its going to be a challenge when this was our first game, but the team responded well, and executed when we had to."
"In the first half we did a good job getting into the back field, but in the second half Arizona States offensive line did a good job protecting that it confused us by scheming there pass offensive."
LSU WR Early Doucet
On the last touchdown:
"We had a lot of big players step up in the first half, and they helped me out a lot by keeping my head up after I dropped a few passes in the first half."
"With the recent hurricane, we felt a little down, but we did a great job rebounding, we all come together and pulled through these tough times."
"We practiced a lot on scramble drills this week in practice, we learned how to adjust our routes, it just happened that JaMarcus Russell, and I were on the same page, it just happened that JaMarcus Russell, and I were on the same page to make a big play to win the game."
"I got behind the coverage because I had to adjust my route, I was open but I noticed that JaMarcus was flushed out of the pocket, I kind of came over to the other end of the end zone and we hooked up for the score."