University of Washington - Home

Oct. 10, 2009

Recap |  Final Stats |  Notes |  Photo Gallery 1  |  Photo Gallery 2  |  Photo Gallery 3  |  AP Photo Gallery 

Washington Head Coach Steve Sarkisian
On what the team did well against Arizona and how they were able to come back in the fourth quarter: "We're growing as a football team. We're growing in the simple fact that we obviously weren't pretty tonight. That third quarter was evidence of that. That was some sloppy football, to say the least. But what our kids did tonight - which is something we didn't do last week - we kept competing. We kept battling. And not only that, we were doing things right. We locked back in. We kept doing things the right way and we weren't making things up. That's the power of playing really hard, believing that you're going to make those plays and doing things right. Our kids did that in that fourth quarter. They hung in there, got some huge stops in the red zone by our defense. Offensively, the drive to go down the field, the catch by Kavario [Middleton] was a great catch. And as big of a play as that was for Mason Foster, the play really started with Victor Aiyewa, who went and took away the initial bubble screen that made the quarterback pull the ball down and then throw a little unbalanced. That obviously ended up happening to what happened - the ball kicked off his foot. It's a credit to Mason. It's something we've been talking about. Just keep playing. Make the officials rule the play dead. For us to score on defense three weeks in a row is obviously a great stat. I think it's the first time it's ever been done. I'm just proud of our guys, because we're understanding the power of belief. We're understanding the power of continuing to battle, continuing to do things right. We're understanding in this conference that it's never over. These games are physical, they're hard. Every game is hard. But just keep competing, keep battling, and sooner or later, good things are going to happen."

On the Mason Foster play in the fourth quarter and whether he knew it was a live ball: "I knew immediately. Gosh, I went as crazy as probably anybody did. Then I started thinking to myself, `Oh, don't get a penalty for being on the field.' So I had to make a left-hand turn and get back on the sideline. But I saw it right away and I just wanted to make sure when Mason caught it that he ran and didn't look around and then get caught and get tackled. I saw it right away. I had a great view of it."

On whether he thought the Mason Foster touchdown ruling might get overturned: "Well, I wasn't worried about it that time. I'm sure I would have... But it was so clear to me, the way it hit his foot. It was evident."

On whether he had any thought of calling an on-side kick after Kavario's fourth quarter touchdown: "We kept looking at the clock and I think there was 2:55 on the clock, we had two timeouts, and I just ... We just talked as a staff briefly and we had belief in our defense. We were bending, but not breaking. There were opportunities there. I thought we had gotten better at our formation recognition, at seeing what was coming, and we wanted to put the pressure back on them. If we onside kick right there, it becomes a `that's our one-shot' type play and by kicking it deep, you put the pressure back on them. You let our defense go play with two timeouts and see what happens."

On the team's improvement in red zone defense: "I think it's just execution. It's not panicking. Credit to Nick [Holt], it's not trying too hard on defense and just all-out blitzing and giving up easy things. It's hanging in there. The field gets short, it's hard to complete balls down there. And then it's tackling when they're inside the 10, and our guys did that again tonight."

Washington Tight End Kavario Middleton
On the win: "It is great. I don't really know how to explain a win like that, but it just feels so great to pull out a win when everyone probably thinks you can't."

On being 2-1 in the Pac-10: "It feels great. Especially after last season it feels so great to be able to control our own destiny in the Pac-10."

On what he saw in the defense on his touchdown catch: "The safety went and played the post and I just ran behind him to the front corner of the end zone. I was wide open and Jake [Locker] saw me."

Washington Defensive End Daniel Te'o-Nesheim
On winning on a defensive touchdown: "I am just so happy. I knew a lot of people out there were hanging their heads and thought the game was over, but everybody on the field was ready to get the ball back and score. Mason [Foster] just made the play we knew someone would make."

The feeling of the defense on the last drive: "That drive was all about focus. That was one of the loudest I have ever heard husky stadium. When it is that loud you really cannot hear anyone on the field and you have to go off instinct. I think that drive was all about our focus on defense."

On the second to last drive when Mason jumped the screen and forced the quarterback out of the pocket: "We didn't really talk about it on the sideline before the drive. I don't really know what happened. The only thing I can say is that it was just Mason [Foster] being awesome."

Washington Receiver James Johnson
On being 2-1 in the Pac-10: "It feels great. This is my first year so I can't really say anything about last year, but I am just happy with the way everything has gone this season. We are progressing so much and playing together as a unit. We are getting wins, and most importantly we are just playing like a family."

On the feeling in the huddle on the last offensive touchdown drive: "We were just trying to make plays. Obviously I dropped two passes, but I knew I just had to stay in the game mentally and stay focused. The feeling was great. Jake [Locker] is a great player, and he does what any great quarterback does, he kept us together when we had to be together and he made big plays. I can't even describe the way I felt when he completed the touchdown to Kavario [Middleton].

Arizona Head Coach Mike Stoopes
On the feeling of losing in the last few minutes: "It's a tough loss, obviously. Disappointing in a lot of different ways. Just a lot of errors in the last four minutes of the game."

On the play call for the Foster INT: "It's a run. Something that we were doing all night. It's an either/or play, like everybody. He's doing what he's supposed to do. That's our fault for leaving the option for him to do that. That falls on me and our coaches. It's disappointing. It's just a freak play."

On Arizona's performance: "We played probably good enough to win. Just made the bad plays there."

On the productive passing offense by Arizona: "Nick [Foles] did a great job of distributing the ball to all of our receivers. Dave [Roberts] seemed to be the open guy and was very involved with our offense and played awfully well. I thought Nick played awfully well most of the night, too."

On Arizona's effort: "Our kids gave it everything they had. We just couldn't finish."

Arizona Receiver David Roberts
On the Game: "Tough loss. Some crazy plays happened at the end, but it's not one play that loses a game, it's a bunch of plays. It's just a tough loss."

On the success of the passing game: "I guess it was just finding holes in the zone and playing hard."

On his emotions after the loss: "Very tough, very tough. When you lose a game like that at the end it hurts, especially when you play so hard all game. All you can do is move on and get ready for next week."

On if the ball went off his shoe: "I don't know. You have to go off what's called."

Arizona Quarterback Nick Foles
On the game: "Disappointed, we had a lot of chances throughout the game to capitalize on touchdowns and we didn't, and we came away with field goals. When you do that on the road you're not going to win games."

On the crucial pick-six: "Just a weird bounce that went their way. It's just a crazy thing, I don't know how to explain it. I threw the ball low, then it went off his hands and then off his foot. They got a lucky bounce."

On the success of the passing game: "We threw for a lot of yards, and that was part the recievers going out and getting the ball and doing a good job at that. The line did a good job giving me time. The big thing was that in the red zone we didn't get in the end zone. That was the big thing that lost it for us."

Arizona Safety S Corey Hall
On the game: "We felt like we had the game won, we just came out there and needed to make a stop on defense and couldn't make it. Then we made foolish penalties at the end. I felt like we lost that game ourselves, and we could have done a whole lot better at the end with our decision making and how we played."

On the offense: "They played great overall there was just one little play that you wouldn't even think would happen but it did. At the same time, this game is about inches, and when we needed it we couldn't get it done."