Crowton Prepares for Colorado State at Tucanos BYU Coaches Luncheon

PROVO -- BYU head coach Gary Crowton addressed media at the Tucanos BYU Coaches Luncheon Tuesday afternoon. Following are excerpts from his opening statement as well as the question and answer session with the media.

Opening Statement

"Again, I'm very happy for the win. It's tough to go out on the road and play no matter who it's against. We felt like they had a very good team. They were a very physical team. They started out the game strong. It was one of the most interesting games, just different types of games I've ever been in because the offense wasn't on the field at all the first quarter except for about two minutes of the fifteen. The second quarter became more normal. But it was just interesting because we fumbled and they had a drive. We stopped them on the drive and they kicked the field goal and it goes all the way back for a touchdown so the defense comes right back out. The second time that happened. They had a nice drive and then they throw an interception and we return it for a touchdown, so the defense goes right back out. The offense was hardly playing and we're still winning, which is very unusual. But I did believe this; the second half of that game was one of the best halves we've played, offense, defense and special teams. I really was impressed with the way we played in the second half. We were a little bit beat up from the Air Force game defensively, especially up front. We were able to get those guys out the game and heal up. Hopefully that will help us for this Thursday game. Colorado State is a very good football team. They were picked to win the conference and they have played very well of late. Their quarterback situation has really settled down with Van Pelt taking over as the quarterback. Their secondary and their line has been very solid all year long. They had a chance to beat Fresno State, but they didn't, and then they beat a good Utah team last week, so they're feeling pretty good about themselves at this time. They only have one conference loss so this is a huge game for them as it is for us."

Q: Are you aware of the Rams' record in November under Sonny Lubick, it's something like 17-3? What would you attribute something like that to?

A: Well there's two things I learned in being up there in Colorado. Number one is anyone that comes from warm weather climate is at a disadvantage. And anybody that is at a lower altitude climate is at a disadvantage. BYU's similar, I'm sure LaVell has won a few games up in the cold weather, I remember him going up and beating Colorado State when I was a player. I don't think that will hurt us as much as it will other teams. Of course we have this one at home. I don't think that will hurt them either. I think Sonny Lubick does an outstanding job in coaching. His staff does a very good job, they're very well coached. They make plays when they need to make them. They're always close in the game. They never let themselves get out of the game too far, so they have a chance to come back and win in the game.

Q: How has the outcome last year in this game affected your players' mindset in this game?

A: The year before last BYU beat Colorado State pretty good. Last year, Colorado State beat BYU pretty good. After talking to the coaches and some of the players, I don't think there is a revenge factor or any of that. I don' t think that's the case. But I do think there is a very strong respect for the ability of Colorado State, which helps us in preparation. It should motivate us to be prepared because we know we're going up against a very good football team. I think that's the biggest thing about them beating BYU last year is we know they're very capable of doing that again if we're not well prepared.

Q: With the national situation, how do you make sure your team doesn't lose focus with the national television exposure and other things?

A: Every time you have national recognition, two things happen. It's a great motivator for your opposing team and the other thing is we want to make sure we play within the framework of what we do. Don't try and be a superstar outside of the framework, just do as good as you can within the schemes that are set forth to you. Let those schemes free you up or whoever up that is provided the opportunity. That's what we're talking about in our meetings and in our preparation.

Q: How much option do you think you are going to see from them?

A: Probably some. He's a pretty good runner. We anticipate that he'll do some option. I actually think we're pretty good against the option. I thought we did great job in the one game against Air Force. Outside of the one play in New Mexico, I think we've done well against the option. We have pretty good ends who can get out there and string it out. We anticipate they'll do some, we've got to work at it and hopefully we'll be ready for it.

Q: How similar is their defensive scheme to New Mexico?

A: They're not the same as New Mexico. New Mexico is a lot different. They don't really do a lot on defense. What they do complements all the things. They usually disguise and they play two cover, all of a sudden they run blitz or go man. It all looks the same and causes you problems. They do a very good job of that. When I looked at the film it looked just like Tampa Bay. I think they visited there, it looks very similar to them. I thought Tampa was very basic, but they're good at what they do. They fly around to the ball. I think that's what Colorado State does well. They stunt well. It causes disruptions to your blocking schemes.

Q: They get a lot of credit for their special teams. Is that the most challenging thing you have to prepare for?

A: They do have outstanding special teams. I think we've been very solid on our special teams. Our kickoff cover was our biggest concern and we've made some big plays on special teams. We've got a fake punt for a big play, we have a blocked kick for a big play. We've had some good punt returns. We've put the ball inside their 20. Our special teams have been pretty good also. I think this will be a battle of field position. They've got an outstanding punter and so do we. He might have more yards than ours but ours is pretty good at putting it in that coffin corner. I think the special teams are going to be very close. Hopefully we'll be aggressive and play well because they're in our home place.

Q: Is their special teams better than their offense or defense?

A: I think they're just sound all the way through. I think they take a lot of pride in being sound in all areas. Their offense isn't the type, which tries to be super-explosive. They can be ball control but they take chances at times. I think the disruption of changing quarterbacks in the middle kind of set their offense back a little bit. Their offense at the end of last year was pretty explosive. This year it hasn't been as explosive, but it's getting better all the time now that the quarterback's getting more and more comfortable with the offense. They're getting better and better around him.

Q: Does the short week come into play?

A: The short week is very interesting. We both had two physical games. We traveled in our game and they didn't, they were at home. But they travel to our place, which has to hurry up their week for their travel plans. It gives us just a little bit more time. In our preparation, on a Tuesday, we're doing things that we normally do on Wednesday or Thursday. You just have to speed everything up, but it's the same for both teams. Hopefully, we'll be hard for them to prepare for and some of our guys have gone against their team before and hopefully that will help us.

Q: Can you talk a little bit about your time as a player at Colorado State?

A: I enjoyed it. Fort Collins was a good place. It was a good time in my life. I spent two and a half years there. I've been in that locker room, I've been in that practice room, I've been on that practice field and I've been on their game field. I have some familiarity with the University that hopefully I can share some insight with our guys. I know this will be a big game for them coming here. It always was for us.

Q: You played in one game against BYU right?

A: It was two. We played one here, I was a defensive back and returned punts. The year before, I was a backup quarterback and played in the game. BYU beat us 63-17.

Q: Could you talk about Jason Scukanec and Scott Jackson and the tradeoff in that?

A: Jason may be ready to go. I saw him yesterday and he's questionable. He did some weight work with a brace on. There's a good chance he'll go. I'm not ready to rule him out yet, but Jackson got some very valuable playing experience in the last game against a very good noseguard, Heywood, he's a very good player. That was very good and he did an outstanding job. I think you lose experience when Scukanec's not there. Jackson is a little bigger now than Scukanec, but I think they're both outstanding. I like the communication that Scukanec gives you, he's just a very good communicator to the other five guys. Jackson's getting there. Jackson can also play tackle and it gives us more depth when he can be versatile like that. We have some guards that are playing pretty good.