Joel Klatt Quotations

We're going to be under the microscope every time we step on the field, and the way we silence it is if we go out there and win. I can't wait to get out there and show the country what kind of football team we are.

My lifestyle wasn't great in baseball, and I'm much happier now. After spending three years in the minors, getting a chance to play at Colorado was a dream come true for me.

Obviously (two weekends ago), with the in-state boys (Colorado State) coming down here, we weren't thinking anywhere past Sept. 3,

People will know about us and our game come Saturday night. ... We don't need recognition now. Hopefully afterwards people will know who we are and how we play.

I can literally see Jeremy almost start to laugh at that whole idea. He's always kind of defied, not necessarily logic, but the norm. He's going to do what his heart tells him to do and what's best for him and those around him.

building up all week. The intensity has definitely picked up quite a bit.

But after that game, I knew it was up to the seniors to make sure no one was looking past New Mexico State - especially with the type of team Miami has been the last few years. I know that everyone on our team is very excited to get this opportunity to play them at their place.

I think it's important to most of us because of exactly what it provides to the whole program. Obviously, the whole department gets a little national respect. Hopefully, we go down there and put together a solid effort and get recognized on a national stage where we feel we belong.

I think we've made tremendous strides in the passing game from last year. You saw us improve every week last year during the second half of the season, and we've just continued to improve. So hopefully we can start right there this season and have a big year.

I think that you have to approach every game the same. I've said that a lot during my career and I really believe that.

We have to open up because of the number of weapons we have.

We knew our defense would improve, and people failed to realize that our offensive line was returning. We've laid some real eggs this season, but this week we felt like we turned a huge corner.

We seemed to move the ball OK. And we'd have our opportunities at first down and things like that, but they really played well. ... We've just got to learn from our mistakes. You can't make mistakes against Miami.

We just stuck together and decided to fight our way through, put our heads down ... way back two springs ago. I think that has carried on all the way through. Last year's seniors taught this team how to work hard, how to not worry about what's going on around them, (to) just focus on internal issues.

We crossed our 40, and at that point, I feel our percentages go up a ton because of Mason. We've got tremendous confidence in him.

The same guys being in the flow of the action, being game fresh. . . . It's little things like that that I believe will help us. But it also goes a lot of layers deep, guys being a year older, guys practicing more, everybody concentrating more.

Team-wise, it's such an important game for us because we know how well CSU plays against us,

As a senior, it's been exciting because I would love for this team to start a legacy, another streak in the polls. And hopefully people point to this week as being that week.

Absolutely. I put a lot of things on my shoulders, especially after losses. Going out your senior year with the coach leaving, it's a hard pill to swallow. Coach Barnett would kill me for saying that, but it's just the way I feel about things.

It's not something that I wanted to hear, but I am going to go with whatever the doctors and trainers say first. The timing of it is such that I haven't been able to practice and so the coaches have to do what's best for the team.

It was hard for me to see coach Barnett trashed like that in the national media. Anyone who's actually gone and talked to him or had the chance to sit in one of our meetings where he blasts us about our behavior and doing the right thing knows he's not like that.

I'm definitely preparing myself to go out there and take all of the snaps on Saturday.

And I know they (CSU) always get jacked up and want to come down here and beat us. We know we're going to get their best effort, so we've got to play hard. And personally, just growing up in Colorado, it's been a pleasure to be a part of it now for the last three years. Hopefully, we'll come out with a victory.