UTAH STATE FOOTBALL PLAYER QUOTES – 09-27-11

Utah State has three players from Provo, Utah, and one who attended BYU for one year as a track & field student-athlete, and they talked to the media about playing BYU Friday.AUSTIN ALDER, SENIOR WIDE RECEIVERProvo, Utah (Provo HS)ON BOUNCING BACK FROM DIFFICULT LOSSES AND PREPARING FOR BYU:”It was a tough loss as you all know. As a team, we just have to come together, bounce back from it and we are ready to play BYU. We are excited.””It’s hard. I still think people are hurting from the Auburn game and then Colorado State was even worse. We have trust in our teammates. We have trust in our coaches, and the next time this happens we are going to be able to make that play. Just repetition, practicing better and all of that is all going to pay off in the end.”ON IF IT IS SPECIAL GOING BACK HOME TO PROVO TO PLAY BYU:”Yes, I would have to say it is. It’s fun to go back and play in front of your home crowd. All my family is from Provo, and I have countless people I know on the BYU team. I definitely want to go out there and get a win. Half of their team is from Timpview High School, and that is my rival high school so I know a lot of those guys. Also my best friend Chris Collinsworth is on their basketball team. We always go at it every time we play, which is a lot of fun.”MCKADE BRADY, JUNIOR SAFETY(Cove, Utah/Sky View HS – ran track at BYU in 2009 before transferring to USU)ON STARTING COLLEGE AT BYU AND NOW PLAYING AGAINST THEM:”Yes I have a lot of friends there. I have a lot of people watching me, and I just want to do my best in front of the people I know. Obviously it is a big rivalry game so we have got to play well, and it is on ESPN, national tv, so it is a big game for us.”ON BOUNCING BACK FROM COLORADO STATE LOSS:”It’s hard losing a game like that in a close one, but it is easy to get up for an in-state rivalry game at the same time. Also, being on national tv, I don’t think we are going to have a hard time getting motivated for this game.”ON BYU’S OFFENSE:”They have some great weapons. I know JJ DiLuigi is a really good player. They have got some great wide receivers, they look really talented. Their offensive line is always huge so they are really talented all the way around. Their quarterback Jake Heaps is a good player. All around they are a good offense from what I have seen so far.”ON HAVING FRIENDS ON BYU’S FOOTBALL AND TRACK TEAMS:”I have a couple friends on the football team. J.D. Falslev is up there, he played with me in high school. Other than that it is mostly track people and some basketball players that I lived with.”ON TALKING WITH J.D. FALSLEV ABOUT FRIDAY’S GAME:”I haven’t talked to J.D. yet. I’ll probably talk to him a little bit before the game. Last year, I saw him before the game and talked to him a little bit and then talked to him again after. That is probably what I am going to do again.”ON J.D. FALSLEV’S PLAY:”Yes I noticed he has been returning the ball well, and he gets some time in the slot position. He looks like he is doing pretty well down there.”TRAVIS VAN LEEUWEN, SOPHOMORE WIDE RECEIVERProvo, Utah (Timpview HS)ON IF HE’S LIVED IN PROVO HIS WHOLE LIFE:”I grew up in Salt Lake, and later when I grew up we moved to Provo.”ON BEING EXCITING FOR THE BYU GAME:”I’m really excited; it is going to be a blast. Anytime you get to go and play in front of your hometown in front of all these fans in that big stadium; it is a blast. It is going to be a lot of people watching, my family will be there and a lot of friends. So it is going to be fun to go back where I came from and play, especially against a team like BYU as well. We are excited to go.”ON IF HE WANTED TO PLAY FOR BYU:”It was a team that I definitely looked at because they recruited me since my sophomore year of high school. Ever since I got recruited by Coach Andersen I knew I always wanted to play for Coach Andersen no matter where he was. Back in high school, I really liked Utah the most, then he got the job here and I wanted to come here without a doubt because of Coach Andersen. He was the only coach I really wanted to play for.”FUNAKI ASISI, SENIOR OFFENSIVE GUARDProvo, Utah (Provo HS)ON BOUNCING BACK FROM LOSS AND PREVIEW OF BYU GAME:”Bounce back, that was a tough one, especially for this offensive line. It is like deja-vu. The last little bit we felt like we couldn’t do anything. We were lucky enough to get into overtime that time, so we did all we can do. There are things that we definitely need to clean up as an offensive line, to make sure that we progress and get better for this week or it might be pretty tough as well. Especially this practice, I noticed the whole offensive line stepped it up; we are all trying to get better. I think we look forward to that this week.”ON THE TEAM MORALE AFTER SATURDAY’S LOSS:”Obviously it is not easy. It is brutal to put that much work in and that much time and not come out with the victory. All of us got in our mind that all we can do is press forward. All we can do is make the steps that will make it right. We have got to make sure we take those steps. I’m pretty sure that everyone has the right mindset now. We have got to do what is right now.”ON HOW SPECIAL GOING BACK TO PLAY IN PROVO IS:”It’s pretty special. This is a good opportunity for me. I have been down there before, but I didn’t get as much playing time down there. Going down there as a starter, I definitely want to bring my “A” game. My hometown, I know a lot of people down there in that area. Basically when you come out of it, it is a lot of bragging rights when you get to go visit home. Obviously, they are a good team, and you can’t overlook them. You definitely can’t over look them. I’m definitely looking forward to this one, I have been looking forward to it for a while.”-USU-

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