What they're saying: Stanford head coach David Shaw is terrified of Ralphie

On Colorado mascot Ralphie (who he first saw back in 1990 in his first game as a freshman at Stanford):

“I would refer to it as my most terrifying experience as an athlete. Back in the day, the cage used to be right outside the locker room. This was my first game, so I was really excited. We come out of the locker room, and for some reason, I want to be the first guy out. They open the locker room doors, I step out, turn toward the field and here’s this Volkswagen with horns just dragging these human beings, and it seems to be running right at me. My natural instinct is to go back in the locker room, but I have 79 other guys coming out of the locker room. So, I’m trying to go back in, and they’re all coming out. It’s probably 20 yards away, but it feels like five feet, where they finally turned it into her cage.

“I don’t think my heart stopped pounding until the ball was kicked off. To see a large fast animal coming right at you … This week, I’ll be staying in the locker room until she’s in her cage.”

 

Stanford head coach David Shaw on the Buffaloes:

“They play really, really hard. They play the way you want your teams to play. Whatever mistakes you make, they’re going to capitalize. They’re very aggressive defensively. Offensively, they play up-tempo and, if you’re not lined up, the ball’s going to get snapped and somebody might be open. There might be a gap unaccounted for. You have to be ready every single play.”

“If a team runs that many plays, you’re helping them,” Shaw said. “You’re either not keeping the ball long enough on offense, or you’re not getting stops on defense. It doesn’t matter what tempo they run if they have the ball that many plays, we’re not doing our part.”

From GoStanford.com – Notebook: Final thoughts

Stanford tailback Christian McCaffrey on his homecoming

“I’m extremely excited about this game because I love Colorado. That’s home for me and anytime you get to go back home, it’s something special.”

Senior outside linebacker Kevin Anderson on the Buffs offense:

“They’re one of the few teams in the Pac-12 that will play power football,” he said. “It’s exciting to play against some O-linemen who are going to fire off the ball and are really quick. We have to be in shape and be ready to play.”

From StanfordDaily.com – Colorado looms as Stanford looks to put offensive woes in rearview mirror

Freshman nickelback Quenton Meeks on the challenge of Colorado’s receivers:

“Nelson [Spruce] is a great possession receiver, knows what he’s doing, great route-runner. All of their receivers are really great route-runners, as we’ve seen so far.”