Sept. 2, 2003
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Head Football Coach Tom Craft's Quotes
Weekly Press Conference -
September 2, 2003 (Aztec Athletics Center)
Vs. Ohio State
On scouting Ohio State:
"I had a chance to (just) now really look at Ohio State - at what its football team's like from a personality and ability standpoint. There's no question that they're a much better football team this year than last year. I would be shocked if they don't repeat as the national champions. I say that because they've got great ability, great team speed and they're a very physical football team on both sides. I think they're on a mission this year. I think the No. 2 ranking obviously offended them and they play like that. They play with a chip on their shoulder and I can't imagine anyone better than them. I think the challenge for (OSU head coach) Jim Tressel is going to be that now that he's got them at the top level, how is he going to keep them there.
"I think they're on a mission by the fact that their two defensive ends could have come out early for the draft and decided to return to repeat as national champions. Having looked at them on film now, there's no question in my mind that they would be the top team in the nation. So I don't know what people are thinking when they have a team that had a perfect season and has almost everybody returning, how they wouldn't be (ranked No. 1). So it's a great experience and opportunity for us. I look for a game like this to be a measuring stick for our program, an opportunity to prepare for a team like this and in this type of an atmosphere (which) could help us in our future schedule."
On what SDSU has to do to prepare for the game:
"What we need to focus on is to improve our play of last weekend and to prepare for an opponent of this caliber. That's going to help us grow faster as a football team and a program for the upcoming challenges we're going to have over the next couple weeks. For (quarterback) Matt Dlugolecki in particular, when he was at Illinois he was on the travel squad and was in that atmosphere at Ohio State. That part of it is going to be good for Matt to deal with. He's been around that situation, but as far as playing, that's a different deal. He got a little bit of playing time (last week against Eastern Washington) and we're very eager to see how he's going to do in there and handle the stress of the game and particularly in that atmosphere.
"Our football team is going to have a focus about them and we're going to create what we need to create to prepare them in practice for this (game). I want to see how we react under the duress of the game - the hostile environment. When the defense is on the field, it's quiet. The fans at Ohio State allow the offense to make their checks, it's real evident, and when they do something good, they explode and then they quiet back down. For us on the offensive side, it's going to be total (noise from the crowd) the whole time we're trying to function on offense. That's what they bring. That's part of the mystique. They've got eight of their games at home and they utilize the crowd and utilize it very well. These are things we talk about and we prepare our players for. We've got a small group that experienced it two years ago (when San Diego State played at Ohio State in 2001) and they'll talk and communicate to the team about the experiences. I think it's important to share that. The experience of going back there will be good for our program. I look at it as an opportunity for us to grow and build on for the season."
On his expectations for quarterback Matt Dlugolecki:
"We're going to find a lot about Matt Dlugolecki and his toughness. We look at last year and know what type of toughness Adam Hall has and what he had to deal with when he (played against) Colorado and Arizona State and what he dealt with with the injury he's had. He's admired for how tough he is and plays that position that way. Now we have the opportunity to measure Matt in a similar situation. He's probably got a bigger challenge. He hasn't had the opportunity or the repetitions and he's going to be thrown into one of the most difficult situations in college football. I'm eager to see how he responds to that and how our football team responds and rallies behind him. I think it's going to be a good experience for us.
"Matt Dlugolecki played exceptional (against Eastern Washington) for the amount of preparation he had. He did some nice things at the line of scrimmage for us that people don't notice. He threw the ball accurately, but he obviously needs to continue to evolve with his pocket presence. We're going to put him in that situation on a daily basis. I think that's going to help him significantly. How he handles starting the game, the preparation for the game and what goes along with that in leading the team are the things I'm looking forward to studying on him as we go through the game on Saturday. He's going to be our guy for the next three weeks at least and it could be longer. This is one of the most difficult situations he could be put in - on the road with a big crowd."
On the coaching staff's evaluation of Dlugolecki's performance vs. Eastern Washington:
"We have a variety of checks, whether it's a run from another side of the offensive line, changing the play or getting into a pass play from a run play. He did a nice job of that. He showed that he could function cognitively in the offense. That's some of the things that I was encouraged by. He showed a mental presence about him. Some of the physical things are what he needs to work on and he'll get that now that he has the chance to be the starter and get about 70 percent of the work in practice. That's the biggest difference he needs right now. On the throw just before halftime (which got intercepted) - he took us down the field very well and then got into the red area where he hasn't had a lot of work. We had a jump-ball situation and he didn't put enough air under the ball to let Jeff (Webb) gather it. We had a big mismatch - Jeff's 6-2 and the corner was 5-7. He threw the ball up a little bit too soon and threw it too flat. Those are the things you can learn from getting the experience and getting the reps.
"Matt's got a little bit of an awkward (throwing) release, but it's a quick release. He throws a very good ball. We commented as a coaching staff how much better he played in the second scrimmage and the week that followed that in preparation for Eastern Washington. We've developed more confidence in him. He's shown more command and understanding for what we're doing and has been throwing the ball a lot better. I'm encouraged and he did have some success Saturday night with a whole new group of receivers. I think what's missing out of this whole thing is Jeff Webb. He's really emerged as an outstanding receiver. We're going to look at a possibility of trying to help Lonnel Penman out, who is slowed slightly with tendonitis in his knee, by putting Jermaine Moore over there and Wesley Williams. Wesley was slowed with a slight hamstring and saw limited action. There are still some areas we want to grow into with the receiving corps that will help balance things out for the quarterback. We've got a variety of running backs. Lynell Hamilton will get his first start. He's very worthy of that right now."
On Washington quarterback Cody Pickett and how SDSU will handle playing at Ohio State:
"Cody's a big guy - he's 6-4, 225. He's been a three-year starter and his experience and presence was important to have in that game. (The crowd) was really loud. They (Washington) checked the play at the line of scrimmage the first play and the offensive line didn't hear it and they (Ohio State) hit the running back in the backfield.
"(Pickett) does some things non-verbally that somebody with his type of experience (does) and is real important in that type of hostile environment. What we need to do is to provide Matt (Dlugolecki) with the opportunity to grow in these types of areas so that he can have some success Saturday. The big challenge is being able to function in that environment with the type of people that they have and that we're going to be playing against. It's going to be a big challenge. We're excited about it. We're looking forward to it. I don't think we were looking past Eastern Washington at all. We got ourselves in a situation where we started to feel a little bit more comfortable with things. Matt was more comfortable as he started the second half. We had two roughing-the-punt penalties. That was about 100 yards of Eastern Washington's offense after that point and we weren't on the field. What I would have liked to have done is to throw the ball a little more with Matt if we had the ball the last couple of series' but that didn't happen.
On importance of the Ohio State game for the SDSU football program:
"First of all, we know the importance and the impact it will have on us financially, not just to us, but for the whole department. This goes back to when I was here as the offensive coordinator in 1995. We went back to Oklahoma and played a great Oklahoma team and lost by a pretty big margin. We weren't up to that standard at the time. But going through that experience, when they came back to our place we won 51-31 and of course, four years later they won the national title. My point is that you like to play a game like this - you just don't want to play other teams that are close to the (same) caliber in a row. We balanced the schedule pretty well and it offers an opportunity for the players to experience what it's like to play a top 10 team, elevate their play and know how to prepare for a team and the weeks that follow, take that experience from the game and how we would prepare. It will have an effect on us - a positive effect. The thing that you're concerned about initially is that you're going to get key people hurt, but you don't play the game of football with that in mind.
"If you're a competitor, you want to compete against the best in that type of environment. It's a great opportunity. We're looking forward to it and I know our players our. They know how we feel as a staff and we know how they feel. We have a lot of respect with what Ohio State's done with their program. This is not going to be the same situation it was two years ago when they were a 7-5 team and were in the middle of the conference race at the time. They had a make-up game that they had to fill. Most of those players were freshmen and sophomores who San Diego State played against and now they're seniors and coming off a national championship. They're playing with a different type of mentality. They're ranked No. 2 and they've got a chip on their shoulder about it. They want to be repeat national champs, so we're looking for this as an opportunity to play as good as we can in a really good college football environment. I think a game like this will help us."