Nov. 18, 2003
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Head Football Coach
Tom Craft's Weekly Press Conference Quotes
Aztec Athletics Center
Craft on the Air Force game:
What this last game represents to us is a variety of things. Number one, we could get to six wins. It would also give us a share of tying for fourth place in the (Mountain West) Conference after we were predicted to finish seventh. More than anything though we haven't beaten Air Force in back-to-back seasons since 1980, so we could really chip away at something there. There's a lot of meaning to this last game besides the seniors going out. We try to play it like our whole football team is seniors and we do have a lot of meaning going into this last game.
Craft on injuries:
Adam Hall, for the second year in a row, has been taken from us in the Colorado State game. He had a very untimely concussion last year and didn't finish the season. And of course this year he has the laceration. The laceration is not going to require surgery. If you look at the top of your hand and you spread the top of your hand, there's a tendon that goes along the top of the finger. On his left ring finger, it was lacerated, pretty deep, all the way to the bone. It partially tore the top tendon and also some nerves, but he has some feeling in the finger and has good blood supply. He can move it a little bit. He'll have a pretty good rehab on that, but he's not going to need to have surgery, which is good. The extensor digitorum is the tendon that runs on the top of the hand to the fingers, so he's very fortunate that he didn't sever that. Otherwise, he'd have surgery. Losing Hall, (WR) Jeff Webb and (RB) Lynell (Hamilton), is a big hit to the offense and we're starting two guards that didn't start the season. (TE) Jeremy Justice had knee surgery, and he's come back from that. We've taken more than our share of hits, and not just bumps and bruises, from our offensive line and struggled with a new group. But (WR) Robert Ortiz played a terrific game, he had the 10 catches, and (RB) Michael Franklin played very well. He had 100 yards and blocked very well. There are some things with some of our backup people who stepped up. (QB) Matt Dlugolecki's got a chance now to prepare as a starter this week. He was the starter for about four games and now he gets to go back to that and try to put his staple on that position before we get back to spring football.
Craft on whether the Air Force game feels like the first game of 2004:
No. I think there's a lot of meaning to this and we had to overcome a lot of injuries to different positions offensively, but we do have a lot of people returning at the skill position (next season). We are going to lose three linemen on offense who are starting right now. (Anthony) Foli at left guard, (Shawn) Dickie at right guard and of course, Brendan Darby, who's played very well at tackle. So we'll have a little bit of a revamped front, but for the most part, most of the skill people will be back.
Craft on whether 6-6 would be a good record for him:
No, it's not good for me. We have pretty high expectations for the program. There's not a team in the Mountain West who doesn't want to be in a bowl game. Some of the programs that have been more established and at it for a while, they want to win the conference. I think what we want to do is to qualify for a bowl. There's the aspect of wanting to win the conference down the line, but I think as a coach you have to be realistic about it. When we came in here, what was talked about with this program, was that it is a graveyard on Montezuma Mesa and that's what I heard and it's not. I think we show a lot of life. We have one more win than last year, when we threw for a school record, which is hard to do in a first year. We didn't have injuries to (wide receiver and 2002 senior) Kassim (Osgood) or (wide receiver and 2002 senior) J.R. (Tolver) and some of those. We also retooled a defense into one of the top 12 in the country, so we have a lot of life and we've been unlucky with the injuries this year with some of our top players on offense. For us to get six wins, which would double the amount the number of wins San Diego State had two years prior to us coming in here, would be terrific. The fact that we finished third place last year when we were supposed to finish last and if we could finish tied for fourth when we were picked just below last, in seventh, would be good for our football team. We are moving in the right direction. We like what we're doing. Over the course of the next couple of years, with more recruiting efforts like last year, this will be a different football program.
Craft on the importance of the defense finishing in the top 10 nationally (currently No. 11):
It's more important that we win the game and I think all of our players would probably put that priority over anything and we're going to keep playing hard and tough. I don't understand when teams say that they're playing for pride. You either have it or you don't. You can develop it, but you have it or you don't. Teams sometimes quit or don't play well. I don't think we can relate to that. Right now we're playing pretty consistent. I think one of the things about our defense that is really important is that you're only going to be considered one of the greatest defenses ever here at San Diego State at the end of the year. It's not toward the middle of the year. You can't have a letdown game. There have been some great defenses here at San Diego State. The ones that are recognized are the ones that could do consistently week in and week out and for the most part, I think our defense has done that. I'm real proud of how they played. I don't know what their ranking was last year (No. 95), but to jump that far that soon, you know if we can keep that defense there and get some experience through the recruiting, our offense will meet half-way, then we're going to have a really outstanding program. But that's part of taking over a new program. If we had last year's offense and this year's defense, we'd probably have 10 wins.
Craft on whether linebacker Kirk Morrison should be nominated for MWC Defensive Player of the Year:
Without a question. I think Kirk Morrison had a great year. What's made it possible is what we've done up front; just a terrific job by (defensive lineman) Brook Miller as he's having an all-conference year. (Defensive end) Brandon Rager's having an all-conference year and (defensive end) Ryan Iata, this last month of the year, has been one of our top defensive linemen. So those guys get a lot of credit. (Defensive lineman) Johnathan Bailes is a guy that is a very unselfish player. It takes two people to block him. The guy that's also having a great year is (linebacker) Matt McCoy and he's leading the conference in tackles right now. We've got a couple of guys who are having not only all-conference years but special years and throw (linebacker) Steve Larsen and (linebacker) Heath Farwell in there. They're having outstanding years as well. (Defensive end) Marviel Underwood has played with the ball being directed around him, either throwing or running and he's probably been one of the most consistent guys in the secondary, although (defensive back) Jeff Shoate has played very well. He hasn't had things directed at him as much as the safety position. One of the most improved players is (defensive back) Jacob Elimimian. That corner position was a big question mark before we started the season and it's not right now.
Craft on whether a final record of 5-7 or 6-6 will affect recruiting:
I don't think it means anything at all. I think by the fact that we had the top recruiting class in the Mountain West pretty much proved that. I don't think that means as much as people like to say it. The people you recruit against like to use it, but it's not going to go very far very long. We're showing a trend right now. We've already got more wins than last year and we've improved in a lot of areas, so I don't think that's a factor at all.
Craft on what type of offensive linemen best fits the system:
The kind that we were able to recruit last year. Brandyn Dombrowski, one of our guards, 6-4, 310, and very physical. He's a good football player. You look at Mike Kravetz also. He's a 6-6, 290 pound tackle. He's the type of guy that we want. He's got a little bit of an attitude in him. He's aggressive, yet he's supple and he's somewhat athletic. Our trend is to get a bigger more physical type of alignment. So I like the five guys that we signed last year. Will Robinson, who's going to be in competition to play at left tackle where Brendan Darby graduates in the spring. Here's a guy that's 6-5, 6-6, somewhere around 260, 265 pounds, but he can run. He is very athletic, very supple. He reminds me a lot of Ephraim Salaam.
Craft on other players returning for 2004:
We've redshirted 15 really outstanding players. I think another guy is (wide receiver) Chazeray Schilens. He's looked very dynamic when we've had our scrimmages toward the end of our conditioning drills with our Kodac groups. And he reminds you a lot of some of the good receivers we've had here. He'll be very competing for a starting spot probably next year. (Wide receiver) Brett Swain's another guy at the slot position that sticks out. We have a number of people like (running back) Brandon Bornes, that were able to redshirt this year. There's some good young talent on both sides of the ball. We're probably going to ask a lot of (defensive end) Antwan Applewhite and (defensive lineman) Nicholas Osborn as true freshman to get an opportunity to step up and be competitive for a starting role. We really like some of our players that are going to come up and we're going to be a very young team next year in some areas.
Craft on the quarterback situation for 2004:
I think a lot depends on what happens in this game (Saturday against Air Force). (Quarterback) Matt (Dlugolecki) has an opportunity now that's different from the start when he was thrown into the starting role. He has had an opportunity this last month to watch (quarterback and 2003 senior) Adam (Hall) and I think his perspective is a little bit different. Now with this opportunity to prepare as a starter it will be interesting to see how he handles himself. And this is a last-game opportunity for him. It's either going to be a situation in spring football where people are going to try to beat him out or it's going to be wide open. I think if it is wide open, it will be Kevin O'Connell battling with Matt Dlugolecki in the spring.
Craft on the Air Force defense:
They're a 3-3-5, which is a very typical defense that we're facing in the (Mountain West) Conference. They're a little bit different than some of the other 3-3-5. BYU has their own personality that is a little bit different than New Mexico. Air Force has their own personality, but they're a team that likes to blitz a lot. Defensively they've been fairly strong, and they're a little bit different to everybody because of what they do offensively. They're still running the triple option, but they're a little bit more "I" oriented this year and a little bit more power "O-series" and they're bootlegging a little bit more and throwing more screens. They are throwing the football a little more with Chance Harridge this year. They kind of opened it up with him.
Craft on how many 3-3-5 defenses he's seen this year:
BYU and some of the 40 teams run a version of it with their zone blitz concept, so you see the variations. Colorado State is another example of it. They do a lot with a zone blitz type of concept. But Air Force has its own personality like BYU and New Mexico in the 3-3-5 and we've actually had some good success throwing the football against it. We had over 350 yards against BYU and New Mexico throwing the ball and we moved the ball very well, which we've done against everybody.
Craft on Air Force:
They have good quickness and speed on their team. I always thought that we'd be bigger than them, but we're not bigger than them. We don't have a bigger football team than Air Force. The thing that captures you about them is their team speed and I think they're a team defensively that reacts and recovers very well. Some of the things that we revere in our defense is how quickly we can close to things and recover, because that's what I think defense is. You're constantly recovering and how quickly you can do it regardless of the scheme. That's something they're very noted for because they only play a couple of coverages. They don't give you a lot of looks back there. They're subtle and they will blitz. Offensively they have their own unique personality. It's very much like a team, if you have a lot of wing-T teams down here in San Diego and only a few teams that throw the ball, maybe they're hard to prepare for those teams and that's what Air Force has always lended itself to in the conference. They're unique and a little bit different. As a coaching staff we feel each year, that we get a little more acclimated to going against that option scheme and now they've changed it a little bit. It's put a lot of pressure on your secondary to be disciplined and to be focused and we've got to be able to get things done with our front seven. That's going to be very important.