Sept. 27, 2005
Aztec Football
Weekly Press Conference Quotes
Sept. 27, 2005
Head Coach Tom Craft
General Comments:
"We were happy to get our first win last week - it was a good win for us. We had a nice crowd with the SkyShow and the atmosphere was very good. Now we're looking forward to playing BYU. It's our conference opener here at home and we should have a really good crowd for that. We've always had really good games with BYU, but we haven't beaten BYU here at home in a long time."
On his assessment of BYU:
"They're a very big, physical team, particularly on offense. They're very big up front. They want to distribute the ball a lot to their slot receivers and get big yardage out of their outside receivers. (Cougar wide receiver Todd) Watkins is having a good year. He's one of the fastest receivers (we'll face). He's very acrobatic. He's coming off a three-touchdown game last week (versus TCU). We're going to have to do a really good job containing that BYU offense, because they're going to put it up 50 to 60 times. We have to play really well in the red zone and hope that we get a turnover and capitalize to have a chance against them.
"Defensively, they have a big front seven that is extremely aggressive. We have to be able to protect our quarterback and have some balance in what we do. We certainly can't ask (quarterback) Kevin O'Connell to be involved in that many carries and we're not going to ask him to. His development in the passing game has improved and he'll get better and not carry the ball as much when he scrambles.
"All in all, they're a really good football team even though they're 1-2. They've got a lot of firepower. We have to try and keep our defense off the field. That's going to be very important. This is going to be the third year (in a row) we've seen their quarterback (John) Beck. He has a great arm, not a good arm, a great arm. He's very accurate and has a very quick release. They're going to be in the shotgun (formation) and they really try to spread the line of scrimmage and keep the ends on a long edge, so you can't get to the quarterback. They're going to throw the ball 60 times and they do spread things out quite a bit. We're going to have score to some points to be in the ballgame with them."
On the play of the defense against San Jose State:
"We had a couple of good series against San Jose, and then we started to blitz. We started to pressure them a little bit and we didn't need to do that. We backed off and played more base (defense) and we were very successful with that adjustment. We got great play out of (safety) Marcus Demps. We finally feel that he's comfortable and starting to come into his own right now. (Cornerback) Donny Baker, who played so magnificently the week before, was a little over-aggressive. He wanted to take away everything and then (Spartans receiver John Broussard) slipped by and got that 92-yard touchdown, which was called back. But that's where there's been some development. We try to learn from those things, don't get too greedy and don't try to take everything away, but be competitive underneath and keep (pass plays) in front of you."
On defensive keys to the game against BYU:
"This is a game that we need to exercise discipline at the back end. We want to keep things in front of us, but we have to maintain a competitive edge, so we're not just giving them things where they're just going to periodically go down the field in 11 to 15 plays. That's what we try to stress, we have to be great in the red zone and we've got to be tight and hope that we can get some turnovers, which could be the difference in the game. (The defense) is improving and getting better."
SDSU Player Quotes
SDSU Quarterback Kevin O'Connell
On the possibility of a BYU-SDSU shootout:
"I think it is a possibility. I got a chance to watch some film on (the Cougars). TCU was able to do some good things against them. (BYU) has a good defense. TCU scored a ton of points (against BYU) and there were a lot of big plays that TCU made on third down. We are looking to do the same. (BYU) is big up front, really physical. Their secondary throws all kinds of coverage at you. It is something that we are going to be prepared for and we just have to go out there and compete."
On the importance of this Saturday's game against BYU:
"If we can win these two here at home, it would be big to (win and then) go on the road to UNLV and Utah. But we are just focused on BYU right now. We know it is going to be a very tough task. BYU is well coached and they are going to come in here expecting a big crowd. They are going to be ready for it and it should be a good game."
On the improvement of the offense:
"We were able to do some big things (against San Jose State). We're going to try to take what we leaned from the first four games and apply it for the rest of the season."
On his improvement:
"I think it's just the confidence in the game plan. Once you are comfortable with the offense, it's easier to attack and try to find some holes in the defense."
SDSU Safety Reggie Grigsby
On the defense's progression:
"I think it's confidence within each other. We are finally understanding what position everyone is going to be in and trusting one another. If I take the chance to try and make a big play I know someone will be there to back me up. It is one of those deals where we got punched in the mouth a little bit in the first two games, but we are coming together.
"It's more about us being ourselves and trying to make sure we are in the right position instead of always trying to make the big play."