Oct. 4, 2005
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State Football Weekly News Conference Quotes
Aztec Athletics Center
Oct. 4, 2005
SDSU Head Coach Tom Craft
On the BYU game:
"We had the one (fumbled) punt that could have changed the game, but we had so much control of the game, on both the offensive and defensive sides, that it wasn't a factor. That was important along with keeping the ball in front of us on defense and being able to get to (BYU quarterback John) Beck early. Even though he ran the ball, we tagged him a couple of times early and I think that had an effect on him along with the different looks (on defense) that we gave him."
On the success of the running game against BYU:
"We want to be able to spread the ball around and I think we stretched the field in the first half. Even though we dropped three touchdown passes, we were stretching the field and that enabled us to have some opportunities with the running game and (running back) Lynell (Hamilton) made the best of it. (Running back) Brandon Bornes did a great job too. He carried the ball 18 times and Lynell carried 30 times, so that was a great effort by those guys and the offensive line."
On the upcoming game against UNLV:
"They're a team that's really hungry (and is) looking for a win. They haven't been home (since Sept. 10), so I'm sure they're going to be excited to be back home. They have a spread offense out of the shotgun very much like Utah, which is where their head coach (Mike Sanford) came from. We have to try to do the same things - contain their spread offense and do as much as we can to take away the run and limit the big play. It's no secret, but we've got to hang on to the ball like we've been doing on offense. I think that's been the key in our last couple of games, we've hung on to the ball and haven't turned it over.
"The UNLV game is going to be a key game for us, because we have to be able to take a big win like we just had and not ride the rollercoaster--get up really high and then have a let down. Any team is good enough to beat any team in this league. We have to go in and take them seriously. It's really important for us to go in there with focus. They're a good enough team to win at any time."
On linebacker Russell Allen being named Mountain West Conference Defensive player of the week:
"I think that's a tremendous honor for a redshirt freshman who didn't come into this season as starter, but because of injury, he's taken control of that position. He's a student of the game. He is in regularly trying to learn his position. He's a very bright football player who works hard to get where he is today. (Allen), Andrew Schantz and even Brett Martin are good young linebackers, who are very enthusiastic about learning the game."
SDSU Player Quotes
SDSU Running Back Lynell Hamilton
On Saturday's game vs. UNLV:
"Right now it's a big game because it's our third conference game and we're on the road. This is a very big game for us team-wise.
"It's exciting to be back on the turf. I am excited to play (UNLV) at their home once again. I'm just excited to be back on the road again against a really good team and I am ready to play."
On his season-ending injury at UNLV in 2003:
"I've put (the injury) behind me. I am just focused on watching their game film, watching their defense and seeing what we can do with that."
On his performance against BYU:
"It felt really good just to get back into the flow of things and get my rhythm going. It felt really good."
On the team's win vs. BYU:
"I thought it was really good, especially going into conference (play) to get a game like that, to keep things going. (It was good) to get the running and passing game going and (have the offense) be balanced."
SDSU Quarterback Kevin O'Connell
On the Aztecs' efficiency in the red zone:
"A quality that has grown on us is our running game. We are really starting to get off the football. Anytime you have a solid running game and you're in the redzone, it's just that much easier to get first downs and as you get closer, you dominate the line of scrimmage. You have to give a lot of credit to the big guys up front. Lynell (Hamilton) and Brandon (Bornes) are running hard when they get down there. Very rarely do they get taken down by the first guy and that makes it simple. Then anytime I want to throw it up, Jeff (Webb), Robert (Ortiz), Brett (Swain) and Chazeray (Schilens) are going to make those plays for us."
On his progression as a quarterback:
"I think the speed of the game is still really fast, but my mental preparation is a little easier because I am more comfortable with what we are doing. I think that just comes with the experience of it. The quality of our performance as an offense and as a team in general has everyone with a quiet confidence about what we are doing, because we know if we play our game and don't make mistakes, we are going to be in it at the end and we like our chances if it's like that."
On linebacker Russell Allen:
"He is growing every week and I was really proud of him for winning that award (Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Week). That is a big time award for not only him, but our defense."
On wide receiver Jeff Webb:
"He has been dominant. Teams are game planning to keep him contained. Part of our game plan is to take what they give us and if they are going to try to contain Jeff, we're going to throw the ball to Chazeray (Schilens) and Robert (Ortiz). If things start to open up, Jeff is going to get his catches. He is playing the way that we envisioned he would and he has all year. Defensively, people are starting to do some things to try to frustrate him a little bit. As we get into conference, there are some good defensive coordinators who will start to do some other things, but we have some things up our sleeve planned that we will be just fine."
On this Saturday's game vs. UNLV:
"You can't look at (UNLV) as a team that is down. They haven't played a home game in four weeks. It's pretty hard to judge a team that has been away from home under tough circumstances. You look at us after we beat a very good BYU team after starting 0-3 and people were questioning us. You can't look at any teams in our conference, either up or down, because you never know what is going to happen. Our conference is crazy. There is tremendous coaching and guys play up every game. You just have to go out there and limit your mistakes and get the ball to your big time players. Let Lynell and Jeff go to work and we'll hopefully be there in the end."
SDSU Linebacker Russell Allen
On being named MWC Defensive Player of the Week:
"It's an honor. I see it as being a team award. Obviously (the conference) is not going to give the award to a single player if the team didn't play well. We felt that we played really well. As a unit, we held BYU to only 10 points and they have a potent offense, so as a team, we thought we played well. The secondary was awesome. They only allowed (BYU receiver) Todd Watkins to one catch. It just was a really great performance as a team and I feel honored to be recognized."
On his comfort level within the defense:
"Every week is getting easier, getting more game experience. Now that I am actually a starter this week, Brett Martin will be in there with me equally and rotating time. It's starting to slow down for me and I am starting to feel more comfortable and I'm seeing things better."