Oct. 29, 2005
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
San Diego State Head Coach Tom Craft:
On the game:
"I'm really proud of our football for good reason. Nobody gave us a chance and our guys played a very, very good football team tonight. We (went toe-to-toe) with them and we had a chance to win the game. We are just inexperienced enough not to take a step forward in a game like this. (TCU) is a well-established program, you can't lose track of that. We have to keep it in perspective.
"We had our chances tonight. I'm really proud of them. We were a little short handed on the defensive line. We attacked more tonight. We were a little more aggressive with our defense tonight and they did a good job. They got a little worn down in the second half.
"Offensively, we were able to stay on the field fairly well. We were able to run our no-huddle, which we're going to have to do a little more now. We filled in rather galantly on the D-line.
"We need the bye right now. This is a really important time for us. I thought the football team took ownership tonight. We changed a little bit of our strategy tonight and our guys really responded. I'm really proud of the way they played tonight."
San Diego State Quarterback Kevin O'Connell:
On the interception in the endzone:
"We wanted the fullback to leak out right around the goal line - to be the first option - while (tight end) Lance Louis got in the back of the endzone. As I made the fake, the fullback got kind of tripped up and knocked out of the play and the guy who was supposed to be on the fullback dropped back on Lance. I was going to give him a shot to make that play on third down with a game on the line. Lance is a big-time talent, a big-time player. The TCU player made a pretty darn good play getting up for the ball like that."
San Diego State Defensive End Antwan Applewhite:
On the game:
"The other team is packed full of juniors. We have some freshmen playing on the starting line. (TCU) knows how to win and that's why they're number on in the conference."
TCU Head Coach Gary Patterson:
On The Game
"We just got lucky again. That was a very talented San Diego State team. It was two athletic teams going at each other and we were fortunate to come out by three points. We were down 13-7 and it could have been worse. They were coming to play."
On San Diego State
"You gotta give their young quarterback (Kevin) O'Connell credit, he did a good job of leading them back at the end and (Jeff) Webb showed us the kind of player he is. I've got a lot of respect for their linebacker (Freddy) Keiaho, he's a great player."
On San Diego State's game plan
"They had a good game plan defensively. They changed up their offense and that gave us some trouble early. When SDSU comes to play, they're a good team. This was a very good game and we were fortunate to get out with a victory."