Nov. 15, 2005
SDSU Head Football Coach Tom Craft
Weekly Press Conference Quotes
November 15, 2005
Aztec Athletics Center
On Wyoming:
"Wyoming is an excellent football team that has really been hurt by turnovers. Corey Bramlet is as good as any quarterback in the league on a given day. Certainly, Jovon Bouknight is one of the premier wide receivers. The thing that makes him so good and so interesting is the diversity in which he is a part of their football team. He plays wide receiver, he is the up-back on punt protection and they do a lot of different things with him. He's a return specialist, so I have to believe that he's one of the better all-purpose football players in the conference. ... We've really got to be aware of where he is.
"Their defense is gotten really good play out of the secondary. They have given up a lot of touchdown passes, but haven't given up a lot of yards. They do a lot of different things and create a lot of confusion with their fronts. They do multiple things with their defense."
On seniors Kurt Kahui, Freddy Keiaho and Jasper Harvey:
"Kurt Kahui is one of the hearts and souls of our football team. He is like a coach. Freddy Keiaho is another heart and soul of our defense. Those two guys are great leaders, spiritually and on and off the field. They're terrific people and obviously will be missed. Jasper Harvey's a guy on the offensive line, who has a great personality. He's kind of a quarterback up front. It's been great to have him back this year. He's done a terrific job."
On building the program:
"Retention is really an important process here. There are some obvious things like scheduling and recruiting that we can fix, but internally, retention is a very important process. I think we're going to make some big improvements here with (athletic director) Jeff Schemmel coming aboard. He shares a lot of the same vision that I do in what we need to improve on in the program internally to take it to the next level."
On the Mountain West Conference:
"If you study this conference and appreciate it - it's so even. TCU is a lot better than everybody, but if you go across the country, (you can) find (upsets like the) UCLA and Arizona (game), that was a blowout and not even a close game. (Upsets) happens all over the place. When you have a strong conference, those kinds of things are going to happen. You always measure your program by the better football teams. Any other year, BYU would have been the conference champ, but TCU came in this year. I really feel that we should have, not could have, beaten TCU. We really had our opportunities. (There was) the field goal we missed and getting down on the two-yard line and having a turnover.
"We've come out of (the season) with some great wins this year, particularly on the road. We have a chance to follow it up here with two wins and finish out with six wins possibly, which would be the second time in three years (we have been 6-6)."
Aztec Football Players
Weekly Press Conference Quotes
November 15, 2005
Aztec Athletics Center
Quarterback Kevin O'Connell
On the team's outlook for next year:
"The key for us is to just finish strong, move on like we did at Colorado State with a good effort and roll right into the off-season. Having the kind of participation we had in the off-season programs last year, that's what builds your program. We're taking the steps to where we want to be."
On the off-season training programs last summer and the impact of the senior class:
"Last summer was a blast. The entire team was here. We really enjoyed working out together with 7-on-7s. It really showed coming into fall camp, (because) we had a lot of chemistry. This is by far the closest team that I've ever been on and it's going to be really hard to see the seniors go, because they've been the core of everything. They've been the leaders and they've been the guys who have kept the family together. It's going to be sad to see them go, but we've learned a lot from them and we're going to try to apply the things they've taught us over the last four years that they were here."
On if the off-season programs helped them avoid injuries this year:
"Coach (Jon) Francis and coach (Rahn) Sheffield are unbelievable coaches. They really understand us as players and we really understand them and where they're trying to get us to. That's part of the reason why people were so healthy for the most part. It's been a pretty physical year. We've played some teams with a physical aspect and style and have been able to go toe-to-toe with them. There have been a lot of positives that have come from our hard work."
Wide receiver Robert Ortiz
On senior day:
"San Diego is all I've known. (Having been) born and raised here and growing up watching the Aztecs, it was emotional for me to even come and play here. (Saturday's) going to be a lot more emotional than coming in. I had a blast playing here and I really enjoyed our fans. Playing in Qualcomm Stadium was always a dream for me, so this last game is going to be nice."
On what he will remember most from his time as an Aztec:
"The team, (being) on the side lines and coming out of that tunnel with the fog and everything. (I will remember) the crowd screaming and the band playing as we're warming up. Playing college football you experience a lot of things - a lot of ups and downs, (but) you always remember your teammates. The guys you went to battle with everyday."
On how gratifying it was coming to SDSU as a walk-on and leaving in the school's top 10 in receptions:
"I've always believed that I could do it. I just had to show everybody else that I could do it. It was fun working my way up and learning from guys like J.R. (Tolver) and Kassim (Osgood). Playing behind them, you learn a lot. You can see them now in the NFL and you hope that you can do the same someday."