Nov. 29, 2005
Weekly Press Conference Quotes
Nov. 29, 2005
Aztec Athletics Center
SDSU Head Football Coach Tom Craft
On Hawai'i:
"They've had kind of an up-and-down season, but they have some really good athletes. They're a young football team on offense, struggling a little bit with consistency, but they're a tough team. They lost to Fresno State, 27-13, but they had a chance to win that ball game. They did tee it up for a time earlier in the year with USC. We did get a chance to look at their game against Wisconsin. Wisconsin was able to get their running game going against them, but they're still a dangerous team. We have to go over there and keep playing with the same consistency we've been playing with the last couple of games and try to win our sixth game, which would be great for our team to finish with three straight wins."
On departing seniors Freddy Keiaho and Kurt Kahui:
"You have to look at guys like Freddy Keiaho, who is the heart and soul of our football team, and Kurt Kahui. It's a special time for those two kids. They're going to be fired up and it'll be an emotional experience for them. We went through the same thing on our senior night at home against Wyoming and now we're going to go through another one."
On the keys to success the last month:
"We're seeing some leadership develop and the players know what's expected of them. The key has been dictating our style of play instead of waiting to see how the game unfolds and then reacting to that. Our guys have really taken to that (idea). We've played excellent ball the last month of the season and we want to finish with six wins very badly."
On the team's emotional state heading into the season finale:
"I think people thought our football team would quit after the TCU game. But we don't teach that way. We don't design our practices that way. I think when you go into fall camp, you set the standard of how your team will perform and the kind of character that these guys will have and develop. The pride factor never came up. I never heard anybody talk about playing for pride. You develop that (attitude) in training camp and in the off-season when you're working hard and trying to get to where you want to be."
Quarterback Kevin O'Connell
On the opportunity to travel to Hawaii:
"A couple of our guys have said to not let the environment get a hold of us, but we still need to go there and enjoy ourselves and experience the trip for what it is. It's a big time thing for our program to get to travel there and play against a pretty good team in Hawai'i. We get to go out on Thursday and enjoy ourselves, but if we keep that focus and concentration on the game plan, I think we'll be all right."
On defeating three bowl-bound conference rivals this season:
"It's going to be tough seeing a team like Colorado State come in here (to San Diego) and play Navy in a game (the Poinsettia Bowl) that we had circled as a possible goal for us. I think that's something we can all hold up high -- the fact that we beat those three teams (BYU, Utah and Colorado State). It's going to be tough to root those teams on, but if they win their bowl games, we'll feel that we could've done the same thing had we been able to go. It's a situation that we're going to use as motivation. Sitting at home again during bowl season is not something we want to get used to around here. I know some people might think that sometimes that's the way it is, but it's not. We're looking to take this program to new heights and I think it's going to happen."
On playing his last game with departing senior Jeff Webb:
"Like I've said all along, any chance I have to go out and play football with him and Robert Ortiz and the other seniors on the offensive side of the ball has just been a blessing. All of those guys and Jeff are wonderful teammates and leaders, and they go out and do things the right way. They were recruited to this program and now its time for them to move on to bigger and better things and hopefully, we'll have some young guys step up. I'm going to take advantage of every opportunity to throw the ball to Jeff. It's been awesome the past couple of years."
Defensive end Kurt Kahui
On the significance of finishing the season with a win:
"We're trying to look at the whole picture. We want to have a strong finish to help move the program in a positive direction. With this last game we're hoping to continue the momentum into next year."