Sept. 6, 2008
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An interview with: COACH Chuck Long
COACH LONG: Well, it was a heck of a football game obviously. We had a tough finish. I was proud of our guys in the locker room. It's a tough locker room right now, the toughest I've been in since I've been at San Diego State.
We have to find a way to finish the deal. It was a great atmosphere today. Many of our guys have never been a part of this. They'll remember the atmosphere. We have to forget about the loss and get over it quick and move on to next week. But it was a heck of a football game.
I'm sure the country was entertained. I hope they were. Anyway, we're moving on to the next game.
Any questions?
Q. (No microphone.)
COACH LONG: Well, we had a great opportunity there going in, going into the end zone. That's a tough pill to swallow. Brandon Sullivan is going to be very instrumental in our season. I have to find a way to pick him back up. And we will. Had a nice game last game. Had a good game this game. You know, it's tough on him right now. I know he's upset, but we still had other mistakes besides that. We'll find a way to get these guys back up again.
Q. (No microphone.)
COACH LONG: Well, we did. You know, we just wanted to be in an attack mode all day. There was still plenty of time left. We felt like, let's take a shot. We took a long shot. We missed it. That stopped the clock. We tried to run it.
Yeah, we just felt like, hey, let's attack them, stay on the attack. I'm proud of our kids for doing it. Ryan Lindley, you saw a little glimpses of him, freshman quarterback. Got a very, very bright future with Ryan. I thought our offensive line protected really well. And our defense, I was extremely proud of them. They were down seven D linemen going into the game to injury. They fought. We had to switch some guys around. We put Russell Allen on the defensive line. He had two days of practice there. I thought those guys did a great job.
Q. I know you want to get over this quick, but how hard is this going to be to shake in a real quick manner?
COACH LONG: We've got a long plane trip. Hopefully we'll get that little bit out by the time we land. I thought we represented well. Our first national game in a while. It's one of those games that you want to win, but obviously you want to help in recruiting.
Hopefully the nation can see that we did represent well and we'll take that out of the game anyway. But we have a game next week. I know it will be tough tomorrow. But I'm glad we practice on Sunday so we can get them up, get them going, shake it out of them.
Q. What were your impressions of Notre Dame's defense? What was it like trying to prepare for them?
COACH LONG: Well, it was a tough preparation just from the standpoint we didn't have anything to go off of, a first game. It was their first game. So we had to go off of what Coach Tenuta, defensive coordinator, Georgia Tech, we knew going in he was going to blitz, and he did quite a bit (laughter).
I thought our guys did a nice, solid job of picking that all up. We worked at that every day, all that blitzing. We've done it all training camp. They kept Ryan Lindley upright back there. So that part of the preparation was tough, a lot tougher than the defensive part because the defense, you know, saw some film from last year.
Q. Passing so much so early, can you talk about what went into that decision?
COACH LONG: Well, we felt like when you blitz like that, there's holes in a defense. We wanted to attack those holes in the defense off the blitz. We felt like we could protect, get the ball off quickly, let the receivers do some damage in the secondary. That was the plan behind it.
We have a lot of confidence in Ryan Lindley. He continues to amaze me in every game he plays, and he's only played two. Every practice he just seems to get a little bit better. But I know San Diego has something going there with him, and it's going to be exciting to watch for the next four years.
Q. Think you held up to about three yards a carrier. When you talk about a banged up defensive line, schematically did you do anything?
COACH LONG: We worked on a lot more blitzing this past week. Hey, we went after it, took our chances in the back end. We did put our corners on some islands, as you saw. But we just stayed with it.
Notre Dame made some plays at the end when they needed to. Hats off to them. They did a nice job in the fourth quarter.
Q. Frankly, were you sort of surprised you guys held up as well against the run? Obviously they're bigger and you guys were down a few.
COACH LONG: Yeah, we thought they'd smash us and try to cram that ball in there down our throat, which they tried to do. But I thought our guys, again, held up well. Those inside guys, coach Bob Elliott kept those guys fresh, rotating in there. Boy, I thought it was really a masterful job on his part considering where we were going in. Just tough, tough pill to swallow right now.
Q. Can you talk a little bit about Matt Kawulok? Had a big day. Was that something you were looking to exploit, that area of the field?
COACH LONG: Matt has just become a hot receiver for us. He's not always the No. 1 read. He's the second or third read in progressions. He's just working his way to get open. Very proud of Matt. He's sure handed right now, has a lot of confidence going. Did another nice job. He comes from a great football family. But really proud of Matt. He's worked hard.
Q. You played two games now. Who is better, Cal Poly or Notre Dame?
COACH LONG: That's a tough question. Each week is different. It's hard to say who's better. They're two totally different schemes. You know, that's one other note I should make. Our defense prepared for an option team going into a Cal Poly to more of a traditional football team in Notre Dame. We're getting a lot of variance from week to week.
It's hard to say who's better. They both beat us, so we're fighting right now to get our first win.
Coach Long's Quotes Provided by FastScripts by ASAP Sports
SDSU Player Quotes
San Diego State LB Russell Allen
On coming in to this game...
"We knew that the odds were against us and we knew that throughout the week we had a lot of injuries but we also knew that we could find heart and keep ourselves in it just by willing ourselves there. That's what we were able to do, we played hard on every play and had faith in the people next to us and it kept us in the game. "
On staying with Notre Dame...
"We came out with confidence and like I said, we could trust the guy next to us and that's football; especially on defense. And obviously it helped build our confidence once we had some success early. It's a battle; every play one-on-one is an individual battle."
On taking positives out of playing Notre Dame...
"There are obviously a lot of positives to take, we scrappy on defense and offensively Ryan had another great game. At the same time its tough to lose a game like that, one where we felt we had an opportunity to win and that's two weeks in a row now that we've had the lead in the first quarter and couldn't put it away. It's a good opportunity for us to be on a stage like that [on national television], we played hard and as good as we could have just some days it just doesn't work out but I feel we definitely showed some people where we are headed."
San Diego State Player Quotes
San Diego State WR Darren Mougey
On the game...
"We played Notre Dame, but I'm not satisfied with the game. I'm proud of this team, we fought hard, we showed a lot of good things as a team but we have to learn to finish and to win these games. We came in knowing we had a chance, we just have to finish.
On the passing game...
"I think that's something we do well. Offensively we like to spread it out and we have a good guy behind center [Ryan Lindley] and can really manage the team and do some good things for us. We might have surprised them but we didn't surprise ourselves, we knew what we could do as an offense."
Talk about that 43-yarder you caught that finished at the one-yard line...
"I have to finish that play, I had a good move, kind of a stick-and-go, and I guess I turned around thinking there was nothing but green and the guys gave me hard time I didn't get in the end zone, but I have to finish that play and make it a touchdown.
San Diego State QB Ryan Lindley
On the game...
"We came out and fought really hard and especially coming back after last week which was a little embarrassing to come here and play with these guys [Notre Dame] was better. Our offense was moving the ball and I told everyone I was proud of them."
About the passing game/game plan of throwing the ball...
"I was ready, coach told me we were going to throw it around. I was joking with the guys and I told them we were going to do a Colt Brennan and throw it 60 times, so 59 sounds right. I think we came in with a great game plan and they did what we thought they would and I think our offensive line played very well. they brought tons of pressure and I think they were blitzing almost every down."
"We saw they liked to blitz a lot, we looked at a lot of Georgia Tech and knew they liked to blitz a ton. And we knew with the young offense we have including myself, they were going to try and bring the heat and they threw some stuff at us that we had to adjust but the line did a very good job. When they blitz they leave guys open, and you have to find them. We had some great drives just passing, the first series was a little rough but after that we were rolling."
With this game on National TV, what did people find out about San Diego State?
"We're going to throw it around, but I also think the defense played great. We also got great running backs so I think we have a lot of weapons. It was tough, especially on this stage and the opportunities we had to win the game. It was disappointing and guys took it hard but it was good to see, I'm glad guys were taking it hard, we're in this for the long-run."
San Diego State DT Jonathan Soto
On the injury-depleted defensive line...
"I've been preparing all week. We knew that we were going to be down. We had some linebackers step up and play defensive end, and they did a great job. We hadn't gotten too much playing time, but we were ready."
"We definitely gave it our all. We left the field with our heads high. We fought with everything we had, and we left it all on the field."
On Sullivan's fumble at the Notre Dame goal line...
"It was a critical turnover. The mood of the game definitely changed."
San Diego State LB Luke Laolagi
On the defense's attitude before the game...
"I told my guys before the game, me and Jerry and Andrew, that we needed to be relentless out there and keep playing. That's what we did."
On Sullivan's fumble at the Notre Dame goal line...
"We weren't really down, we thought we could still stop them. But they changed it up, used the hurry-up."
On the defensive front battling injuries...
"They played hard. Ernie (Lawson) got injured and came back in, and the young guys stepped up. We're not really worried about the front guys, they played their heart out."
On playing at Notre Dame...
"We're really disappointed by the loss. I thought we could've won the game; we were in the game the whole time. Now we're going to look at film, correct our mistakes, and keep going. The defense played the best game I've been a part of."
San Diego State LG Mike Schmidt
On Brandon Sullivan's fumble...
"It's tough. He's a younger player; he looks to the older guys for support. You feel bad for the kid. He fought hard. I know he's going to make those big plays next week. But it's a team game and we had other opportunities to win this game."
San Diego State TE Matthew Kawulok
On his personal play...
"They ran a lot of blitzes which opened it up for me and gave me the opportunity. The offensive line had great protection all game. They showed great confidence in me and I just played the best I could."
On the frustration of losing...
"We had a lot of potential and a lot of things going for us. We just have to keep working hard."
On playing in Notre Dame Stadium...
"It was definitely a great experience, one I'll always remember. I wish we could have won it but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity."
San Diego State TB Brandon Sullivan
On the game as a whole...
"It was a tough game and we fought hard. We did the best we could besides a few mistakes."
On his fumble...
"In my eyes, I got stopped but reached across the goal line and the ball got across. I thought that there was a touchdown, but the referees had a whole different vantage point. They'd already called it and I guess there wasn't enough evidence to reverse the call, so they kept it as a fumble. I jumped up saying touchdown, but the referees thought it was a fumble. It was a play right up the middle. I went backside and I got to the goal line and I thought I reached the ball over. When I got hit, I just tried to spin out and reach across the goal line. It was a crucial play... and it was a crucial mistake, so that makes a big difference."
On his emotions after called a fumble...
"I had to keep my head up. There was still a lot of time on the clock so I had to continue to play. After a loss like that, of course there's going to be some teary eyes."
On going into the game when Notre Dame was favored...
"We know we're a good team, we just have to cut out the little mistakes and then we'll see a lot more wins."