Oct. 11, 2008
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SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State-Air Force Postgame Quotes in PDF Format
Head Coach Chuck Long
Opening statement:
"It was a tale of two halves in tonight's football game and our second half was just not very good at all. We had a great first half, especially on offense, and then we just didn't do anything in the second half on offense and we didn't do much on defense either. Our tackling got sloppy. It is discouraging, considering the first half that we had. Drew Westling was throwing well and moving the ball around. He was playing with confidence and then we just seemed to run out of gas in the second half.
"I told our young guys that we are in a hole and it is very easy for football teams to stay in that hole, but we will dig out of it. It will take great resolve from our team and we still have a lot of football left, so we will just have to go back to work tomorrow."
On SDSU's offensive struggles in the second half:
"All of a sudden we got in long yard situations again. We didn't run the ball hardly at all. (Air Force) adjusted well. They started to blitz more and for some reason we had a hard time with protection. Like I said, it was just very discouraging compared to the first half we had and it was a tough way to end a football game."
On junior quarterback Drew Westling:
"I was very proud of Drew, especially in the first half. He made some errant throws in the second half and we have to learn from that. It was his first game since junior college, and his first Division I game ever. He is a good, quality young man and he is going to help us."
On senior safety Corey Boudreaux:
"Anybody who makes 21 tackles has played pretty well. Corey didn't play football for four years. For a young man who has only played in the last two years, it is quite a feat what he is doing right now."
On Air Force's offense:
"It was a tough offense to stop. They do well with it and we just seemed to run out of gas and we had no rotation on defense in the second half. We just ran out of bodies and when you run out of bodies against a team like Air Force, it will affect you."
On the team's confidence level:
"We are going through a rough time right now. We are a beat up football team and it is still early in the season. The challenge for our coaching staff is to keep these guys up after such a promising beginning in training camp. Our confidence is not only shaken, but we are a beat up football team. That is the big challenge for us at this point in time. We have gone from a moving forward mode each week to almost a survival mode just based on trying to put a lineup together."
Senior linebacker Russell Allen
On the game:
"The truth is, the defense was about getting them off the field. It's about getting stops and keeping them off the scoreboard. And in the second half, we weren't able to do that and that's the bottom line.
"First half, obviously, we played pretty well. We were able to do some things we wanted to do. In the second half, we didn't. That was the story for the whole game, offensively, defensively, as well as special teams. I think we played pretty well in the first half and the second half we just flat out didn't play well, and I think that showed.
On playing Air Force:
"As far as assignments and doing those types of things, I think it came down to making tackles. They pushed us a little bit. When you play an offensive line like that, they kind of sneak up on you. They really don't big-play you to death. It's more of like 3-4 yards here, 5-6 yards there, and before you know it, they're all the way down the field.
"That's exactly what they did to us in the second half. That's their game plan and that's exactly what they did. We were in the right position a lot of times and we would either miss the tackle or get pushed back for two or three yards. It's just a matter of getting stopped short of where we needed to be."
Junior quarterback Drew Westling
On the game:
"The big thing is that we really got out of rhythm. We were in a good flow, mixing things up, but we really just got out of rhythm. With a team like Air Force, they did such a good job with ball control, but when you get behind, it's tough. We had opportunities to get out of that funk. All we needed was one play, but we weren't able to do that.
"We tried to do similar things and Coach (Del) Miller called a very good game throughout both halves. It all comes down to execution."
Senior safety Corey Boudreaux
n the game:
"I think we were just getting pushed around. We prepared, we tried, but you can only do so much."
Air Force Head Coach Troy Calhoun
On playing two freshmen in the backfield:
"It was more of a conservative approach, that's for sure. Those guys gave us some pop. They are going to be good players. They have a lot of work ahead of them, but they are guys with leadership potential."
On whether he was happy with the play of his freshmen:
"Yes, I think for the first game. There are some things they absolutely have to do better. We need some aging medication. Somebody has to come up with it.
On Air Force's second-half turnaround:
"I think the first half we played on eggshells. It just seemed like we had a bunch of guys in the locker room waitng for somebody else to spark us. If you go to Air Force Academy you don't wait, you need initiators, leaders, and guys that are asertive."