Oct. 28, 2008
Chuck Long Quotes
Opening Statement:
"It is a new week and a new opponent in Wyoming and we are excited about preparation. I told our guys after (Saturday's) game that we need to prepare and focus like we did the previous week. I was very proud of our response, coming off a tough game (at New Mexico) the week before. I thought we played well enough to win it and that's all you can really ask for in a football team is to get yourself in a position to win the game in the end and we had a chance to do that. I was proud of our staff and our team of getting off the mat from the week before, going through a tough week of hearing about it and showing some pride in our football game Saturday night in front of our hometown crowd.
"I really liked the way our special teams played in the last game. We put every unit together on the field. We had an excellent fake by Brian Stahovich and an excellent return by Davion Mauldin, who really made a great individual effort, which was something he was striving to do during training camp. We were excited about what he was going to bring as a returner, and you finally got to see that. He unfortunately got hurt earlier in the year, which put him out a month, but now he is back and getting in the flow of things. Our running game also made great strides. We went into it with a good plan and I thought both Atiyyah Henderson and Tyler Campbell really ran tough and hard."
On finishing games:
"We have had the lead in the fourth quarter a few times, but we just haven't been able to finish and we need to learn how to do that. Being able to finish strong is the goal of any staff. In our case, (the problem) might be a combination of having a younger team out there. I also believe it's the lack of rotation, especially on defense. We need to be able to get some fresh bodies in there to finish those games. We're having a hard time sustaining all the way through and that has a lot to do with the injuries and depth issues that we are having. A lot of it is mental too. We need to get over that hump of finishing football games and we will continue to strive toward that."
On the offensive success vs. Colorado State:
"We had great balance in our offense and we stayed out of third and long. We never got behind the chains. We stayed in a lot more third and mediums and third and shorts, which really helped us, and that goes back to first down. You try to average at least four yards on first down and we averaged more than that in the game and that was big for us."
On the emergence of the running game last weekend:
"We specifically felt like we could run against Colorado State just by the nature of their defensive scheme. Now, we feel like we can expand on that and keep it going. Offensively, if you look at the beginning of our year, we were going on a nice pace. I know we were throwing a lot more than we were running, but when we did run we were effective with it. Somewhere in the middle we just got out of rhythm. Atiyyah (Henderson) has really emerged and we want to give him the ball. I also sense that our offensive line is gelling more and more. We went into training camp with a brand new offensive line and now we feel that they are starting to come together and are more confident in what they are doing. So, as their confidence grows, we can start to expand a little bit more and that is why the running game is effective."
On redshirt freshman quarterback Ryan Lindley's shoulder injury:
"He's been struggling a little bit. Every day he's getting a little stronger and he is obviously a lot better now than he was two weeks ago. We will see how he progresses this week, but he has been playing with pain. I've been there as a quarterback when your arm is hurting and it's not an easy thing to work around. But he is no different than a lot of our guys out there who are playing with injuries and pain. He will fight through something like that and he will learn to persevere. He is a tough young man and when the guys sees their quarterback out there toughing it out, that will go a long way with him as a leader of this football team."
On having a balanced offensive attack:
"We want to strive for balance. Any coach in any system wants to do that, especially on offense. We felt very strong about our passing game coming out of training camp, so we wanted to favor that. But now, along with the improvement of our offensive line, Atiyyah Henderson, Tyler Campbell and Brandon Sullivan have started to emerge as good, strong running backs. What we liked about the balance against Colorado State was that we completed 72 percent of our passes and we had a nice run game off of that, which enabled us to score 34 points."
On what the team can take away from the CSU game:
"I think the Colorado State game could be a new beginning for us. We showed some resolve in the game with a young team and with a team that is hurting from week to week. Those guys really went in there and fought. I know on offense we felt a lot better coming out of that football game and we definitely gained some confidence."
On preparing for Wyoming:
"Offensively speaking, we want to keep the same balance. We want to go in and try to establish the run and stay ahead of the chains, which is the big factor. We still want to throw, so our issue is trying to mix in the deep ball. On defense, we know they are going to try and run the ball on us because that is their strength. They have a good running back in Devin Moore. He is very dangerous and is coming off a good rushing effort against the No. 1 defense in TCU. The thing about Wyoming's offense is they are coming in with a different wrinkle in each game. They have their base package and we know what that is, but then they add a different aspect to their offense every single game. We're not quite sure what they will add this week, but every one of them has been pretty effective, so there will be some unexpected things that we will have to deal with."
On facing a struggling Wyoming team:
"They are wounded like we are and they are fighting. They have the same issues right now that we have. I know they are trying to search for something on their offense every week to score points. We are coming off a game where we did score some points and we have some positive momentum in that way. Again, they are fighting through some things. I respect Coach Glenn greatly and he has a marvelous coaching career. I know he will get those guys fired up to play. He is that kind of coach."
Redshirt freshman quarterback Ryan Lindley
On the offensive performance of last game:
"We had a great week of practice along with a great game plan. We really tried to step up the effort because we know we have guys that have a lot of potential. We hustled all week and it really carried over into the game."
On his shoulder injury:
"At times I am in pain, but I know it's a slow process to get back. I didn't feel much pain on Saturday, but there are certain throws that cause it to hurt more. It is part of coming back and you just have to deal with it."
On getting back to being 100 percent healthy:
"I'm completely confident I will be back to 100 percent by the end of this year. I already feel that it has gotten extremely better from week to week. Don Kessler (head athletic trainer) has told me four different guys have had this problem and they all came back to their full strength. I feel that everything will go really well based on the way he has been working with me in rehab."
On his confidence in throwing the long ball:
"The toughest thing right now is that (my shoulder) is sore during the week so it is hard to practice the long throw. In practice I need to spend more time getting loose and spend some extra time on the deep ball. Even though there might be pain, it's something we definitely need to work on to add another dimension to this offense."
On how encouraging it was to see the running game produce:
"It was great. We went into the game trying to add that aspect to our offense. We knew that Atiyyah Henderson could do very well on the ground. Tyler Campbell also did a very good job with filling in. The line blocked great and everybody played assignment football."
Senior linebacker Russell Allen
On how to approach a struggling Wyoming team:
"You have to approach it like any other game. Obviously, they are a team that is in a similar situation that we're in, but it doesn't change our approach. It is just an opportunity for us to go out and hopefully get a win. This is a tough conference and they've been beat up by some pretty good teams, just like we have. To underestimate them for those types of things would be a mistake. Like Wyoming, everybody in this conference has the ability to come out and play great football."
On stopping Wyoming's running game:
"The initial focus of every game plan is to stop the run. The recipe for winning football games is stopping the run. That is our focus this week and we feel if we can do that we will put ourselves in a situation to win the game."
On the inability to finish games:
"It's really tough to put your finger on what the issue is. Some of it has to do with the youth. We have young guys out there for various reasons. Whatever the case might be, we have had an issue with playing the full 60-minute game. The last game against Colorado State, we ended up with less points, but we fought for 60 minutes. Maybe we didn't execute as well as we could have at certain points of the game, but we fought hard. That game came down to the last minute and that is something we can't say for a lot of games this year. It was definitely a step in the right direction."