Sept. 8, 2009
SDSU Weekly Football Press Conference Quotes
Aztec Athletics Center
SDSU Head Coach Brady Hoke
Opening Statement:
"First off, I really want to thank our students, the parents of our players and former Aztecs who were up in Pasadena on Saturday. It was nice to see the one end zone [full of SDSU fans]. There were quite a few folks there in red and black and we wish and apologize for not taking care of our end of the deal. But now we need to move forward and correct the things we did not do well. That is what we will do this week and move forward and take that next step."
On who is going to be the starting running back
"I don't know yet. We'll see how the week goes. It's a weekly, daily thing as far as how we evaluate and what we look at and whoever has the best week will start."
On the running game:
"I think you have to give (UCLA) some credit and also I think we've got to stay committed to (the run game) a little more. We really got ourselves in a hole and got off track when you look at our schedule down-wise. We got some pretty significant second downs and longs and third and longs, so we had to throw the ball a little more than we wanted. There were some really good runs in there that were blocked really well and there are some others that we need to do a better job of."
On the team's physicalness:
"I don't know if we'll be as physical as I would like us to be, but I thought our kids played with a really good spirit. I think they played with really good effort. We can be more physical at the point of attack on both sides of the ball at times and have more consistency there. That's one thing that good teams have - consistency. That's what we have to work towards. We talked about the six to eight plays in a game that really can determine the outcome. If you don't execute those six to eight plays, then you're going to be in trouble."
Senior linebacker Jerry Milling
On the defense in the second half:
"(In the second half) I think the guys out there felt a little more comfortable running the defense. We were playing way more aggressive then we were in the first half. (In the first half), we were kind of trying to find things instead of just playing the way the defense is suppose to be played, which is aggressive and on your toes. I think that we got more comfortable in the second half."
How comfortable do you feel with the defense right now?
"We feel very comfortable right now. We understand how it is when the bullets are live, you can say. On Saturdays, it's a little different, but like coach (rocky) long says, 'The defense has to be played aggressively. If it's not played aggressive, then its not affective."
Junior center Trask Iosefa
On his take on the UCLA defense and the performance of the SDSU offensive line?
"I think the coaches were pretty impressed with our first half coming out, but I think we missed a lot of assignments that we needed to fix on the offensive side of the ball. Defensively, (UCLA) did not show too many different things than what we went over in the weeks of preparation."
Sophomore quarterback Ryan Lindley
On if there are any additional pressure on the team this week because people are expecting them to win:
"I think there is no extra pressure. It's everybody out here having fun. I think that is what we need to do everyday, just get better. The way we played last week offensively, especially in the second half, we just need to improve on that. I think it's kind of the same thing all year around. You're always competing with yourself no matter who you're going against. We just need to come out today and the next couple days of practice and just get better, get better from what we have been and come Saturday, we will play better then we did last Saturday."