Oct. 3, 2009
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery 1 | Photo Gallery 2
SDSU-NMSU Postgame Quotes in PDF Format
Postgame Quotes - New Mexico State at San Diego State
SAN DIEGO STATE HEAD COACH BRADY HOKE
Opening Statement:
"It was great to win. Any win is a good win, (it) doesn't matter. I thought that in the second (half) we played much better as a team. I thought that we had found a little bit of a rhythm, especially later in the game, running the football and I thought the guys up front stayed after it, but we gave up a couple of plays defensively we don't want to give up. Rushing the football, they had a couple of runs in there, but I thought our team stayed together. That's the important thing, that we learn from that and make a lot of improvements still. Obviously, we've got a big game in two weeks against a tremendous football team. We've got a lot of work to do."
On the team:
"I would still say we've got a lot of football ahead of us, a lot of things that we've got to do better as a football team. At times I think we show signs of being a pretty good football team. There's too much inconsistency though that we've got to still fight through."
On Walter Kazee:
"For a freshman, I thought he did a nice job. I thought he ran the ball hard and I'm sure that when you look at the tape, there's going to be a hole there that maybe he didn't see, but I thought he showed a lot of character. I thought he showed a lot of toughness. I thought he ran the ball hard. It was big for us down the stretch.
"He's a guy that runs extremely hard and he's always trying to get that extra little bit and I think that happened earlier in the season. I think as young guy you learn about the ball security. I think that's just something he's concentrated on and done a good job of."
On Dey Juan Hemmings:
"Dey Juan is a guy we count on a lot. I thought the best play Dey Juan made was on the third-down stop when they threw the underneath route and (he) made a good tackle on the guy. That's what Dey Juan can bring for us. I think he's scratching the surface and that's an honest assessment of what he can be."
SAN DIEGO STATE PLAYERS
Quarterback Ryan Lindley
On the passing adjustments made in the second half after a sub-par first half:
"We did leave a lot of yard on the field in the passing game. There were some big plays that we could have made that we didn't make and a lot of that's just decision making and a little bit execution, too. We had some dropped balls; that happens. It's part of the game. I've just got to put the ball in the right place at the right time. We definitely left some stuff open and it's something that you need to just bounce back from. I thought we did a great job of that in the second half."
On the numerous incompletions during the game:
"I think there were some where they play that cover 4 (defense) and they try to keep everything in front of them and they did that. There were some where they just took some stuff away and like I said, there were others in the first half where I kind of got away from the read a little bit. You saw them do something different. (Offensive Coordinatior) (Al) Borges tells me all the time to stick with the game plan and he's always got a great one every week. As long as we do that like we did in the second half we'll be clicking."
On taking so many shots deep and not making many short throws:
"I think we really liked our match-ups. We've got some guys who can really run on the outside. We wanted to attack their safeties, attack their corners, test them. They've got a good defense though, especially those two corners. They are two good players and they played pretty well tonight. We wanted to test them. I think that's something we'll continue to do. I think we've got some good athletes. The line did a great job tonight in holding up. I don't think I even got touched back there. They did an awesome job both in the running game and in pass protection so it's something to build on."
On Walter Kazee and the job the running backs did:
"Walter did great job. I think we're really knocking on the door in the first half in the running game. They did a good job of shutting the creases closed in the first half. I think conditioning helped. I think the line did a great job of pushing, keep pushing in the second half and Walter just kept hitting the hole. He had a great night tonight and that's good for him to bounce back and have a good night like that."
Warrior Dey Juan Hemmings
On the confidence the defense gained from a strong showing:
"We just wanted to finish the game strong, play the game strong. We did get a lot of sacks and our pressure on the quarterback was something we wanted to do this game. We [saw] that the quarterback [was] really shifty so we wanted to really contain him. That helps us with the bye week because it gets on that level that we know we can play on going into our next week."
On any change of mentality with New Mexico State switching quarterbacks during halftime:
"No, not really. Both quarterbacks were really good quarterbacks. One liked to run a little bit more but containing the quarterbacks, we wanted to game plan on this week."
On recording his first interception and first touchdown:
"Tonight felt good. We got the pressure on the quarterback for the pick and then Andrew Preston actually had ball first and then he got tackled so I was able to scoop the ball up for the touchdown. Actually I was running to the ball in pursuit, something we pride ourselves on. That happens and good things happen."
On the defense keeping the team in the game despite the offensive struggles:
"It's just playing defense. We know were very talented on offense so we know if we're able to play good, solid defense, our offense is going to come through in the game."
Wide Receiver Vincent Brown
On the team's offensive potential and play in the second half:
"It's definitely a confidence booster just knowing that we can do that and once we do get everything down, get everything sound with the offense, we're able to make those big plays downfield. It was definitely a confidence booster for us."
On not making his first catch until the third quarter because of the Aggies' defense:
"Sometimes they'd switch their (defense) up a little bit, five on one side, kind of double or something like that, they were doing that with all receivers. They pretty much played the same defense that they were playing all along."
NEW MEXICO STATE HEAD COACH DeWAYNE WALKER
On his team's late penalties and turnovers:
"We can't turn the ball over four times and win a football game. We didn't take the ball away enough and they scored a touchdown on defense. We made too many mistakes. We fought hard and we'll have to go back to the drawing board and get ready for Utah State."
On the Aggie defense:
"We want to play good defense, and if we can prevent turning the ball over and not give up freebies, then we can win some games."
On Aztec wide receiver Vincent Brown:
"He's a heck of a player and I lost a lot of sleep watching him all week. He made a couple of plays, but he's good enough to where he could have given us fits the whole night. I thought we contained him about as well as we could."