Oct. 31, 2009
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SDSU vs. New Mexico Postgame Quotes in PDF Format
SAN DIEGO STATE HEAD COACH BRADY HOKE
Opening Statement:
"A win is good to have, and to get a league win and get it at home, is important. How you do it sometimes is something that can be a little scary and this one was a little scary. I think that third-down conversions on both sides of the ball really kind of tell the story. You look at their third-down conversions and the opportunities they took care of and then the lack of conversions by us as a football team offensively. That really is, in my mind, probably as big as anything when you look at the game. We had a turnover; we didn't get any turnovers and that's another part of it. I think they ran 93 plays. That's a lot of plays and that's our fault defensively for not getting off the field. It's a team effort. Our offense did a great job in the last drive getting it down the field, scoring, and then also burning some time off the clock. It was not a pretty win; we'll take it because there's some lessons to be learned and we'd rather learn those lessons after a win than a loss."
On maybe looking past New Mexico to TCU:
"No, not at all. I thought our kids were ready. We had a great week of practice, the best week we've had all year, on both sides of the ball, with tempo and physicalness and competitiveness of each other. I didn't sense that on the sideline. I didn't think we played as fast as we need to play. I didn't feel we were flat."
On the slow start:
"I think when (New Mexico) started in their offense, and this is more from a defensive perspective, it was going at a lightning pace, or whatever you want to call it in the spread. I think we were thinking too much. The composure and poise you have to have to play this game in every position is something that's a learning process that we've got to keep feeling comfortable and confident in how we're doing things and doing their job and doing it fast."
On being .500 for the first time since 2003:
"Obviously you want to win more than you lose. These kids have worked hard. Our seniors have done a tremendous job. For them, that's why we get excited as coaches to sing our fight song in the locker room. Guys know how we played and what we need to do to get better. It's great to be at that point right now."
SAN DIEGO STATE PLAYERS
Quarterback Ryan Lindley
On how it feels to win:
"It's always good. I think getting to .500 is something that, this late in the season, this program hasn't done in awhile and it's always good to get a victory. We'll look at it tomorrow and there's always things we can improve on and things that we did well."
On the play of the wide receivers, Dominique Sandifer and DeMarco Sampson:
(Dominique Sandifer)'s an explosive player, a young kid who's just getting better with experience. It's going to be exciting to continue to work with him through these next couple of years and I think he's going to continue to grow as a player this year.
"DeMarco [Sampson] really is just turning into a force and I don't know anything else you could say. He's a mismatch. They double-teamed him in the endzone. We still put it up and he got [it]. That's just the kind of plays he makes. It's exciting when you've got a guy like that on your team."
Offensive Lineman Peter Nelson
On the offensive line shuffling:
"We've just got to adjust, just got to play hard. It doesn't really change much for us on the right side. The whole line just has to focus on one play at a time, one job at a time, making sure they're executing their assignment and playing as hard as we can. We've just got to keep coming with energy and effort every play and then we'll be successful, we'll be all right."
On his assessment of the offensive line's play:
"There's a lot of things we need to work on. We feel good. We're happy to win. That's obviously the ultimate goal. We just need to keep getting better because there are some things we can really improve on and clean it up."
Tight End Alston Umuolo
On his three touchdowns, three games in a row and what's being seen on offense:
"It's always been part of offense to get the ball spread around evenly throughout, whether it's a tight end, receiver or running back. It's a crazy coincidence that it's three touchdowns in three consecutive weeks. We're just out there playing and just running the plays that our coaches are calling and so offensively, my number's getting called and I'm just trying to make the plays to help the team. The line's protected and getting me open. It's just a part of play calling and execution basically."
Linebacker Marcus Yarbrough
On the defense:
"We just have to get more turnovers. We have to get off the field on third downs and we need more people to the ball. That was our biggest thing this game so we'll work on that in practice."
Wide receiver DeMarco Sampson
On the chemistry he has with quarterback Ryan Lindley:
"We have good chemistry, but I don't believe it's between him and I. I believe it's between the whole receiving corps as a group after practice. When [Vincent Brown] went down, we had to step it up. We had to put in extra time at practice. I believe that as a group we're growing more."
On if he noticed the small crowd:
"No, not at all. We're focused on the field. We have a job to do when Saturday comes. We're focused. We're really only concentrating on executing and executing what the coach calls and playing with intensity."
NEW MEXICO HEAD COACH MIKE LOCKSLEY
On their eighth loss of the season:
"My heart goes out to the seniors and their ability to persevere through an incredibly tough season. I do believe that there's going to be some sort of silver lining to come through for us in this tough year."
On the personal foul at the end of the game:
"It killed us. The two things that we talked about that we needed to do was play with confidence, No. 1. With a young team that is on a losing streak, confidence becomes very important, and we did not play with that. The other thing is to play with discipline, and to give a 15-yard penalty when we're driving down the field to win the game, that showed a lack of discipline on our part."
On the Aztecs taking the lead for the win in the fourth quarter:
"The Aztecs did what it took to win. We obviously continued to shoot ourselves in the foot with penalties, the drops, the sacks at inopportune times. We needed to put a drive together, but after they scored we came out and had a sack and went three-and-out. It was tough to beat a good team and tonight the Aztecs had momentum in their favor."
On whether Bryant Williams was out of bounds on the reception that was overturned:
"It's tough because of the quickness of the way it happened, but I know this - for them (the referees) to overturn it, I hope like heck that it was really conclusive, that it was really was not a catch. I'm not one to complain or cry about calls, but we don't seem to get many calls going our way when it comes to the reviews. I just hope that it's pretty conclusive that it wasn't a catch because they overturned the call made on the field."