Oct. 6, 2009
Coach Hoke's opening statement:
"Obviously...it was good to win the other night. It was good how we won. We were a little shaky and out of rhythm a little bit early in the football game, especially on the offensive side of the ball, but I thought at end in the fourth quarter, we did a nice job at the line of scrimmage being able to run the ball a little more effectively, opened up some things and some play action game. That was a positive about it. We had two penalties, which was another positive and making fewer mistakes of those nature. Now we've got to obviously clean up things offensively and defensively. We had one series in there that I thought we gave up some yardage running the football to them. I thought our defense played well; I thought our defense held us in the game and when our offense got on track they did a nice job."
Have you had a chance to watch BYU film yet?
"You know not really, very little. I know Coach [Rocky] Long and Coach [Al] Borges have been in looking at it pretty good. I have not seen a lot of film. As soon as I'm done with this meeting, that's what I'll be doing."
On how to be the conference elite like BYU and Utah:
"Obviously there's a lot of perception there but you've got to keep building as a football team. You've got to keep playing hard. You've got to keep playing smart football and tough football and you've got to be a team that plays together."
On running well in the second half because of offensive line:
"I thought Nick Embernate played very well for a true freshman. I thought he came in there and did a good job. I thought Alec Johnson played more physical, so our two guards played with a physicalness to them. Walter made good runs. Walter had some good cuts and did a good job. The offensive line really probably played the best they have to date as a unit so that was a good thing to see."
On BYU game starters, based on NMSU game or practice performance?
"I think you always have to take things from how you perform practice wise. You've got to practice like you're going to play and I'm a big believer in that. I think it was good to see the improvement in the energy that they played with up front and I thought they protected as a whole up front really well. That was gratifying to see. You ask the question right now and they'll be the guys who should start the football game but we've got 2 weeks before that time comes."
Is the offensive line's difference from previous games because of energy or technique?
"I think that we got a little movement and I think that when you start getting movement at the point of attack I think as an offensive lineman that gives you a little more confidence. I thought we had some runs that Walter [Kazee] did a nice job. Obviously the front did a nice job; that gave them a little more confidence and you could tell near the middle of the fourth quarter that they were playing stronger. The play action game off of some of the runs opened up much better. There's a combination of things that happened."
Did Walter Kazee run as close as you'd like to see from a running back?
"I think he missed a couple cuts in there and a couple little vision things but overall he's not a very big guy, I think as we all know, but he runs with a lot of energy and a lot of toughness. He picked up a block on the touchdown pass that Willie Watters had that was significant, on the linebacker coming through off a fake. He's going to stick his nose in there for a guy who's not big in stature. He always has been a guy since he's been here that plays with a high motor and a lot of toughness."
On Ryan's performance through first five games:
"I think he's played well enough for us to be better offensively. I don't think last week was one of his best performance but at the same time, we've got to clean up some things in our route running and some of the timing issues that you have in your passing game. We've got to be a little more on the same page at times between our receivers and quarterback."
Offseason conditioning most significant?
"I think that and I think the way we finished game at Air Force, especially on the defensive side of the ball. I think that is significant; I think our guys understand that they feel maybe a little more confident that they can play harder, play longer, the effort being there. Obviously, when the outcome of a game comes about in fourth quarter, that's always something you can point to."
With the defense getting turnovers, can they exploit Max Hall's high interception record?
"I don't know; he's awfully good. I've seen enough of him to know but I haven't seen enough of this year, but I know just talking to Coach Long, talking to Rocky, how good he is and how he can make the tough throws in there. Who know whys his interceptions are up this year. Again, you go back, Ryan had four against Air Force, two of them he got hit when he threw and the other one kicks off a guy's heel that should have been a completion. I don't know if you can judge just the quarterback on that number."
Relying on Rocky [Long]'s knowledge of conference:
"A lot. He knows the teams; he has a good grasp on how teams are. I rely on every guy in those offices. It's important that those guys are guys that I trust wholly and we've got a wealth of experience when it comes to coaching and different experiences. It's always positive."
On structure of the bye week:
"We're going to practice..and they'll run today. They'll lift twice during the week, but they'll run today. We'll practice on Wednesday, practice on Thursday, and then we'll practice Saturday morning and then we'll be back on our normal schedule on Sunday."
Watching conference teams on Saturday or focused on your guys:
"You're pretty focused on what your job is--these 115 kids we have on this team. There will be a little time on Saturday afternoon that you'll be able to watch a football game."
Injuries and when to expect some back:
"I think Brandon [Sullivan]'s close, I thing Romeo [Horn] probably is close; Atiyyah [Henderson] I don't see as being ready yet. We came out the other night really clean so that's a good thing too."
Expect to know [about injured players returning] more next Tuesday:
"I think so. Brandon's been running and he's been doing a little more so I'm excited about that."
On bye week, focus on system:
"It's really going to be us getting better at what we're doing right now. You always will tweak things, what you see defensively or offensively within the structure of what you do for a game plan, but at the same time we've got so many improvements that we need to make that we've got to get better at right now."
Ryan Lindley, Luke Laolagi and Jacob Tauanuu:
Jacob, road from Helix HS to SDSU:
TAUANUU: "Appreciate it. After I graduated [from] high school, from Helix in 2005, I gray-shirted at Grossmont Junior College. The following season, I played in 2006. After that in spring, I was offered a scholarship to University of Alabama-Birmingham. I took that scholarship and played in the following season in 2007. After that, I decided I should come home for various reasons and I transferred here to San Diego State last fall and red-shirted and now I'm playing."
Two red-shirt years already?
TAUANUU: A gray shirt and a red shirt.
Feels good to be playing finally:
TAUANUU: "Yeah, it does. It's a lot of fun. I enjoy it a lot."
Chance to watch BYU film yet?
LAOLAGI: "A couple guys are getting early and starting to watch a little bit of their film. We're not getting too much into it but it's a good opportunity to get into it for a little bit."
Defense got turnovers on Saturday, can you exploit that against BYU because Hall has tendency to throw picks:
LAOLAGI: "Definitely. We're going to try same as always to get in his face, hopefully force some pressure, get some turnovers. That'll be a big thing for us."
Ryan, conditioning of New Mexico State:
LINDLEY: "Looking at tape of New Mexico State, they were a good team and we could tell they're also a well-conditioned team. A lot of their games, the two games they won, they took it into the fourth quarter and it was close and they pulled away. We knew it was just something that was going to be a battle all game and it was. It was good to see that the running game, we could really just pound it out in the fourth quarter and take the lead there."
On low throwing percentage is Coach Hoke working on timing, route running, and little things crucial to a better understanding between quarterback and receiver:
LINDLEY: "I think that helps, but I think when it comes down to it, like Coach Hoke said, it just wasn't my best night. I struggled a little bit in the first half. It's something you've got to get down. You miss some throws and it just kind of snowballs a little bit. I'm just glad we got it back on track and got rhythm in the second half."
Assess how you've done five games in now playing in your second season:
LINDLEY: "I think we're growing as an offense. I think just understanding everything. I think the biggest thing is guys kind of have it down to where they know the routes, just schematically understanding the way things works, we just need to keep understanding how that works and how maybe you aren't going to get the ball but you're working to get another guy open and just the way everything works with 11 guys on field working to get a first down or move the chains."
You personally:
LINDLEY: "I think it's just a work in progress. Every week you have to get better and obviously the way I'm looking at it is you can only go up from last week. I'm just looking forward to this bye week and next week against BYU, the challenge."
Luke, comment on BYU game last year:
LAOLOGI: "First of all, they're a great team, top 25 team, Max Hall is one of the best quarterbacks in this conference. They've got a big O-line and a couple of big running backs. We've got a big test for us next week but it's good to have this week off and have next week to prepare."
On the game played with them last year and how you competed well and put up a good fight:
LAOLOGI: "I think so, but then again, this year's a new year so hopefully we can keep it rolling on the defense side of ball and go into next week and be successful."
Jacob, importance of victory in that the defense led the team, what did that do for morale:
TAUANUU: "I think it's real important to have a win before the bye week, because if we'd lost it would have been a loss and then we get back to playing again. Going into the bye week, we know we still could have played a lot better. We're just happy to have the opportunity to fine-tune some things and get back into work and really focus up and get ready for BYU."
Luke, Jacob how important is the level of understanding in learning and grasping the holes to attack and freeing the blitz:
LAOLOGI: "I'm sure there's a little bit of that and there's a little bit of guys getting off one-on-one blocks and making plays. I think that's it, just letting your hair down and playing hard"
TAUANUU: "I definitely agree with that. Like you said, we still are learning defense and we still have a few things that we've got to pick up and when we do, we know as a defense we know we can get a lot better."