Sept. 20, 2011
SAN DIEGO -
Head Coach Rocky Long
Opening Statement:
"We are here to talk about the game you have all wanted to talk about since we started training camp. Michigan has a lot of good football players; they have a great coach and a great coaching staff. The combination of the two make them a difficult team to play as well as playing at their place, at a famous stadium where they will have a whole bunch of people there. We will see how we handle the distractions of the crowd, but we are pretty happy being 3-0 right now. It is too bad that no one understands that we are 3-0 right now and all they want to talk about is Michigan."
On playing this year's Michigan team compared to playing Michigan's tradition:
"We continue on the same course we have had since day one. That it does not really matter who we play or where we play them. We are trying to build a program here and build a team here. We are going to go out and compete and do the best we can, play hard until the end of the game and see what happens."
On the challenges of defending Denard Robinson:
"He is a special football player. I think he is the key to their offense. They are trying to establish a new type of offense, a pro type of offense, but they are good coaches. They understand that he is better in the shotgun and he is better where he can move around and throw it as good as run it. The coaches understand all that and have given him the opportunity even though they are trying to establish a new type of offense. They are giving him the opportunity to do what he does best. You do not see many football players like him, ever. He does some amazing things on the field that has allowed them to win."
On simulating Denard Robinson's offense in practice:
"You can't. It is the same as trying to play the triple option. You practice against it and it does not look anything in practice like it does when you get to the game. It is so much faster, so much quicker. He might be the fastest football player I have ever seen in a football uniform. He is as fast as any guy I have ever seen on the football field."
On Coach Hoke running similar schemes like he ran at SDSU:
"They want to and you see signs of it but they are playing to their better players so they have not gone to a total pro-style offense. They are doing a lot of spread concept things so the quarterback has the ball in his hands.
On being close to Coach Hoke and holding back on scheming something special:
"No, coaches don't have much to say about the way the game is going to go. We know each other pretty well. Al Borges knows our defense better than anybody in the country. We were assistant coaches at UCLA and assistant coaches here so we have competed on the practice field more so than competing against a guy every couple of years. That gives them an advantage. They know our team much better then we know their team, which gives them a decided advantage going into the game. I also believe that once you get into the game other than a few adjustments you might make as coaches, most games are won and lost by players. A coach could lose a game by not giving his team a chance to win, but there has never been a coach that has won the game."
On Coach Hoke sending a text message to his players telling them he took the job at Michigan and using that as motivation:
"No, we are trying to do it the opposite way. Coaches don't have anything to do with it. Just because he is there and I am here doesn't matter. Brady took the job he has always wanted, it was a dream job. I feel good for him and I am glad he got the opportunity. The situation was such that he could not meet with the players. The players were not around and he had to go take his new job. I think he did all he could to express his feelings to our players. Our players, once they had the initial shock of him leaving, were happy for him. Brady had a great relationship with our players and they knew he wanted to be at Michigan, they were happy for him. There is not any vendetta and there aren't any bad feelings. Our team is excited about playing but it has anything to do with Coach Hoke. They are excited about playing because they are playing a Top-25 team and are playing in a great big stadium. There is a whole bunch of interest in it."
On where he sees Jake Fely bringing to the defense:
"Jake is a good football player that has a natural reaction to plays. He diagnoses plays faster than a lot of people do, which he has probably had to because he is undersized. He understands our defense. He is quick, he is fast and he reacts to plays quicker than most, which allows him to make plays. We play so many guys that we play a type of defense that we try to let everybody make plays. Our defensive linemen don't take up blockers so the linebackers can make plays. Everybody in our defense is supposed to make a play. If you are right in the middle of the defense, the nose guard, the middle linebacker, the free safety, or our Aztec position, those guys should make most of the plays because they can make plays on both sides of the ball."
On the talk of Ronnie Hillman and the Heisman:
"I keep hearing that. I don't know how any of that works. I don't know if that is a rumor, or if that is legit, I don't know how any of that works. He is an outstanding football player. He is a key to any success we have. If he continues to have a season like he did last year and maybe better, I guess that is legit but to be honest with you I don't know how any of that works. It is a great award, but I'm not sure if it always goes to the best college football player in the country because how can you tell? The best college football player in the country might be an offensive lineman. There is no way (an offensive lineman) is going to get it."
Senior Quarterback Ryan Lindley
On what he expects to see from Michigan's defense on Saturday:
"We checked out all the games they played this year, their defensive coordinator definitely has a lot of experience. They do a lot of different things on defense, throw some different things at you and try to disguise stuff. They have a great group of athletes to do that with. It's going to be a great challenge and I am excited to see what coach Ludwig has for us to dial up and see what we can throw at them."
On how big is this game considering the atmosphere and big crowd inside Michigan Stadium:
"When it comes down to it, it's another game and we want to go 1-0 this week. That's our plan and if we're going to be a championship team, we have to take care of business on the field, eliminate distractions and just make it about playing our best football."
On if there is another atmosphere he's played in that compares to Michigan Stadium:
"Notre Dame was similar. I don't remember exactly what their capacity is, but I remember it was loud and exciting. It was the same deal - a place with a ton of tradition. It's going to be a lot of fun and that is great to be a part of and it definitely makes the game exciting."
Senior Linebacker Miles Burris
On what kind of challenges Denard Robinson poses for you?
"He's a big challenge. He's their best player and who they design their offense around. He is very explosive and dynamic and can do a lot with the football. Obviously, you know he can throw it and run it around a lot. We're are going to have our hands full and it's up to the coaches to draw up schemes to put us in the best position to make plays."
On how to stop Denard Robinson:
"You just have to bottle him up. You can't give him too much space, because the more space you give a guy like that - he is just so explosive, quick and dynamic - he will make you miss in the open field. Everybody has to do their job on every given play and make sure that we execute."
On whether there have been a lot of SDSU students asking about the team playing Michigan:
"I've gotten people coming out of the woodwork saying, `You're playing in the Big House, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity.' It is and it's going to be a lot of fun. Anytime you get to play football, it's a lot of fun, but on a stage like that, it's great and it's electric being able to play in front of that many people. We're really looking forward to it."