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Quotes from the Sandia Kickoff Press Conference
QUOTES FROM THE SANDIA KICKOFF LUNCHEON & PRESS CONFERENCE
Quotes from the Sandia Kickoff Press Conference in PDF Format
Wyoming Head Coach Dave Christensen
On the team’s ability to focus in preparation for the game
“They’ve done a nice job in our entire time here. They go to practice and understand that the focus we need there and the intensity level we expect. They’ve enjoyed themselves down here. We didn’t give them a curfew the first couple nights, last night everyone was in bed sleeping by midnight and tonight they will be in bed by 10:30. They have done the right things and as long as my phone doesn’t ring and I don’t have to send anybody home, I have no problems. We had nine practices back home so everything was taken care of before we left Laramie.”
On Fresno State running back and national rushing leader Ryan Mathews
“It isn’t just him. There is a big offensive line in front of him that is blocking. But he is obviously a very good tailback. I had a chance to watch their game live against Illinois and he’ll be the best tailback that we face this year. Being able to tackle him and not giving up the huge plays he’s capable of getting will be crucial.”
On the importance of winning their final game to have momentum going into the off season
“Everyone wants to win their last football game but the thing you have to understand is with 34 bowl games, there are at least 34 teams that aren’t going into the off season with a win. Everyone wants to go in with a win but will it make or break you going into the off season, no. We went into my first off season, and it was a pretty good off season, and they had come off of a loss. We’d like to win the game and springboard into the off season but we are going to go in and have a great off season win, lose, or draw.”
On the type of Wyoming crowd he expects for the bowl game
“Crazy. There should be about four to five thousand people coming down for the game. I know there is 2,000 going to the tailgate tomorrow so we expect to have a good following. Our people follow us wherever we go and we expect that to continue.”
Wyoming defensive tackle John Fletcher and wide receiver David Leonard
On the differences between preparation for normal game versus a bowl game
“I don’t think it has been too much different. The free time we have, being on an away game pretty much, is been the only difference. Everything else has been the same in our preparation and practice so its just like another week for us.”
On what it means for the team and Wyoming to make it to a bowl game under first year head coach Dave Christensen
“I think it’s huge for the seniors, the program, coach Christensen and overall, the state of Wyoming. It is huge for everyone involved and we are excited to be here and we are excited to play.”
Fresno State Head Coach Pat Hill
On Ryan Mathews’ ability to help this year when he couldn’t last year
“He was injured in the UCLA game last year and he was leading the nation in rushing when that happened. He’s a good football player. It was a strange injury. Our center stepped on the back of his leg and it was a nerve issue so we never really had him after that. He’s been fine this year. He got the concussion against Nevada in the first quarter and they held him out of the next game so we didn’t have him against La Tech but he seems fine now. He’ll get his touches and will touch the ball 40 percent of the offensive plays. He’s the horse we ride.”
On how to rattle Wyoming freshman quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels
“I don’t know if you rattle him. I think his greatest strength, and he’s from California so we watched him closely in high school, is his toughness and his abilities to make plays when things break down. When evaluating quarterbacks, the guys that always have the pocket and everything goes on good timing, that’s not the evaluation you want. You want to evaluate them when things break down and he does a great job when things break down around him. He can make plays. The thing I like about him is he is like our quarterback, he is a touch guy. What I like about him is he’s engineered fourth quarter drives and the play is never over until he is down. I don’t think you rattle him. I think you have to try and contain him.”
On getting ready for the game
“We did our practices last Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We had to leave our practice facility because of the rain and we went over and used a high school field because it was raining and windy all week. Our preparation time was last week and then we flew in Wednesday and got a good Wednesday-type practice here and then yesterday was more of a polished-type practice and today will be a walk through. We have got the preparation we need for this game. As a coach you never know if you have it all completely done but we feel have gotten the plan to our players. Now it is time for us to go execute.”
Fresno State safety Moses Harris and wide receiver Seyi Ajirotutu
On the similarities and/or differences between this year and last year’s bowl
“It’s kind of the same. We practice in the same facility, ride the same buses, basically everything is the same."
On who Wyoming in comparable to that they have played this year
“Utah State, Nevada-Reno. I can’t tell you much about the offense but Moses can tell you that. Defensively they are very tough. They play different coverages and are going to try and exploit and try and take away the stuff that we are good at.
“Offensively they are like La Tech, Nevada-Reno and Illinois. They run the option game so are kind of getting used to it.”
On what they learned from last year’s bowl game that will help them this year
“We learned that we didn’t execute and we didn’t finish. I think that was kind of the tell for the first half of our season. We are looking forward to having a good game and playing well so that we can finish and we can execute."
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