Aug. 26, 2008

Head Coach Chuck Long

Defense - Russell Allen, B.J. Williams

Offense - Ryan Lindley, Darren Mougey

SDSU Football
Weekly Press Conference Quotes
August 26, 2008
Aztec Athletics Center

Head Coach Chuck Long

Opening Comments:
"Well, it's game week. The season is upon us. We're excited. It's finally here. You get to the beginning of training camp at Camp Pendleton and you think this day will never come. It's just seems so far off when you begin training camp. Now that it's here, you look back and it's like a blur. But it was the best training camp we've had so far (and) our best off-season. I feel so much better going into this year than I did in year one ... Our guys have worked extremely hard. What remains to be seen is how our guys do. We have a lot of new faces in there. We've seen them in practice, of course, but we haven't seen them in games yet. But we feel good about where they're at and they need that game experience."

On Cal Poly:
"Cal Poly is a good football team. They're well-coached. Coach (Rich) Ellerson has done a nice job up there over a number of years. He has them in the top 20 coming in. He has just about everybody back on offense and about half the defense. Ramses Barden, their wide receiver, is as good of a receiver as we'll play all year. He's an excellent player. (Jonathan) Dally, their quarterback, does a nice job of running that offense. It's very unique. It's a triple option with throwing the ball deep. It's a challenging offense for our defense. Defensively, they bring a lot of blitz packaging and play some man combos in the back end. We've worked hard toward Cal Poly and, of course, they beat us two years ago here when we were favored.

On starting the season on a positive note:
"One of our team goals is to get off to a good start. We haven't had a good start in the non-conference since we've been here. We were 0-4 in the first year and 1-3 last year, so getting off to a good start has been a big emphasis. We're anxious to play. It's finally here. We're tired of playing against each other like any team."

On the team's youth:
"We're excited about our team. We have good youth and talent on our football team. It's a team that's going to be together for a couple of years and not just this year. We'll have everybody coming back next year."

On the team's non-conference schedule:
"I think that's the key to any turn-around program. If you study turnarounds in the past 20 years or so -- and I`ve been with a few of them -- they did a big part of it through scheduling. For example, we had three BCS teams last year and this year we have one. We still have to go earn it. They're not gimmes by any stretch of the imagination. You have to go out and earn it. (Cal Poly) is a team that came in here and beat us a couple of years ago, so it's on an earned basis. No one is ever going to roll over for you, but at least it gives us a chance going in. It gives a chance to get footing in this program and get off to a good start like I mentioned before. (When) you're 0-4 or 1-3 coming out of non-conference, you're behind the 8-ball already. Then you have a conference (schedule) to play and it's tough. You try to get to that magical seventh victory. Sometimes a sixth one will get you into a bowl. But you can really pad it by getting that seventh one. That's where non-conference scheduling comes in. In studying the Mountain West in the last 10 years, I don't believe anybody that started with an 0-4 or 1-3 record went to a bowl. Maybe there's one, but you'd have to look it up. They were at least 2-2 or 3-1 going into the conference."

On getting the team's non-conference schedule the way he likes it:
"It was one of the first priorities, if not the first. Scheduling is very tricky and it's very difficult to do. There are financial reasons for that. Some teams say "no, we're not going to let you out," because they either can't find another game or they want to play you. It's not an easy thing to do. You have to have the open dates to match up. We were not able to do much with our first two years, so we looked ahead to year three, which is this year. From this year and beyond, we were really able to fix it. Now we're really working all the way up to 2012."

On whether the loss to Cal Poly in 2006 still hurts:
"It does. Every loss does. It was a tight game. I remember fumbling at the end. We had a turnover at the end of the game that gave them good field position to kick the field goal to go ahead. We still had a chance with two minutes left to go down and win. We drove all the way down and missed a field goal. But we didn't execute like we should have. It was a tough game."

On quarterback Ryan Lindley:
"We found about Ryan Lindley in high school. He threw for a lot of yards, but I go beyond that. When we're looking for a quarterback, I try to see the intangibles and get a feel for him at the game. I went to one of his games and he didn't throw for the highest yardage total for the season that night. It's was all the other little things: the command he had in the huddle, the way his (teammates) followed him, the way he led and his tenacity. All those little intangibles are what I'm looking for, along with toughness. I said to (offensive coordinator) Del Miller afterwards that we need to go after him. He's the real deal.

"When Ryan was a freshman, he was the most mature young quarterback I've ever seen. He has the chance to be a four-year starter, which would be the first for me in coaching. The most I ever had was a two-year starter. It's exciting for him to have a chance to do that. He needs to perform like everybody and earn his way through games. We have a capable man in Drew Westling behind him. So Ryan knows that there's competition and he needs to perform to stay on the field. But I really like what he has been doing all camp. He has really separated himself. If you didn't know our roster, you would go to our practices and confuse him at times with being a senior. That's a good feeling to have."

On the offensive line:
"I like what we have up front. Peter Nelson came out of spring as a defensive tackle. Now he's our starting left tackle. We made the switch, thinking he's better suited for offense and so did he. Behind him is Brian Milholland, who is a good true freshman to keep an eye on. He has all the tools that you want at that position. He has the feet, the speed and the size. He's maybe our biggest guy on the football team right now. Mike Schmidt has been stable at left guard. Trask Iosefa was our starting center last year and we see him growing as well this year. Ikaika Aken-Moleta is a young man at right guard who is turning out to be a good story. We think he will be by the end of the year. When he first got here, we didn't think he was going to make it. He was overweight. He wasn't in shape. He was one of the last guys to finish the sprints and conditioning. But he has dropped weight and worked hard in school and on the football field. Now that the smoke has cleared, he's our starting right guard and doing well. Then there's Lance Louis. You know his story. He was a tight end, hurt his knee and lost some speed. But he's gifted. He `s got great strength, good feet, and he's got a chance to be a good right tackle for us by the end of the year. We moved him from guard to tackle because we needed that done. But we have the makings of a good offensive line."

On the running back situation:
"We have them in different one- and two-back packages in our system. Each one of them brings a little different nuance to the table, and we want to be able to use those. It will sift down to probably two or maybe three at the most as time goes on. But we have some good packages put together right now with each one bringing a strength to the table. It's been one of the most competitive battles in camp and we like what they're all doing."

Senior linebacker Russell Allen

On the non-conference schedule:
"Last year, starting out with two Pac-10 opponents is obviously a little different than how we are starting the season this year. This is a situation we are really excited about. We feel that (Cal Poly) is a great game for us to go out and avenge a loss from two years ago, as well as to get us off on the right foot. That is something that we are really excited about and getting ready for this first game has been our focus all along."

On the non-conference schedule:
"I think that it will help us to get rolling a little bit before we hit conference. Cal Poly is obviously a good team. They are ranked No. 14 in the nation in Division I-AA and they have the No. 1 returning offense at that level. They are a good solid team, so it will be a fun challenge."

On fall training camp:
"It definitely has been the best camp by far. We had the best summer, which led into a great camp because we were able to hit the ground running. Going into day one of camp, we were already in shape and understood what we needed to do defensively as well as offensively. We were ahead of the game when camp started and that helped us to take it to a whole new level now, going into the first game week."

On SDSU's loss to Cal Poly in 2006:
"It was tough. That is a game that we will always remember and that we were not happy with. Now, we are lucky enough to have an opportunity to make it right and what better chance to do that than in our home opener. We are excited about the game and (the loss) is definitely something we will remember when we are out there on Saturday."

On Cal Poly's offense:
"When you face an opponent like (Cal Poly), the first thing you have to be aware of is always doing your assignment. Our main focus is to have everyone knowing their job and executing it on every single play. The number one priority is to stop the run because they live and die by the run. They throw the ball well, but that is kind of a change up for them. They will lull you to sleep with the run and then change it up and throw the ball off of that. We feel that if they have to beat us throwing the ball, then we got them where we want them."

On Aztec linebackers Luke Laolagi, Andrew Preston and Jerry Milling:
"Those guys have grown up a lot over the past couple years. They are bigger, stronger and more physical. They have matured a lot in this defense and are starting to understand their role in every single play call that we have. They are also very athletic. All three of those guys are some of the most athletic linebackers that I have come across in my career. They are fun to watch, so it will be exciting to see them continue to grow as the season goes along."

Sophomore defensive end B.J. Williams

On the impact of the injuries the team has suffered:
"I don't think it has been a setback because we have the guys to fill in for those positions. Everyone will make plays and help us out. Also, the (injured) guys will be back, so we will be alright."

On the loss of Siaosi Fifita for the season opener:
"It definitely hurts because he is a great player. But, we have great people right behind him to back him up. They know the schemes and they know what to do, so we will be just fine."

Redshirt freshman quarterback Ryan Lindley

On the young offense:
"We have some young guys but I think we've grown a lot over this camp period and these last couple weeks. Guys like Darren (Mougey), Mike (Schmidt) and Lance (Louis) have really helped in that. They are huge leaders in the huddle."

On following in the footsteps of Kevin O'Connell:
"I think we are just going to go out and play hard. I'm not really worried about trying to be the next Kevin (O'Connell) or be in his footsteps. I'm just thinking of it from a team aspect. We need to go out and win ball games. That is all I'm really worried about right now."

On what he has worked on most during camp:
"I've been working on my timing and getting cohesive with everyone else. I've been able to get good timing with some of the other guys and get in a good rhythm with the offense."

On the wide receivers:
"I feel really comfortable with everybody. I think as far as receivers go, we have a lot of depth. We are probably six-deep right now with guys like Darren (Mougey), Vincent Brown, Roberto Wallace, Mekell Wesley, Jon Toledo and Justin Shaw. We have a ton of guys who can run crisp routes and catch the ball, so I feel really comfortable with everybody."

Senior wide receiver Darren Mougey

On the non-conference schedule:
"There are no guarantees. In college football there are great teams across the board, but these are games that we would like to win. The schedule is favorable compared to how it has been in the past. That is something we look forward to as a team and something we need to take advantage of. I think we will do well with it."

On what he wants to instill in the underclassmen:
"We just want to instill a sense of pride and the competitive nature of the game of football at the college level. We want to show them how competitive it is and how it needs to be throughout the program and throughout the whole season."

On being one of the Aztecs' top receivers:
"Last year, I went in without any game experience as a wide receiver and I learned a lot week-by-week. I feel like I can now bring that game experience to the table. Also, we have a whole group of talented wide receivers from start to finish. We have a lot of guys who can make plays and who will do good things for this team."