San Diego State Football Press Conference Quotes Sept. 11, 2018
Coach Rocky Long
Opening statement: “We’ve got another week against a Top 25 team. I guess that’s what we ask for when we set the schedules up awhile back. Once again it’s an opportunity game. They’re a very talented football team and have a lot of skilled players on both sides of the ball. They’re big and strong up front. That’s why they are a Top 25 team right now. The biggest concern I have right now after listening to the radio coming in was that I heard the New York Jets had all the Detroit Lions signals and the score was 48-to-17. Guess who is going to have all of our signals and all of our hand signals? Arizona State is going to have that. We’re not going to have theirs, but they’re going to have ours. Besides being a really good and talented football team, they also have some other advantages. It’s an opportunity for us, but I’d say we are the big underdogs.”
On Arizona State head coach Herm Edwards praising Rocky Long for some of ASU’s early season success after hiring some former SDSU assistant coaches: “I think he’s probably selling that bigger than it is. We talked a couple of times when he was interested in some of our coaches, but that’s all we talked about. I don’t think we had anything to do with their early success. Now the coaches they took from us were very good coaches. And they’re getting paid a whole lot more money right now and they’re doing a really good job of coaching too. That’s one of the reasons of their success. Head coaches are successful if they have good assistant coaches.”
On if anything has changed from when SDSU beat ASU in Tempe last year: “I see a lot of the same athletes out there, but they’re playing at a much higher and more energetic level than they did last year. That’s why they’re playing well. They were a very talented football team last year too, but they didn’t have the spark or energy or want-to that they seem to be playing with right now.”
On Herm Edwards being a great motivator: “I’m sure that has a lot to do with it. As college coaches, most of us all give the same message, but you give it in a different way. He might be giving the exact same message as (Todd Graham) did with more enthusiasm and since it’s coming from a different guy in a different manner, they’re reacting to it in a positive manner.”
On if he is changing signals this week because former SDSU defensive coaches are on the ASU staff: “No, all that would do is confuse our players. If you confuse your own players, you have no chance whatsoever to compete. We’ll live with the fact that they have an advantage and will try and do the best we can.”
On how he sees Ryan Agnew playing in his first career start on Saturday: “Ryan’s been around for a long time. He’s a good athlete and a smart guy. He’s prepared himself every week to be the starter and now he gets to be the starter. It will be interesting to see, he’s plenty gifted enough as an athlete and he’s smart enough to have a very good game. But they’re something psychological about coming off the bench as the back-up and saving the day as opposed to being a starter. Some guys handle that very well and some guys don’t. I can’t predict which way. We think he’s going to come off and play very well. That’s our expectation.
“I don’t think he’ll get flustered. He’s a guy who’s been a starting quarterback in high school in a highly stressful situation and he’s played in a couple of games, not a lot, but a couple of games. Nothing will frustrate him that doesn’t every other quarterback in the country. If you’re getting sacked or not having success, that would frustrate him, but that frustrate Christian (Chapman) and Arizona State’s quarterback (Manny Wilkins) too. It doesn’t make any difference. He’s prepared because he’s been here for four years.”
On Arizona State quarterback Manny Wilkins: “He’s a very good athlete that has a very strong arm. He moves around well. He can get out of trouble and make plays with his feet if he has to. He’s a very experienced, good quarterback.”
On how he has thought Juwan Washington has played given all the expectations: “I think Juwan has met our expectation level. He’s proved he’s a very good running back. He even proved last week that he is a pretty good running back when the offensive line blocking very well.”
On the Arizona State offense: “We’ll be under a lot of pressure. They played a very good football team last week in Michigan State and threw for 380 yards. They were playing a ranked team that was from the Big 10 that has a reputation of playing great defense, and they threw the ball very well and completed a lot of passes.”
On Noble Hall’s injury and impact on the defense: “He’s made a difference the first two weeks since we moved him back inside over the center as opposed to last year playing defensive end. He’s made a noticeable difference in our run defense and not being in there is going to be a problem for us for however long he is out.”
Junior quarterback Ryan Agnew
On playing against ASU defensive coaches Danny Gonzales and Tony White, who both used to coach at SDSU: “It makes it very interesting. They were on the staff last year. I know Coach Gonzales and Coach White were great coaches. I loved them when they were here, but now they are on the other side. You can’t look at a match-up between us and Coach Gonzales, you’ve got to look at it as San Diego State vs. Arizona State. They are a great football team. It’s interesting to talk about all the coaches, but once the game starts it’s 11-on-11. Coaches can’t play. Players have to go out and contribute.”
On the challenge of making his first career start this weekend: “There’s definitely challenges going into the first game. I bet being a starter with Christian (Chapman) for three years, he experienced challenges every single game. I just have to be as calm as I can and trust the guys around me. They did a great job when I came in last game. They trust me. All I can do is do my job, and trust that they’re going to do their job and we’re going to be OK.”
On what he brings to the table as the starting quarterback: “Every single person brings a new skillset to the field. I try to bring the best attributes I can to the field and perform to the best of my ability. I wouldn’t be able to do that without the offensive line. If they don’t protect, I can’t throw the ball. If the receivers don’t run the right routes, I can’t get complete the passes. I don’t think I bring anything too interesting, just executing at a high level and we can do well.”
On what’s he learned from being around Christian Chapman: “All the intangibles. From the first day I stepped on campus my locker room has been next to him, which has been awesome. Just learning from him, seeing how he carries himself, seeing how he came into his role to become a great leader, a great quarterback and a winner most of all. Not trying to do too much and doing what the coaches ask. Our coaches put us in a great gameplan. We have the best running game in the country. We’ve had that consistently, so you just have to trust that. Do your job and stay within yourself, and everything will work out.”
On if practicing against SDSU’s 3-3-5 defense helps going against ASU’s 3-3-5: “Our defense is crazy to go against sometimes. Kyree (Woods) knows that they like to fly to the ball and get 11 hats to the ball. They do it consistently and don’t stop. They have an energy like no other team has. They like to create havoc. It definitely makes us better playing against them in the spring and fall. It makes the whole team better.”
On maybe Arizona State overlooking him starting for the first time of his career: “People are going to make their predictions. To us it doesn’t really matter. As long as the guys in the locker room and the coaches trust us, that’s all that really matters. Everyone can make their predictions, but we get to go out there and make it happen.”
On getting to go into his first start with such a good running game: “It makes me very comfortable, turning around and seeing (fullback) Isaac Lessard and (running back) Juwan Washington with you. That’s really awesome. Then you see the giants in front of you that run block very well and they’ve proven that the last couple of years. It’s very comforting. Then along with that we have great receivers and I have trusted them ever since I’ve een here. Now that I have an opportunity, I’m very excited to see what they can do.”
Junior cornerback Kyree Woods
On Arizona State’s explosive offense: “They’re very talented in all aspects of their game. I think Coach Long is going to do a good job drawing up something against them. We’re very confident in our game as well. I feel like it’s going to be fun, playing another Top 25 team and getting to compete at a high level. We’re very excited.”
On how the defensive backs have played the first two weeks: “Any time we get to step on the field is another chance to get better. We can’t keep looking in the past. The only thing we can do is try to get better each week and I feel like we’ve made improvements, and next week will be another good challenge to show that we are confident in our abilities.”
On facing another good receiver in N’Keal Harry: “Another big time receiver in N’Keal Harry. He was my high school teammate, so it’s good we got to compete every day in practice. I kind of know what he’s like, but he’s very talented. It will be another challenge for our secondary to get better.”
On if knowing Harry from high school helps him on Saturday: “A little bit, but I know he’s grown from high school as well as I’ve grown from high school. We’ve learned from different coaches from high school to college. We’ve each added a little bit aspects to our game, but I’m excited to play him again.”
On playing a Pac-12 team and if SDSU still has a chip on its shoulder: “(Strength & Conditioning) Coach (Adam) Hall always tells us that we are going to be the underdog every week. That gives us a chip on our shoulder just to prove that we can play with anybody. Coach (Rocky) Long and the rest of the coaches always preach that against everybody. We kind of like that chip. It brings a little more in fire in the locker room and on the field.”
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