HEAD COACH ROCKY LONG
On having a bye week before facing UNLV: “I think Sunday’s practice was the best we’ve had all year. (The players’) attitudes are pretty good, they seem like they’re excited about playing football. Having a week off gives them a chance to be fresher physically, but they’ll be fresher mentally too. Plus there’s not the lingering memory of being beaten bad as there would be if you had to play the very next Saturday.”
On the UNLV’s offensive scheme: “They’re a lot like last year, though I think they have more firepower at the running back position. (Joe) Haro and (Dominique) Dorsey are the two that are on the field most of the time. And Dorsey’s one of the quickest,fastest guys I’ve seen on a football field. They’re starting to run the option, too with (quarterback Jason) Thomas, which they haven’t done in the past. Jason Thomas is a hot and cold guy, but the one thing he always does well is run with the ball.”
On UNM quarterback Kole McKamey: “Kole’s a real good athlete that plays quarterback. He’s had great training, from a really good high school football program (Artesia (N.M.) High School), so he’s pretty skilled at knowing how to read progressions on routes. And he’s probably got more ability than Casey (Kelly) at carrying the football. So far he’s been very calm, quiet and confident. It will be interesting to see what it looks like Saturday at four o’clock.”
On UNM’s offfensive approach: “We’re not going to change our offense, but we’ll concentrate on things that (McKamey) does well and eliminate the things he doesn’t do well. I think it’s hard on a quarterback to be a drop-back passer as a true freshman, so we’ll move him around more. We’re liable to run more option with him than we did with Casey.”
On improving UNM’s defense: “When you’ve had success on defense, the natural reaction to when things aren’t as good as they were, is to maybe start tinkering with it or change it. I think we would hurt our defense more than help our defense if we start changing things. We spent last week working on fundamentals and we scrimmaged three times. Scrimmages are nothing like a game, but they’re as close as you can get. We’re starting to reduce the number of assignment errors and we have people in position, they just need to learn to tackle and knock some balls down.”
SENIOR SAFETY TERRELL GOLDEN
On how the off week has helped UNM prepare for UNLV: “It has helped us to put everything behind us. It gave us an extra week to get our minds ready and our bodies ready for the task at hand.”
On his concerns about the UNLV offense: “I’m not so much concerned about them as I am about my team. The fewer mistakes we make on defense the fewer points go on the board for them.”
On UNM’s source of confidence after allowing 49 points against Texas Tech: “As a football player and a competitor you know that everything is not going to go your way all of the time, so we are not worried about that. You just have to put it behind you and not dwell on the past. We are going to have our confidence for any given Saturday.”
On UNLV’s recent struggles: “We’re walking in the same shoes right now. They’re going to take this game just like we do, not worrying about last week and just taking it one game at a time. It’s now conference time and these are the games that matter.”
On Kole McKamey starting his first game: “He’s a smart kid and he’ll be fine. We have to limit their points to help him and not let him feel rushed on get too much pressure on him. We have to help make his job easier.”
SOPHOMORE LINEBACKER NICK SPEEGLE
On the bye week: “We definitely have to be over the Texas Tech game because we’re now in conference. Kole (McKamey) is going to be in there and we have to do a good job.”
On learning from the mistakes in the last two games: “Everybody has watched film and everyone has seen what happened, but you can’t dwell on those last two games. You have to move on and prepare yourself for the next game. We’ve played like we did the last two years, we are capable of playing that way and we have seven more games to prove it. We need to establish that right now if we are going to win.”
On Jason Thomas inconsistency: “We are preparing for the great Jason Thomas and we are preparing for him to show up and play the way he is capable of playing.”
On helping freshman Kole McKamey in his first start at quarterback: “We’re going to have to go out there and shut down their offense so we can take the pressure off of our offense and let him play. If we’re out there running around making plays then that can get our offense fired up and get them making plays. He’s a great guy and I think he will be fine.”
FRESHMAN QUARTERBACK KOLE MCKAMEY
On his confidence going into the game: “I am comfortable. I know that I’m not going to go in there and throw five or six touchdown passes but just play solid and hope we get a win. No quarterback wants to go out there and make mistakes. I am going to go out there and play the game I am used to.”
On starting on the road: “I think it might be a little tougher because everyone in the stadium is against us, but if I started here and didn’t play well then the Albuquerque fans would be against me.”
On UNLV: “I think they lead the conference in sacks and they like to pressure the quarterback. They have the talent to play really well and I’m sure they’ll be ready to play on Saturday.”