Sept. 27, 2005
HEAD COACH Rocky Long
(on the team recovering from the loss to UTEP):
“I think we have to put it behind us. There’s a very good conference team that we’re getting ready to play and you have to look forward not backward. The conference schedule is starting in earnest now. We’re going to play nothing but conference games and we have get in to it and not worry what’s happened up until now, good or bad.”
(on how well the non-conference schedule has prepared UNM for MWC play):
“I think our non-conference games were very good, competitive football games that should have us ready to play our best game this week.”
(on the Lobos’ having a sense of urgency playing a TCU team that is already 2-0 in MWC games):
“We take conference games very seriously around here no matter what the standings are. Right now they are on top of the league standings, so that makes them the kings right now.”
(on the luck involved in the Horned Frogs’ close victories this season):
“I think luck has a lot to do with anybody winning football games when it’s close. I’m impressed with their mental toughness because they were behind in both those games (against Utah and BYU). In both those games they got themselves back into the game and to a point where they could actually win it. That shows some real toughness, especially mentally.”
(on TCU, a first-year MWC member, defeating two of the traditional MWC powers Utah and BYU in their first conference games):
“There’s a reason our league tried to get TCU into the conference. The last few years they have generated a lot of national exposure because they have been a very, very good football team and one of the teams most likely to break the BCS barrier. I think every other team in the league knew that they are very good and would have a chance to win the conference championship.”
(on the difficulty of preparing for a new conference team who UNM has not faced since 1997):
“We’ve seen three games on tape, so you have an idea of what they’re like and what they want to do. You don’t have a real good feel for them, but they don’t have a real good feel for us either. They’ve seen us on tape, but they don’t really know our personnel very well and we don’t know their personnel very well either. None of our players have ever played there, but none of their players have ever played us, so I think it balances out.”
(on how TCU looked in its wins over Oklahoma, Utah and BYU compared to the loss at SMU):
“I saw a very good football team against Oklahoma, Utah and BYU, and they didn’t play very well against SMU. That usually happens when you lose a game that shouldn’t lose – you didn’t play very well. They’ve had two very good games since that time though, against very good opponents. I think Utah is one of the most talented teams in our league and they found a way to beat them. It’s very, very difficult to play at BYU and they found a way to beat them. So they’ve proved that they belong. We have to prove that we belong.”
Freshman Safety Blake Ligon
(on the outcome of the UTEP game and getting ready for the TCU game):
“It just turned out that they made two more plays that we didn’t. We went out there and played hard and we had a good game plan. You never want to lose that way, especially when you are coming out there to prove that you can hang with the best. We proved that we were as good, if not better than them, but we’re just ready to get back out there. This is a big game coming up for us. TCU is No. 1 in the conference and that’s obviously where we want to be. We’re really anxious to get out to practice right now and get ready for this game.”
“This is where it starts. We had a good start to the season. We can’t let this first loss get us down. We have a lot of games left to go and a lot of conference games. We want to be on top. This is the best way to start it off with the No. 1 team.”
“We need to win this game and that’s the way we’re going into it. We have to win this game. This could take away our chance to get the conference championship, so that’s why we want to go in there, win this game and just win out. This is where it starts right here. It’s a big game.”
(on UNM’s defense and the entire team coming together for the conference games):
“The defense started off a little shaky (against UTEP). They were getting a whole lot more yardage and points that we didn’t want to give up. We’re starting to come into sync now. We’re starting to figure out where we need to be and we’re starting to make the tackles that we need to make. This is the perfect time to come together. Our offense started off good and we’re all starting to come together. I think we’re going to have a good game both offensively and defensively, and in the special teams.”
Senior Tight End Logan Hall
(on getting back on the field after the loss to UTEP):
“We hate to lose. We want to get back on the field and get that bitter taste of losing out of our mouths. This is a huge game for us. We all realize that and we’re all treating it as such. It’s a good time for us to bounce back and show that we are the No. 1 team in the conference.”
(on the importance of defeating TCU):
“Our goal at the first of the year was to win the conference. We won our first conference game. In order to win our conference, we have to win this week. There’s a lot of urgency this week. A lot of it comes from the way we played last week. We’re a better team than what we showed and we want to prove that to people. We want to prove that to ourselves. We play for each other and when we don’t play well we feel like not only do we let other people down, but more importantly we let ourselves down. We want to prove we are the best team in the conference.”
Senior Linebacker Mike Mohoric
(on the effects of losing at UTEP last week):
“It is lingering a little bit, but everyone is trying to use it as motivation. The mistakes we made at UTEP can be easily fixed.”
(on new MWC members TCU already owning wins over Utah and BYU):
“They have proven they can play. In the preseason, I think a lot of people underestimated how good they were. This game is very important to us. Every game from here on out matters.”
(on the Lobos’ defensive improvement):
“I think we continue to improve every week, which is a good sign. I don’t think we have even come close yet to reaching our full potential. We’ve been in the country’s top statistical categories in the past and we need to cause more turnovers and set out to get back to that standing.”
Junior Kicker Kenny Byrd
(on working and learning from an all-MWC kicker like Wes Zunker the past few years):
“Wes taught me a lot that I never knew coming into football. He set a standard here of making field goals and doing it accurately for a long time, especially in clutch situations. Now it’s a standard in practice, which we carry into games.”
(on the development of his football kicking career):
“Naturally I wish I had started a little earlier. Soccer helped me tremendously with leg strength. What I hear a lot about high school kickers is that they kick off tees for field goals, so a lot of them have a hard time making the transition from the tee to the ground in college. I just started on the ground so I think I had an advantage.”