Nov. 15, 2005
HEAD COACH Rocky Long
(on the seniors leaving):
“I have a special feeling for this group, especially the fifth year seniors because they came in here when we hadn’t had a winning record yet and they’re leaving here with five straight winning seasons. That means they’re a special group of guys that came here without the success level that we wanted and they came here expecting the best out of themselves and the best out of the program, and they have made it happen.”
(on locking up a bowl bid):
“I think the only way we can be positive that we are going to a bowl game is to win on Saturday. If we don’t win on Saturday, the chances of going to a bowl are very slim.”
(on not taking Air Force lightly):
“Air Force always plays hard and a lot of the time against us they play very, very well. They run a particular scheme on offense that gives a lot of people a lot of trouble and I have great respect for coach (Fisher) DeBerry and his winning record. His team will play as hard as anybody we’ve played all year.”
(on carrying over momentum from win at Utah):
“Hopefully we will carry some confidence level into the game, but the way you attack what [Air Force] does is completely different from the way you attack a passing team (like Utah).”
SENIOR LINEBACKER Mike Mohoric
(on having to beat Air Force to get a bowl bid):
“We definitely have to win. We’re in third place right now and I think if we win, it’s going to be hard to not give us a bowl game when we’re 7-4. This is definitely a must-win game for us.”
(on preparing for Air Force’s option offense):
“It’s definitely a challenge with the guys who haven’t played against it. It’s very assignment sound. You have to do everything right. Each guy on our defense is going to have the fullback and the wing back and everything like that. So you have to follow through with your assignments to be successful against this offense.”
(on gaining confidence on the defensive side after the second half against Utah):
“Last week we showed what kind of defense we could be and I think that needs to carry over for this game as far as the intensity and effort goes.”
(on being a senior playing in his last home game):
“It’s gone by a lot faster than I thought it was going to. You want to go out with a win and you want to leave something for the other guys to carry on into the next season. I think all the seniors, especially the fifth year guys, have kind of seen this program grow and make some leaps and bounds. I think we definitely want to end on a good note.”
SENIOR TAILBACK DonTrell Moore
(on playing his final home game this Saturday):
“This has been an awesome, fantastic five years for me. I’ve made a lot of new friends who I think I will keep for the rest of my life. I think the memory that sticks out the most is (living in) the dorms (as a freshman). That was the feeling out year when we all got to know each other and bond on and off the field.”
(on his emotions when he takes the field at University Stadium for the final time):
“I think it will be extremely emotional. Hopefully that will turn into intensity and allow us to play good. Passion is something that I have always played with and going out there for the last time with guys that I have taken from friendship to brotherhood is going to be very emotional for me and I probably will shed a few tears.”
(on playing at the next level and looking at draft projections):
“No, I try not to because I think those kinds of things can be detrimental to you. If you do the things you are supposed to do and take care of the little things then all those things will take care of themselves.”