Nov. 8, 2005
Head Coach Rocky Long
(on changing the offense for new starting QB Chris Nelson):
“It doesn’t change. We’re going to run the exact same game plan we would have run if Kole (McKamey) was going to be the starter. It changes as the game goes along depending on what’s working and what’s not and what kind of defense they’re playing, but going in it’s basically the same game plan.”
(on differences between Mckamey and Nelson):
“I think they both throw the ball really well. I think that now he’s (Nelson) got a real good feel for our offense and his being able to play in the second half against Wyoming means there wont be any shyness about him getting into full speed action. He runs the option fairly well, but he’s (Nelson) not quite as fast as Kole.”
(on whether it’s an advantage for Nelson to have several days to prepare or more pressure than if he’d taken over mid-game):
“I don’t know, we’ll have to find out on game day. Obviously he’s had all week to think about being the starter and at Wyoming he just got thrown in there in the spur of the moment. I think that depends on the individual. A lot of the time it’s hard to think about it for four days and it’s pretty easy to go in there and be an emergency guy. We’ll see how he handles it.”
(on slowing down Utah):
“They have been the best offense in our league the last two weeks and their quarterback has gotten real hot throwing the ball. Last week they had to throw it a lot because their star running back (Quinton Ganther) was hurt and out, but he’s supposed to play against us. They have good athletes and they have a balanced attack with him at running back. They’re very difficult to stop. Hopefully it’s not a scoring battle and hopefully we can slow them down and stay in the game.”
Junior Quarterback Chris Nelson
(on whether it’s tougher to just go in or to have several days to prepare to play):
“I would say the other situation is tougher because you don’t know you’re going to play until all the sudden you get throw in there. Now I’m going to have about a week and a half of preparation and that’s more film that I get to watch and more situations I get to prepare myself for, as opposed to Wyoming, where I just kind of got thrown in there.”
(on whether he feels excited or nervous):
“That’s the question everybody’s been asking me. I’m really nervous and really excited because if you’re not nervous before a football game then you’re not a football player. I’m of course going to be nervous, but I’m also excited because this is the reason I came here (UNM). I saw an opportunity to play. It’s unfortunate that it happened because of an injury, but I’m excited and nervous and all those other emotions you can throw in there.”
(on pressure he feels stepping in this week):
“I would say there’s a lot of pressure because back-up or not, everybody expects me to play well just like Kole (Mckamey) does. So I feel like there’s a lot of pressure, but I can speak for the rest of the team, were not going to look ahead of this game. If we don’t get past this game we’re not going anywhere. This is the biggest game on our schedule.”
(on what he brings to the game):
“I think the biggest thing is I’m a good leader. I want to bring confidence to the rest of the offensive squad and to the whole team. I want to go in there and show those guys that back-up or not, we can still get the job done.”
Junior Safety Aleem Harris
(on the benefit of the bye week):
“We have time to rest and a chance to get our minds right. Coming off a big loss, we need to recuperate and it gives us a chance to really concentrate on what we have to do to win this next game.”
(on whether the Lobos are ready to put together a complete game on Saturday):
“I think we can. It’s just the concentration aspect. If we just go out there, concentrate and do what we have to do then everything else will fall into place.”
(on what the team has been doing in practice to improve its performance in the second half of games):
“We go out for the first half of practice, then we come inside and watch film for about 20 minutes to simulate half time. Then we go back out, and when we’re out there it’s really hard intensity-wise. We need to go out there and play hard in the second half because that’s what’s holding us back right now.”
Senior Center Ryan Cook
(on the team performing well when its back is against the wall):”I think the intensity and attitude of coach Long carries over to us and we do a good job of coming out and fighting.”
(on how the quarterback change affects the offense):
“It doesn’t change too much. Chris and Kole are both capable quarterbacks and offense is geared towards both of them. We should come out and run the exact same things we would if Kole was in there.”
(on being invited to the Senior Bowl and generally considered one of the best offensive linemen in the country):
“It’s a great honor to be selected to the Senior Bowl and I’m looking forward to playing in it after the season, but right now I’m just focused on Utah this Saturday. Being one of the best linemen in the nation has always been a goal of mine so I guess it’s a tribute to my hard work and dedication.”
Senior Defensive End Adam Garday
(on how to slow down Utah this Saturday):“Pretty much on defense, we just have to stop that zone option. They have a bunch of receivers, they spread it out, they like to run that zone option and they like to let the quarterback keep the ball. In the past few games, they have put the ball in the quarterback’s hands more. So if we stop the quarterback and we stop the passing game with the zone option, hopefully we can shut them down.”
(on how much having a week off helps):
“My body feels great now with the week off. It just helps your body recuperate. When your body feels good, you can watch film, relax, and study up so you know what your opponent is going to do the next week.”
(on QB Kole McKamey not playing this week):
“He’ll be there with us emotionally and he’ll be there to help us. We know if he could be there physically and play, he would. So obviously something is really wrong with him, but I think we’ll be fine. Chris Nelson is a great quarterback. He’ll step in and do good.”
(on how focused the team is on doing well in the fourth quarter):
“All last week we’ve been practicing and acting like it was going to be the fourth quarter, and going into the locker room in the middle of practice and acting like it was half time. We just need to play stronger in the fourth quarter. We need to finish teams off. We play good for three straight quarters, but in the fourth quarter we just let down. We need to play harder and stronger in the fourth quarter.”