Oct. 10, 2006
University of New Mexico head coach Rocky Long, junior defensive end Tyler Donaldson and sophomore fullback Matt Quillen addressed the local media this afternoon at the Tucanos Media Luncheon on the third floor of the L.F. “Tow” Diehm Athletics Facility. Click on the links below to watch coach Long’s press conference and listen to what the players had to say as New Mexico (2-4) looks to snap a two-game slide at UNLV (1-4) on Saturday.
Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. (MST) and the game will be televised live on The Mtn. (ch. 276 for Albuquerque Comcast Cable subscribers and ch. 329 on Cable-One in Rio Rancho).
Head Coach Rocky Long
LISTEN to coach Long’s press conference
(on whether or not UNM has a permanent starting QB in Donovan Porterie):
“I don’t know if we do or not. We’re going to start a different quarterback this week, whether he’s going to perform at a starting quarterback level or not, we’re going to find out. He’s going to be given the opportunity.
(on previous starter Chris Nelson did anything to force a change):
“No, we didn’t see anything specifically. Neither one of them played very well, so not one played better than the other. Chris has had a couple chances to be the starting quarterback and we don’t really see any difference in their performances to this point, so we’re going to give Donovan a chance to start and see if that makes him play better or worse.”
(on whether the change was made to spark the offense or to give Porterie some more experience):
“The starting quarterback gets more reps in practice, so we’re going to see if the extra reps in practice make him perform better in the game. We’re just basically giving him a chance to prove that he can be the starting quarterback. We haven’t given up on Chris. Chris has done some wonderful things, especially off the bench, so if things aren’t going well on Saturday, Chris will get in the game.”
(on UNLV):
“I think it’s similar to last week’s game. Obviously they run a different defense and run the spread option offense, but I think both teams are young and both teams have some potential, but both teams haven’t played very well to this point. It’s going to be a very competitive football game, it’s going to be very close and either team can come out on top.”
“I see [UNLV] just like us. I see some young talent out there that doesn’t consistently perform well, just like our team. We have some young talent out there that doesn’t perform well consistently either. The match-up is really good and it should be a really good college football game that will come right down to the end.”
(on the Rebel offense):
“They run a spread option offense, which we’ve seen from Missouri, so we’ve seen one time this year. It’s the same that Utah ran when [UNLV head coach Mike] Sanford was there, so there is potential for big plays. They have two really good quarterbacks. On defense they line up a lot like we do. They don’t blitz as much as we do, but they do a lot of similar things that we do. So, the two defenses will look similar and the two offenses will look completely different.”
Junior DE Tyler Donaldson
LISTEN to Donaldson’s press conference
(on playing in Las Vegas):
“I think it will be the same as every week. We are going to try and practice hard and with a lot of intensity this week. Everyone knows we’re not going to be able to do anything out of the ordinary in Vegas. We’ll get on a plane, go to the hotel, have a team meal, meetings and go to bed. We are there for a football game and we know that.”
Sophomore FB Matt Quillen
LISTEN to Quillen’s press conference
(on the Lobos’ recent struggles):
“Protection is an issue. I can honestly say that I have messed up in protection and I have let Chris (Nelson) get hit. I know a couple other guys that can say the same thing. I’m not pointing fingers at anyone. I know it’s my fault and if we can protect better and give them time to throw and make better decisions I think we’ll be alright.”