Nov. 7, 2006
University of New Mexico head coach Rocky Long hosted the weekly Tucanos Media Luncheon this afternoon on the third floor of the L.F. “Tow” Diehm Athletics Facility. Click on the links below to watch Long’s press conference and listed to what player guests Kenny Byrd, Robert Turner and Quincy Black had to see as the Lobos prepare to host the defending Mountain West Conference champions, TCU, on Saturday at University Stadium.
Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. and the game will be televised live on The Mtn. (available on Comcast channel 276 or Cable One chanel 329). Tickets are going fast for the game featuring two of the hottest teams in the MWC. Click here to reserve your seat today.
Head Coach Rocky Long
Click Here to watch Long’s press conference.
(on his team in general):
“I think our team has improved quite a bit since the first game, but I think we’re still inconsistent. There’s times we look like we really know what we’re doing and there’s times that we look like we don’t know what we’re doing. Their resilience has been something special, or at least it has the past three weeks. We fall behind and we’re able to come back and win a game or two.”
(on the secret to his 9-0 record after bye weeks):
“I don’t have any idea. We keep the same schedule. We practice three days during the bye week, give them four days off and then we go back to work. The formula is the same, but every team is different, every situation is different. It’s a new team and a new year, so who knows if it’s going to work this time.”
(on whether the winning streak has made an impact on the practice field):
“I think they’re a lot happier now than they were when we were losing, but our team always seems to practice hard. They just seem to have a little more of a smile on their face than they’ve had in the past, but they don’t seem to practice any different whether we win or lose.”
(on what TCU does well):
“TCU is really a talented football team. After they had a couple weeks off, they got all their talented skill (position) guys healthy. They got a receiver healthy that’s a great player. They got two running backs healthy that are great players. The quarterback was beat up a little bit and he got refreshed. Right now they’re playing really well. They’ve got great speed on defense and they really are moving the ball well. They’re gaining almost 400 yards a game on offense and most of that is because they’ve got some of their players back that they were missing for a couple weeks when they had some problems with BYU and Utah. All those guys are healthy now, they’ve won three in a row and they’re on a roll.”
(on how the bye week can affect a team):
“It can affect you in two ways. It can refresh you and make you healthier than you were before, and then you may play with a little extra energy because of the time off, or it can make you stale. You can go out there and look rusty. I didn’t really want to have a bye week because of the way we had showed signs of improving. With a young football team sometimes the bye week will cause you to take a step or two backwards. Now we’re hoping that they’ll be refreshed, a little quicker, a little faster and more excited about playing, but you’ll never know until you play.”
Senior kicker Kenny Byrd
Click here to listen to Byrd’s press conference.
(on whether he feels like a football player):
“I feel like a part of the team. These guys do a lot more physically than I do. Mine is much more a mental game. Kicking is just different. I get on the field too. It’s just not as much as the other guys.”
Senior offensive guard Robert Turner
Click here to listen to Turner’s press conference.
(on whether the bye week came at a bad time):
“I don’t think so. It doesn’t kill momentum. It just gives us a chance to get the guys who were beaten up healthy. The biggest thing is it gives us a chance to prepare for the last three weeks of the season when we obviously need to have a good push. One more win, we are bowl eligible. Two more, we look real good. Three more, we have a chance at the conference title. I think really it’s just how you look at things. We looked at it well and I think it’s the best bye week we have had in my five years here.”
Senior lobo (S/LB) Quincy Black
Click here to listen to Black’s press conference.
(his message to fans that may be looking past Lobo football season):
“If I could say one thing, it would be that we need as many fans supporting us as we can. Last year at TCU, their fans were very rowdy and I want to be able to return the favor to them. I want our fans to get in their grill a little bit and make some noise.”