Nov. 25, 2006
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery 
UNM HEAD COACH Rocky Long
“When you’re a football coach, I can pick out a whole bunch of things that upset me and made me mad, but the truth of the matter is for a team that lost to a I-AA team (Portland State) in the first game of the year, and I was wondering if we could win a game, to strapping it up and coming back and winning three or four really close games, then finishing off like this – that’s a pretty good deal. That’s a special group of kids. I think this team has come a long way. We’ve had better football teams around here than this one, but this team is more competitive than any team we’ve had around here.”
(On Rodney Ferguson’s performance):
“After the first game or two I would’ve guessed that all of our running backs combined wouldn’t have had 1,000 yards (rushing on the season). He’s gotten a lot better and obviously the offensive line has gotten a lot better.”
(On the Lobos’ first half performance):
“I thought in the first half the defense played unbelievable. We had short fields and I was disappointed we didn’t score more because we should’ve gotten touchdowns instead of field goals.”
(On going to the New Mexico Bowl):
“I think it’s special to be in the inaugural bowl. When you get out of the state, what people think of the state of New Mexico is unbelievable and it’s not very favorable. Some people don’t even know where New Mexico is. So the people putting this together gives us a window and a stage to show everybody in the rest of the country how wonderful a state this is, how nice a community this is and how good an athletic department this is.”
SOPHOMORE TB Rodney Ferguson
“We just wanted to win one more for the seniors and send them off right. This season has gone up and down from the first game to the last game. I would say that we’ve improved this year and did all we could. Coach (Bob) Toledo challenged me (to surpass 1,000 yards rushing) and I responded to the challenge. I’m just happy we are going to the bowl game because last year we were sitting at home watching everyone else.”
JUNIOR LB Cody Kase
“As a team we wanted to come out and make our presence felt from the beginning. We put in a couple of new defenses and I think we kind of caught them off guard. It’s definitely been an up and down season and to end it with a bowl game I think is awesome.”
SAN DIEGO STATE HEAD COACH CHUCK LONG
“Our team stuck together and played hard throughout the game. It was a very strange game. It came down to self-inflicted wounds and we beat ourselves today. We’re going to be a pretty darn good football team if we stop beating ourselves. I like the way our guys had resolve all the way through and we had some good defensive stops. I was really encouraged by our second half play, especially on offense. A spark like that in the second half can go a long way and we needed that – no question. I felt like we could move the ball on them, but we struggled scoring points on them early in the game.”
(On the Aztecs play in the opening quarter):
“You try to get your offense and quarterback in a rhythm and give it some continuity late in the year. It was very frustrating but our kids hung with it. They performed in the second half like we thought they would. It was terribly frustrating in the first quarter, but I did like the way our guys bounced back.”