Oct. 9, 2007
Head Coach Rocky Long
(On why every game should be considered crucial):
“Most coaches go in to every game with the sense that there is urgency. From a coaches’ point of view, [the Wyoming game] is a crucial game, but so was BYU and so was Arizona. I mean they are all crucial games. In a coaches’ view they’re all crucial games because you have to win that one to set up the next one, but if you win that one then the next one is more crucial.”
(On Wyoming’s running attack):
“They rushed for 240 or 250 against Ohio the week before (the TCU game). It’s not a fluke by any means. Obviously they have two really good running backs and they’re doing a really nice job of blocking up front because running backs aren’t that good if the guys up front aren’t doing their job. They’ve taken a TCU team that is supposed to be the best in our league and ran the ball right down their throats. So they’re really good at it. That’s not a fluke that they can run the ball.”
(On Wyoming QB Karsten Sween):
“There are three potentially big time quarterbacks in this league that are all sophomores and he’s one of the three. I think Donovan (Porterie) is one of the three, and I think that (Max) Hall at BYU is one of the three. Sween played really well for them as a freshman and he’s better this year, but with all sophomore quarterbacks they still have some inconsistencies about them and can do some things poorly at times. But they’re just like us. When he plays well, they’re really good. When he struggles, they struggle. If you have a sophomore quarterback that is struggling a little bit, you better have a running game. If you totally depend on a quarterback and he has a bad day, you have no chance whatsoever.”
(On how Wyoming and New Mexico compare):
“They’re a lot like us. They’re multiple formations. They’re not a spread offense. Even though we go four wide receivers at times, we want to run the ball and use play-action pass. Well they want to run the ball and use play-action pass. They just give you about a thousand different formations to do it from. I think both teams have the same philosophy, but I don’t think we call plays the same. Our defenses are based off of three-man fronts. Now they play four linebackers and we play three, but there’s a lot of similarities there too. We play a lot more man coverage then they do. They’re a lot more zone coverage team, but there are some similarities.”
Senior DE Michael Tuohy
(On whether or not the bye week came at a good time):
“Yes, we got to rest up. It was disappointing after the loss to BYU, so now we are back on track. It was a good week of practice (during the bye) so we’ll try to have another good one this week.”
Senior C Vince Natali
(On the importance of this game):
“We really think we are going to have some momentum for this upcoming game and it’s pretty much the gateway game to the rest of the season. We are going to have three games in the next 15 days, starting with Wyoming, so it’s all going to come at us all at once and we have to be prepared for it. We really have to get some momentum from the first step.”