Aug. 4, 2008
Head Coach Rocky Long
ALL-ACCESS: Watch Long’s Press Conference
(on the advantages of having extra practice time during last year’s bowl preparation):
“We changed our philosophy for the bowl game last year. We didn’t worry about getting guys extra practice, we worried about winning the game. So a lot of the guys playing for us this year didn’t get that extra practice in bowl practices that they would have normally received. Psychologically we got a boost from the bowl game, but I don’t think we got any extra practice time in like we normally do.”
(on how psychological impact of the New Mexico Bowl win on the team):
“It gives you some confidence going into the next year. They come with a great attitude in the off-season and in spring ball, especially since it hadn’t been done for so long. It kind of gets them a little excited.”
(on the talent and experience of the 2008 team):
“We’re going to be a good football team. I hope we’re a good football team right from the beginning. We have a talented football team, but there are some real question marks, especially with experience. We only have one returning players who started at wide receiver, we’re missing four starting offensive linemen, we lost all our starting linebackers, we lost our kicker and our punter.”
“I can tell you it’s a talented football team, but you won’t know it unless they play like they are. I am sure after they get some experience in two or three games they’re going to be a really good football team, but we have to be a really good football team right from the start. I just looked at TCU’s press guide and they have seniors all up and down their roster on both sides of the ball and have their kicker back. So I would say they are a much more experienced team than we are and they are usually the fastest team we play so it would be really good for us to be really good right from the beginning.”
(on the Lobo receiver group):
“I thought after spring practice there were six wide receivers that showed the kind of ability that we’re used to seeing at wide receiver around here. Now Roland Bruno is the only guy that had any real playing time last year and he’s back, but there’s five or six young guys in the program that have great ability, and if they play up to their ability you won’t see a drop off from last year.”
(on how the tough 2008 schedule affected the team’s summer workouts):
“I thought a year ago during off-season and summer workouts that our team had a different attitude and a different focus about them and that has carried over to this season. I don’t think this season (schedule) makes any difference. I’m hoping it’s a tradition that’s starting to set in that our guys work that hard in the off-season, work that hard in spring practice and that they are all here in the summer and work that hard in the summer. For the last couple years we haven’t had anybody miss workouts, we don’t have anybody complaining about how hard the workouts are or how hot it is or anything like that. I’m hoping that’s tradition stepping in. That when they come here they know that’s just the way we do things so there is no reason to complain, there’s no reason to buck the system, that’s just the way we do it.”
(on the early morning workouts during training camp):
“I thought they worked well last year once we got it organized. When we started we did early morning practice the whole week and I thought it hurt us in the first game last season because I thought there was too much time from the Thursday morning practice until game time Saturday night. So then we settled on just going in the morning on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and that seemed to work out really well. I think the majority of our players like our morning workouts and like I said, I hope tradition is taking over because I haven’t heard one of our players complain about getting up at six o’clock in the morning because that’s just the way we do things.”
Senior Cornerback Glover Quin
ALL-ACCESS: Watch Quin’s Press Conference
(on facing the pressure that comes with being billed as one of the top cornerback tandems in the nation):
“It definitely puts on a lot of pressure because a lot of a teams are going to know that and their receivers and quarterbacks are going to be pumped up to go after us and try to show us up. It puts a lot of pressure on us to step up and perform at our highest level in every game. Preparing ourselves during training camp and game week practice is going to really help us live up to the hype and the pressure, and make it a little easier on game day.”
Senior Cornerback DeAndre Wright
ALL-ACCESS: Watch Wright’s Press Conference
(on whether it will be up to the defense to carry the team in 2008):
“No not at all. I believe our receivers and offensive line have progressed very well since the spring and throughout the summer. I am excited to see how they perform in the game. A lot of people think that they are young and inexperienced but come August 30 people will see something different.”
Senior Linebacker Zach Arnett
ALL-ACCESS: Watch Arnett’s Press Conference
(on how to define the Lobo defensive philosophy):
“Intense and exciting. We’re going to be blitzing. Ninety percent of the time we are blitzing and it might even be more than that. It’s exciting because you never know where you are going to be lining up or who you are covering, where the blitz is going to be coming from and how many guys we are going to be bringing. It changes up on every play, every week depending on who we are playing. It makes it a fun and exciting defense to play and we look forward to coming in every week prepared to learn new stuff.”
Junior Quarterback Donovan Porterie
ALL-ACCESS: Watch Porterie’s Press Conference
(on the goals he has set for himself in 2008):
“I just wanted to be more of a leader on and off the field. I was always pretty good at making the grade. I wasn’t that vocal, I just made plays on the field and in practice. Now I am a quarterback and everybody knows that. There are a lot of young guys who come in and want to play as freshmen and know I did that. I just want to be a role model to those guys. Not only to those guys but uplifting to everybody. Just be that guy that they can go to on and off the field.”
Senior Running Back Rodney Ferguson
ALL-ACCESS: Watch Ferguson’s Press Conference
(on coming back after being academically ineligible for the 2008 New Mexico Bowl):
“It was the best thing that ever happened to me in my life and it made me understand that once you lose something you never really appreciate it until it’s gone. I feel that I let my team down and that’s why I came back and worked so hard. I let a lot of people down. Because of that it isn’t that hard to come back and work as hard as I have been working, because I messed up as bad as I did. It’s just a blessing that I am back and I had a chance to come back for my senior year.”