Oct. 7, 2008
Head Coach Rocky Long
(on how UNM is approaching Saturday’s game against a nationally ranked opponent):
“This is strange to some people, but as a coach and hopefully as a team, we approach every game exactly the same way. It doesn’t matter if they’re ranked in the top ten or if they’re not ranked in the top ten, we approach the game exactly the same. We do everything we can as coaches and everything we can as players to prepare and give us a chance to win the game. Sometimes the media will make more of who we’re playing than we will. It’s a big mistake when you downgrade an opponent or you make them better than they are. You’ve got to treat every game exactly the same. I read a quote from [a Utah newspaper] that I guess Utah State scored when they were down by 27 or 30 and they were hooting and hollering. Our team won’t do that. Our team is not going to hoot or holler unless it’s the score that wins the game. We’re not our there for moral victories, we’re not out there for statistics, we’re out there to win the game.”
(on BYU QB Max Hall):
“He’s very good. We played a quarterback (earlier this season) that I thought was as hot throwing the ball as Max Hall is on film. The quarterback at Tulsa (David Johnson) was just as hot as Max Hall is. You saw what he did. But [Hall] is probably one of the top ten quarterbacks in the country. He’s the best quarterback in our league by far. He’s got a lot of good players around him too, which helps to make a quarterback a lot better.”
(on New Mexico QB Brad Gruner):
“All I can base it on is what you’ve seen. In practice I thought Brad threw the ball really good last week, but the game didn’t show that. We have to transfer from what he does in practice to the game field so that we throw it and catch it better. But it’s not a one-man deal either. I think our receivers need to get open. I think that Brad has to feel comfortable in the pocket where there’s not people around him so he can step in and throw the ball. But for us to have a chance to win this week – and I said this last week too and I was surprised that we ran the ball so well on Wyoming – but I’m pretty sure we’re going to have to throw it a lot better this week to have a chance to win.”
(on New Mexico LB Zach Arnett)
“I think Zach would be successful in any defensive scheme that you put him in. He’s a little undersized, but he’s a good athlete that totally understands the scheme and he would totally understand any scheme. He knows what his job is, he knows where he sits within the scheme and then he plays as hard as anybody on the football field. So you put ability with understanding what to do and play really hard, and you’re a good football player.”
(on BYU’s home field advantage):
“It’s bigger than most stadiums in our league. It’s as big as most stadiums you can play in. When they’re successful they fill it up and they’re loud and supportive of the home team. It’s a huge home field advantage for them, but it’s not like we’re walking into a stadium we’ve never seen before. We’ve been in those places before. It’s not a big deal.”
Senior Fullback Matt Quillen
(on how the team is approaching Saturday’s game):
“We’re looking at it as we get a chance to play a nationally ranked team – a top-ten team – and hopefully we can come out and have some success against them, pull out a victory and get some national recognition for ourselves. They always talk about Utah, BYU, TCU in the Mountain West. No one says anything about New Mexico. We want to go out there, show them our game. We’re physical, we can make plays and we’ll see what happens after that.”
(on the atmosphere playing at BYU):
“Provo is definitely different. It’s a big crowd. It’s a big stadium. We have a small cheering section and everyone’s against us. It’s definitely a change. We come out from a tiny locker room right next to the fans who are hooting or hollering at us and it’s us against the world out there.”
Junior Lobo/Punt Returner Ian Clark
(on facing a nationally ranked team for the first time this season):
“It’s hard to say because they are a nationally ranked team and that definitely sits in the back of your mind, but you can’t let that affect your play out there on the field. I think, in a way, this is going to be are real test right here to see if we have really stepped it up a notch or not and whether or not we can to step it up even more in order to win this game. I look forward to playing BYU every year.”
(on playing at LaVell Edwards Stadium):
“It’s always exciting. I remember the first time I went down there and played (in 2006). I ended up playing almost the whole game (at cornerback) because Glover Quin got hurt. It was an unreal experience playing in front of all those people. It’s crazy because their fans are taunting you in a different way. It’s not the negative stuff. They’re putting their hands out to shake your hand and you don’t know if they’re doing it to be nice or they’re doing it to just get at you already.”