Nov. 17, 2012
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Nevada at New Mexico, Nov. 17, 2012
Nevada 31, New Mexico 24
New Mexico head coach Bob Davie
Opening Statement…
“Well you guys saw it. We are what we are and what we are is good enough if we play perfect, but the same things got us beat. Giving up the big plays on defense, you just can’t win. I’ve never been around it where you just can’t get it solved, and we just cannot seem to get it solved. Now with that said, that’s really a good offensive team. That’s the eighth-ranked offensive team in the country. They’re good. They have a good quarterback, good tailback, a good tight end that’s about 6-foot-7 and big tall wide receivers. But, same thing. We’re giving up big plays and no matter how hard you play, no matter how much effort you give, no matter how much chemistry you have, how much discipline you have, if you don’t execute on defense and you give up plays you can’t win.”Then on the offensive side, we were a little uncharacteristic. We did some really good things, though. It was a pretty good chess match out there. This was a high level of X’s and O’s this game. I think most coaches that would watch this game would agree that there were a lot of X’s and O’s going on. We had a couple of foolish penalties on the offensive line. That’s two weeks in a row where penalties up front hurt us. Korian had one and then Calvin McDowney had a false start and then we turned the ball over. Again, right there at the end we had a situation – what is that now? – four Mountain West games that we’ve had the ball either to win it or tie it on basically the last possession of the game. But as I told the team, we control that. It’s giving up big plays on defense. It’s a couple of mistakes on offense. The last play, you know, the fumble where Cole (Gautsche) is trying to pull it and Crusoe (Gongbay) is trying to pull it and we fumble the ball on the third down. You’d just like to see what would have happened there.”I secretly – I didn’t tell the other coaches – I secretly watched the tape from last year’s game, the New Mexico-Nevada game, and man, we’ve come a long way. We’ve come a long, long way. But we haven’t come far enough to win these kinds of games. Attitude, energy, focus – I could not be happier with it. I love these guys. I told the parents before the game, you know, we had all the seniors up there-I told them that these kids were raised right because they play their butts off and they’ve been through a lot. But right now, we’re not good enough to win against a good team because we give up big plays and it’s hard to be perfect on offense. Throwing the ball on offense – everybody probably wants us to throw it a little more right now, probably – but that’s not really an option, as you can see. But I’m very proud of this team and I’m very proud of how far they’ve come. I hate the fact that we only have one more game with them, but that’s it. We lost this game for the same reason that we lost some of the other games. They made some jump balls on us, they caught a couple of balls in the end zone on us. Their tight end made a big third-down catch by going way up over the top of us. Some things happen and we can’t seem to get it corrected. That will be the whole goal in the offseason.”
On what he said to the seniors in the locker room after the game…
“Just what I told you. I couldn’t be more proud of them. That they should walk out of here with their heads held high. Their parents are here and so they all should have a lot to be proud of. But, with that said, we lost the game because we can’t get some things solved. It’s giving up big plays. That’s the bottom line. Even though Nevada is a great offensive team, we still gave them too many big plays.”
On being 2 of 11 on third-down conversions…
“You know what, I mean, it really was a chess game as you could see. They moved our front a little bit and did some different things on our motions. Sometimes on first down they stoned us a little bit and we got behind the chains on the first down. I look at third down, for us, it always comes back to the first down with us. If it’s second and 10, we’re in a bit of trouble and that is what I look at there. We did some great things on offense, but they did on first down, get us behind the chains right off the bat.”Senior safety Matt Raymer
The team has one game left, how do you feel?
“We want to make it out and play right. It means a lot to us seniors, we have to make it happen and eliminate the big plays and just have fun. That’s what football is.”
What’s the problem in terms of letting those big plays take place?
“By far, it comes down tackling and covering your slots. You’re 1/11th of the product on the field and if everybody does their job, we’re successful. That’s the thing with football; it’s a team effort and if one person messes up it can make everybody else look bad.”
What’s the mood in the locker room and how important is it to bounce back and finish the season strong against CSU?
“It was a rough set and you’re never happy after you lose a game, ever, but with this last game meaning so much to the senior class we have to come out strong and physical and have it be a win. We want to be proud of something.”
What about this year has been different from years past?
“This year has been, by far, the year where I’ve had the most fun playing football. Coach Davie, I have the utmost respect for him and the coaching staff and we’re just having fun. It’s not too complicated; we are having fun and it makes a world of difference.”
How far do you think the team has come since the game against Nevada last year?
“We’ve definitely come a long way, but not far enough in our eyes because we never want loses, but we hope this season class can change the attitude around her and keep being physical and tough. We’ve come a long way and the last game of the season is going to mean a lot.”
Is there a legacy that the senior class wanted to leave?
“Definitely, you always want to leave a legacy in whatever you do. You don’t just want to go out and be regular. You want to be proud of whatever you lay your hands on.”
Junior running back Kasey Carrier
How frustrating have these last five losses been?
“It’s definitely been frustrating, just because we’re not coming out with the victory and every loss we’ve tried to focus on the things we have done well and try to build on those every week.”
You say that football is a team game, but the numbers that you put up it has to mean something to you?
“It does mean something to me coming from what we’ve been doing in the past, it means a lot. It starts up front with the offensive line. Coach Lenzmeier has been teaching them how to play physical the whole game, so it really starts with them.”
All the talk about the seniors, you have one game left, does that make Colorado State that much more important?
“Definitely, we are not going to give up right now. We’re going to try and win and not giving up. We played hard to day but we just couldn’t finish and execute.”
Nevada Head Coach Chris Ault
On breaking the losing streak…
“We have a lot of streaks at Nevada. We are excited to have broken the streak. It is tough, and we are on the road against the best running team in the conference. I am really proud of our defense. The first half was back and forth, but the offense kept us in the game. When the defense came out in the fourth quarter I thought it was just terrific. I thought the last drive and a half by the offense was pretty spectacular.”
On the 76-yard run at the beginning of the game and the adjustments made…
“We just started playing better. They sprung that run on us and read us right, and we played poorly on that play. They had three long runs, and they read it right. They are a tough offense. You try to get your feet wet and understand what they are trying to do. We went for it on fourth down I don’t know how many times but enough to keep things honest, but that was the game plan. I can’t say enough for our defense and how hard they played.”
On the defense…
“I thought that there was one series with the offense that we lost yardage on that was at fourth and 14 and then the interception, but the defense held their own. That is what they have got to do and they did it. I thought our defensive coaches had a terrific defensive game plan for the second half. I thought our team played hard. Our backs are to the wall, and it has been tough. To come here and play them on Senior Day and they are a good football team in terms of their offense. They kept the ball away from us. I am excited for our players. “
On the road wins (5-1)…
“It is interesting isn’t it? I think there are combinations and the mental aspect and stuff of those three losses at home still burn a fire. We need to figure it out and still have a couple of weeks to do that.”
On the fadeouts to Wimberly on fourth downs…
“Those are designed. We had run a pass play and I thought both of those passes were perfect. That is a run play pass that we took advantage of.”
On the offense…
“I thought we did pretty dang good. We made some critical plays at critical times. I was disappointed with the one series that they sacked us and the pick which they intercepted us. He threw it to the right guy; he was just a little bit late.”
On Jeffers’ first touchdown…
“It is a base play and we have it to him, but every time we have run it we throw it to other guys that are open. That is a play-action read play. He did a nice job and made a nice catch.”
On the triple option…
“You hope that you are going to learn. That Air Force game was embarrassing, and they are a good football team but there is no excuse for us to play that way. You can talk all you want about how you are going to play but it doesn’t count until you play it and make plays. You can talk about how you are going to defend the triple but then you start off and take that thing with three plays and 80 yards. The defense didn’t panic, and I thought the coaches did a nice job. The kids played hard.”