ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Lobo head football coach Bob Davie held his weekly press conference on Tuesday in the U.S Bank Zia Level of the football press facility as a part of UNM’s weekly fall sports media luncheon. Here is what the head coach had to say about this week’s game with Wyoming on Saturday at 1:08 p.m. on ROOT Sports.
Bob Davie: It’s all about trying to win a football game, and I’m sure for Craig Bohl and Wyoming it’s about the exact same thing. I started out the week on Sunday by putting 58-20 on the board, and 63-14. That was the score of Wyoming and Boise in Laramie and that was the score of New Mexico and Colorado State in Ft. Collins and it’s all about which team and which coaching staff is going to bounce back from that and try to win a game. The thing about Wyoming that jumps out, obviously, is that it’s a different style than last year. I thought Dave Christensen did an outstanding job. They were a spread team. A year ago we were getting ready for Brett Smith and the things that they did. Obviously now it’s a different scheme and a different style, but we are getting ready for the freshman running back, number 8. He has the chance to be a star in this league. He reminds me a lot of number 27 Ajayi from Boise State. He is how I picture a young Jay Ajayi, very similar styles. You look at the last four games, and Boise did a good job against him but before that he had three 100-yard games, and I think he had 288 yards against Fresno State at Fresno.
They had 680-something yards against Fresno State as a team. It’s going to be a game where they will line up and do what they do, and we will line up and do what we do. They line up and they run a lot of A-gap power, and that kid finds creases and he runs very determined. They have a really good play-action pass game. They have some big tall tight ends that run really well that look like they were probably receivers at some point. There have been some injuries for both teams on the defenses, so it’s what it is. It’s trying to win a game here at the end. It’s an important game for us, and it’s an important game for them.
Rick Wright, Albuquerque Journal: Coach you said on the radio that this is basically your Super Bowl. With that in mind are you talking about doing anything different as far as preparation, or are you just talking about focus?
Bob Davie: We’ve done, just like Wyoming has done, you do all you can as coaches. It’s not like all of a sudden you say this is the last game and it’s a big game, so we are going to something different that we think gives us a better chance because, obviously, you would have done that earlier in the year and every week. So there’s not a whole lot different that you can do. We did bring our team in on Sunday at 4 o’clock. We usually give them Sunday off but we came in Sunday and we were upstairs from around 4-8 p.m. as a team, and then we gave them Monday off. For a couple of reasons. One, I want to see how that works, that schedule just looking forward to next year, and number two, it was an opportunity to get the Colorado State tape behind us. A lot of times late in the year coaches, when you have a performance like we had in Ft. Collins, you can go to the thing of “let’s burn the tape and go to the next game”. We can’t do that. We have so many guys that are learning on the run, that we had to show the entire Colorado State tape, offense, defense, and special teams. We invested a lot in that game and we didn’t really get anything back, so I’m not just going to come in there and just say that one is over guys, let’s go on to the next one. No, you are accountable, so I knew I wanted to show the whole Colorado State tape. I didn’t want to wait until Monday morning to do that, I wanted to get that out of the way on Sunday, and then move forward to Wyoming. So that’s the only difference this week, the schedule.
Obviously it’s Thanksgiving week, so Thursday we will practice a little bit later than we normally do, but I don’t want to be too late because I want to feed them a Thanksgiving meal and let them get away, particularly the kids who can get home here locally. Friday is pretty much a normal schedule. We do an event with our seniors that has been something that I really look forward too, where each senior’s position coach gets up and talks about that senior and what his investment has been, speaking totally from the heart. The senior gets to see that and our entire football team is there. Saturday the game is at 1 o’clock and then we go recruit after that. So nothing a whole lot different than what the normal schedule is.
J.P. Murrieta, KOB: Coach how much of this last game will you use to see what you have for next year?
Bob Davie: I don’t think it’s that. There are so many players that are not playing in this game that I think will be back and playing next year. This is about winning a football game this year, about winning a home football game in this stadium which we haven’t done in front of our wives, our family, our fans, and winning two Mountain West football games, which we have not been able to do the last three years. That’s simply what it is, and that’s enough. That’s a pretty good chunk right there. To say it’s about next year … I don’t think that’s accurate. It’s about right now and this year.
Van Tate, KRQE: Can you tell us about what these seniors have meant?
Bob Davie: It’s a group that will have a friend in me forever. I will always have respect for these players, and I kind of divide that senior class. There are 14 seniors, and basically seven of them we brought in, and six or seven were here before I got here. I really, really, really feel an attachment to the players I didn’t bring in here. The ones that I brought here, it’s happened too fast. They knew exactly what they were getting into when I walked into their homes. They knew exactly what it was going to be as we try to rebuild. But the players I feel an unbelievable attachment too are the ones that were here. LaMar Bratton, Jamal Price, Devonta Tabannah, Javarie Johnson, Crusoe Gongbay, Tevin Newman, Jeric Magnant, who was a walk-on here but I put on scholarship, but those core of guys that came here. Those guys to me I have a special bond with those players, because they have been through an awful lot and they have been unbelievable. Their journey from A to Z has been pretty spectacular. We’ve talked a lot about Jamal Price, and the word dysfunctional was used when I first got here, and I’m not trying to embarrass him but he is totally functional now and a heck of a player. Guys like Tabannah. I think back to when I first got here. The odds of Devonta Tabannah still being at the University of New Mexico and graduating from the university, you couldn’t even put a percentage on it. He’s still here and will play in this game.
Those guys to me are unbelievable guys. So, a lot of times you talk about the guys that you brought in … Bowers, Guthrie, certainly we have gotten a lot of mileage out of those guys. Tyler Duncan, SaQwan Edwards, but it’s the ones that were here that I really feel an attachment to.
One thing I want to do with you guys, and I think we probably do the injury thing a little bit different here, where I don’t try to use it for anything. I don’t have any agenda other than being dead honest. A lot of times you hear different things. I had (head Athletic Trainer) Bob Waller, just for you guys, go through our season ending injuries, when they occurred, how many there are. Here are the absolute facts. Caleb Kimbro was lost in the spring, Jack Lamm in summer camp, Johnny Vizcaino September 7, Aaron Jenkins September 11, Daniel Henry September 11, Wendell Carter, September 17, Crusoe Gongbay October 5, Cole Juarez October 19, Cole Gautsche November 2, Greg Wortman November 2, Kenneth Maxwell November 2, Dakota Cox November 2, Geoff Smelser November 12, Richard Winston November 16, Chris Lee November 22, William Udeh November 22. So that is 16 season ending injuries, and I don’t put I.B. Brown and Carlos Wiggins in that group. How much football have they played this year? Less than 50%, but I can’t put them in the season ending category. Of those 16 season ending injuries, Vizcaino was a starting offensive tackle, Aaron Jenkins would have started, Daniel Henry was a starter, Crusoe Gongbay was a starter, Cole Juarez was a starter, Cole Gautsche was a starter, Dakota Cox was a starter, Richard Winston was a starter, and William Udeh was a starter. That’s nine starters that have had season ending injuries and I.B. Brown and Carlos Wiggins are two other starters that have played less than 50% of the season.
That’s the dead accurate piece of this. You look at defensive starters, there are five season ending injuries including I.B. Brown that had the one play against UNLV the second half of the season. The injuries have probably been as significant as I’ve ever been a part of. I do go back to the maturity piece of it. The youth of the team, the immaturity of the team, and things happen. But, we have had some significant injuries. The thing that we have been able to do is keep it afloat. If we would have had this last year or the year before to this degree, not that we didn’t have some, I don’t know if we could have put enough guys out there. I know other teams are in the same position. I’m not sure other teams are coming from the same position that we are coming from. In fact I know they aren’t. So, that’s what it is.
Fred Hultberg, 101.7 The Team: A question on their quarterback as it looks like he is not going to play. Do you do anything differently without him there?
Bob Davie: No, it’s just like our starting quarterback Cole Gautsche isn’t playing. I think Kirkegaard will play. Reading Craig Bohl’s comments today, he is a senior, and it’s his last game, so I think he will play. We will prepare like he will play. Looking at their offense when he did come out, number 13 came in right away and they did pretty much the same thing. Thirteen came in for the first half but they probably threw the ball five or six times right before the half. Then number 1 came in a little later, and he’s more athletic. He’s the guy that was a running back and a wide receiver. He’s quicker and more elusive. Then they finished the game with 13, so it looks to me that 13 is a little different style that would run the offense the way it is. With number 1 they would probably tweak some things, do a power read, maybe some more quarterback runs. At the end of the day it is going to be number 8 the tailback, he is the one constant who I think is an outstanding player with an unbelievable future.
Rick Wright: What’s the nature of Udeh’s injury?
Bob Davie: Udeh has a knee, very similar to Brett Bowers’ knee he had last year against Fresno State. It’s not surgery, it’s a PCL. Cole Juarez will have surgery as soon as the season ends, but the good news is Udeh’s injury is not a surgery. He’s progressing pretty well, he was out there jogging around a little bit today. It’s our third nose guard. I think we will probably start Dom Twitty. Dom is a guy who has perservered, certainly Jack Ziltz will play a lot, but I just like the heart Dom Twitty has shown through a very difficult situation. I like how Dom is taking care of his business and continuing to compete and play hard on the scout squad. I think Dom will start but Ziltz will certainly play a lot.
Tomas Romero-Salas, Daily Lobo: What do you see from Wyoming’s defense?
Bob Davie: They have changed schemes a little bit. Last year they were a 3-4 and this year they are four-down. The defensive ends 55 and 34, 55 gave us a lot of trouble last year. They are playing him more of a five-technique this year. Last year he was more of an inside four-technique. The two inside guys, 95 and 90 are solid. Ninety-five is a big guy, a senior, and 57 is a young guy that comes in at nose. He’s an undersized guy that’s pretty darned good. They have had some injuries in the back end a little bit. They are a solid defense. This is going to be both defenses fighting their butts off to stop the other teams’ running game. They are similar to us in a lot of ways. They have had some injuries and they have to really work to make things happen. I think it is two pretty similar teams this week.
Henry Tafoya, KDEF: Coach, how do you measure success? The fans use wins, but how do you measure success?
Bob Davie: I’ll give you one play. I may have mentioned this before, but there were about two minutes left in that game at Colorado State, and we get the ball back after forcing a turnover. On the very first play, Lamar Jordan throws a back-side route to Tyler Duncan, and the score is 58-20. He throws that route and the kid from Colorado State intercepts it and he is going to go 70 yards for a touchdown that is going to make it 65-20. Tyler Duncan tracked him down, and ran 70 yards and tackled him at the 12-yard line, and Lamar Jordan ran across the field 100% full speed effort so they didn’t get in the end zone, and then we were able to play defense and keep them out of the end zone to not let them get to 65. To me that’s success. That there is still fight there, and there is still competitiveness at the end. For the position that we are in, maybe other people don’t get that, but for Tyler Duncan, a senior, to track that kid down and keep them from 65, we still have some fight and we still have some character on this team.
Marty Watts, 101.7 The Team: Coach I’ve been able to see the difference in your defense this season, we have gotten more 3-and-outs than we did last year. We are 123rd in defense in the nation out of 124, so are you going to keep your current defensive staff, or are you going to make any changes?
Bob Davie: You kind of set me up there…you gave me the good news first and then you gave me that dagger (laughter). You softened me up and I took my armor off and then that arrow came and you got me. To answer your questions, absolutely not. You go find me another Kevin Cosgrove in this country. You go across this entire country and you find me a better defensive coordinator than Kevin Cosgrove. Dean Pease was with me at Notre Dame and he was Bill Belichick’s defensive coordinator at New England. He was the secondary coach when I was there. Greg Madison was there with me, he is the defensive coordinator at Michigan. He was the Baltimore Ravens’ defensive coordinator when Ray Lewis played. Bill Sheridan was with me at Notre Dame. He has been a long-time NFL defensive coordinator. There isn’t a better defensive coordinator in the country than Kevin Cosgrove. I’ll go down our whole staff. I look at where Chuck McMillian has been, Archie McDaniel, Barry Sacks, where those guys have been. Absolutely not would I consider changing coaches.
J.P. Murrieta: Have you ever had a running back average 9.5 yards per carry?
Bob Davie: Jhurell is special. He does some things that other people can’t do. You have heard me also talk about maturity, consistency and if Jhurell Pressley can come back here next fall and be 100% locked in and do everything he can do to be the best he can be, and then have some good fortune, he will have a chance to have an unbelievable year next year. He has put himself in a position where I think he realizes now what I’ve realized all along. The sky is the limit for him. I’m not sure he really realized how much he had riding on it, until he has done some of the things he has done in football games. He is a talent.
Bob Brown, 101.7 The Team: Along the lines of winning at home and winning a second conference game, the perception of four wins to three wins…being able to say this year we won four games, that’s more than last year, for the average fan, that’s progress. How important is that for the perception of this program?
Bob Davie: I mean perception is reality, and I think that’s true. For us to win a home game, for us to win two Mountain West games, for us to win four games, I think that’s all legitimate. That’s why I don’t back away and say well this is the end of the year and we are injured and we have this and that. I’ve said since Sunday this is like the Super Bowl for us. This is a huge game, let’s make no bones about it. It’s can we get up off the matt with all of our situations compared to Wyoming getting up off the matt with all the situations they have had. That’s what it is. Obviously Dave Christensen had some more success, and their program was built up a little more. I remember a couple of years ago they were in a bowl game out here. They are coming from a little better position in the big picture, but none of that matters. It’s all about 63-14 or 58-20, who comes in this stadium and can win a game Saturday. But it’s big, no question. I want to show we can go win a game.
I appreciate you guys. Thanks!
Transcribed by Frank Mercogliano, editted by Brian DeSpain. Some edits were made to allow for language to flow better