Fresno State Athletics
Pat Hill Quotes From Monday's Press Conference
10/29/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 29, 2001
General comments on the Hawai'i loss
"It's a huge disappointment to lose two games in a row they way we did. Our players played very hard in Hawai'i. But there were some critical mistakes we made in the fourth quarter, and you can't make those mistakes. You've got to give Hawai'i credit for capitalizing on those. We had a personal foul that really hurt us, then they scored on the next play. When you fumble at the 3-yard-line, that's a huge mistake. First-and-goal at the 3, fumbling the center snap, then allowing the team drive 96 yards on you -- those are hard deficits to make up."
"We elected to pass the ball on that last play. The protection we used on that last play was the protection we've been using the whole year. It was a seven-man protection. For some reason, we just didn't fan it out on the back side. The protection was designed to pick up that type of blitz. We worked on it all week, but we just didn't pick it up."
"Right now, we are making too many mental errors to win these types of games. These last two weeks, the teams we've played have really played well. And they are good teams. We just haven't had enough to pull them out."
"I've never been as frustrated after a game as I was after that one. We worked very, very hard last week to get this team dialed in and ready to play that game in Hawai'i. And I thought we were really ready to play, and I thought we played well. There were times when we played outstanding offense and defense. But we had some lapses along the way."
On Hawai'i's touchdown to win the game
"You've got to give them credit. That was a big-time play and catch. We had them 3rd-and-goal from the 16 or 17, and they're just taking one last play. If they don't get it, they'll attempt to kick a field goal and get it into overtime. That was a big-time play."
On the Berrian kickoff return that was called back due to a penalty
"The kickoff return by Berrian was awesome. The holding call was legitimate. It was about 15 yards away from the play. It wasn't even a part of it. But when I talk about changes, those are some of the changes we've got to make. Those stupid penalties and things like that that are undisciplined type plays that are uncharacteristic of what we try to do here."
On being more specific about the changes he was talking about after the game
"We just don't have enough personnel to make changes with. We just don't have the personnel. We have some depth, just not a whole lot. The biggest change we've talked about are the things you have complete control over. Like the unnecessary roughness in the middle of the field. There's no need for that. That would have made it 4th-and-4, and they've got to make a decision: Go for it or kick a 54-yard field goal. Our defense had finally stopped them, and you can't allow a team to come back like that."
"The changes we've got to make is the understanding that the game is played between the whistles. We just can't make those types of mistakes. I don't know about personnel changes. We just don't have much personnel to change with. But guys who are making critical errors in pressure situations, what would be nice is if we had the depth, then you can make those changes to get their attention. But a lot of times, we don't have that luxury. This isn't the NFL where you can go on the waiver wire and get another player. But we've got the guys that we have, and I love the guys that we have. I made the statement that we're going to win the next five games, and I believe we are going to win the next five games."
About Rice
"Rice can score a lot of points. They are a scary team. I think they are as well coached as anyone in our conference."
"This is a team that not only can run the wishbone, triple option at you. They can spread you out with four wideouts, five wideouts. They can throw it out of the shotgun. They've got a heck of a quarterback. He's very talented. They are a team that causes you a lot of problems. They're only losses are to Louisiana Tech, whose a very good football team, and to Nebraska. They're 6-2. Good football program and very well coached."
On his team at the moment
"We're 6-2, and we're not really happy about how we've played the last two weeks in losing, but there have been a lot of bright spots during those times. We've just come up on the short end of it twice. We've got to rebound and strengthen ourselves. We can't pout. We've got to get our heads up and we've got to fight through these last five games and win them. We've got to win these last five. Period."
"We like what we have player-wise. We believe in the system we have. It's been good for us. We've just got to fine tune it and get better again. We're going to stay the course. We got in here as coaches at 9:30 Saturday morning [after flying all night from Honolulu] and nobody went home. We stayed here the whole day and evening. We've just got to right the ship. This is not the time for big changes. This is a time for being smarter and not making dumb penalties."
On the team's possibilities for a bowl game
"I don't know what the possibilities are. All I know is that we've got to win five games in a row, or there's nothing out there. We're in a position where we don't control our own destiny. We have to wait for people to beat other people. And that's not a fun position to be in. We've just got to worry about finishing this season strong."
