Fresno State Athletics
Pat Hill Quotes From Monday's Press Conference
9/17/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 17, 2001
General thoughts on getting back to work
"Obviously, this week is a week of getting back to work. Everybody's said it a million times: Our country has been through a tough situation. It's time for us to get back to work. We're going to do the best job we can at doing what we do for a living. We're going to work very hard at playing football again. I think our players have gone through a lot, and I think they've seen a lot of things happen in the last few days that are going to change the complexion of their lives. But I think our country is going to become a lot stronger because of this. I think we can see it right now. This country is uniting and we are all doing a lot of things we've never done for each other."
On the focus of the team
"I think their focus has been good. I think they are all ready to get back to work. It's something we all have to do. But it's tough. I think as time goes on, the wounds will heal."
On the upcoming game against Tulsa
"They've got a good football team. They're young and they've got some very good players. Donald Shoals is as good a receiver as we've played against. Their quarterback [Josh Blankenship] is as good a quarterback as we've played against this year. I think they've got a fine football team. They've got the personality of their head coach. They are very tough and aggressive. I said back in January this would be a game that has me worried, and it wouldn't matter where we were at this point of the season. I think this is a game a lot like Rice last year. We're going to get their best shot in front of a crowd that's going to be into it against a team that's really ready to play. This is going to be a tough, hard-fought game."
"If you look at their roster, they are a lot like we were. They've got a lot of young players, they've got a lot of speed and skill guys. And they've got some big linemen. They have good players."
"Tulsa is going to be a tough football game. They know how to get the ball off. They were good last year against us. We couldn't get our pressure to them. Early in that game, they moved up and down the field. They didn't score. But they did a lot of screens and one-step drop stuff. They spread you out and get the ball to skilled athletes. They do a good job and will cause us some real problems."
On the team's momentum being broken with the unexpected off week
"I don't really know if we've had a lot of time off, we've just missed a game. But as far as time off, our players have gone to school every day. We did have Friday and Saturday off. But I don't anticipate this changing the momentum of our football team. I think the mindset of our football team might have been affected, but they'll get that back. It'll be interesting to see how we play this week. I think it'll be interesting to see how everybody plays this week."
On the return of Charles Smith
"He's going to get some snaps. It's really great to see. He's worked really hard over the past five weeks to get himself ready. And we're going to need that because we lost [starting tight end] Jeremy [Johnson]. Having Charles back there gives us another weapon to go to."
On the Johnson injury
"It's hard to lose a player like that, but our philosophy has always been: 'Who's next?' Somebody else will pick up the flag. Injuries are a part of the game. It's really a shame. It's not an injury you take lightly though. The navicular bone is a very important bone in the movement of the wrist. They are going to pin it on Thursday and he'll have two great years after this."
On changing the outlook now that Fresno State is the "hunted"
"We don't change anything we do. We do the same things we do every week. [Tuesday's] practice is full pads and we'll get after it, we're going to play hard, we're going to scrimmage. I talk to other coaches, and they are afraid to do that this time of year. That's just the personality of our team. That's why we are what we are. We're very consistent in what we do."
On the affect the 3-0 start has had on recruiting
"The recruits that we get at Fresno State are going to remain the same kind of guys we usually get. I like the guys we get. The guys we get can win. We don't want to put ourselves into a position where we're recruiting a different class of kid because all of a sudden he's sounding a little interested. I don't want us to lose track of the real type of kid that's gotten to where we are. But it'll still be hard for us to beat the UCLAs and USCs and Washingtons. We've got to make sure we are in on the local kids no matter who is recruiting them. And we've got to stay on them until the end. The Valley recruit is our number one priority and always will be."
On the improvement's the team can make
"We can do a lot of things better. We can get better running the football. We can get more disciplined in our routes. We can improve on our blitz pickup on offense. There's a lot of things we can still get better at. We're going to play against some teams good teams. We've got some teams in this conference that are very well coached."
