Fresno State Athletics
Pat Hill Quotes From Monday's Media Luncheon
11/24/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 24, 2003
On the loss to Boise State
"It was a tough loss to Boise State. After watching the film, I think Boise State is an excellent football team. The way the game started out is not the way we wanted to play the game. When you look at Boise State in the first half, I think Ryan Dinwiddie was special. They had 185 yards passing in the first half and 121 yards on three plays. It was the big play that really that really got to us."
"The thing that really got us in that football game was getting down 21-0 at the start. And those things you have to control. You can't let them off the hook with a 70-yard pass on third down, you can't let them off the hook with a deflected pass for a completion on third down, and of course, you can't afford to not make it on fourth and one. We created our own problems."
"There was a lot of good things that came out of the football game from the standpoint of looking at how our team is getting better. As a defensive football team, I thought we played very well. I thought we won the special teams phase."
"Most of that football game we played without our two top corners, Awan Diles and Raymond Washington. A real positive to come out of that is Richard Marshall, Marcus McCauley and Therrian Fontenot did a great job for us. Once again giving up 115 yards to that football team in the second half is a bright thing. I always look at the positive things out of it."
"It's making plays in big games and Boise State made the plays. They execute offensively better than we do right now. I think a lot of it has to do with that quarterback and the trust level that they have."
On the Bulldogs' bowl chances
"The goal of this football program is to win WAC Championships and go to bowl games. Hopefully this team will get a bid to the Silicon Valley Bowl if we beat UTEP."
"The things I think you have to look at is what we've done over the last five years as far as winning games and who we've played. We've played the No. 1 team in the nation (Oklahoma), the No. 7 team in the nation (Tennessee), the No. 18 team in the nation (Boise State) and Colorado State who is going to a bowl game and Hawaii who is going to a bowl game. Those are our five losses."
"I think the strength of this team has been the way its fought through injury and adversity. If we beat UTEP I think we are very deserving of playing in a postseason game, which for us at Fresno State and in a mid-major conference, your choices are limited."
"We still have a lot to play for. We feel that if we win at UTEP we are going to get a bowl. If we can get there, hopefully those are the things that people in this area are excited about in going to."
On Awan Diles playing on a bad ankle against Boise State
"He's our starting corner, he practiced on Wednesday and Thursday late, we had him braced up and we felt he could go. He's a warrior, he's our starting corner. The same way Dartagnon Shack played on a bad ankle; he's our starting guy."
On Fresno State's offense
"Offensively, our timing and precision isn't good enough in the passing game. When we're forced into a game where we have to throw it 51 times against a team like Boise State, that is not the right combination for us to win the game. However, after the punt return, we did have three shots in the end zone where balls that could have been caught and could not have been caught. Those are plays you have to make and we did not make them. Our defense and our special teams gave us enough in the second half to give our offense a chance to win, we just didn't get it done."
On QB Paul Pinegar
"I still think Paul (Pinegar) is coming along real well but we still do not have the consistency and the precision in the deep passing game and I think that hurt us in this game. We weren't able to use the run game like we were able to the first series."
On UTEP
"UTEP is a team that has struggled this year. It's going to be their last game at home. It's going to be their chance to have a big one. I expect a very tough test out of UTEP and hopefully our team understands the importance of this game and I think they do. We need to get a win down there. It's going to be very important for us to get a win to keep our chances of a fifth straight postseason alive."
"They have a running back that can really run the football. UTEP is a young team, a lot like ours on defense -- very young. I think they'll look at this game as a chance to make a statement and go into the offseason. Fresno State brings out the best in a lot of teams. They have good speed, they're just young. They're a little snake-bit this year but they have good athletes."
On if he is going to make changes in the program after losing again to Hawaii and Boise State
"When I look at what we've done here, I'm real proud of where we are. I'm not going to make big wholesale changes, we have to get better at what we do. Personnel is what makes a system and I think our personnel is getting better."
"I'm very proud of what this football team has accomplished. I'm not happy about the result but losing to Boise State and not winning the WAC title is what we wanted to do. We didn't make the plays that night and the better team won the game. I think our team played very, very hard. It just wasn't enough."
