Fresno State Athletics
Pat Hill Quotes From Monday's Press Conference
11/22/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 22, 2004
General thoughts on the Nevada win"Once again, we played really well. We've played four really good weeks of football. I'm really proud of the way our football team is playing in all phases. If you just look at a couple of things that happened in that game on special teams, we executed what we call a "Fire" field goal (rushing the FG unit onto the field before time runs out), we used our two remaining timeouts at the end of the second quarter to get the ball back. I thought that was good time management, we got the ball with no timeouts. Paul [Pinegar] took us down there and on third down, he got sacked. With no timeouts, we were able to get our fire field goal team on there and kick the field goal with 14 seconds. That's something we've been working on for three years just for that situation, and we finally got to use it. A play like that is sometimes taken for granted, but if we take a sack and time ran out we'd never hear the end of it. That was a great job of time management and special teams. That's something we work on every week. I thought our kickoff team did great. I don't know how many kickoffs we had, but Nevada's average starting field position was inside the 20, on the 16-yard line. That is great coverage. So, our special teams played well."
"Defensively, once again, the one touchdown drive was aided by two 3rd down pass interference calls. Other than that, I thought our defense played superb. They really kept a lot of pressure on the quarterback all day. They were never able to get into a rhythm offensively. Then, on the offensive side of the ball, it was another physical show by the running game. Paul did a great job of using the pass; 18 attempts, 11 completions and two touchdowns. Almost 200 yards. I feel that our football team executed in all areas at a high level once again. I was very happy. And I thought that Nevada-Reno came in with a mindset to really play well. They had a lot on the line, and as the game wore on, I thought that we just physically took it out of them. I was happy with the way we played."
General thoughts on San Jose State
Note: Today's press conference took place before SJSU head coach Fitz Hill announced his resignation this afternoon.
"So now we great ready to face San Jose State. To answer some questions about that, San Jose State is a team that has always had athletes. I've always said that. They're the kind of team that if they get hot, like they did against Boise State or against Rice, they can score points in bundles. This is a team that we really need to be prepared for. We have to do a good job on the defensive side of the ball containing their skill guys, and the offensive side of the ball, if we can control the tempo of the game with the run game, do a great job in special teams, we'll have success."
"One of the most interesting matchups for this game will be their kick return team, which is excellent, against our kickoff cover team. That's a matchup that will be very good. They have a kick return scheme that's been great. They've got a very good kick returner, and we'll really be challenged. Our special teams will be challenged in that game, especially in that phase."
Your running game, it just seems to get better all of the time.
"I think we're getting so many reps, and we're not changing. Their linebacker said after the game that they knew exactly what we were doing and came in prepared. I've always said when you're predictable and you're executing, then you're good. I think that predictability can help you as a team. That's why the play-action pass [was so effective]. We didn't do it very much, but when we wanted to beat them on a play-action pass we had guys that were running wide open behind the safeties. When you get to the point where they have to load up the box to stop the run, I think we could have scored more points and had more yards passing if we'd wanted to, but I didn't think there was any need to."
"You watch the Cal game (against Stanford), and I bring them up because everyone points to them as someone that throws the ball around. They threw 17 times. The good football teams in this country are not throwing the ball 40-50 times a game, contrary to popular belief. I don't think I'm the only guy in the country that talks about having a good running game. I think a running game is very important, especially later in the year playing in different elements. Playing at Fresno State later in the year in the evening is an advantage to us. That grass is slick, you see guys slipping and sliding and we don't. The elements aren't tough here; 43 degrees is not bad weather. But as time goes on, the teams that play all over the country are playing with the elements, playing on grass. Going into San Jose State next week, we're built to play in the mud. We're built for wet surfaces because we practice in it all the time during this part of the year. That field of ours is slick at night, and we have to play with our feet underneath us, or we're slipping and sliding all over the place. The elements are not a big thing in the western part of the United States, but little things like wet grass, you can see what happens when teams come in here and play on a wet surface."
Jaron Fairman? Did that [pass] hit his shoulder pad?
Note: Fairman caught a 54-yard TD pass early in the third quarter, a reception that came after he juggled the ball first.
"No, he just likes to make things look hard. That ball was perfectly thrown, and the ball to Mark Wood (for a TD pass in the third quarter) was perfectly thrown. Paul did a great job of holding up on that [second] throw [to Wood]. Nobody saw it, but the first question I got was whether Paul was hesitating. Well, Mark slipped and fell down. So Paul was ready to throw, but he had to hold up, and the blocking held up, so that he could throw it. That's what happens sometimes. That one turned out to be a touchdown, but you know, if somebody comes off late, they get a sack when there's somebody running wide open. We had that in some of those games earlier in the year, where we had guys running open but the protection didn't hold. When things are going well, things are going well."
This offensive line continues to create huge holes.
"Yeah, they do. We're playing well up front. Logan [Mankins] and Ryan Wendell, who is a true freshman, and Kyle Young, and Dartangon Shack and [Chris] Denman. It's not a big line. Ryan is 245, 250, and Denman is about 260, which is small by today's standards, and Shack is 270. They're very athletic though, and they're playing very good. We lose one player off of that line, Logan Mankins, whose been picked to play in not just the East-West Shrine game, but also in the Senior Bowl. Being chosen to play in the Senior Bowl, that's the top 60 players in the country. He's being recognized nationally, especially by the professional people, and he's having a great year."
Who selects those players?
"Mostly the NFL general managers and stuff. They get the guys into that game that they want to see. That's not a selection committee by the newspapers, that's a selection committee by the NFL people."
The way things are going, you have to hate to see the regular season end after Saturday.
"Yeah, it'd be nice to have a playoff or a tournament, because we're peaking at the right time, and after San Jose, whichever bowl we play in, it's going to be off for four weeks, with finals and Christmas vacation in between. I've always said that bowl season is tough because you never know how your team is going to play. In a four-week period of time, you basically get about eight practices. It's tough between finals and Christmas. I don't think you see the best football at the end of the year. I don't think that teams are playing at their highest level. That's why I think that playoffs would be great. You would go right from the last game of the regular season into the playoffs, when some teams are peaking and playing well, and some other teams that aren't playing so well. We've got a peak-valley-peak, other people have dropped from the peaks. I think that a playoff would be very interesting to see."
Do you think that you guys are getting better in how you deal with that four-week (bowl) layoff?
"I don't know. We haven't changed how we've done it. Getting ready for a bowl game is tough. To me, a bowl game is a reward game. It's not a playoff. You want to win. Your goal is always to win every game. But you've got to understand that after the San Jose State game, the players have to get ready for finals. We'll only work out in shells on Tuesday and Thursday, and we'll have a Friday and Saturday practice. They'll get four days off for finals, then we'll have two days of practice. They're home for Christmas for five days, and then come back and then we're on the road to a new venue. It's very hard to keep your timing through all of that. But it's the same for the other team."
I imagine it's especially tough, because you're such a regimen oriented guy.
"Yeah, I like it that way, and I imagine that most coaches are like that. They don't like big changes. It took us about two years to play a road schedule. We're a pretty good team on the road now. We play a lot better now than when I first got here. We had to learn how to play on the road, because most of our games are on the road. That's a new regimen, too. That's a lot of travel, when you're talking about going to Tennessee, going to Louisiana, going to Wisconsin, going to Texas, those are long trips. Getting a plan together to keep the guys' minds on football on those long trips, and not be lying around the room. Playing Friday games when there's no games on TV to watch and they're just lying around their room, or a Saturday game where your eating breakfast at 5:00 your time. There's a lot of change that goes into that stuff, and the players are just like anything else, change is tough. Now, they understand change, and there's other games that they can relate too, so we're getting better at that. We're getting better at bowl games too."
How will it change if you get invited to the Las Vegas Bowl, which is played before Christmas on the 23rd?
"It won't change much at all. The great thing about playing before Christmas is that you don't have to send them home for five days and then bring them back for three days of practice at the bowl site. All we're really losing is two days of practice, so we can get in the same amount of prep playing on the earlier game, and after the game the players are home for Christmas, so the players get more time off. The 30th is actually harder to manage, because I want my guys to go home and spend time with their families for Christmas. I want them to spend five days away, then come back and get restarted again. The earlier date would be easier. We still have the finals in there though. It doesn't make a lot of difference. You're only really gaining one true practice. So, I guess I'd rather play the earlier game. I'd like to keep them busy."
At this point, is there a preference where you'd like to play?
"Not really. The Emerald Bowl is close, but they're going to take Navy vs. New Mexico. Las Vegas can't make a decision until the Cal/Pac-10 thing is satisfied (Cal plays at Southern Mississippi on Dec. 4). Hawaii can't make a decision until the Hawaii thing is satisfied (Hawaii has two more games this year). Boise can't make a decision until Boise wins against Nevada-Reno (on Saturday), so everything right now is up in the air, and it will be until probably Dec. 4th. For us, right now, there are four options, and I mean, I don't mind going to San Jose. It's a short trip. And I know that people say the fans don't like it, but it seemed like the 20,000 there [last year] really enjoyed it. It doesn't matter who the opponent is, we'll take 10 to 15,000 people to San Jose because we've got a lot of fans that nobody hears from that are really starting to enjoy Bulldog football. All you have to do is go up the ramp at the end of the game, and those fans are piled five deep. Those are the fans that are going to go to San Jose or Las Vegas. Now, Boise or Hawaii? It's going to hard to get fans, but if we go there, that's fine with me, too. San Jose is fine. I mean, our players might like to see another venue, but really, they just want to play another game. They enjoy playing, and I think that's great. We still have a lot of options, and I think they're good options."
