Fresno State Athletics
Hill Press Conference Quotes
11/3/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 3, 2005
The following are selected quotes from head coach Pat Hill's weekly press conference. Fresno State enters this week at 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the WAC and hosts San Jose State on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 6 p.m. The game will be televised locally on KFRE.
On the win:
"It's good to be back. That was a long journey. But the reward of winning was great. I want to give a lot of credit to our coaches in preparation, but must importantly to our players for handling the way we travel to Hawai'i. I don't know if other people do it like we do it, but if they do, it's an amazing journey. And I thought our players handled it real well. But it goes back to what I've been saying all year. I think this is a very mature group of young men."
On going to Hawai'i:
"In my four previous games at Hawai'i it's come down to this kind of a game at the end. And we weren't successful. This year's game we led from start to finish. When we had to make plays in the end, in all phases, we made the plays. And that was the difference in the game. "
Defense:
"I'd like to give a lot of credit to our defense. Very rarely does Hawai'i score seven points in a football game. I said last week at the press conference they're going to gain a lot of yards. That kind of an offense always does. I said if we can keep the ball in front of us, tackle after the catch, shut them down in the red zone where the field becomes a factor for the defense, that's what we have to do to be successful. They had eight trips down, they got 13 points. And that's how you've got to play those games."
"I also made the reference to the Oregon game. They had four big plays and that was all. When you're playing these teams you've got to pick your poison. I thought we were very successful in our game plan. I give a lot of credit to Dan and the staff, most importantly to that defensive football team that stuck to the plan and stayed disciplined. It's hard to sit back there and see a lot of balls completed in front of you. It takes a lot of discipline. To play your assignment and not give up the big play. Rally to the short passing game, knowing that if the ball gets inside the red zone you know that you're going to win that. They really believed that and it showed."
Offense:
"From an offensive standpoint, we only had the ball four times in the first half. We didn't have the ball much. We were fifty-percent on drives for touchdowns in the first half, so that's pretty good. In the second half we had the drive that was aided by the roughing the kicker, but that's part of football and that was our one time-consuming drive of the game. And then when we had to ice the game, we got a first down with Wendell and then he popped one for a touchdown. That's the way we finished it and that's the way you've got to finish a game."
Special Teams:
"In special teams we had the one blocked kick and we had the one really good return, we were inches away from another kickoff return. Once again I thought we did a very good job in the kicking game. I thought it was a very good team effort."
More on the victory:
"It was a real satisfying win for our coaches and players. We hadn't had success over there. I thought we handled the trip very well. We were in airports a lot, we were in buses a lot and it didn't even phase them. They stayed to the plan. It was a very hot day, it was humid and with all that travel we emphasized staying hydrated. They did everything they were asked to do."
On this week's practice schedule:
"Now were back into a rhythm. When I mean rhythm, I mean preparation time. I've said it so many times, I'd love to be in a situation where we play every Saturday. I said at that the Idaho-Hawai'i swing was going to be the toughest. Next week we're not going to get any good reps. We're only going to have two days of practice, so this week we have two padded practices where we've got to play football. Next week is so short, so we've got to prepare very well for San Jose State."
On Wendell Mathis, and his performance against Hawai'i:
"I thought he was outstanding. He had the hot hand in the game. He was making great decisions with the football. We knew going into the game it was going to be tough. If you can get through the first level of defenders, you have a chance. But you're going to take some battering, you're going to take some pretty good hits. He had some good runs. Schematically we had some good blocking schemes to break him loose and the kids up front executed well, but he ran over some people too. I thought he played very, very well."
On San Jose State:
"I'd say they're a little more similar to us than anyone else we've played. It's really going to be the first time we've seen a two-back offense besides our own. That's why I said these are great practice reps for us this week as we prepare for San Jose State while we work against each other. They can go deep on you. We're going to have to be really sharp in our personnel groupings, and we will be challenged with the running game. Dick [Tomey] will have them playing at a very high level this week, I promise you that.'
