Fresno State Athletics
Pat Hill Press Conference Quotes
10/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 24, 2011
| Bulldog Headlines |
| • Junior running back Robbie Rouse ranks No. 3 in the nation in total rushing yards (979) and carries (191). He is 21 yards away from registering the 19th 1,000-yard rushing season in program history. Rouse would also become just the fifth Bulldog to have two, 1,000-yard rushing seasons in a career, joining Aaron Craver (1989 & `90), Ron Rivers (1992 & `93), Michael Pittman (1996 & `97) and Dwayne Wright (2003 & `06). Rouse was named an honorable mention pick for the national running back of the week by the College Performance Football Awards on Sunday after rushing for 167 yards and two touchdowns at Nevada. He now has rushed for 2,587 yards in his career, which is the fifth-most in school history. With one more season yet to play, Rouse only needs 887 yards to become the school's all-time leading rusher. |
| • Senior free safety Zak Hill recorded a career-high 14 tackles at Nevada last weekend. It doubled his previous personal-best that he set the weekend before against Utah State. Hill's 14 stops are the most by a Bulldog since Ben Jacobs had 15 at Wisconsin in 2009. |
| • Sophomore wide receiver Jalen Saunders caught his sixth touchdown pass of the season last weekend at Nevada. He is tied for 15th nationally with six touchdown catches and his 23.1 average on 26 receptions this year is the highest in the nation for any receiver with 20 or more catches. Saunders has caught six passes this season that have gone for over 45 yards, his most recent being a 47-yard reception in the third quarter against Nevada last weekend. |
| • Sophomore quarterback Derek Carr has thrown 15 touchdowns against just five interceptions this season. He is completing 59.4 percent of his passes and averages 247.5 passing yards per game. Carr has thrown for 1,980 yards this year, which ranks second in the WAC. |
| • Logan Harrell recorded his 17.5 career sack last weekend at Nevada. That moved him into 11th place on the school's all-time record list. Harrell is third in the WAC in total sacks with 5.0 this season and his 11.5 tackles for a loss is the second-most in the conference and tied for the eighth-most in the nation. |
| • In the last two games, junior defensive end Tristan Okpalaugo has recorded three sacks and he has 5.5 tackles for a loss over his last three games. Okpalaugo is second on the team in both sacks (4.0) and tackles for a loss (8.5) this season. His four sacks are the fifth-most in the conference. |
On the Nevada game
"There's been some tough games, that was another one and, I know people get tired of hearing me say that and I'm getting tired of saying it, but we've had our opportunities. We didn't get that thing done. There were some plays that were very uncharacteristic of us starting in special teams, we hadn't given up any return yards all year."
"We made a very uncharacteristic plays in our punt return, which cost us seven points also and there were some other things we did very well... but they were completely overshadowed by giving up 14 points."
"When you're playing in close football games, and you lose-- I use the story of the mirror. When you look in the mirror you don't notice the blemishes until you get that mirror that blows things up. So when you lost, everything is magnified."
What do you want to accomplish between now and the Louisiana Tech game with your week off?
"It all comes down to execution. We get a head start on La Tech, but we also need time off. We've had 12 straight weeks of football and we need a little time off. After we run on Wednesday, they'll be off Thursday, Friday and Saturday and then come back to work Sunday. During that time, we need to get caught up on any academic assignments. Our coaches will be out on the road recruiting later in the week."
At this point, having to win four of the last five games to make a bowl, is that a frustrating place to be?
"It's realistic. I believe we can do it...I think it's important to go to Bowl Games--I think it's really important. Are we talking about a Bowl game or a WAC championship, no. We haven't been talking about it for a while, we've just been talking about trying to win the game every week, trying to get better at execution. It's an ongoing thing. I think youth has a lot to do with it and I think that they want to win so bad, that they press the subject. You can watch some teams and say `they did not play very hard.' That's not been our case -we've played very, very hard."
Are the players trying too hard to make plays on defense?
"We got to try to address the problems and solve them. It always comes down to execution. If it was a lack of effort, and kids not trying-- that's not our case. I think sometimes it's just trying to do too much. We got kids that really care, we just got to get them into understanding the team concept of assignment football."
On the team overall
"I like the effort of our football team. It's tough, we got to keep battling. We are 3-5 and there is no getting around it."
On the play of the offensive line
"That's the first time our line has been together all year and Derek only got hit once. That's the first sack, starting three weeks ago against Boise, that we've given up. Our protection has been good. We're doing a lot of really good things."
On the growth of the offense.
"Our passing game is clicking pretty darn good, I think Derek has thrown for almost 2,000 yards already. Our running game is getting better. We have the third-leading rusher in the nation, so offensively we are doing some really good things."
