Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State-San Diego State Postgame Quotes
Jeff Tedford, Fresno State head coach
Opening statement…
“We got beat by a better team tonight. San Diego State played very well, they executed and they played a lot better. You have to give them credit. They played really well on defense and they are a really good football team. We couldn’t get anything established in the run game and we had a lot of pressure on the passer all night long. The guys played hard, but it just wasn’t enough to win.”
On offensive line injuries…
“It was a struggle today, no doubt. [Alex] Akingbulu went down early, we were going back and forth in the center, but that’s football. Everybody goes through that, but it’s a tough opponent for young people to play against because it is so many moving parts. [San Diego State] is number one in the conference for a reason. When you have young guys, you learn under fire. Our guys competed hard. I thought Jorge [Reyna] competed really hard and made some plays with his legs. We just couldn’t do enough to get it done.”
On pass defense…
“I thought we did a pretty decent job in the run game for the most part. They made a lot of plays on the corners, though. I thought their quarterback played really well, was accurate and converted on some third downs that were really important. Again, we give them credit. They made a lot of plays and we didn’t.”
On the rest of the season…
“There are still things to play for. We will get back home, get back and compete. I have no doubt that our kids will compete. They compete hard every single day, but sometimes it doesn’t work out our way. I have no doubt that we will respond by coming back, having a great week of practice and competing for the next game. That’s going to be the goal.”
Justin Rice, Fresno State redshirt junior linebacker
On his overall thoughts on the team…
“We fought hard, we were very competitive until the end, we tried our best and it just didn’t go our way this game.”
On preparing to face the SDSU offense…
“They have a pretty simple scheme so we knew how we could fit in on every play. Besides one run that I can think of, we did pretty well at holding them. We were well prepared for what they were going to do, but they just made the plays and we didn’t.”
On the younger defensive guys…
“They did pretty good. They got in there, made some tackles and some big plays. We just have to continue to grow and get better because we can’t wait for them to come along. They have to grow up fast. They did a great job tonight, we just have to make more plays.”
On pass coverage…
“We knew if we stopped them in the run, that they would get a little pass heavy. Once they got in to that, they started making plays and we didn’t.”
On the rest of the season…
“The mindset is the same. We have to come out, grind every week, compete and make plays. That’s the mindset going in to next week. We have to come together, regroup and compete, then hopefully it will go our way.”
Arron Mosby, Fresno State junior linebacker
On tonight’s game…
“Defense played well, and offense couldn’t get some things going. Defense tried to keep the team in the game and we just came up short.”
On the turnovers…
“We were just trying to get the offense back on the field. Staying at it and realizing that sometimes adversity hits, but we just wanted to get the ball back to the offense and keep playing football.”
On looking ahead…
“We are going to play our next two games like they’re our last, like they mean something to us. We are going to keep playing football and let the outcome be the outcome.”
On the course of this year…
“Those tough games build character. Tough games like this make you think who’s ready to play football. It builds character and we just have to move on to the next game.”
Opening statement…
“We got beat by a better team tonight. San Diego State played very well, they executed and they played a lot better. You have to give them credit. They played really well on defense and they are a really good football team. We couldn’t get anything established in the run game and we had a lot of pressure on the passer all night long. The guys played hard, but it just wasn’t enough to win.”
On offensive line injuries…
“It was a struggle today, no doubt. [Alex] Akingbulu went down early, we were going back and forth in the center, but that’s football. Everybody goes through that, but it’s a tough opponent for young people to play against because it is so many moving parts. [San Diego State] is number one in the conference for a reason. When you have young guys, you learn under fire. Our guys competed hard. I thought Jorge [Reyna] competed really hard and made some plays with his legs. We just couldn’t do enough to get it done.”
On pass defense…
“I thought we did a pretty decent job in the run game for the most part. They made a lot of plays on the corners, though. I thought their quarterback played really well, was accurate and converted on some third downs that were really important. Again, we give them credit. They made a lot of plays and we didn’t.”
On the rest of the season…
“There are still things to play for. We will get back home, get back and compete. I have no doubt that our kids will compete. They compete hard every single day, but sometimes it doesn’t work out our way. I have no doubt that we will respond by coming back, having a great week of practice and competing for the next game. That’s going to be the goal.”
Justin Rice, Fresno State redshirt junior linebacker
On his overall thoughts on the team…
“We fought hard, we were very competitive until the end, we tried our best and it just didn’t go our way this game.”
On preparing to face the SDSU offense…
“They have a pretty simple scheme so we knew how we could fit in on every play. Besides one run that I can think of, we did pretty well at holding them. We were well prepared for what they were going to do, but they just made the plays and we didn’t.”
On the younger defensive guys…
“They did pretty good. They got in there, made some tackles and some big plays. We just have to continue to grow and get better because we can’t wait for them to come along. They have to grow up fast. They did a great job tonight, we just have to make more plays.”
On pass coverage…
“We knew if we stopped them in the run, that they would get a little pass heavy. Once they got in to that, they started making plays and we didn’t.”
On the rest of the season…
“The mindset is the same. We have to come out, grind every week, compete and make plays. That’s the mindset going in to next week. We have to come together, regroup and compete, then hopefully it will go our way.”
Arron Mosby, Fresno State junior linebacker
On tonight’s game…
“Defense played well, and offense couldn’t get some things going. Defense tried to keep the team in the game and we just came up short.”
On the turnovers…
“We were just trying to get the offense back on the field. Staying at it and realizing that sometimes adversity hits, but we just wanted to get the ball back to the offense and keep playing football.”
On looking ahead…
“We are going to play our next two games like they’re our last, like they mean something to us. We are going to keep playing football and let the outcome be the outcome.”
On the course of this year…
“Those tough games build character. Tough games like this make you think who’s ready to play football. It builds character and we just have to move on to the next game.”