Fresno State Athletics
Wyoming-Fresno State Post-Game Quotes
Head Coach Matt Entz
Opening Statement...
"Number seven. That was a good win. That’s a well coached football team, playing really well on defense. Again, we sputtered here and there a little bit but it was good to see us score at the end, and put some first downs together. I don’t know, I think we had 200 plus yards rushing, nearly 100 yards in the air. It was a little bit of a unique game especially with mother nature trying to be involved earlier in the game. It was a little wetter than I anticipated, you saw the ball on the ground a little bit that impacted us but it cleared up at halftime and it was a lot easier with ball handling and all that. Again, it was an opportunity to win seven. We have another home game next week and will be excited to get back to work tomorrow."
On the patience of the coaching staff regarding the game….
"Well, I think you have to understand the value of field position. We had a couple things dialed up that we wished we went to but with the way the weather was, all of the sudden there is another element that you cannot be in charge of with mother nature. It was raining pretty good for a while and even towards the end of the game, we were thinking of kicking a field goal, but all of the sudden you are kicking a water-logged ball and it does not travel as well. It’s kind of dead and does not jump off the kicker's foot, so it felt better to just go for it on fourth down late in the game and try to continue to utilize some clock and eat up some time."
What the key element was in the defense’s performance…
"I think right now it's that those kids are having fun playing football right now. You see it every day with how they have great energy. We are playing a lot of people so there are a lot of people that are engaged on a weekly basis. We are probably playing 8 to 10 D-linemen and four linebackers and a ton of guys in the secondary, and then of course there are special team roles that they have so I just think they are feeding off one another. Let's find out how good we can really be but the only way to do that is to show up every day and have a great practice and Coach Benedetto and the defensive staff are really locked in doing a great job of not giving them so much that it logs them down or slows them down, but just enough so they can play fast and challenge offenses every week."
On the offense getting stronger as the game went on….
"We jumped out real quick and had a great first series and went down and scored and had them on their heels a little bit. Again, Aaron does a great job with them and Jay is a defensive minded head coach so we knew it was going to be tough sledding at times. Again, too many 2nd and 11’s, 2nd and 12’s and being off schedule slightly but it was good to see us playing complimentary football. There is never a panic on our offensive side because we knew defensively that we were gonna handle our business and special teams did well tonight especially when you're dealing with the way the weather was."
On the art of complimentary football…
"I think we just talk about the value of it and show them examples of it. On Monday, I do a period of TNT, “takes no talent”, and it's just more about learning the game of football and giving them the details, but also them understanding that stacking a couple of first downs, punting, and backing up our opponent is good football because eventually we are gonna come out ahead in field position. We’re gonna be able to kick a field goal, we’re gonna be able to go up 10 to 3, and then all of the sudden we are going to be able to apply some pressure because we are playing the long game and making people have to beat us in all three phases."
On his assessment of Carson…
"Better. You know we got to continue to grow, What a pick time throw and catch at the end of the game. Those are things that we have seen at practice and that we are excited about and hopefully we can continue to build off of it."
On only having three penalties this game…
"That was something that we wanted to emphasize. The last time we played when we played Boise State, we had about 12 maybe 11 penalties total, but seven of them were administrative so it was something that we wanted to address. I thought we were better than that. Anytime you have those administrative penalties, you are beating yourself and making it difficult to win games. It’s hard enough to win games the way it is, so if we can eliminate that and not pour energy into our opponent, we will have a chance to continue to move the football."
On Tytus Khaiavi the last couple of games…
"He is steady, a really good player, and probably more athletic that I gave him credit for when I first got here. Coming off the edge and making that sack he had, that is a 1-1 tackle in space and that is a tough deal. When you have a mike linebacker that can move like him, and Tytus is not afraid to put his facemask on you either so he is a physical cat too. He fits in really well with what we do and he has to be kind of the quarterback of what we are doing defensively with our front four."
How they did up on the line of scrimmage…
"When you can run for 200 plus yards and eat up some clock. I don’t know what time of possession was tonight but I got to believe that we won it because there was a number of three and outs and turnovers that probably skewed that number. They did a really good job of taking away some of our tight-end side run game, you saw that on that fourth down play that they had a stop on. Then you saw us late in the game when we kind of went to some misdirection stuff and back to the opening side. We scored that big touchdown with Jonathan Arceneux and had some big runs because they were tipping their front to the tight end."
On if he thought the elements played to his advantage…
"Probably not. They have played in those same ones that we have and they are wired very similar to us. They want to run the football and eliminate possessions from their opponents by staying on the field and having time of possession."
If they practiced with a wet ball this week…
"We practiced on Friday when it was raining so it just naturally happened. Then on Thursday, we intentionally did, it was not raining out but every snap we had a wet ball with it. I think we tried to stay away from some of the perimeter run game because we were worried about losing our footing so we tried to get the football more downhill tonight than we are used to."
What work he wants to see done by Carson Conklin…
"Just continue to go through his progressions, hit the open guy and just take a deep shot sometimes. He is a young guy that wants to make big plays and I get that because we all want to make the big play that changes a game, but just take what the defense gives you and live to play another down."
On Jonathan Arceneux…
"You talk about a senior that has tremendous value not just from the running back room but who is a great leader on our football team. He has a ton of value, just broke the team down in the locker room just a second ago and it was fun to see him get his moment there tonight."
On if there was value in getting Carson that touchdown late in the game…
"Here was my concern. You kick a field goal, they block it and return for a touchdown and now they are down by one score and now it becomes a dicey game especially when you are dealing with footballs that have been water-logged all game. So let’s just continue to move the ball and continue to operate, they are calling timeouts and they feel like they are still in it. So let's just get another touchdown with a pitch and catch and it was a big time by Josiah in the end zone there."
On Josiah Freeman..
"A tremendous talented young man who has a lot going on in his world right now. I couldn't be more excited for him. He is a steady player back there that can make plays and cover everyone and a great leader for us as well."
What impressed him most about the defense...
"I think it is the consistency. We are dealing with 18 to 22 year olds and that in itself can be a circus to get them to believe in what you are doing and to do the right thing and continue to buy in. These guys are very mature and they are handling it, I think the fact that we are playing a lot of people, we get a lot of people engaged in our meetings and everyone is hungry, I saw a couple of young guys including Mordecai Hines number 89 make some plays. We had Logan Goodspeed make a couple plays out there which is fun to see. Andre Cobb made a big play at the end on fourth down. Those snaps are invaluable for us to continue to develop as a football team and I’m talking long term too. Those things have value for next year’s group."
On if this was the game where he saw toughness win…
"220 yards rushing. Time of possession. I think it could be better. I'm not satisfied and we are not where we want to be, but seven wins is a good starting spot and we have an opportunity to win a couple more this year and tomorrow morning we will dive into Utah State."
Tytus Khajavi, LB, R-Fr.
On the game…
“I don’t think about my performance individually. Football is a team game. I couldn’t make the plays that I do without my teammates doing their assignments, and then me being in the right place at the right time.”
“We are playing hard-nosed football. 11 hats to the ball, on offense and defense. Our run game is amazing right now. Defensively, we are stopping our opponent’s run game. We are expanding our tool bag from there.”
On playing defense in the rain…
“When it’s raining, you know they aren’t going to throw the ball. It’s going to be a run game. I told my trainer that I did’t need gloves, I just taped my fingers. I didn’t want the ball slipping. I didn’t want to slip off blocks. I wanted to play downhill. This weather was easy to play through because of the type of player that I am.”
“Mother Nature didn’t bless us with beautiful weather today, but that doesn’t matter because this is Bulldog football. We are going to play whether it’s snowing, raining or sunny. Coach Baxter said ‘I don’t care if I see Noah’s Ark coming down the ramp, we are going to play Bulldog football.’ That fired me up.”
On playing in Valley Children’s Stadium…
“It was a dream of mine to play at Valley Children’s Stadium. When my parents were taking me to games as a young kid, I would tell them how amazing it would be to run down the ramp one day. Now that I am getting the opportunity to play, it’s amazing.”