Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State-San Jose State Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Matt Entz
On the game…
“I’m excited about the outcome. I think we played well. We had a couple of hiccups in the third quarter, but besides that, I thought we played complimentary football all night long. Our special teams allowed us to win the field position battle. Our defense continued to get takeaways, and we were able to score off a number of those. I am excited for our group. To get to eight wins is great, not a lot of teams in the country get to eight wins. We will have the opportunity to get one more this season.”
On the run game…
We were able to run the football tonight. Our running back room is as deep as anyone’s in the FBS. When you look at their performance tonight, Arceneaux stepped up and Gilliam had some huge plays. Donelson, Ramirez and also Luke in the first half. It’s a complimentary room. They are great without the ball as well, and that’s something that we continue to preach to our guys.”
On the defense…
“SJSU has an explosive offense, and they’ve had multiple games with 600 yards of offense. We knew what they could do, but our kids continued to find ways to get pressure on the quarterback. We tackled well. We forced some errand footballs, and were really opportunistic when the ball was in the air. It was fun to see.”
Elijah Gilliam, Sr., RB
On making big plays in the game…
“My coach and my father always tell me to stay ready for when the moment presents itself. I was waiting for my opportunity and when it came, I was able to have success. I am very thankful. It felt normal to make those plays. It’s been long overdue for me. I’ve been wanting to make these plays all year, and I finally got to do it.”
On the success of the run game…
“We preach that the team is on our back, and we love that. It gives us an extra push every week. We knew this was a game that we would be able to run the ball and do our thing. We feed off each other’s energy. We have great vibes in the running backs room. We are always rooting for each other. We are never against each other. I think that’s what has allowed us to get to where we are today.”
Simien Harris, R-Jr., NKL
On the success of the defense tonight…
“Coach Benedetto prepared us for this all week long. He preached that we needed to get the ball back to our offense. That’s all we can do. Get your eyes set, feet set and play fast. We were able to do that tonight.”
“The ball is team. The team is the ball. That is our ball and no one else gets to play with it, but us. We just have to go take it.”
“I think we have become smarter as a defense as the season has gone on. We always had the talent. I believe we are a very talented defense. Now, I think we have a better understanding of the scheme and we are playing smarter.”
On the game…
“I’m excited about the outcome. I think we played well. We had a couple of hiccups in the third quarter, but besides that, I thought we played complimentary football all night long. Our special teams allowed us to win the field position battle. Our defense continued to get takeaways, and we were able to score off a number of those. I am excited for our group. To get to eight wins is great, not a lot of teams in the country get to eight wins. We will have the opportunity to get one more this season.”
On the run game…
We were able to run the football tonight. Our running back room is as deep as anyone’s in the FBS. When you look at their performance tonight, Arceneaux stepped up and Gilliam had some huge plays. Donelson, Ramirez and also Luke in the first half. It’s a complimentary room. They are great without the ball as well, and that’s something that we continue to preach to our guys.”
On the defense…
“SJSU has an explosive offense, and they’ve had multiple games with 600 yards of offense. We knew what they could do, but our kids continued to find ways to get pressure on the quarterback. We tackled well. We forced some errand footballs, and were really opportunistic when the ball was in the air. It was fun to see.”
Elijah Gilliam, Sr., RB
On making big plays in the game…
“My coach and my father always tell me to stay ready for when the moment presents itself. I was waiting for my opportunity and when it came, I was able to have success. I am very thankful. It felt normal to make those plays. It’s been long overdue for me. I’ve been wanting to make these plays all year, and I finally got to do it.”
On the success of the run game…
“We preach that the team is on our back, and we love that. It gives us an extra push every week. We knew this was a game that we would be able to run the ball and do our thing. We feed off each other’s energy. We have great vibes in the running backs room. We are always rooting for each other. We are never against each other. I think that’s what has allowed us to get to where we are today.”
Simien Harris, R-Jr., NKL
On the success of the defense tonight…
“Coach Benedetto prepared us for this all week long. He preached that we needed to get the ball back to our offense. That’s all we can do. Get your eyes set, feet set and play fast. We were able to do that tonight.”
“The ball is team. The team is the ball. That is our ball and no one else gets to play with it, but us. We just have to go take it.”
“I think we have become smarter as a defense as the season has gone on. We always had the talent. I believe we are a very talented defense. Now, I think we have a better understanding of the scheme and we are playing smarter.”