Tigers Discuss New Mexico Lobos
9/5/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 5, 2005
Head Coach Gary Pinkel
Opening Statement...
"I felt we did some good things in this game, and there are certainly things we need to improve as always. Attitude wise, I think the players understand that, we have to keep on getting better each and every week, and we'll work very hard to do that."
On seeing what New Mexico offers...
"I think they're a great competition and their defense plays great. Last year, New Mexico's defense was in the top twenty-five in the nation, they lost a few players, they have a great scheme and attack, they run and they're very physical. The quarterback and their receivers play exceptionally well. It's going to be a great challenge for us, a real good football team that been to three bowls in a row is going to be here."
On the current condition of Sean Coffey...
"We're going to have an MRI tomorrow. We're going to let it settle down a little bit before we take a picture of it. If it's surgical, which is a possibility, but I don't want to overreact here."
On the ferocious weight numbers of the Lobo's offensive line...
"They're big, they're very big, they're very physical, and that's what they did a year ago. They line up in the I-formation and start pounding you a little bit and hit you up the middle with that big offensive line and it wears down in the fourth quarter. That'll be a great challenge for us. There's no question about it, they're very, very big upfront. The biggest offensive line I've ever seen. They look like they can move well and they're athletic.
On if there's no Coffey...
"Well, what will happen is Brad Ekwerekwu will go to the X-receiver and will work with Sean and that's what he did in the game. And that's pretty much what we're going to do, we're going to have Brad (Ekwerekwu) trade-off at the H-back with Will (Franklin). We run players in from a fatigue stand point. Jason Ray gets in there a little bit, he and (Arnold) Britt did some good things. Our offense is design that you have to play more than just three receivers or just one tight end. We have to be able to put different people in there.
Player Quotes
Brad Smith
On his own performance so far...
"Just my drops and my timing, they can get a little bit better. Just being able to hang in there and try to hit the guys down the field a little bit more."
On the offensive line's performance...
"They did a real good job, all of the O-line has been working hard at it all summer and it's starting to pay off."
On the shotgun option scheme...
"You get the best of both worlds, you really get three options on the play, it looks like two, but you can either shovel it to the underneath guy if the end comes in at you, if the ends sits down, it turns into an option and then you option off to other guys. You can keep it or you can option it, there's just so much more to it. I like when someone takes the option guy up top and the end comes in to get me, I'm going to shovel it to the underneath guy and he runs for forty-two yards. I like that kind of pass, that's passing yards actually, so that's good for our stats."
On sharing time with Marcus Woods...
"With they hurry up offense we don't know what to expect, we need a breather every once and a while. We are just there for each other. This one has tired legs, the other has fresh legs. We just want to wear the defense out."
Derrick Ming
On playing the "defensive quarterback" position...
"I have got to know about three different things, first of all, you got to know that guard pull, watch the quarterback to the tailback. You got a lot of responsibility upfront and basically stop the run. Know when it's run or if it's a pass because if it's the run and you're backing up for pass then you messed up the whole defense. We always say that the linebackers are the quarterbacks of the defense. I think you got to have a few screws loose to play that position. You're in the trenches with the lineman and the running backs that are physical and running hard. I learned a lot this past week Saturday to play linebacker, you really got to be focused every single play, you got to have that mentality that nobody gets passed you."
