Nov. 3, 2003

UTAH STATE FOOTBALL PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES

Head Coach Mick Dennehy

On The Middle Tennessee game

"I think that the whole story behind the Middle Tennessee game was really how we came out defensively and in the special teams areas. I thought our kids on defense played very well. The first half was a game of big plays. (Punter) Ben Chaet did a great job in the punting game and punt returns, the defense had great field position. We took advantage of a mistake that (Middle Tennessee quarterback) Andrico Hines made (fumble that resulted in a USU touchdown) in terms of it was a tough snap to handle and that kind of got us going a little bit. I thought the play by (wide receiver) Raymond Hicks of staying with the ball and coming down with that tipped ball also got things going a little bit. We were jumping around and some of our veteran guys were some of the guys guilty. I don't think we were plugged in the way we need to be plugged in and yet, we hung in there and made something good happen. The big play (59-yard touchdown pass) with (wide receiver) Barry Tolli to give us a 21-0 cushion going into halftime, I thought was really big."

"Middle Tennessee is as good a football team as there is in the league and to have our kids come out and play as good as they did against them, is a real confidence builder. We kind of let things go a little bit when we were up 35-0. We played some younger guys and they did not show the kind of discipline that we need to show or the class that we need to play with. That is the most disappointing thing about it. I don't want to diminish the fact that our kids played a very good football team and played very well and came away with probably as good as a win as we have had in a while."

On New Mexico State

"Tony Samuels is one of the amazing coaches, in terms of his demeanor. His kids always play hard. I think they are very talented. I think they are a football team that has been in position to win a lot of games and have kind of fell short. Some years they win those close games and some years they don't. If you look at their records it is amazing how many close games that they have played, games that have been decided by a touchdown or less and could go either way. Our experiences with them are the last guy to have their hands on the ball, usually wins the game. They have been exciting games. They have been hard-fought games."

"They are battling through some injuries with their quarterback. The toughest thing for us this week is not the short week, but I think it is trying to figure out what they want to do on offense. They are an option team and we have got to prepare for that, but with only one quarterback healthy and not knowing the status of (NMSU QB Paul) Dombrowski, they have kind of backed away from that a little bit and become more of an "I" formation, power team, that throws play-action very well. (NMSU QB Buck) Pierce demonstrated against Arkansas State last week what kind of arm he has. He is a very good drop back passer. They got into three and four wideout sets and they dropped back and threw the ball more than we have ever seen them do that. They kind of came out of character. With Pierce coming off the neck injury, they don't want to run him all that much. They didn't and yet he still demonstrated amazing ability to make people miss and avoid the pass rush. I have a lot of respect for that guy. He is a tremendous athlete. We will have to take a look at all of the above and be ready to go."

On The Short Week

"We have as much practice time in a short week as we generally do in a long week for the most part. It is a little different. At this time of the year, with daylight savings time, with the weather, with kids being banged up, we generally spend a little bit less time on the practice field anyway. The one thing that is nice is that we can afford to do a little bit more teaching in the classroom and still go out on the field later because we have the indoor facility."

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Linebacker Robert Watts

On the New Mexico State Game

"This is a big game for us. All of the rest of them are big games for us because they are all conference games. If we can win out we still have a chance for a conference title. We haven't won any on the road yet, so there is another challenge right there."

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Offensive Tackle Donald Penn

On the New Mexico State Game

"We are very excited. We are going on the road. We need to get an important win on the road because we have another game on the road. We need to finish off the Sun Belt well and hope that somebody knocks off North Texas so we can have a chance to get into the bowl game. This is a big game, so we are very excited. Last year in that game we played very well and very hard for all four quarters, so we know they are a tough team and we will have to bring our "A" game like we have been doing the past couple of games."