Oct. 15, 2007

Football Press Conference Quotes - 10-15-07

USU head coach Brent Guy and freshman kicker Chris Ulinski recap the off week, along with previewing the Nevada game.

HEAD COACH Brent Guy

Recap of off week:

"We practiced, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and then finished up on Thursday with a scrimmage with all of our redshirts and scout team players, which we try to do every year to get them a little bit of recognition and have the rest of kids watch that. Then we came back yesterday and had a regular workout like we would normally have to get our week started. The good thing that's happened is that it looks like Curtis Marsh is back to running at full speed. Nnamdi (Gwacham) is close to full speed and Jimmy (Bohm) ran and I think he'll be ready for Saturday, he's not quite full speed yet but hopefully by Tuesday he'll be able to start getting some reps with the offense again. That's the main thing for us, especially in the middle of the season, is try to get back any players that you've lost because of injury. We haven't really had Curtis for two weeks, Nnamdi and Jimmy for a week, so it will be nice to have all of those guys back. We didn't get anybody else hurt, which is always another one you don't want to have happen during the week. For our team, I think again especially after the long trip to Hawai'i, that was as good of timing of an open date as you could probably ask for with the way our schedule is set up. So now we have six games left, three of those at home and three of them on the road, which is as good as we've had it as far as travel and playing at home and playing away."

On Nevada:

"We got the opportunity to watch them play last night (on ESPN). We're obviously very impressed with the new quarterback and showed a completely different aspect than we had seen in the Fresno game where he came in and primarily threw the football and didn't run the ball a lot like they did last night. Obviously, they've planned it and there was so more scheming involved where we saw them get out of the Pistol offense a little bit and get into some zone read zone and actually use a read zone like we use, where you either give it or keep it and he kept it twice and was very effective. I don't know when the last time or if ever anybody has rushed for 400 yards on Boise State at Boise's stadium. That was an impressive display. To me, it was a shame that anybody had to lose that game, the way it came down to it there in the end the way both teams were playing. It was very impressive by both the running back and the quarterback, and the entire Nevada offense with what they did in that stadium last night."

On possibilities of losing momentum from playing pretty good at Hawai'i:

"We played better, but I still think we needed a break, just because we had played some tough games that we had a chance to win, but didn't win. You look at the Hawai'i game and it was 24-13 and we're driving just before half and if we can go score, maybe we can make that a game that we could compete in in the fourth quarter. We won't lose momentum from that, and now we get Curtis Marsh back so we can put both him and Derrvin Speight in the backfield at the same time with Leon (Jackson) which I think creates a triple-threat for any three of those to run and create the play-pass off of that, or screens off of that with those guys or our wide receivers. I think the empty motion out of the backfield certainly helped a lot. It created some different opportunities to run or throw on that and we'll build on that some more. I still believe because of the injuries and the travel, it's always much harder to travel back east and then turn around and play a game that week, so I still think it (the week off) was probably better for us, even though offensively we scored more points than we have, and made some encouraging steps that we still need some time off."

On high-scoring games in the WAC and if league has lost its defenses:

"I don't think they've lost their defense as much as we have a lot of offensive skill in this league. The overtime games are obviously a little deceiving, but you still look at games like last night, and you see all those points scored and there were still 400 yards of rushing. So it's not like it's wide open, bombs away type of stuff. I just think that sometimes when you get in those games, it just goes back and forth and just starts happening like that where its big play after big play. I don't know if I've ever seen an overtime played like that, where they score on three consecutive plays and four times in five plays, I can't remember one like that where it happened that fast with that many times, to get to triple overtime that fast with that few of many plays. I think 84 was the highest amount of plays, it's shocking that the snap total wasn't over 100 with that type of game and with that many overtimes."

On the parity of the league and how the best aren't quite as far apart as the rest of the league:

"This entire season in college football has proven that on any given Saturday, any team can win if you're not prepared to play and the other team is very prepared to play. I know that the game at San Jose State with Hawai'i was in the mud and rain but that still showed that in this league, there's a lot of parity. We had a very close game with San Jose State, didn't have that close of game with Hawai'i, but you see it every Saturday. You see what Oregon State did at Cal and what Stanford did at USC, that just proves that every week you have to be ready to play, if you're at the top obviously people are shooting for you, and if you prepare and are not the guy that's picked to win you've got a chance to win if you catch the other team unprepared or not ready, or just play well and execute. So I think it's not just in our league, but everywhere. Look at what happened when Stanford goes and beats USC, then goes home and gets beat by TCU who got beat at Wyoming the week before in Laramie. I think with all those things everywhere, if you just look around there's pictures of it everywhere and the whole season is going to be like that. It's a lot more balanced."

Sophomore K Chris Ulinski, who attended Nevada last year, but did not play football, instead playing on the UNR club rugby team.

On his path, going to Nevada and how he ended up at Utah State:

"When I first found out I was coming here, this was the game I was most excited about. At the beginning of my senior year of high school, I was getting some looks from Division I schools. I tore my quad muscle, so that dropped off on a lot of recruiting, so I went to Nevada with the hopes of walking on. I went and talked to the coaches, and they told me they'd see my film and liked what they saw and to come back in the spring, but it just didn't work out. That's when I ended up coming here. I went to school in Grass Valley, California, about an hour and a half from Reno, so I went to Nevada because it was somewhat close to home, and I had a lot of friends from my high school that were going there."

On friends influencing him to come here, as he is from the same hometown and high school as sophomore OT Brennan McFadden and sophomore S James Brindley:

"McFadden was the one who called me one day and said `hey, a couple of our kickers are leaving this year and I know they're looking for some guys to kick. They saw your tape and they liked it and you'll probably get a call from (special teams) Coach Flores tomorrow. So he was the one that got my foot in the door up here at Utah State."

On rugby experience:

"I met some guys from the rugby team and I told them I played soccer and kicked for my football team in high school and there's a lot of kicking in rugby, and so they encouraged me to come out. I had always played sports growing up so when I got to college, once the football thing didn't work out, I needed something. Now it's real nice to be a part of a team, traveling around with the team and practicing with a team."

On losing the PAT job at the start of the year after missing two extra points:

"The UNLV miss was a shock, it never crossed my mind that I was going to miss that one, and it went wide right. The next week we went to Wyoming and I was freaking out about it, and my confidence was just shot. I'm guessing that's probably why I missed that one. Partially I think that's because of my little experience, I had very little game experience. I can't blame the coaches for what they did because Pete (Caldwell) has almost been perfect this season and he had a lot of anticipation when he came here. I'm glad I'm doing the kickoffs and hopefully I can battle for the placekicking spot in the spring."

Evaluating himself on kickoffs thus far:

"I think I've done alright. I started off strong but these last couple games I've been choking, to be honest. Kicker, like any other position, you just have your role. You tee the ball up just exactly how you want it every time, there's no pressure, all you have to do is that. I know what I'm capable of, I know that if I have a good kick, it could go five yards deep (in the end zone) every time. It's frustrating anything less than that, let alone kicking it on the ground, totally not even where you're supposed to. I'm hoping to get back to where I was at the beginning of the season, starting this weekend with Nevada."

On difference of moving kickoffs five yards back this season with the new NCAA rule:

"I don't think there's that much difference, of course there's some, but you're going to try to kick as best as you can every time. There hasn't been that many more returns with this rule. We try and kick directionally and pin the guy on the sideline. It was nice to kick it through the end zone in the San Jose State game and have guys from the team congratulate me for that. I don't want to say that it's more important this year as it was in the past but maybe more under the microscope."