March 17, 2009

LOGAN, Utah -

FIRST DAY OF SPRING PRACTICE QUOTES - 03-17-09

Utah State cornerback Chris Randle, quarterback Diondre Borel and head coach Gary Andersen talk about Tuesday's opening day of spring football practice.

Junior CB Chris Randle

ON GETTING STARTED...

"They inspire us to play hard, and then encourage us to play harder. So it is great to be out here actually working at it. We have been working for the last nine weeks and we were glad to be out here actually going at it. It was a good first day."

ON DEFENSIVE CHANGES...

"Before we never played man defense. Now they are really on us as a defense to get up and make a play on the ball. We try to not allow a receiver to get any opportunity to make a play. They really motivate us to get up on the line. We are working hard and doing a good job."

"We have really good coaching. We were behind as a group. We only have two returning starters and we have a lot of people changing positions on this side of the ball. Coach Raymond is a good coach and had us out here early at 6:00 a.m. When everyone else was sleeping we are creeping is what he tells us. So we had a lot of work on doing technique. We are almost were we need to be right now."

ON OFF SEASON CONDITIONING...

"Last season we were running and losing weight. This season we are beefing up and going heavy in the weight room. We are getting a lot stronger as a group. I like it a lot more because we are getting bigger, but still working on our stamina."

Junior QB Diondre Borel

ON GETTING STARTED...

"The first day of spring went pretty well. We are in a learning process still, but considering that we are doing pretty well. The defense is ahead because they are playing a lot of man and don't have to learn as much. On offense we have to learn more plays and know what everyone should be doing. Overall it was a good practice."

ON CHANGES IN PRACTICE...

"Last year it was different. We feel it is a lot better this year. It is a lot more organized and everyone has something to do. There is not as much standing around."

ON OFFSEASON CONDITIONING...

"I have gained about ten pounds. Last year we did a lot of running and lost a lot of weight. We did some of that this year, but we worked more on agility drills. It is all about moving at a fast pace like we did today in practice. We run until the whistle blows, which is a lot different than last year."

ON NEW OFFENSE...

"There are some plays that are similar. A lot of it is the same, it is just worded differently. We are in the shotgun more, but that is really the only difference."

ON COMING IN AS THE STARTER...

"Even though they consider me a starter right now, I still want to work hard and be a better player than I was last year. I am considered a starter now, but I want to be the better. I don't want to fall back to what I was last year."

HEAD COACH Gary Andersen

ON FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE...

"It was great to get out here. It was great weather. I thought we competed all the way to the end of practice. That was important for us. We have harped all nine weeks of winter conditioning to finish. I think we did that today. Now can we continue to do that for practice six, seven and eight? We will see, but I thought today was a nice start."

ON DEFENSE...

"I thought the defense did a nice job. They should be ahead right now, without question. But the thing I was most impressed with on the defensive side of the ball was the ability of the corners to get up there. They have never played press man coverage before but Coach Raymond has done a nice job. We have some talented kids back there."

ON OFFENSE...

"I thought Doug Barbour came out and made some nice plays, which was great to see. Robert Turbin came in and did a nice job. I also thought Dervin Speight did a nice job for us to. So we will have to see how things go on that side of the ball."

ON NEW PLAYERS PERFORMANCES...

"It is hard to tell from a running back standpoint until they get pads on. Eastman came out and showed some jitters. He is a young quarterback. He is a young kid we are asking to come out and do some things for us, and he will get better as we go along. The defensive lineman banged around and looked like they new where they were going. I think they did a good job."

ON POSITION CHANGES...

"Curtis Marsh is a real big one. He came over and did a fantastic job at corner. He is a really gifted kid and did a fantastic job. There are 15 kids whose goal on the defensive side is to get speed on the field. Atkinson moved over to playing linebacker. He can really run and make some things happen. So any position change is drastic and it will take some time. I was proud of them today."

"We want to tilt the field forward. So a big safety or running back gets moved over to linebacker. We take defensive ends that are bigger, Royster for example, and move them in to play defensive tackle. It just gives us so much more athleticism. We are allowed to make more plays and really rush the passer. Defense is so much about reacting with speed to get to the ball and that showed up today."

ON NEW MUSIC AT PRACTICE..

"It is a way to loosen up and enjoy things. We do it as the loosen up and as they leave the field. We did it during conditioning and it will carry through spring ball. It is a way to let them remember it is a game and they should go have some fun."

ON Jake Hutton...

"Jake said he will not be able to play. His rehab situation right now is hard. It was a tough decision for him and I left the ball completely in his court. He came up to me today, still in his wheelchair, and said he is not going to be able to come back. If he came back and something bad were to happen to that foot again he would never be able to play catch with his son or daughter down the road. So I think he made the right decision. We would love to have him selfishly, but for his own future he made the right decision."