LOGAN, Utah – Utah State head football coach Matt Wells, along graduate transfer wide receiver Jalen Davis and senior linebacker Chase Christiansen held a press conference Monday to recap the Aggies' win over Wyoming and preview their upcoming home game against New Mexico on Saturday afternoon. A complete transcript of the press conference can be found below.
 
Head Coach Matt Wells
On beating Wyoming:
"I'm proud of our guys. It was a really good win on the road in Laramie, and it reminds me of similarities of the 2014 game. We played excellent defense and found a way to score once on special teams and then hit a long run on offense. It was a very oddly similar game, without the weather, as the 2014 game had. I thought our guys hung in there, and our defense played really well. We still have stuff to clean up. We still didn't fit some stuff right. I like that our staff and players were really motivated to play great all the time, to fit everything right and to play perfect. We'll always strive for perfection and we'll be satisfied with excellence. That was an excellent outing by our defense, with a timely kickoff return added in. There is a lot of people to give credit to. With the front line on the kickoff return, Taylor Compton, Deante Fortenberry and Chase Christiansen made great blocks at the point of attack. Morian Walker Jr. and Chase Nelson did an excellent job. Jalen Greene had a key block coming out of there. Savon Scarver, you saw the track speed Savon has and everybody's seen it by now with Deandre Smith kind of scheming that up.
 
"We didn't play like we wanted to on offense and we didn't play well really anywhere all the way around, except at running back. I thought Darwin Thompson and Gerold Bright really ran well, and ran behind their pads. They made some tough, well-earned yards. I thought Carson Terrell blocked really well and he's played well two weeks in a row up front against really good defensive ends. I'm proud of our guys because it was a different way to win. When you get on this run sometimes, the expectations by coaches, media and fans is that you're going to play a certain way because you've played a certain way and I get that, but it was a great way for us to win. It's a lot easier to teach off wins and we all know that. Winning in college football is extremely hard every week. If it were easy, everybody would do it every single week. I got a text after the game from Stew Morrill, a guy that has been to Laramie a bunch over his career at a couple of different schools. The text said, 'Matt, it's extremely hard to win in Laramie in any sport. Enjoy the win, make your corrections and move on.' That kind of validated to me everything that we always say here, it's hard to win in Laramie. I said that last Monday sitting here. I knew they would play really well. They're very well-coached, disciplined, tough and are a blue-collar program. I have a lot of respect for their staff and players on that team. I'm glad I don't have to play against (Andrew) Wingard anymore. He's an extremely good player. I'm proud of our guys because it's a hard place to win. I recognize that, and I tip my hat and respect that program."
 
On New Mexico
"They play us tough. We've had tough games against them. We play them tough they play us tough, however you want to look at it. It's a very competitive game every time we play the Lobos, it really is. I know we'll get there best shot. They're very well-coached and they have athleticism. I love their nose guard (Aaron Blackwell) and he's a physical, tough guy. No. 11 (Rhashuan Epting) has some speed off the edge. The punt returner (Marcus Hayes) has really good range and he's a weapon. We're going to have to be on high alert on our punt team, in fact, we're going to start working on that today. I haven't seen their offense as much. I know they're very athletic. It's obviously early in the week, but they're athletic, they always are. It will be an extremely tough, competitive Mountain Division game on Saturday. I'm looking for a great crowd, it will be great weather and hopefully we'll get our fans something to cheer about."
 
On Jordan Love's performance:
"We didn't protect him really well. We didn't run good routes and he didn't throw very accurate balls. We'll be fine and I'm not worried about it one bit. We really just couldn't get out of the funk either."
 
On playing in tough, close games in the past and getting stops this time around to get the win:
"It's something that we've talked about and tried to train in training camp a little bit more, pointed training and it was just simply finish. It's not harder, and it's not longer, it's just more intensified focus. It's a little bit more attention to detail. It's communicating a little bit more and it's all those things that take no talent. It wasn't very long ago we lost five games by one possession two years ago. Last year, we had three losses in the last minute of the game and one of them being the Wyoming game. You're that close to having an eight- or nine-win season last year. I hadn't forgotten those and neither had our players. You have to win games like this to compete for a championship. That's what we all want and that's the ultimate goal. That's why I'm very happy winning the way we did."
 
On Jontrell Rocquemore's interception:
"I'll just describe what was said on the headsets. 'No, no, no … score!' It was an extremely athletic play, what a play."
 
On the defensive line taking care of their linebackers so they can make plays:
"Christopher 'Unga, Devon Anderson, Adewale Adeoye – they played extremely well. A lot of them played, even Ritisoni Fata, Dalton Baker, Jacoby Wildman, Fua Leilua. When you see linebackers with those kinds of stats and that kind of production and really except for one long run that we didn't fit well at outside backer and safety, you take that one long run away and we played really good run-defense. When those two guys (Chase Christiansen and David Woodward) have that kind of production, the defensive line played really well. I'm proud of those guys. Those are the unsung heroes really right now, is that defensive line."
 
On stopping the UNM quarterback from scrambling:
"New Mexico has a good quarterback run game. This quarterback run game was a little different and a little methodical with the power read. They did a nice job with it and he's a big, strong young man. I can say we didn't fit stuff up well. but in the same breath, I can say it was a nice job by Wyoming. It was a nice job scheming some stuff and a nice job by them executing. We didn't adjust to it as well as we wanted to."
 
On the mood after the Wyoming win:
"It was a joyous win. In every win, you celebrate it and I saw them celebrating and I've sensed them celebrating. I also sensed an offensive group that wants, needs and realizes they have to play better, and they will. They've played very well up to this point. I also sensed the defensive group that says, 'Coach, we played well, but…' And then you're like, 'Yes, celebrate though, we'll figure this out on Monday morning.' It's the right mix and I don't see us being too critically hard on ourselves. I don't see us allowing people to pat us on the back and all that kind of stuff."
 
On being on your toes to making in-game adjustments in stopping Wyoming quarterback Sean Chambers:
"We made some good in-game adjustments. The guy is a good, strong, running quarterback. It was a good plan that they had and it was a good complement to (Nico) Evans."
 
On New Mexico throwing the ball more:
"They have some weapons on the outside. They have a big 6-foot-4 receiver is Delane Hart-Johnson. Elijah Lilly is really athletic and he's explosive with the ball. They're throwing it, they're running it and the new offensive coordinator, Calvin Magee, is different from what they've been doing and what we're accustomed to. They have always been extremely athletic. When they get the ball in space and you're unsound in your coverage, they have the ability to hit a home run. They have a couple more wideouts than what they've had in the past. They've always had tailbacks that are explosive and I don't think that that's anything different from this bunch."
 
On New Mexico's option game:
"They are not near like they've done in the past. I would call it a lot more spread and it's a lot more of a heavy option oriented the last several years."
 
On this year's senior class and what they've been able to accomplish:
"We're in the middle of something special. We're in the middle of something that could be a really good season if we stay the course. I recognize, too, that you have to stack one on top of another. This is a huge week for us. Ron'quavion Tarver is a three-for-three junior college kid. Suli (Tamaivena) is a two for two, and then you have a couple of transfers in (Quin) Ficklin, to Roman (Andrus), that have been here for two years. You have a few more two-year guys and three-year guys. DJ Nelson wanted to play at Romney Stadium, which is now Maverik Stadium, his whole life. What a tremendous leader with Chase Christiansen being a fifth-year senior that came here as a quarterback. They all have their own stories, but they've done a great job of meshing together. Gaje Ferguson has been here for four years. He is another Cache Valley kid.
"What's kind of neat is it's a melting pot, maybe if you will of the senior class from LDS return missionaries, from out-of-state, to in-state guys, to Cache Valley guys, to some junior college players. The guys that came in – the two- to three-year guys – came here at a critical point in this program in the last five years. I would say they've steadied the ship and righted the ship. You have guys that have bled Aggie blue since they were born in Gaje Ferguson and DJ Nelson. It's neat to see all of those different backgrounds come together. We're not even to the end of it yet. It's been a really good class of productive leadership. When I say that, I always preach that you have to produce and you have to play well. Every one of those guys has performed on the field and it's given them a platform to lead a little bit better. I'm proud of this senior class and what they've done, but there's still a lot more out there for them right now."
 
On the offensive line struggling against Wyoming:
"Wyoming's defensive line had something to do with that. They're a very good defensive line. There were times that we had our eyes down, fundamentally, and from our fundamental technique standpoint, we weren't as disciplined as we have been. We can do a little bit better in terms of run blocking and pass protecting. We have to keep Jordan clean, and we have to keep guys off of him. Consequently, we have to get open on the perimeter and we have to be accurate as a quarterback, which helps and accentuates the offensive line play well. We were all in it together a little bit on Saturday."
 
On Suli Tamaivena's identical twin brother, Sitiveni, for New Mexico:
"Sitiveni is a really good productive linebacker. Not only is he an identical twin, but he plays very similar to Suli. He likes to get up and blitz and pop in the same A-gaps. He's active all over the place. You can see a lot of Suli in him. They're brothers and all of that, but they play very similar."
 
Graduate Transfer Wide Receiver Jalen Greene:
On the Wyoming game:
"We didn't execute as we wanted to on offense. Luckily, and thankfully enough, we were able to make some plays early on, and coming out of the half, to get us through and secure the win."
 
On the offense having a performance like it did:
"You never expect to go into a game and have multiple three-and-outs, but it's the nature of the game. It happens sometimes. You don't panic about it. You just go back to the drawing board, see what went wrong and see what you have to work on in the week to come. There's always another game next week, so you just have to continue to move on and try to figure out another way to stack those wins."
 
On if that kind of game changes how the offense will prepare:
"We prepare hard every week and understand that each week is a threat to our ultimate goal in winning the Mountain West championship. We're definitely going to understand that we didn't do what we wanted to last weekend. You definitely have to focus on the new opponent and see how we want to attack them, see what is going to work against them and make sure what we need to do in practice to be successful on Saturday."
 
On what Wyoming's defense did that made it tough:
"They came out physical. They understood that we score a lot of points. They're a team that was 2-5 before they played us, and then it was their Homecoming game. They were tired of getting beat up on. They want to establish their identity that they can play football, as well. They were a talented defense, so give them credit. Those guys did their thing on Saturday, especially their front seven. They played their hearts out."
 
On what they can learn from Wyoming's pass-rush defense:
"The benefit for us is we saw it now. It didn't happen to us in a championship game or a game that would definitely threaten us to get to the championship. We know we have weaknesses, as well. We aren't Superman and we aren't untouchable. I'm glad it happened to us now, so we understand what our weaknesses are and where we need to anchor down, and what we can't let happen."
 
On sophomore wide receiver Savon Scarver's kickoff return:
"To set him free, that's just 10 other guys doing their job. My job is to always see guys coming up the backside or see guys who may be beating their blocks and pick those up so Savon can be successful. Luckily enough, the kicker kicked it down the middle of the field, which is never good for the opposing team. The way our return was set up, we were able to execute and guys were in the right position."
 
On how this year has been for him:
"It's been a blessing. I take it one day at a time because my time here will be short and it's only getting shorter by the day. I just hope to continue to create friendships, relationships and more memories as we continue to try and win each game and get to the ultimate goal, which is a championship."
 
On getting back to a passing team:
"I'm always drooling out the mouth hoping we can go for 500 or 600 yards as an offense a game, whether that's on the ground or through the air. I just like to see the guys having fun and being relaxed. We got a little tight last game because it got up on us like, 'Whoa, we're really in the game.' I just liked how we responded. We didn't get to score as many points as we wanted, but we didn't fold. We did have negative plays, but that's just the nature of the game. I'm going to go into film, see my opponent, see who I'm going to match up against this week and just get to it and be ready for practice tomorrow."
 
On what it's like to come in and see this much success in his first year at Utah State:
"That's a credit to all the work that's been put in since the spring. Once I got here, all the guys were still anxious about that bowl game that they lost against New Mexico State. We definitely got the payback when we played New Mexico State. It's just a credit to all the work you put in and seeing it pay off. You just have to keep reminding yourself it's a grind. The season is a grind. We're starting off fast and we just have to make sure we stay at our pace and finish fast."
 
On having a close game:
"It's not exciting when you're there because you want to figure out, 'Man, what's going on? Why aren't we doing what we know we can do?' But, I believe the fun part is seeing guys come together. When you're down, no one's pointing the finger at each other. Like Chase (Christiansen) wouldn't tell you the offense wasn't doing our job. A big credit goes out to the defense. We were constantly going three-and-out, and they were picking us up. They were digging us out of the hole. We turned the ball over on the 15- or 20-yard line, and the defense forced a field goal. That's tremendous. A huge credit to the defense, but the way we gelled together as an offense, defense and coaches was great. That tells you the nature of the team and the true character of the team."
 
On what it's like to play under head coach Matt Wells:
"It's been great. Coach Wells brings the energy every single day. He's going to be on you. He doesn't miss a thing. You're always going to hear coach Wells and see him on the guys' case of just trying to be the best you can be. He won't let you let up."
 
Senior Linebacker Chase Christiansen:
On the Wyoming game:
"We played pretty well overall on defense. That's not to say that it was perfect, but it was good enough to get the win. We played pretty well in the first half. In the second half, they started to run the ball a little bit on us, which we need to get cleaned up. Coaches have addressed it and we're going to work on it. I'm glad we won."
 
On how the quarterback affects rushing defense:
"What Wyoming was getting us with was a quarterback power play. Our run fits weren't as tight as they should have been. He was getting through there and getting way too many yards. They hit us on the one long run, but that was on a third-and-long, and that was the running back. That wasn't the quarterback on that one."
 
On New Mexico's quarterback running the ball:
"He's really athletic, so we're going to have to contain him. We're going to have to be a lot better than we were against Wyoming in the run game. He's athletic. He's going to be running around back there. We have to pay attention to him. We have to corral him."
 
On making the in-game adjustments against Wyoming freshman quarterback Sean Chambers:
"We hadn't seen him at all, but the plays of quarterback power that they we were running against us were stuff that we'd seen in their film. It wasn't something that they've run a ton of. Obviously, they put a quarterback in there that was a little bit more athletic than the other player and they tried to run the ball at us, and they were successful at it. We had to just tighten down our run fits. We ended up doing it enough in the second half to get us a win. There is still a lot we need to work on and improve."
 
On how he felt after the Wyoming game:
"It was a battle. You feel tired, but it doesn't really matter when you get a win. It's a good feeling when you wake up on Sunday morning and you feel like your body is just beat to crap and you're trash and you're all beat up. It's great, and we won, especially when it's a defensive battle. It's great to be a part of that."
 
On how he and sophomore linebacker David Woodward were involved in a lot of plays:
"The production that me and David had isn't necessarily just what me and David are doing. The defensive line doesn't get nearly the amount of credit that they should for the work that they do. When you see linebackers, inside linebackers in particular, having success, it's because the D-line is keeping the O-line off of us to make plays. Although our production was high, you can't say both of us played exceptionally well. The D-line played really well."
 
On the best running back the Aggies have faced:
"They're all pretty good in their own right. Each running back is different in their running style. Some of them are more elusive you might say, and they're harder to tackle. Some of them will run you over like the guy from Michigan State, but it all depends. Every week is different."
 
On Wyoming senior running back Nico Evans:
"Give Wyoming credit, but it was more mistakes that we made on defense that kind of sprung him for the long runs that he had. It wasn't necessarily that they were doing something that we hadn't seen before. It was just that we made mistakes that were pretty uncharacteristic of us up until this point."
 
On USU senior safety Jontrell Rocquemore's interception:
"I saw the guy that he was supposed to be covering run out to the flat and then Jontrell kind of in no-man's land. which was kind of shocking, but then he jumped up and made an incredible play and picked it. I wish he would have scored. We give him a hard time for getting tackled by a quarterback, but he made a great play for sure."
 
On the defense spending so much time on the field against Wyoming and still coming away with a win:
"It says a lot at every position, really. There's not really one position that I think about that the two-deep isn't really solid. It says a lot about the character of our team. I don't necessarily think we were thinking, 'Oh, we've been out here for so long and we're tired.' It's more like we love to play football and we love when the defense is out on the field, because we feel we can make a real impact in the game. We loved every second that we were out there. We loved fighting."
 
On if he feels more prepared for long games this year than in the past:
"When you're playing against our offense, especially when we're in the fall camp and the spring ball type-settings when they're just pacing you and you can go 10 plays and it seems you never get a break between snaps. It's really good conditioning. It's definitely been a part of the better conditioning that the defense has had this year."
 
On being able to close out tight games:
"It seems like the past couple years I've been here, every close game it seemed like we'd find a way to lose it. Now, we have more of a mindset that we're going to do everything we can to find a way to win it. The Air Force game and the Wyoming game are great examples of that, off doing everything we can to find a way to win a game."
 
On the difference between winning close games, and not losing them:
"Maybe a little experience, but it's more of a mindset. There's a confidence and there's an attitude on this team that we believe in ourselves, we believe we're going to win and we're going to do everything that we can to find a way to win. It's kind of hard to put a finger on it, but at the end of the day, it's a mindset."
 
On having a close game heading into New Mexico:
"A close game is going to motivate you to do a little bit better this week than you did last week in your preparation. I don't want to say it's a good thing to have a close game, but it's a wake-up call for everyone on the team to understand we need to keep getting better every week. We need to focus on the little things and we need to focus on the fundamentals and just get a little bit better."
 
On this year's senior class:
"I'm really proud to be a part of it, especially since two years ago when we only won three games. To see the changes that we need to make and work all year every day to try and get better, I'm really proud of going from a team that only won three games to going to a team right now that's 6-1. And, that's only right now. Our goals are, obviously, a lot bigger than just being 6-1, so I'm excited for what's to come. I'm really proud to be a part of this senior class."
 
On what he'll remember most from his time at USU:
"The people I've met, the friends that I've made and all of the seniors, the underclassmen and the people that were here before me. I've made lifelong friends – just incredible people here."