LOGAN, Utah – Utah State head football coach Matt Wells held a press conference Monday to recap the Aggies' win at Hawai'i and preview their upcoming home game against San José State on Saturday afternoon. A complete transcript of the press conference can be found below.
 
Head Coach Matt Wells
On the Hawai'i game:
"I'm happy for our players. I'm really proud of them in their efforts in winning the game over at Hawai'i. It's a difficult trip with multiple things, being the travel distractions, weather, humidity and the heat coming from Logan at this time of the year. Our guys are very business-like. It's not to say they're not enjoying what they're doing because I really think they're having fun playing ball. Football is important to this group of guys, especially to these leaders and they take it very seriously. Their ability to continue to remain focused each and every week is kind of remarkable and motivating to me as a coach and to our assistant coaches. I thought our assistant coaches did a great job with their preparation of the game plan on both sides of the ball, and I thought our guys executed it. It was a little sloppy in the kicking game for me, and for our team. We need to get some things corrected. I don't think we covered kicks very well, we didn't protect our punt very well and we didn't protect our field goal kicker very well. That's going to get addressed immediately today moving forward. I didn't think it was up to our standards, but we had a lot of good performances all the way around.
 
"Both quarterbacks played well and both running backs played extremely well. I thought our offensive line kept the quarterback pretty clean and kept him protected. They did a nice job in the running game and anytime you rush for over 400 yards, you did a good job. It was probably the best game we had all year with our outside receivers, slot receivers and our tight ends out on the perimeter. You don't really run for that amount of yards without excellent blocking out on the edge and the perimeter down the field. It was a really good performance by our defense and they basically gave up 11 points when the game was kind of being contested. The fourth-down stops were excellent. Our defensive line played exceptionally well. Devon Anderson, Adewale Adeoye, Christopher 'Unga and Fua Leilua dominated the line of scrimmage. They played very well. David Woodward and Chase Christiansen played very consistent. Gaje Ferguson maybe played his best game of the year and was very productive in the back end."
 
On San José State:
"As I look forward to San José State, this is a big game. We're already fired up about it because it's senior day and that's an important day. We make a little bit of a bigger deal about it around here and I know we always play well on senior day. We're motivated to send this senior class out undefeated. There has only been three other teams that have been 6-0 in 126 years of Utah State football. When you have a season where you go undefeated at home, you could have a special season overall. We're putting ourselves in a position to continue to do that. The big picture is to have a chance to play for the Mountain Division championship and overall Mountain West championship at the end of this month. The small focus is San José State, who has actually been playing very well of late. They have had some close losses and are putting some points up on the board, so they're doing a good job. They're very well coached and I have a lot of respect for them. This team continues to fight. You just turn on the tape and you see them continue to fight, starting with the Oregon game and all the way down. They've been very competitive and they continue to fight, so we have much respect for them. As always, the focus will be on us, what we do, how we do it, how we play on offense, our tempo, our pace and how we play on defense. We need to make sure that we are right, schematically, during the week and emotionally with the right amount of energy at 2 o'clock on Saturday. I look forward to playing at Maverik Stadium one more time."
 
On if he ever imagined this team would score as many points as it has this season:
"Coaches aren't in the prediction business and we don't sit around thinking of it that way. When you have the experience that you have coming back on the offensive line, all three slots are back, every receiver was back, except Jalen (Greene) and Deven Thompkins, adding those two guys this summer. Both tight ends were back, one running back was back, the starting quarterback was back and there's a lot of guys back for year two. The four guys that are playing a ton that didn't play last year, Alfred Edwards was in the system for a year as a redshirt, the two receivers that came in this summer and then Darwin (Thompson) came in, in January. We've added them on top of a ton of guys coming back, and then here's where I think is getting lost in this whole thing is the guys that were coming back as many of them being first-year starters, they took a step forward in their progression. They got bigger, stronger and a little bit better versed in this offense. I did say that I thought year two in this offense would be much better. You don't ever sit around and imagine scoring this many points. We're in a good rhythm, our guys are very confident in what we're doing and again, it goes back to our philosophy. It's what we do and how we do it. We've stayed consistent to that and our players have bought into that and they've played well. The other thing, too, is we've stayed relatively injury-free on offense. We haven't had very many injuries on offense and that's allowed us to continue to sustain some rhythm and chemistry on offense. You put all of that together and it's kind of what you're seeing right now."
 
On what has been the consistent thread to allow the team to score fast:
"That's something that we talk about. We attempt to practice it and I also think that what we do on offense is very hard to replicate during the week in practice for scout teams. It's extremely hard at the pace that we're playing. We've been fairly balanced between run and pass, although that's not an attempt to be that balanced 50-50, but we have been. It's hard to replicate and you have an opportunity to play with the speed that we want to early on in the game and potentially jump on somebody. It's also a credit to our offense that it's been fairly consistent through the first several drives of the first quarter and third quarter if you go back and you self-scout us a little bit, we've started pretty quick. Even when the pace has been dictated at times, we've been able to play fairly efficient. I'm proud of our offense for it."
 
On how hard it is as an opposing team to stop Darwin Thompson:
"What you're dealing with is you're dealing with two backs that are similar, fresh and split in time, 50-50. If you look at their carries, reps, averages, Gerold Bright and Darwin Thompson both are pretty equal. That's worked out in their favor because you're splitting reps like that in a game, you're dividing the amount of hits you're taking by two and the same thing in practice. The cumulative effect is starting to work. They're both very good backs and that may be the first time I've said that all year. I've been waiting to say it just because I think the tale of the tape for a running back as the season goes on, and hits do accumulate, you get tired and sore. Those two have played at a very high level and it's a credit to them. They're getting coached very well. They both are strong in the lower body, which allows them to break tackles. They both have another gear and speed to be able to hit home runs."
 
On the emotions getting to him as a coach on senior day before the game:
"It always does because you're handing them a lei and a ball, and you realize it will be the last time that they play in Maverik Stadium. I remember my senior game, you always remember it. This year will be a little different only because we control our own destiny, I'll just say it that way. There may be a chance they get one more, you never know."
 
On San José State's running backs and the different styles they both have:
"They do a good job of mixing both of those guys. I think maybe the same things happen to them that when you split carries and reps like that, you stay healthier. I'm sure they feel that's an advantage for them."
 
On San José State being more productive in their passing game than their running game:
"They have been very productive through the air with the quarterback. (Josh) Love is a good quarterback. He's accurate, he's thrown it well and they have a really good tight end (Josh Oliver) that's going to play on Sundays. That kid is very physical, he can run, he catches the ball very well and is a physical presence."
 
On how critical the timing has been on the takeaways for the defense:
"I don't know if we predict what time they come in the game, but we'll take them any time. Our defense is something that coach (Keith) Patterson stresses is takeaways and creating turnovers. We've done a really good job of that. We're one of the leaders in the country, not just in the Mountain West, but the country in that. On the flip side, we've done a good job of taking care of the football. We're top 10 in the country in turnover margin and that's an important part of the plan to win. The turnovers that we're creating on defense, when they do come, our offense has done a nice job of capitalizing and finding ways to score right after them. What that does is creates momentum and energy on the sidelines. It can create a lot of mojo and momentum in a stadium when you're at home and for your home crowd. It's important to be able to capitalize off of that and the offense has done that. Both sides of the ball and have done a great job of feeding off of each other and being able to create momentum. Lately, that's been happening in the middle of the first quarter to the middle of the second quarter. We've been able to generate some points and get some three-and-outs on defense."
 
On quality in the Mountain West this season with multiple teams being ranked:
"I've been saying it since the summer, there is a lot of parity in this league. There are a lot of good football programs. (Utah State, Fresno State, Boise State and San Diego State) are all having good years and they're getting some recognition nationally and some credit and it's well deserved. This is a tough league and there are some really good football coaches and staffs that we go up against each and every week. It's a tremendous challenge and the recognition that the Mountain West is getting is well deserved."
 
On San José State turning their season around in the turnover margin:
"They've done a good job in the turnover margin in the Mountain West. In all the Mountain West games, they're second in turnover margin. They're taking the ball away on defense, but what they're not doing is they're not giving it up. They've thrown four interceptions in five conference games and no fumbles. They've done a very good job of winning the turnover margin, taking footballs away and taking care of the ball. When you do that, you keep yourself in a game. They've had some games that could've gone either way and some close losses, unfortunately for them. It's a sign to me, as a sign of respect for how hard that team plays. That's reflective to me in coaching and demanding that the kids continue to fight. It's also a credit to those players for responding. They continue to fight and they've played their best ball lately."
 
On the team feeding off of going on early runs:
"It's certainly something that we talk about. Three and out, going to score, of course our offense is trying to score every time they get the ball. Whether it's a turnover, a two-and-out, a three-and-out punt, we have done a really good job of feeding off of each other and it's created a lot of momentum for us."
 
On San José State's defense:
"The first thing you look at is the two inside linebackers and the two safeties are both in the top 20 in tackles in the league, which is excellent. They're strong up the middle, they have two big defensive linemen inside, two good excellent inside linebackers and then the two safeties right up the middle of the defense. Dakari Monroe is top five in the country in interceptions. He has four and that guy has great ball skills, coverage skills, speed and is an excellent talent out there at corner."