San Diego State Aztecs College Football Pregame Quote, 10/15/2019

We’re on to the next one and it’s a complete contrast from the team we just played. We just played a team that wanted to run it and didn’t really care to throw it very much and now we’re going against a team that wants to throw it and doesn’t care to run it very much. They throw it well, too. They’ve completed a bunch of passes. They’ve thrown over 240 passes and only thrown two interceptions. (They’ve thrown) several touchdowns. They move the ball really well on offense. Then probably the most intriguing aspect of the game is turnover ratio. They’re the No. 1 turnover ratio team in the country and we are (second). Turnovers usually make the difference between winning and losing, and I would guess that would happen this week.

On San Jose State:

Their coaching staff has done a great job of taking over a program that was down. They’re a whole lot better now than they were a couple years ago. They’re really competitive. They can beat anyone in our league. Obviously if you can go to Arkansas and beat Arkansas, you can beat anybody. They’re playing with enthusiasm and playing with confidence, and that’s all the head coach and coaching staff getting it done.

On San Jose State quarterback Josh Love:

He’s a guy that throws it on time and is very accurate with the football. He very seldom puts the ball in a spot that you can make a play on. You can bring pressure and a guy can be completely free on a blitz, and he will throw the ball on time and put it on the money. He doesn’t hold the ball, he doesn’t wait for things to open up, he reads coverages really well and throws the ball on time to the right guy most of the time.

On the best way to disrupt a quarterback like Josh Love:

I don’t know, since he’s throwing it on time. You always say when the quarterback is hot like that you get pressure on him, but since he is throwing it like that on time, you have to play great coverage. You have to change the coverages up and play really well in the secondary to give yourself a chance.

On if he or the team thinks about being bowl eligible with a win on Saturday:

I’m aware of that. I assume our team is aware of that when you win six games you are bowl eligible. I would guess that is a very small motivating factor in our case. We are only halfway through the season and that’s not our number one goal. Our number one goal is to play for the conference championship. That means this game is really important since it’s a conference game.

On how people complain too much about not winning enough games:

It depends on which seat you’re sitting in I guess. I’m as critical of our program as anybody else is. Our goal is to win every game. There’s a few teams that get that done, but very, very few. So when you don’t win the game, you go about your business and try to make sure you have a chance to win the next game. When you are a competitive person, we are all driven in one form or another to win. And when you don’t win it makes you feel bad. When you win if makes you feel good.

On if he hoped the offense would be better than it is now halfway into the season:

I wish we were a little bit better than we are now, but I didn’t know the progress the offense would make going with a new idea, new formations, and inexperience at the receiver spot. And then our starting tailback gets hurt. I wish we were better, but we’ve won five games so we can’t be all that bad.

On if he gets into all the defensive metrics:

No, I don’t get into all of that. Last week you talked about how good we were against the run and I think (Wyoming) had (129) yards at halftime. There’s only one stat that matters. There’s only one statistic that matters – whether you win or lose.

On comparing the Utah State loss and the Wyoming win, and if it came down to one play in each:

I thought our offense played much better in this last game than they did against Utah State. Much, much better. And the play that won the game, that’s a quarterback doing something that people say the quarterback shouldn’t do. You’re not supposed to run around back there and throw across your body back to the middle of the field, but it ended up being a touchdown and we won the game. So I guess this time it was OK that he did that, but most of the time it’s not OK that he did that. Usually those things end the wrong way instead of the right way. But one play made a difference in both games. You can point to a lot of things, but in those two games one play made a big difference.

On what he was thinking when Ryan Agnew released that pass:

I was looking to see if there was someone actually back there that could catch it. I didn’t know if he just threw it or not. You don’t know really know how things work until you watch it on film. We tell our guys all the time when the quarterback starts scrambling around, hook up with a man. Even if you are playing zone coverage, you’re supposed to hook up with the man nearest to you and don’t leave him. Well their guy hooked up with (tight end Daniel) Bellinger and all of a sudden he saw Ryan scrambling. He kept running and Bellinger stopped. He didn’t stay with (Bellinger), so it worked to our advantage that time. That’s what makes it fun to watch the game I think. It drives coaches crazy, but for a fan that’s an exciting play.

On if Ryan’s ability to get out of the pocket and throw across your body is unique:

I think that’s him and I think he’s been doing that every since he was in little league football. I’m sure he did it in little league football, I’m sure he did it in high school football and that’s just him, that’s the way he plays. You can try to stop him from doing that stuff, but then you are preventing him from making plays like he did too. As long as they do their assignments, once a player is out there you need to let them be them. Let them play to their strengths.

On Ryan Agnew’s leadership and confidence as the starting quarterback:

I don’t think he has any problem with confidence or leadership. His leadership style is his. He’s a laid back, easy going, pat you on the back guy, whether it is good or bad. When I played quarterback, which was a million years ago, I was just the opposite of him. If things weren’t going right, someone was hearing about it.

On the health of Juwan Washington:

I think he’s good. He didn’t reinjure is ankle in the (Wyoming) game and he looked pretty close to full speed. When you are around him all the time, you see a few things that he can normally do when he is 100 percent that he still can’t do, but he’s pretty close. And I thought he made a difference in our team and I think our team is a lot better when he is out there. (Juwan) not getting injured is a positive because hopefully he’ll be 100 percent by the time of our game on Saturday.