San Diego State Aztecs College Football Pregame Quote, 11/19/2019

It’s nice to be in the position we’re in that we’re playing for a possibility of getting in a conference championship game. It’s nice to be 8-2, bowl eligible, all those kind of things. So I anticipate a really close game this week. Hawai’i is the best passing team in our league. Schematically, they (have) four and five wide receivers every single snap. If you take enough guys out of the box to cover them correctly, then they run it really really well. They have two talented quarterbacks (Cole McDonald, Chevan Cordeiro) and some really good receivers. So we’re going to have to play really really well to have a chance to win.

On whom he compares Hawai’i quarterback Cole McDonald to:

Jordan Love (Utah State). I hope I got the right one because there are two Loves. Both of them are pretty good. Both of those quarterbacks named Love are pretty good in our league. He’s very accurate with the football. He winds up a little bit to throw it if you’re looking for characteristics, but he can throw all the all the routes. He’s got a strong arm. So if they beat you deep, he can throw it deep, all those things.

On if Hawai’i wide receivers are dangerous yards-after-catch players:

No, they dump it off and let those guys make you miss. The system is such that every tackle is made in the open field, every single tackle is made in the open field. And even if you’re playing zone coverage, a lot of those tackles are one-on-one tackles in the open field. It’s the way the game is going now. You see it more and more all the time.

On how much Hawai’i compares to San Jos√© State and other teams with similar styles:

How much are they? The only resemblance between them and anybody else in our league is when the other teams go four and five wide receivers. The San Joses of the world, and all those people that throw the ball a lot, have that in their package, but they also have tight ends in their package. They also have fullbacks in their package, they also have double tight end formations in their package. These guys don’t. These guys have at least four wide receivers in the game all the time. And then every once in a while, they’ll take the running back out of there and throw five wide receivers in there. Formation-wise, it’s very simple. Scheme-wise, it’s as difficult as defensing the triple option. And I still think the triple option is the best offense ever designed. This is very similar on the opposite end of the scale. It’s very difficult to get ready to play these guys.

On Hawai’i head coach Nick Rolovich:

He’s a really good guy that really knows what he’s doing. I understand that his players like him and are playing hard for him and obviously their talent level is improving, so he’s an awfully good recruiter, too. Since he played there, he probably understands how things work in the culture there and all that and that probably helped him, too. But he’s an excellent coach that seems to be in the right place.

On how difficult it is to incorporate so many transfers into one system like Hawai’i:

It’s all determined on what kind of kids they’re letting transfer in there. In this day and age, there’s a lot of people out there transferring that don’t think they’re playing enough or for other reasons. I’m sure that he’s done this, if you’re very very careful about recruiting a transfer, you have to check their personalities and how they view the game. If all you do is recruit and allow transfers that are team guys, there’s no problems whatsoever, there’s no issues whatsoever. If they’re not team guys, they can cause you a problem. No matter how skilled they are or how good they are, they can cause you a problem if they’re not team guys. If they are team guys, there’s no issues whatsoever. I mean, they come there with some experience, they know how to play football, they also know a college playbook and all that stuff. It’s actually really really easy if the kids got the right personality.

On if there are any extra challenges to playing a road game at Hawai’i:

Well, I think it’s like playing in New York, too. I mean, it’s jet lag. The longer you stay on that plane, the less you are yourself. I don’t think there’s a fatigue factor whatsoever, but there is a little bit of a hangover from being in an airplane that long. The real problem is not that game, it’s the game after it because you basically lose a whole day in an airplane. You lose a day of preparation, you lose a day of rest, all those kind of things for your next game.

On whether he’s confident in the defense or if he feels they need to step up even more:

If they do what they’re doing, we’re okay. But they’re faced with a much bigger challenge, a huge challenge, but the challenge is completely different than anything we’ve seen all year long because of the scheme that Hawaii runs and they’re really good at it. So if you haven’t seen it before, it’s just‚Äîand I keep saying this‚Äîit’s like playing the triple option. If you haven’t seen the triple option all year, check who’s leading the nation in rushing and other top 10 teams in the nation in rushing. They’re all triple option teams. All the (service) academies are. Well, there’s a few guys like Hawaii, but we haven’t played anybody like Hawai’i all year long. So getting ready for that kind of scheme in a week is very very difficult.‚Äù

On Hawai’i head coach Nick Rolovich:

I think they play better at home. I think they’re more comfortable there. And I think that their team is really good this year and it’s been a while since they were playing for a chance to win a championship. And my impression, and I recruited Hawai’i when I was at Oregon State, my impression of Hawai’i is that they really like football (there). So I assume it’s going to be a pretty good crowd and there’s going to be a lot of energy in the state.

On where the onus lies for the defense to contain Hawai’i this week:

If you don’t get a pass rush, the secondary has to be outstanding. If you get a pass rush, the secondary doesn’t have to be as good. And I think every game is determined up front first. It’s not determined by the guys up front, but if you win the battle up front, you’re most likely going to win the game. If the battle up front is equal, now it’s the skill guys that decide who wins the game.

On Hawai’i defeating Arizona and Oregon State earlier this year:

I picked them. If anybody remembers, when everybody asked me who I thought was going to be the better teams in the league. I told them Hawai’i because they had a lot of their players coming back and the quarterbacks were coming back. So it’s not surprising to me at all. Besides that, it’s not surprising to me at all that anybody in our league can beat any of those guys.

On the challenges facing the offense this week:

Well, to have the best chance to win the game, we have to be able to run the ball and keep them off the field. And so that’s the biggest challenge we have. I mean, they’re big strong young men up front for Hawaii, and we’ve not shown a tendency to be consistent at running the football. So we got to be able to run the ball, keep the ball away from them, eat up some clock and score some points.

On the similarities between Hawai’i and Brigham Young, the Aztecs’ next two opponents:

Well, I haven’t watched BYU on film, but I’m not sure they’re similar. I mean, anybody that throws the ball you’re going to think is similar, but they’re not. I mean, our last game they (Fresno State) throw the ball quite a bit, too, but they use a lot of different formations and a lot of different personnel. And these guys are very very simple on who they have on the field. They’re pretty simple on what they do. They just do it all day long and very very well. They spread you from sideline to sideline and there’s a whole bunch of one-on-one open field tackles, if you’re close enough to cover them in the first place. So if you get the right players and practice the same thing over and over and over and over again, you get pretty darn good at it.

On how satisfying it is to be 8-2 despite some nagging injuries:

We’re happy where we are. The number one goal in the program is to win the conference championship and we’re 10 games in and we still have a possibility of getting in that championship game. So winning eight games, if you look at the history of San Diego State in the last 30 years or so and you take you take the last 10 years out of it, there’s very few eight-win seasons in there, very few. A lot of people around here forget that.

On if Hawai’i is a different team at home:

I think they played better at home. I think they’re more comfortable there and I think that their team is really good this year. It’s been a while since they were playing for a chance to win a championship. I recruited Hawaii when I was at Oregon State and my impression of Hawaii is that they really like football there. So I assume it’s going to be a pretty good crowd and there’s going to be a lot of energy in the stadium.