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SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 21, 2017

Rocky Long

San Diego, California

Fresno State - 27, SDSU - 3

ROCKY LONG: Obviously we didn't play very well and we haven't played very well for the last two weeks. If I knew why, obviously we would have fixed it. Since we didn't fix it, it's obviously a coaching error. We're not approaching them the right way or we're not teaching what we want them to do the right way, because they're not playing at a very high level. I thought tonight was going to be okay, because we did what we normally do, we drove the ball right down the field and then we mess the it up with a fumbling the ball down there, so we came away with no points and after that everything kind of looked like last week.

Q. How much of an affect do you think that fumble had like on the team the rest of the game? Because you guys did seemed seem to be right back on track.
ROCKY LONG: I don't know. Obviously, when the team is struggling they have, their confidence level is shaky. When we have a young team their confidence level is shaky. And if they come out and things are going pretty good and then all of a sudden something goes wrong, sometimes that changes their attitude.

Q. What are you seeing on offense as far as the keys to why you are not effective right now?
ROCKY LONG: We're not blocking them. It's a very simple deal. We're not blocking them. And then on defense they ran the ball really well against us, they were blocking us, and we weren't able to get off blocks and make tackles.

Q. You mentioned like their attitude, like compared to last week do you feel like this week their attitude once they felt down they weren't able to bounce back?
ROCKY LONG: No, I don't question at all their want to and they try hard, they're just not performing at a high level. We dropped snaps from center, we get a good play and we're lined up where we cover up the tight end so there's an ineligible receiver down field. There's a lot of instances of either them not concentrating or us not coaching them well enough. I don't know, I think they try, I think they want to, I think they're running around pretty good, they're just not playing very well.

Q. Do you think the lines regressed or were some of its issues just masked when you guys were making big plays earlier in the season?
ROCKY LONG: No, I think the line's, offensive line's struggling with some injuries. We started a true freshman at center tonight, he played the whole game. I think that you guys have heard me tell this, the closer you get to the line of scrimmage, the more of a man you have to be. So when you're immature at the line of scrimmage, it's a killer. Where you can be immature at wide receiver or something like that and it's not a killer, because the real battle is going between the offensive and defensive linemen. So it doesn't matter how big and how strong he is, if he's 18 years old, there's some 22 and 23 year old's out there beating him up.

Q. At some point on the game did you consider moving Keith Ismael back to center?
ROCKY LONG: No, we didn't have a guard.

Q. Gudino?
ROCKY LONG: I mean, he would have had the same problem at guard as he did at center.

Q. Rosales, did he stop practicing this week or he just wasn't cleared or?
ROCKY LONG: No, he couldn't go. He's been trying to go for the last two or three weeks, he hasn't performed at a very high level and we're trying to get him well.

Q. Say anything in particular at halftime? You're down 14, but it's still a ball game.
ROCKY LONG: No, I told them it was an opportunity for us to go back out there and show what kind of competitors we were and turn this thing around and win the game. And then I actually thought we were going to. I think it was -- they had the ball first, we were three and out and we returned a punt to about the 50 yard line and we were unable to do anything with it.

Q. How disappointing is a loss like tonight?
ROCKY LONG: They're all disappointing. They're all the same. They're all just as disappointing. I don't feel any different than I did last week.

Q. Was the homecoming and everything, does that make it any different just --
ROCKY LONG: I think that maybe more people came because of the homecoming festivities. The difference between the approach of a team should never be different. No matter what the occasion is, it shouldn't be different. Consistent football teams play pretty good most of the time. Everybody has a -- they have some drop offs, they have some valleys in there, but consistent football teams should play the same every week.

Q. Going back to those first three plays after you guys had the good punt return, three straight runs with Penny, the last linebacker just blows right through you untouched. In that early going were you just trying to reestablish something again as far as you guys come out from halftime and you wanted to reestablish the run or hoped to reestablish the run?
ROCKY LONG: No, I think that what was it, third and three? Or third and two, might even have been third and two, I don't exactly remember.

Q. It was third and six or something.
ROCKY LONG: It was third and six?

Q. Because he had gained two yards, two yards, so it was like third and six. Third and four.
ROCKY LONG: Third and four. There we go. Third and four. We have just as much chance making it with him on third and four as we do throwing it. And then I know the passing game doesn't look good, but our passing game is built on play action pass. And if you're not running the ball very well, the passing game's not very good either.

Q. Can you remember the last time the offense wasn't able to score a touchdown at all and what's that like as a defensive coach?
ROCKY LONG: I don't remember the last time. I mean, whenever you don't score, it's disappointing.

Q. Do you feel like Christian's making the best decisions he can, given the situation he's in, as far as being under pressure as much as he's been?
ROCKY LONG: He's been under a lot of pressure and when we go back to pass -- I don't know, I have to watch the film to figure out if he's going, if nobody's open and that's why he's scrambling, that's why he's getting sacked or if he's hesitant about throwing the ball when a guy comes open or should come open if he's hesitating on throwing it. I don't know until I see the film. I mean, our offense the last two weeks has been pretty ugly. I mean, the question people ask, well why don't you spread it out and throw it. That's not, that's not the formula to winning. I mean, some people can do that, not very many. Most people that win a lot of games establish the run. So we can't change our formula, we just got to do it better.

Q. Are you seeing a difference in the way the defenses are playing you guys as you go through the season?
ROCKY LONG: No, they played us exactly the same way last year too. They're not lining up any different, we're just not blocking them as well.

Q. Quality different though? The quality of the opponent different?
ROCKY LONG: Oh, I think this whole year to this point the schedule has been very difficult. I mean, we have played some very talented football teams. And we have beat some of them and we haven't beat some of them.

Q. In some ways the Boise state and Fresno State have played almost better against you than Stanford did, does it say something for the teams in the conference?
ROCKY LONG: Yeah, I think it says something about the quality of some of the teams in the conference. I think that the top four or five teams in the conference can play against anybody and play well. I mean, before Fresno State got their run going and got their system established on offense and defense, they hung in there with Alabama and they hung in there with Washington. I bet you it would be a completely different game right now the way they're playing. I bet you they could play real well against them right now. A lot better than Tennessee did.

Q. Do you think when Fresno, basically in the first half, when they connected on those passes that it kind of kept your DB's and linebackers from playing the run as aggressively as they would?
ROCKY LONG: I think when you get beat deep it prevents you from attacking the line of scrimmage as quickly at safety. You're a little more hesitant to run to the line of scrimmage if you've had some guy run by you.

Q. Does did it happen a little too much tonight and why did it happen just the deep balls getting completed?
ROCKY LONG: I said this once before, one deep ball was a great throw and our DB didn't make -- how many deep balls did they have? What do you count as a deep ball.

Q. 30 plus.
ROCKY LONG: 30 plus? How many did they have?

Q. Maybe four or five.
ROCKY LONG: I'm guessing two. One of them was a great throw and a great catch and one of them their guy was a whole lot faster than our guy.

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