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SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 31, 2018

Rocky Long

Stanford, California

SAN DIEGO STATE INTERVIEWS

Stanford 31, San Diego State - 10

Q. What was your overall takeaway on this game sitting here right now? What's the main thing you take away from it?
COACH LONG: That they had a receiver we couldn't cover. Otherwise we played just as good as they did.

Q. You pretty much owned the first half. Then the second half, they started throwing the ball?
COACH LONG: They owned the first half?

Q. No, you guys pretty much owned the first half, I thought.
COACH LONG: I thought it was pretty much equal at the end of the half. I thought it was pretty equal. If we don't intercept the pass and fumble it back to them we go into halftime ahead.

Q. Are you happy with your defense's play on Bryce Love?
COACH LONG: Well, whenever you take a chance to slow a running back down you isolate your DBs in one-on-one situations. So they happened to have a couple of really good receivers out there that if you scheme it up so they have a hard time running the ball, you gotta have some DBs make plays.

Q. Did you think Stanford was picking on the inexperience of your cornerbacks?
COACH LONG: I don't know if I think that's where our experience is on defense. No, I think we made them throw it. Whether they wanted to or not, we made them throw it.

Q. The way you guys came out early on, seemed like it was going to be a battle back and forth. How much of it was getting Juwan going? Seemed like after a couple of carries he got a rhythm.
COACH LONG: No, I think our offense ran the ball okay. Didn't protect the quarterback worth a darn, but they ran the ball okay. But whenever you lose a game it's both sides of the ball. You got a chance -- you still got a chance to go and win the game if you can make them fourth and one.

We're supposed to be a running game. You're supposed to make a fourth and one, which we didn't. And then you have to count on your DBs to make a play every once in a while, which we didn't.

Q. Despite the loss, are you still encouraged with Juwan's performance? A career high against a team like Stanford.
COACH LONG: I think we've got potential, but you're never happy when you lose.

Q. Seemed ironic in a way that what could have been your biggest potential defensive play in the second quarter turned into theirs.
COACH LONG: I think that was obviously the biggest momentum shift in the game. We stop them, intercept the pass, then fumble it right back to them. Then they throw it over one of our cornerbacks for a touchdown when we should be running the clock out. All of a sudden they score and I think completely eliminated any momentum we had.

Q. Even if you just knock it down, fourth down (indiscernible).
COACH LONG: No, I don't think they would have been. I think it was like a 50-yard pass or something like that.

Q. What made it so tough to stop the receiver, Arcega-Whiteside? Was it speed, size? What do you think?
COACH LONG: You said it. Speed and size. He's just as fast as we are. And he's bigger than we are.

Q. He's been making those plays for a couple years.
COACH LONG: He made those plays at the end of last year, too. All you have to do is watch the last five games of the season and he did that. The only games they lost was when they got outscored.

Q. What do you draw from this game going forward?
COACH LONG: We've got some potential. We've got some potential to play well. Obviously our secondary has got to get better. But we ran the ball pretty well on a very good defensive team, and I thought they struggled running the ball against us. Those are all positive signs.

Q. Did they surprise you with anything they did offensively or defensively?
COACH LONG: Yeah, they did a little bit. I mean, we expected more fullbacks in the game that we didn't get. It was three tight ends and it was what we call full personnel -- two tight ends and three tight end formations. Obviously coming in the game we practiced with a fullback back there most of the time, and there wasn't a fullback back there very often.

So that was something -- but it didn't make any difference. And they're smart. Didn't make any difference in the run game. You just used the tight end as a fullback and they couldn't run it anyway. But what they have is four good receivers out there that are giants and we're not very big in the secondary.

Even their tight ends can catch the ball and run and they're 6'5" and 6'6" and we're covering them with 6-foot tough guys. So that's smart.

Q. What was the mood at halftime like? Did you tell your guys that you had more momentum coming in, or do you kind of down (indiscernible) you guys gave up an opportunity?
COACH LONG: I think if we don't fumble the ball back after the interception we'll have a lot of momentum. I think since the last play of the half is a long throw for a touchdown that kind of ruins your momentum going in at halftime.

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