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POINSETTIA BOWL: NAVY v SAN DIEGO STATEDecember 23, 2014Josh GavertRocky LongTerry PooleDonnel PumphreySAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA NAVY - 17 DONNEL PUMPHREY: I thought that we had time down there in the red zone and had time to kick a field goal, that it was time to score a touchdown and if we didn't score a touchdown I knew we would have field position, and we had field position all the way until we fumbled. I would do it again. Q. Donnel, talk about getting the single‑season rushing record obviously although you guys didn't win the game that's a milestone for you. Can you speak on that? DONNEL PUMPHREY: Honestly, it's great but we didn't get the win, like he said. It was a hard one. Q. Terry, prior to game there were rumors that some NFL teams were scouting you. Any confirmation on those rumors? Maybe you're trying to go to the draft in the upcoming year? TERRY POOLE: Most definitely, but I'm not worried about that, we were just trying to win this game. Q. Other than the ending, seems like you guys were competitive through out, everything but the field goal at the end, how do you guys think you fared against Navy? TERRY POOLE: Are you asking how we got prepared? Q. Everything but the field goal at the end, how do you think you faired against Navy. TERRY POOLE: We was prepared like Coach said, we turned the ball over in crucial situations and that's how we lost the game. COACH LONG: I thought it was a great football game. I thought both teams played extremely hard. It ended up they made one more play than we did. They made a field goal, we missed a field goal, otherwise I thought both teams played extremely hard, I thought both defenses played really, really well, and both offenses struggled, otherwise there would have been a lot more points on the board. I thought it was a great football game, we make a field goal, the other team's sad. Q. At the end of the game was there was any discussion to run the ball back to the middle of the field, run the clock down like three seconds then kick it? COACH LONG: There was a discussion about that. Our field goal kicker is really good from any spot once you get inside about the 35 yard line he makes them from anywhere anytime. Honestly we were trying to score a touchdown and we thought if we didn't make the touchdown he would kick the field goal and we would still win, but he didn't kick it quite right. Q. Rocky, do you think you got all you could ask for out of your defense tonight? COACH LONG: No, you got to give the other team credit. I thought Navy, they hit on a play right before halftime, and the quarterback missed the read. Otherwise the full back might have scored about a 60‑yard touchdown. So they came out in the second half and we anticipated the play, and we talked to our defense about it going into the second half, where they were blocking basically our defensive end, they were blocking him and they were going to be reading the guy outside the defensive end where the whole first half they read the guy on the offensive tackle, the defensive end, they were readin' him. We knew they were going to change that and block him and read the guy outside of him. We told our players at halftime that meant our outside linebacker had to close to the dive, but that's exactly what they did, and our outside linebacker did not close to the dive and they had that drive after halftime, took it down the field and scored a touchdown. So it was a nice adjustment by them. We did anticipate it, we did not execute it, after that drive, we talked about it again on the sidelines and guess what? They didn't move the ball very well after that. Q. With done knee has gone man missing that, were any of you guys able to speak with him or offer him any comfort? COACH LONG: We didn't have time to talk to him I saw some guys patting him on the back telling him he was all right. If we score points down there when we have turnovers and short fields if we score points it doesn't come down to a field goal. You got to give Navy's defense credit for that. Q. Rocky, losing a bowl game is always hard but losing it on your home field, does that make it tougher for some of your players where you were 6‑0? COACH LONG: I don't think anything makes it tougher, doesn't matter where you lose, on the road at home, if you lose you're disappointed and upset. Besides that I would say the crowd was for Navy. Q. Coach, today was a tough loss but despite that seems like the program is on the rise because of your fifth consecutive year of bowl appearances, can you comment on the goals and what's to come next season? COACH LONG: I think that I thank the seniors in our room, we had several fifth year seniors that came here when the team was 2‑10. They came here with a belief that they could change the attitude of the program and change the success of the program. Which those fifth year seniors have done and going to five straight bowl games is a good accomplishment for a team that was 2‑10 five years ago. Hopefully we can continue on that same path and continue to get better and play in more bowl games and come out with a win every once in a while. Q. Josh, can you talk with what it was like playing in a game with so many turnovers and the momentum swings back and forth there in the second half? JOSH GAVERT: It's awesome when the defense gets a turnover, gets us hyped up and stuff but we made too many mistake and they made one more play than we did. Q. Ezell Ruffin, any comment on why he didn't play? COACH LONG: Ezell, about a week ago, he was called way from town because of personal issues. I told him if he got back in time to practice the last couple days before the bowl game that he would play in the bowl game if he didn't get back in time to practice our team policy is if you don't practice you don't play so he didn't get back for practice so he didn't play. THE MODERATOR: Anything else? Thank you. TERRY POOLE: Go Aztecs! FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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