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For Noble Hall and David Wells' portion of the press conference, click "read more" and scroll down.
By Liz Alper
Videos courtesy goaztecs.com
September 12, 2017 (San Diego) - Aztec football is 2-0 coming into today's press conference with head coach Rocky Long, senior tight end David Wells and junior defensive lineman Noble Hall.
Long doesn't think it'll mean anything if they beat another Pac-12 opponent, Stanford, this weekend. “...all it will mean if we beat them is we’re 3-0, that’s all it’ll mean.”
The Aztecs and the Cardinal run very similar offenses, Long mentioned. He also talked about the Aztecs’ usual habit of taking too many penalties. “Well, we’re trying to fix it by coaching and we’re trying to fix it in practice. I think a lot of it has to do with young players and I think last week we had six or seven penalties because our players were too excited about playing.”
Long talked about being lackadaisical in the fourth quarter and whether being outscored is a concern. “It’s always a concern when they have an opportunity to come back to win the game when you’re ahead, that’s always a concern...I don’t think we played the deep ball very well and that’s the only way they got back in the game is throwing the deep ball.”
If Stanford shuts down the running game, Long has faith that junior redshirt quarterback Christian Chapman can pass effectively. “I think Christian is very accurate with the football so if we have to throw it we have confidence that we can throw it and catch it.”
Long is concerned about Stanford, however. “I think that they are very good at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. That is our biggest concern about how we’re going to match up on both sides of the ball. They are big and strong on the defensive line also. It’s how we’re going to match up at the line of scrimmage. Hopefully it’s an equal match up there and it turns out to be up to the other guys to determine who wins and loses.”
Wells praised senior running back Rashaad Penny. “...Rashaad is definitely a big moving piece for us, especially in our running attack. He’s good, he’s really good, so especially if we can get him going early in the game that’s a good sign for us. It helps us – not like boost our morale because we believe in ourselves and we believe that we’re a great team and we believe that we’re a great offense and we can run it against anybody – so once we’re able to get it going and start doing that, that’s when the wheels start turning and we start going even more.”
Hall echoed him. “We feel like if he can come out and bust a long run or a long kickoff return, the defense can come out and force a 3-and-out or force a turnover and get them right back on the field to do it again.”
He also praised the offensive line. “For a young offensive line, I think they’re doing a great job. They’re coming off the ball hard and they’re hitting dudes in the mouth and that’s all we can ask of these guys. They’re doing their assignments well and when I get up to the line they’re eager and they’re ready to go…”
Wells also said he “felt great” to be back on the field after missing week one.
SDSU takes on Stanford at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Qualcomm.
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