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Story and photos by Liz Alper
Full quotes courtesy James Solien
December 6, 2016 (San Diego) - The San Diego State Aztecs football team will play Houston in the Las Vegas Bowl on December 17. With a week off (barring practice), coach Rocky Long, senior defensive end Dakota Turner and junior tight end David Wells sat down with the media at this week's press conference.
"I haven’t seen them in a couple of days because they got yesterday off," Long opened. "I imagine they’ll come back excited and happy still (about the Mountain West Championship win)."
Senior running back Donnel Pumphrey was not on the list of Heisman nominees, much to everyone's, including Long's, surprise. "I'm very disappointed," he said. "I think he deserves to be there. I knew all along that it was a long shot because of a lot of things, us being a non-Power Five program and being on the West Coast. Those are two big deterrents for him being invited, but it’s very disappointing. But he’s the Heisman winner in our minds and heart.”
Wells was disappointed too and had a lot of praise for his fellow offensive teammate. “I think DJ’s stats spoke for themselves. Now being the (NCAA’s) No. 2 all-time leading rusher, I think he should’ve at least been mentioned in there. Not to knock any of the other guys that made it. Congratulations to them. But just blocking for DJ, I know how special he is. I know he makes me look good, makes my blocks look good all the time. I think he deserved it definitely. He’s one of those guys that’s humble. He’s a hard worker, he’s a leader.”
Turner said the same. “I think DJ deserved (to be there). I don’t know how they do all the voting or what not, but of course we’re going to pull for our teammate. We wish he was there. All of the other (candidates) are great athletes as well, and critics, I guess, believe that he didn’t fit in there. We still think DJ should be there.”
Long praised his team after losing their last two games before the championship game. “Personally I’m very proud of them. But as a program we’re proud of them, too, because it means we’re doing the right things in our program. I thought it was a great football game, as championship games should be. They should be like that. They should be highly contested; they ought to be close, and it ought to come down to the end. And that’s what it did and we were just good enough to win.
Long once again voiced his opinions on the media and the expectation everyone has of the Aztecs now that they are a competitive football team. “I get the opinion sometimes that the media doesn’t realize how good this program’s been for the last five, probably six years. Considering the number of years before that this program’s struggled, I think that everybody involved in our program is very happy and excited that we’ve turned into a competitive football program around here where you can win championships.
“I don’t get frustrated (by higher expectations) because I think that’s the way it is. I think we’re in a society that everybody wants instant success or instant notoriety. All those sort of things. Personally and as a program, we take pride that we’ve become that kind of program. But I think as a program, we have higher expectations, too. Our number one goal is always to win the conference championship, so we took care of that. And I think there’s still a chance that we end up in the top 25, which would be nice to do. I think even as a program our expectations go higher. Every year our expectation level goes higher."
Wells echoed: “I definitely don’t think that failure is acceptable around here. I think you have to be mentally tough. We’re put through a lot of stuff in the off-season with (strength and conditioning) coach (Adam) Hall. He tests you physically and mentally out on the field and in the weight room. You just have to be strong physically and mentally. We may not get all the five-star guys or four-star guys, but you know what, we get a bunch of guys here that want to be successful. They want to play and they have that drive in them that they want to do great things here. That’ll push a lot of players to better themselves and get in the position where they can. Really, we should just have guys that fit the mold of what we’re about and just be tough.”
Despite the team's success, Long knows that they will have a tough opponent ahead of them in Houston. "I think Houston is the most talented football team we will have played all year long. I think there’s a couple teams that we’ve played this year that probably are just as good a football team. They’re not nearly as physical, they’re not nearly as fast, they’re not nearly as talented as Houston is. I think Houston has a national reputation because of their last year’s team that beat Florida State in a bowl game."
On how to combat Houston's speed an athleticism: "we're not going to change anything."
Long also praised the SDSU coaching staff. “I think a lot of our success is the way we work together as a staff. If you have a staff that’s always pointing and pulling in the same direction, guess what? The players come along with you. If you have a staff that is dysfunctional, guess what? Your team is dysfunctional, too. I kind of think that we have the perfect mix, but I’m prejudiced. We got some old guys that have seen it all, we’ve got some young guys that think they know it all and it kind of mixes really good together.”
Wells was excited about the Aztecs winning another Mountain West championship. “It was a real exciting time. To win our 21st conference championship (as a program) is a big thing. It’s not something you get over too quick. It’s one of those highs that you get. It’s a great feeling. Now it’s time to get ready for Houston. They’re a great team. They’re athletic, they’re big and it should be a good test for us right after a championship. (A win against Houston) would be huge. They’re a great team. They beat the No. 3 team in the country (Oklahoma and Louisville) twice in the same season. It would be a big staple of what we accomplished this year and a great send-off for our seniors after winning the (Mountain West) championship.”
Turner talked about how SDSU will defend Houston. “On the defensive side, just be relentless and establish the line of scrimmage. The games are won up front with the line, so the defensive line is going to have to come ready and prepared like you guys said for the scrambling quarterback. We’re going to have to definitely approach this week just like a championship game and go as hard as we can.”
SDSU takes on Houston in the Las Vegas Bowl on December 17 at 12:30 p.m. on ABC.
In other Aztec football news, junior fullback Nick Bawden, senior offensive lineman Nico Siragusa and senior linebacker Calvin Munson have each been named Pro Football Focus All-Americans, the website announced today.
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