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By Liz Alper
Full quotes courtesy Assistant Athletic Director Darin Wong
September 6, 2016 (San Diego) - After a shutout win against the University of New Hampshire last week, Aztecs football head coach Rocky Long, safety Malik Smith and quarterback Christian Chapman regrouped at the Fowler Athletic Center at SDSU to look ahead to this Saturday's game against the Cal Golden Bears.
"Last week we started out the right way, we won," Long began. "I’m glad that we’re 1-0 at this point. I hope we learn some things from that game because we can improve dramatically from the way we played. We play a much better football team this week, a team that gained over 600 yards and scored 51 points in their first game. It’s going to be quite a challenge. We’re looking forward to it."
Long was asked about what the team can improve on, because penalties were a giant factor in Saturday's game against UNH. “I think the holding penalties, we have to cut those to a minimum and I think we have to block better for the running game and we have to tackle better on defense.”
Cal's former quarterback, Jared Goff, was taken as the first pick in this year's NFL draft by the Los Angeles Rams. A key topic in the conference was if Cal's new quarterback, Davis Webb, is any different. "The quarterback they have now is probably not going to be the first guy picked in the draft, but he’s pretty darn good. All you have to do is watch the very first game and then look at his record as his former school [Texas Tech] and see how many yards he threw for and how many touchdown passes he threw. They didn’t take a step backwards. I can promise you at quarterback, they didn’t take a step backwards."
"It was a nice thing for them to get a guy that had experience as a starter. He played in the exact same system at his former school. I will bet they even call the formations, the plays, and everything the same. I would guess he reads his progressions the same as the school he came from. It’s not like they have a new quarterback. They have a very experienced quarterback in that system that has good players around him and he can execute it very well. He’s tall. He’s 6'5" or 6'6". He can see over the pass rush. He’s 230 pounds so he can shake them off if they don’t hit him right.”
Last year against Cal, the Aztecs lost badly, 35-7. Another big topic brought up to both Coach Long and Smith and Chapman was if last year's game will have any effect on this year's game. “I don’t think last year’s game has anything to do with this year’s game," Long said. "I don’t think last season has anything to do with this season. I think last year we had a chance to play with them and we blew it."
Smith echoed his coach's comments. "Last year’s game has nothing to do with this year’s game being that there’s a new team, a new quarterback. Several people have left their program, several people have left our program. So last year’s game doesn’t compare to this year’s game.”
He also commented on what the team needs to work on. "Better technique. Technique is a big thing we need to pick up on. We’re not terrible at it, but it’s just something that can be better."
Chapman commented on how he feels after his first regular season game. “I feel a lot more confident. The offense kind of feels like second nature right now. I know what I am looking for with my passes, know what to take, know what not to take."
He also commented on the offense's mindset going into a game. “I just think every time the offense gets onto the field, we just have to have the mindset that we have to score, and keep scoring. We know our defense is going to do their part. We have a great defense and we have to have a mindset, on that side of the ball, that we have to score.”
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