TCU-New Mexico Post-Game Quotes
10/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 1, 2005
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TCU Head Coach Gary PattersonOn his team's performance:
"Just like the last three ball games this team came to play. We weren't behind in this ballgame but they came back to tie it up. We had to come back, make some plays and we did. They hurt us with the back down the middle on our linebackers and picked on the youth of our defense a couple of times, but we finally got it straightened out. We made some plays and I'm proud of our offense and Jeff Ballard. It was his first start and he did a tremendous job. Robert Merrill had some great runs as well. They're a good tandem right now and we've got to keep them healthy."
On TCU Quarterback Jeff Ballard's performance in his first start:
"You've looked at his stats tonight. He threw for 192 yards and no interceptions. For him to not throw an interception against New Mexico's defense is unbelievable. One thing we try to do with our quarterbacks is tell them to manage the game. Don't try to win the ballgame yourself. Get it to the right people and let them make plays, which is what Jeff did. The thing I like about Jeff is that he got the ball to a lot of people tonight. He also ran for four touchdowns. I don't know how many quarterbacks do that in their first start."
On forcing six New Mexico turnovers:
"That's one thing that I am very happy with my defense about. When things are not going well, you've got to keep working on it, keep your head up and take it to the other team. The defense played fast and was great under pressure in the fourth quarter. We are still a young team but we have proven that we can play well under pressure. Yes, we made some mistakes and there is a learning process that we have to go through, but the good thing is that we are winning while we're learning."
On preparing for TCU's next opponent, Wyoming:
"I haven't looked an inch at them, but I can tell you that Laramie is one of the toughest places to play. They won today and the only game they've lost was to Florida. We'll have to stop their running game just like in our previous games. We've got to come to play and that's the bottom line. It will be that way for the next six ballgames. If we want to win the conference title, we've got to come to play. There are no handouts."
New Mexico Head Coach Rocky Long
On his team's performance:
"We didn't play worth a darn. We made way too many mistakes but you didn't see anybody giving up or with a lack of effort. Just because we didn't play good doesn't mean that we weren't up to play the game. There are a lot of people who get up for a game but don't play good."
On TCU's time of possession in the first quarter and its effect on his defense:
"It's not about the time of possession but the number of plays you have to defend. I bet that they ran 30 plays in the first quarter. That's way too many for one quarter. I don't think that had anything to do with our performance in the second half. I thought we played well. We blew two assignments and the last touchdown was my fault. I should have realized that we were going to lose and made sure that they didn't go for a touchdown. We blitzed, missed two tackles and the play went for 70 yards."
On New Mexico's six turnovers:
"It's hard to win a game with six turnovers unless we can cause them to turn it over that many times. We had a blocked punt and they fumbled once. Not only did we turn the ball over, we turned it over where they had easy opportunities to score."
On TCU QB Jeff Ballard:
"He did a really good job. He had it pretty easy early on. It's nice when you can just hand the ball off from the six-yard line and run a naked bootleg from the seven. He made a couple of big plays late in the game."
On Ballard's TD pass to TCU TE Chad Andrus:
"It was the critical play of the game. We had good pressure and actually hit him. If two guys would have been in the right place it could have been incomplete or intercepted. Their guy was in the right place and our guys weren't. We were in zone coverage which means we were supposed to have three DBs back there to keep it from going for a touchdown. All of our DBs were at the line of scrimmage."
New Mexico Nose Tackle Marcus Parker:
On UNM's defensive play:
"The offense made a lot of mistakes but the defense didn't play well either. You have to give credit to TCU for taking advantage."
On TCU QB Jeff Ballard:
"He played better than I thought he would. He really didn't do much to carry the team. It was more of us making mistakes but they took advantage of them."
New Mexico Quarterback Kole McKamey:
On the team's play:
"When we got down 28-0 we didn't give up. It looked pretty grim but we kept playing and executing and got it tied up. Late in the game, I was trying to make some plays and when you get out of your offense those things happen. You can't try to make things happen on your own. You have to give a lot of credit to their defense. They played really well. These are the times that are going to test the true character of our team."
On TCU's defense:
"They put a lot of pressure on me. Their front four did a great job of getting in my face and I made bad decisions under pressure which is what forces interceptions to be thrown."
