Senior Quarterback Joe Ganz
On what he thinks about the worries of the running game
“I think they are overblown. I’m not worried about it. I know the type of guys we have in that room. I know the type of running backs and offensive line that we have. I think it is overblown a lot. I’m really not worried about it. I know we can run the ball and we will. We just need to find our groove.”
On what his thoughts were after watching film
“We left a lot of big plays on the field. We had certain looks on those three fall-start penalties that would have been potential touchdowns. It is disappointing to leave all those yards and big plays on the field, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. It’s never as good and it’s never as bad as you think it is. I was a little disappointed in the way we couldn’t move the ball, but it’s alright, we’ll get it fixed. We’re working on it this week.”
On if he feels they are working better in practice
“The first game we played really well on offense. I don’t know how much to put into it. We just had one mediocre game on offense. I don’t think it’s time for concern or time to panic. It was just one game where bad things happened and we couldn’t find our rhythm. I’m not really putting too much emphasis on it. I’m not really worried about it. I know what we are capable of and it’s not that big of a deal.”
On preparing for New Mexico State’s uncommon defense
“It’s weird, it’s really weird. It’s nothing like I have ever seen in football. It’s going to be tough to prepare for. You keep running your core plays that you can run against pretty much anything. It is up to the guys how much we study this week and how much we prepare for all these different looks that we are going to get. It is different. It’s an odd defense. We have looked at some teams that have had some success on them in the past and what they have done. I think we will be able to have some success.”
On what is different about their defense
“Sometimes they rush two guys and drop nine. I have never seen that before. There playing in all different types of fronts. They bring two linebackers and drop their two defensive ends. They play in the middle. It’s weird. They load up coverage or they bring everybody on an all-out blitz. It’s a weird defense. It’s where game planning and preparation comes in. I don’t think it will be too big of a deal.”
On if their defense is one that makes up for them not being as athletic as Nebraska
“It looks like a defense I would play against in Madden. I don’t know; it’s weird. I have never seen it. I know they have a whole bunch of new guys. A whole bunch of junior college guys on the team so we’ll see. I can’t really say anything until we see them on the field this Saturday. I don’t know how it is going to be. They don’t know how it’s going to be and we don’t know how it’s going to be. That’s about it.”
On what previous teams did well against their defense
“The University of Central Florida played them well. You could tell they have played against them before when (Joe Lee Dunn) coordinated at Memphis. They played them tough and did some good things against them. We have been looking at that and looking at how teams have had success against this defense in the past. Of course we are going to do our own thing. Do what we do, but it’s nice to see a team that has had success against these guys and how they went about it, just different looks that they gave that defense.”
On how he would feels about this being New Mexico State’s first game
“I don’t know if it is an advantage for them or for us. They are going to be real fresh and hyped up, but we have the experience under our belt. I don’t know. I don’t know who is going to be at the advantage. It doesn’t matter once kick-off starts you don’t think about stuff like that. It might be a little harder for them to make adjustments because the first game everybody is going to be a little nervous and anxious. We have already had that. It might be a little disadvantage for them, but once kick off starts it doesn’t even matter.”
On putting a whole offensive game together
“That’s what we stride for every week. It would be nice to put a whole game together with offense, defense and special teams. We strive for that every week. It’s OK. We are a team. One unit struggle’s the other one has to pick it up. It’s part of being a team. Obviously, the guys would like to play a whole game and that’s what we want to do every week. That’s what we’re striving for and practicing for. If it doesn’t happen and one unit has to pick it up then that is what we’re here for. It really doesn’t worry me that much.”
On the production of Nate Swift
“He has been playing great. He has been playing outstanding. Even in the running game he is playing as hard as he can. He is cutting people down field making blocks, and he’s a complete football player. He is really good. He is one of the best receivers in the Big 12. He has been running great routes, getting open a lot. It’s easy for me to find him because he runs such good routes and gets open. He gets separation between DBs or whoever is on him. It’s really nice being able to throw to him and be able to look his way in key situations.”
