Army West Point Athletics
Post Game Quotes: Army vs. San Jose State
October 26, 2019 | Football
Army West Point Head Football Coach Jeff Monken
(Ref.: Opening Statement)
"It sure isn't fun to come in here and talk about a disappointing loss. Credit to San Jose. They did a good job. They scored just about every time they had it. They only had to punt once at the very end of the game. Offensively, fumbling the ball in the first half was a killer. They had just gone up 10-7 and they took it away from us with another touchdown. We did a nice job coming out in the second half on the first possession and making it a one score game, but we couldn't capitalize on the next couple of rounds. It seemed like we were playing catch up the whole day. I am very disappointed that we lost. There are clearly a lot of things we have to do better, what I have to do better and what everyone in the entire organization have to do better.
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"This is coming up on an awfully big game. It is a season within a season when you play for these CIC games. We are going to have to make some fast improvements in the next few days to get ready to go out to the west."
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(Ref.: on the injuries the team has had to endure)
"I mean, we can cancel the season. Other than that, we have to get some other guys ready to play. Injuries are not desirable for anybody. I'm disappointed that we got some guys hurt that we normally count on. We have no control over that. We had two guys starting the game against Georgia State that did not practice all week. We had two guys play against Western Kentucky that did not practice all week and then started in the game because we think they give us the best chance to win. It's not a very good formula, but at least they were able to play in the game. It's a challenge. It's a challenge when you don't have guys practicing who you feel like are the best players and give you the best chance to win. So, you try to nurse them back to health throughout the week. Some of those guys have been practicing on Thursday and Thursday only and they're playing in the game. It's a terrible formula. Our other guys who have taken their place work really hard and they are out there trying and doing the best that they can. They made a lot of plays. We just have to continue to get our players and whole team ready so no matter what happens, the next guy in can step up and do the job.
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(Ref.: On what the hardest part for Monken is in the four-game stretch)
 It is hard to see those players who have invested so much and put the work in and not celebrate success linked to a win. That is why we as coaches do what we do. We try to help these guys have a great experience. To help them win. To serve our team. When I, like them, have invested a lot of time to try and prepare them, I want to see them celebrate and win. They get one experience playing college football, so I'd love for it to be a great winning experience. It is disappointing for me to see that – it's hard. We are all competitors and I don't like to lose either.
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Christian Anderson Junior Quarterback
(Ref: On generating yards)
"It felt good. I just wanted to try to do my best to keep the offense on schedule. Just to stay within ourselves getting yards on the ground. I think I definitely could've played a little bit better, had better ball security, so we'll see that tomorrow. Just make sure we get back to it tomorrow and get ready for Air Force."
(Ref: On the San Jose State's pressure)
"I think [San Jose State] did a great job sending different pressures on us and kind of confusing the O-Line a little bit. But I definitely felt comfortable in the pocket. I just tried to make plays whenever I could."
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Cole Christiansen Senior Linebacker
(Ref: on playing differently in the second half)
"There was a sense of urgency to win this football game. No one wants that in the beginning, but we have to play to win the game. That's been the mantra. You have to do your job to the best of your ability. If you don't do your job to the best of your ability, we're going to have a hard time winning. That's what it takes to win, you have to do your job."
(ref: On trying to stop San Jose State from scoring in the fourth quarter)
"It's the same reason as every other time they scored. The made a couple of big plays as we tried to settle in, and it comes down to winning one-on-one matchups and on that drive we didn't."
(ref: on how the captains will prepare the team for Air Force)
"We are going to acknowledge how important this game is to our community and to us. It's a whole different football game, the physicality, the type of defense you play against them, it's a whole different vibe. Not that we have taken any other game lightly, but this game takes a different mentality to come out on top and we want that trophy to stay here more than anything. That's what we will communicate to the team, that that trophy is not leaving here."
San Jose State Head Coach Brent Brennan
(Ref: Opening statement)
"This is an incredible win for our team. Coming on the road like this with such long travel for an early game, we woke our kids up at 4 a.m. West Coast time for pregame meal and to get everyone started and they handled it incredibly well.
"I thought our defense was outstanding today. When you play a group like that, and I know we bled some yards on that last drive, but up until that drive they had been fantastic. We had tackles for loss and sacks and just finishing. We weren't giving up the big play until the very end there when they hit us under pressure with the draw play. There was so much to be excited about with our football team.
Offensively, I thought Josh Love was fantastic again. He had 300 yards in the air and three touchdowns. He was just outstanding. His ability to distribute the ball to different people on the field makes our offense go. Protection was really good. I thought we had a great game from our offensive line especially with how we ran the ball late in the game when we needed to.
Our place kicker was fantastic with four field goals in the game. This is a collective win across our team. I thought our coaching staff did a great job of getting our team ready to play after a really tough physical loss last week against San Diego State. So, we are really excited about this one and we are going to enjoy our plane ride back to California."
(Ref: On playing against a triple-option offense)
"I think that preparing for that is definitely as much of a mindset as it is a scheme because your players have to get ready to do the right thing over and over again. The nature of it kind of eliminates a little bit of the reactionary defense that you normally get with normal schemes. I thought our defense did great that way. This is our second crack at a triple-option team this year. They're different from what Air Force does, but either way there are still some similar elements that you have to prepare for so playing Air Force gave us a little taste of it because we got to see it at full speed. In that game we did not consistently be in the right gap or play in the right technique but I thought we did today, so it is pretty exciting."
(Ref: On defense's performance)
"I thought we tackled well today which was big because a week ago we missed a lot of tackles. We put a huge emphasis on that in practice this week. I thought that was really good. Everything with option football is based on them getting plus-one, so if you don't make one-on-one tackles, those end up being big plays. I thought our guys did a good job of that time and time again. I thought getting to the quarterback and the tackles for loss were huge because it put them behind the sticks which is not where they want to be. A lot of pieces went into that and I thought we had a good scheme and a good plan."
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San Jose State Defensive End Cade Hall
(Ref: On defending the triple option)
"We spent a lot of time working on the run and we had a bit of experience with the triple option having played Air Force earlier in the season. We were looking forward to this one because we knew we had another shot at that type of offense. I think we were really eager to play against that offense and that went into our preparation this week."
"For us, it's all about consistency and sticking with the game plan. You have to take care of everyone doing their own job because that's how you play against the triple option. They are so good at doing their job and nothing else, so in order to respond to that we have to stay consistent and do the same thing for four quarters."
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San Jose State Quarterback Josh Love
(Ref: On offense's performance)
"We know we aren't going to get many possessions because of how they run the ball and control the clock, so whatever chance we get, we have to score points. We were 6-6 in the red zone, obviously we could've probably scored a couple of touchdowns in there where we kicked some field goals, but we were putting up points and the defense did their job and we had to help them."
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