Quotes from NMSU weekly football press conference

Here’s what head coach Doug Martin and two select players had to say during the Aggies weekly press conference at the NMSU football facility:

Head coach Doug Martin
On facing Louisiana-Lafayette this week?
This week we’ve got a huge challenge at Lafayette. This is the best team in the Sun Belt Conference that we’re going to play. I think there’s a lot of parity in the Sun Belt, except for this team. I think they’re head and shoulders above everybody else, talent-wise. I think what they’ve done facility-wise and what they’re putting into their program, they’ve certainly made a great commitment. And it shows on the field. They’re an excellent, excellent football team. So, we’re going to have our work cut out for us.”

You’re going to be without some people this week?
“Brandon Betancourt, actually. will be for the rest of the season. He’s having surgery today. He has a torn ligament in his foot that will have to be repaired. That’s a loss. He’s really played well and has been very consistent for us.
“Germi Morrison was beat up, was able to come back into the game last week. He’ll be a day-to-day issue, trying to get him healthy for Saturday. He certainly showed a lot of toughness and played hard on Saturday.
“Davis Cazares, don’t know if we’ll have him back. See how he does this week. But I know he still has quite a bit of pain in his foot.”

If Germi gets hurt some more, is it Travaughn (Colwell)?
“You got any eligibility?
“What we have is, Tra Colwell has to work at both places. Backup quarterback in case King can’t go - we’re still waiting to get his issues resolved, which may or may not be - and then we need Tra also to be at the running back position. We have Xavier Hall who came in and played well for us Saturday when he came in. Him and Tra would be the only scholarship running backs, right now, if you want to classify Tra as a running back. We have Marquette Washington, who’s a true-freshman running back who we’re redshirting. We don’t want to burn that redshirt at this late time in the year. We’ll go with Xavier Hall and Tra Colwell and hopefully Germi will be able to go.”

Senior cornerback Cameron Fuller
On his performance last week against Abilene Christian
“I got my first career interception, so that’s real big. I was real excited about that. I was able to make a couple other plays, late in the game. Our coach put us in position and what not, calling certain plays. I was just able to help our team win.”

Is this the best game you played since you got here?
“Yeah. I got an interception....Like I said, just trying to do whatever I can to help win.”

What does the winning do for the guys? What does it do for them mentally?
“It’s definitely a great feeling. We never gave up on ourselves and each other and all that. I feel like that’s why we were able to, at the end of the day, overcome it and kick down a wall and win a game. But it definitely reassured us that we are capable....Compete and go out there and actually finish a game and win. It’s definitely a good boost for our team.”

A morale boost?
“Definitely. You could just see it in the guys around the locker room. Day-to-day, class-to-class, in our faces, our attitudes. We definitely feeling good about the win.”

What are people talking about on campus?
“It’s a good feeling. I have a lot of people in class that come up to me, congratulating me and stuff. Ever since I’ve been here - I’m a JC guy - I’ve been here for two years and I haven’t won a game. This is my second game since the first game of last season. It’s just a real good feeling. To come in and people are patting you on the back and congratulating you. It’s something that we want to keep going.”

And the hunger for the next one? What’s that like?
“It’s that much stronger. We got a little taste of what it’s like to win. We want to come back, that game is over with now. We’re focused on Louisiana this week. We definitely want to take that win and use it as a stepping stone.”

How much of a stepping stone is it to possibly beating Louisiana-Lafayette on the road?
“It’s definitely going to be a challenge. Louisiana is a good team, a good football team. They’ve done a lot this year so far. Watching film on them so far, they’re definitely going to give us a challenge. I just feel like if we go out there and compete, give it our best shot, anything is possible. That’s the general feeling in the locker room. We’re playing for us at this point of the season.”

Sophomore offensive lineman Andy Cunningham
What are you playing this week?
“They have me at tackle.”

And where’s Dada (Richards)?
“They’re working him into the interior now.”

Is Dada ready to go this week?
“Yeah. He played pretty well last week.”

Talk about making that switch from guard to tackle?
“I feel like I’ve done pretty well. The only real difference between playing guard and tackle is, moving out you’re playing against lighter guys. Against Rice and against Abilene, they’re defensive ends average maybe 240, 250. Compared to playing on the inside where, you have the bigger defensive linemen. But, nothing really changed.”

Aren’t you working against more athletic people when you’re out there?
“For the most part, yeah. But, being in the tackle stance and, just switching up my stance, gives me the advantage in the pass protection. When their defense goes and does the run, they’re not as wide. I haven’t really played any wide defensive ends yet. They’ve mainly been tight in their alignment.”

What does it mean for the offensive line when a running back has a game like Germi Morrison had this past week?
“We were ecstatic. When we get a running back up that high in yards, just having him bust through the holes that we make on the offense. We were very proud of that. I don’t know the actual statistic of the rushing yards. But we knew they were pretty high. I think they were around 240, or something. When (offensive line coach Bart Miller) told us that, that was a feather we could put in our hat.”

What’s your attitude going into this next game?
“My attitude’s great. I’m looking forward to it. We’re going out on the road. It’s been a while since we’ve been out on the road. We’re going out there, we’re coming off of this win, even though it was down to the last nine seconds of that game. But, coming out with that win, it’s been a real mood changer for us in the locker room. So, we’re getting into our books, studying film, their formations, their personnel. All that. We’re just gameplanning to the best of our ability.”