Fresno State Football: Pat Hill Press Conference News and Notes

Fresno, California, Fresno State Football Coach Pat Hill seemed somewhat upbeat during his weekly press conference on Monday morning.

Coach Hill’s Bulldogs are coming off a 36-21 loss to Cal on Saturday and are getting ready to prepare for the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln on Saturday.

Hill wasn’t happy about the loss to Cal, but he did see a silver lining in the defeat. “That was a tough one to go through, but it’s a lot better losing when you can see a lot of room for improvement,” Hill said.

Hill on the Bulldogs' Run Defense

The coach was pleased with the way the Bulldogs' run defense played against Cal. “I thought we did a very good job against the run game against Cal, except we did not do well on a couple of option plays,” said Hill.

Pass Defense Gave Up too Many Big Plays

The Bulldogs gave up a few big pass plays in the game that definitely didn’t go unnoticed by Hill.  “Our pass coverage was a little soft at times. They made a couple of big plays, the second one from Maynard was huge when he dropped it in over Deron Smith, Deron makes a leap for the ball and just missed it by inches on a third and 10 which kept the drive alive,” said Hill.

Run Plays vs. Pass Plays

Quarterback Derek Carr made his first start as a Bulldog throwing the ball 33 times. Although Hill didn’t criticize Carr at all, he wished he wouldn’t have relied on the passing game as much as he did. “We probably should have run the ball more, looking back at it,” said Hill on the Bulldogs' running game. “Robbie Rouse played at a very high level."

Offensive Line Update

In the first half against Cal, the Bulldogs' starting center Richard Helepiko went down with an ankle injury. Hill addressed his status and the effect it had on the offensive line. “We will probably be missing him for a few weeks,” said Hill on the Helepiko injury.  “I thought Leslie Cooper, you know he had to switch right over to center, as the game went on he got better and better there."

With Cooper moving to center, right tackle Austin Wentworth will move to guard and backup right tackle Cody Wickman will now start at that position. “That group will be our starting group against Nebraska this week and probably for the next couple of weeks,” said Hill on all the shuffling that had to take place after their center went down.

Overall, speed seemed to be a big concern for Hill against Cal and heading into Lincoln on Saturday. “We just didn’t play fast,” said Hill.

There are still 12 more games to play in the 2011 season and coach Hill is very optimistic moving forward. Hill said,  “I still believe this team can be a very good football team.”

If Bulldog fans have any other questions regarding the press conference, feel free to post them in the comments section and I will get back to you.

Quotes were gathered by Gean May at Pat Hill’s press conference at 9AM, Monday September 5th, 2011.