Oct. 9, 2006

Q. What do you think?

A. I'm glad to be the coach of the luckiest team in America.

Q. Why do you say that?

A. We've been lucky for four years now. That's four years in a row anyway you want to spin it.

Q. What did you feel like was key for you today?

A. I thought we got some contributions from everybody. We made some nice plays. Brian and Adam Ballard ran the ball well inside. We didn't give up any big plays. Actually, neither team gave up a big play. It was a hard fought game. You have to give Air Force credit. They fought back after it looked like they were out of it. They did a nice job of fighting back and getting in the game.

Q. How about your first two turnovers and Air Force's inability to convert those into points?

A. After the interception we went out and got them stopped and then the fumble we had kept us from scoring, but it ended up not hurting us because they fumbled two plays later and we picked it up and ran it in. It was a hard fought game. When these two teams play it usually is hard fought.

Q. How big was the Little fumble recovery?

A. It was huge. Any time you can score on defense or special teams it's huge.

Q. How about the two long drives in the third quarter.

A. It was just what the doctor ordered. I wish we could have got a touchdown on the first one, but we ran out half the third quarter. When we got the ball back we had another long drive for a touchdown. That accomplished two things. We shortened the game and we kept them off the field. They didn't get to run very many plays until the fourth quarter.

Q. A bunch of little plays kind of turned into one big play.

A. We were able to keep the chains moving. We had a bunch of four and five yard plays.

Q. Was Adam having problems with his shoulder or the altitude?

A. It was a hard fought game. He was just getting winded so he had to come out some.

Q. He had a hell of a game.

A. He played hard. He really did.

Q. The comment about being lucky. Is that kind of aimed at Air Force and some of the stuff they said?

A. You get tired of hearing it every year. I thought our guys did a really good job this year of not saying anything. Yesterday we pick up the paper and we see something about how it's embarrassing to lose to Navy, how we are the luckiest team in America, and on and on. It gets old after awhile.

Q. When you talk about being the luckiest team are you being sarcastic?

A. You can be your own judge. We've won four in a row. They can call it whatever they want.

Q. Were there any fleeting thoughts of going for it on fourth-and-two and continuing the drive instead of punting it away with six minutes to go?

A. No. Not when we were up by two scores. Maybe if we were up by one score, but not by two scores.

Q. Did you get nervous at all there at the end of the game when they recovered the onside kick?

A. You are always nervous. I give them a lot of credit. They didn't quit. You have to give them credit for that. They fought until the end and I'm sure they thought they were going to win the game at the end. It wasn't over until the last pass was knocked down.

Q. Did one of your guys hit Tomlinson on the onside kick?

A. I think he just dropped the ball. We will have to see when we look at the film. It really wasn't a hard kick to field. It bounced up and I think he tried to catch it in his pads and he just dropped it.

Q. Can you address how important it is to win this first leg in the race for the CIC trophy?

A. It doesn't mean anything except the trophy's not coming here. That's all it means. We still have to beat Army. Last year the Army-Navy game was for the trophy. It very well could be this year again.

Q. Did you think you would have that much success running the football?

A. That's what we do. That's what we do. I knew that if we couldn't run the ball we were going to be in trouble.

Q. How good do you feel about the way you ran the ball inside?

A. They did a good job. We didn't throw the ball any because of the way the game was. I felt like we could move the chains without throwing it.

Q. How much do you think weathering those turnovers and scoring on defense kind of set you up to win this game?

A. It was huge. Fortunately for us our turnovers were on their end of the field and their turnover results in a touchdown for us.

Q. Four wins in a row. What does that say about your program and what does that say about Air Force's program?

A. It just says we won four games in a row. I'm proud of our seniors. They kept the streak going. None of these guys have lost to a Service Academy team and that's quite a feat. We are just happy to get out of here with a win. This is a tough place to come in and win.

Q. Are you surprised at this kind of dominance when you go back and look at the history of this rivalry?

A. I don't know if I would say surprised. We've become far more competitive. I think in probably the `90s most of the Navy teams weren't very competitive and now we are more competitive and I think Army is becoming more competitive. I think that's good for Service Academy football.

Q. How was this Air Force team different than some of the others you played against?

A. I don't know that they were a lot different. I think they went back to their basics on offense, running the option and that type of thing. They are very similar. The quarterback is a good player. How many times did we have him hemmed up and couldn't tackle him. He made some great individual plays.

Q. Is it a little sweeter to win this game more convincing than the last three?

A. That's all in the eyes of the beholder. As long as you win it doesn't matter.

Q. The luckiest team comment. You saw that more than once? Where did you see that said about you guys?

A. I've seen it a lot. I've seen it a lot. I've seen it's embarrassing to lose to Navy, I've seen there's no way we are going to lose to Navy, I've seen we've been lucky to win the last three years.

Q. Was this from Air Force players?

A. Sure it was.

Q. What was your reaction when you first saw that?

A. Happy. I knew our guys would be ready to play.