Season 2 Week 4 Monday Press Conference

Same familiar opening sequence of stage with podium and Navy Blue and Gold Bill the Goat mascot tapestry.

Coach Vernon James walks onto the stage, followed by head coach Ken Niumatalolo, a slightly shorter Samoan man.

Coach Niumatalolo: Thank you everyone for being here today. In an attempt to give you guys access to more of the inside workings of our football program, we decided that both of us would attend today's press conference instead of just Coach James. Without further ado, please start the questions.

Reporter: Quite a different look to the offensive gameplan on Saturday. What did you see in the Kansas State defense that resulted in this different look?

Coach Niumatalolo: I'll let Vernon handle this one.

Coach James: Thanks coach. More than anything, we knew that they'd stack the line against us. Every team does it to us defensively and when they do it and are successful at disrupting our attack, we've been hard pressed to do anything differently offensively. That's why I was brought in and that's why you saw the different attack by us. We are going to force teams to second guess our normal offensive attack by making use of misdirection and playaction. Everyone knows that when you have linebackers backpedaling because they think it's pass instead of run, that's when you're going to be most successful running the ball.

Reporter: There were two pretty bad injuries out there on Saturday. What's the status of Michael Stukel and Eric Graham?

Coach Niumatalolo: Michael had an MRI done on his right shoulder and it looks like it's a slight tear to his pectoral, but it's nothing too serious. We expect him to miss 2-4 games. Eric's injury is, unfortunately, much more severe. He'll be lucky to see the final 2 games of the season because of a severely strained knee. He's working hard to get back on the field but, unfortunately, it looks like his football year is basically done.

Reporter: Big game coming up against Air Force. Anything you can saw about the preparation for the annual game for the Commander-in-Chief Trophy?

Coach Niumatalolo: As always, we have great respect for our fellow brothers in arms and the guys always look forward to playing these games. If none of us win another game all season, winning these games is always our main goal for the season.

Reporter: Coach James, what can you tell us about Air Force, having been the offensive line coach there?

Coach James (with a sly smile on his face): Besides desperately wanting to win? (Coach James and several people behind the camera chuckle) As coach said, we all have great respect for the other guys but our goal is to beat them, always, and this season will be no different. That said, there's no doubt that they have a talented team. They have a young defense that has the potential to be very talented in another year or two and we certainly aren't overlooking them offensively.

Coach Niumatalolo: Thank you everyone for coming today.