PROVO, Utah – BYU head coach Kalani Sitake and SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee met with members of the media via Zoom on Monday in preparation for the 17th annual New Mexico Bowl featuring the Cougars and the Mustangs on the gridiron.
The game is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 17 at University Stadium in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The game will be broadcast nationally on ABC at 5:30 p.m. MT. Read more about the matchup.
Read select quotes from Coach Sitake and SMU's Coach Lashlee below.
BYU head coach Kalani Sitake (Video)
“I like the way they play, the way they compete, I am really honored to be on the field with them and to have this experience of a bowl game with them as well. We’re just really honored to play in this game against a quality opponent. You see their team, what they've done and how they play in all three phases of the game. They're really well coached and have explosive players all over the place.
I'm a defensive guy so I always go look at the offense, and the fact that they've scored 77 points in a game is scary. We’re looking forward to the matchup and they have a really talented quarterback in [Tanner] Mordecai. They have a bunch of guys who can run the ball, that they can turn to, they do spread out the run game out quite a bit, including the quarterback. Then they have a lot of athletic and talented receivers that can create on a short route and then pick up a big gain.
They can make it a long night for any team, and then they have [Rashee] Rice, he has almost 100 receptions which is hard to do in this day and age of football and he's one of the premier receivers out there. So, it will be a tough task for our defense, but we're looking forward to the matchup. Their defensive will fly around and they’re well-coached in all three phases of the game.”
On the new roles for the defensive staff with Tuiaki’s departure
“If it's a good play, then I called it. If it's a bad one, then it’s one of the other guys. We're working on filling out our staff. With that being said, we're going to have to use some analysts and the graduate assistants a little bit more. This is the time of year where there's a lot of movement in the world of football and coaching, so we'll adjust. Right now, we've had some good moments and good practices with our guys so far.”
On approach to the bowl game, considering the transfer portal and the possibility of a fluid staff
“The key is to get ready for the bowl game and focus on our opponent. Last week we didn't have an opponent so we were just doing our base stuff, working on fundamentals, technique and now the focus can be on what SMU does, in all three phases. We’re going to scout our opponent, so we can educate our guys on what we're seeing on film. There are enough people here to make it work and we lean heavily on our players leading the way, even in the scouting of their opponents.
The transfer portal, all that stuff's open for everybody. That's part of college football now and we'll have to deal with whoever comes and goes. Back in the day when people transferred, it was usually for playing time, and now there's a lot more involved. So far, our focus in the transfer portal has been getting guys that fit our program. I can't complain about the guys that we've brought in because they've made an impact on and off the field for us. We'll keep trying to get the right guys in through the portal, but we also recruit from within first.”
On the main backup for the bowl game
“Jaren is banged up, but he's not out for the game. Right now, the guys are getting the reps are Cade Fennegan, Nick Billoups and Sol-Jay Maiava, so those guys will compete and I’ve liked what I’ve seen so far.”
On recruiting from within the program
“The key is giving feedback, letting them know the role that we see them in, seeing if the players are happy with the role they had in the 2022 regular season and then just communicating with them. I think that's key for the position coaches, coordinators and myself.
Sometimes what their expectations are and what they want for themselves match what we feel, but at least they know where we stand. Then they can make decisions, whether to enter the portal, or to change positions and maybe do something different to get on the field earlier. is what comes down to is giving a feedback on where we needed to improve on to be more of a
On the timeline for hiring a defensive coordinator
“As soon as we can, but I also think that it's not all about the coach. It’s about me, the program itself, the school and the people that are here. There is more to the official visit than just the coaches. The teammates are important and there are lots of different variables in the decision-making process for recruits.”
On if the defensive coordinator will have a say in the other members of his defensive staff
“That's pretty common. So, we'll work together on that. The key is getting him in place and then finding the rest of the staff.”
On if players that are transferring surprised them
"Nothing really surprised me. I had really good conversations, with [Jacob] Conover especially, and they were good moments. And I'm happy to help those guys get what they're looking for. I want to be one that is always going to mentor them and sometimes leaving is the best option."
On where SMU stacks up to other teams this season offensively
"They’re really good. They can score a lot of points and they can do it in a hurry. You have to watch the Houston game just to see it, I mean, basketball teams don’t even score that many points. You can’t help but respect the athleticism, the speed and the level of execution that their program works on. The coaching staff has a lot of experience doing that and I've been really impressed with the high level of execution. All 11 guys are on the same page and that's not just with the offense. There's not a lot of confusion out there and that speak to their coaching staff."
On if Jaren Hall has made a decision about leaving for the NFL yet
No, I think he’s close. I think he's taking in all the information, hearing everything out and then he and his wife will make the right decision for their family. I’m confident he will do what is best for him and we will support him in whatever decision he makes. It's just a lot easier for me to support him if he's right on the same sideline with me.
Impressions on SMU quarterback Tanner Mordecai
“He’s got some athleticism, he can run and he’s really accurate. You see his ability to spread the ball out, he’s got a main target that he likes to go to, but the decisiveness and accuracy is what you see from him. I give a lot of credit to the coach, he’s going to be a problem for us, and we’ve got to be ready to have some answers.”
On SMU’s main wide receiver and where he stacks up against other top receivers that BYU has faced this season
“He’s up there. He’s a playmaker and he can do it in a lot of different ways. I like his style, You look at his ball skills, he can create a mismatch in a hurry, and he’s a well-rounded athlete that can do a lot of different things at receiver. You don’t have 96 catches just by coincidence.”
SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee
“We’re very humbled and fortunate to get to play in this game. We’re very excited to be coming to the New Mexico Bowl and playing BYU, obviously a really good, national opponent. We have a lot of respect for their program and what they do. There’s a lot of history there with our two schools, specifically the 1980 Holiday Bowl that was quite a game. I know our guys are really excited to get to travel and have a really good bowl experience and play a really good opponent.
On playing at high altitude in Albuquerque
“It will probably be a factor. The good news is that we get to go out there Wednesday evening. We’ll be there Thursday and Friday for workouts. It could affect us, it probably will affect us more than BYU. They’re used to it. Same thing with the weather. I think we will probably be okay. Usually, you get out to altitude and after a few days you get acclimated. These guys are in really good shape, they’re young. They’ll be okay.”
On the similarities between SMU and BYU’s seasons
“There’s a lot of similarities. It happened a little different, but you have two good football teams that played really tough schedules. You look at everybody BYU played. They played some really good teams. They had that four-game stretch in the middle of the year where they lost to Notre Dame and Arkansas and had the Liberty and East Carolina losses. Other than that, they’re 7-1 with that one loss being Oregon. They’ve played good people and beaten good people like Baylor. We were similar. We started out and lost three in a row to go to 2-3 when we lost to Maryland, TCU and at UCF. With the exception of that little three-game skid, we’re 7-2."
"Both teams are good teams that played really good schedules. We had some games we lost that we felt like maybe we could’ve played better and found a way to win, but we didn’t. Both teams showed a lot of resilience pulling out of those tail spins and finishing the year well.”
On playing BYU
“I’ve always had a lot of respect [for BYU]. Over the last several years, I’ve been able to watch BYU enough and knew some of the coaches that have been on the staff in the recent years. The toughness stands out to me. It’s a really tough, physical program. You can tell that’s the culture on both sides of the ball."
"Their guys play extremely hard. They’ve won a lot of games and play a really good schedule every year. Defensively, they do a really nice job of not giving up big plays in the passing game with the way they play their coverage. Offensively, their quarterback is playing at a high level and scoring a lot of points. I’ve seen enough to know that we have our hands full and we’ll be watching quite a bit of film over the next 12 days.”