The FSU Seminoles opened the season with a win over the New Mexico State Aggies, pulling out a 34-17 win in Doak Campbell Stadium. It was a much tougher game than expected, to the dismay of FSU's fans.
The Aggies were in the game from the start, driving on the field on the opening drive of the game before an interception ended the drive, allowing FSU to take an early lead. Despite the turnover, New Mexico State head coach Tony Sanchez liked what he saw from quarterback Trey Hedden.
"Yeah, I thought Trey really stepped up," he said. "We're big believers in him, and that's why we named him the starter. He's got some really good guys behind him, but I thought he did a really good job. They did a pretty good job of harassing him, and I thought the line
stepped up too. I mean, I thought they played well.
"But he made one poor decision early on, on that interception. But other than that, I thought he played a really, really good game. He played a tough physical game. So I'm glad he's leading us."
Hedden completed 26 of his 42 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns with the one interception. FSU was only able to sack him three times, with him doing a good job of getting the ball out quickly.
Sanchez also talked about the Aggies being fundamentally sound, his pride in them, and their struggles tackling FSU. Here is everything he had to say after FSU's win over New Mexico State.
On being fundamentally sound, the game plan
Well, we got a good group of guys in that locker room. And I think the coaches did a really good job of driving these guys through camp.
We came in and we looked ready to play. I mean, that opening drive, seven minutes, just gotta be able to get some points out of it. It's tough when you hold the ball for seven minutes, move down the field kind of methodically.
And then you have an opportunity to go ahead and get a quick lead. You know what I'm saying? Turn it over. So that was disappointing, right? But again, I think we came out, we looked prepared to play the game.
Defensively, I thought the one Achilles heel we had all night was tackling in space. I thought our front did a pretty good job. I mean, they're a talented team.
They're gonna get some yards and things like that. But we gotta do a better job of shoring up the back end and being able to tackle back there. I thought that really, really hurt us.
So again, this game went on and we had our opportunities. It's a lot different when you're playing these money games and you walk in the locker room and there's some genuine disappointment that there was a great opportunity there. So I think we all own that, myself included.
We gotta do a better job of just tightening the screws and getting better at some of the little things, finishing second half. That opening drive, we have the ball again, we drive down. We don't end up completing that ball, and that should be another seven points right there, instead we kick a field goal.
Right after we score to make it a 10-point game, we get the personal foul. That's something that's a controllable. The things that are controllable, we have to own.
So I thought there were some really good things and there was a lot of great teaching moments. Again, no moral victory at all. I like our group.
I think if we do a good job as teachers, and they do a good job as students, I think that we'll continue to get better and move this thing forward.
On the pride he had in the team
There's no doubt, and I just think the culture of this group is solid. And part of that is them being together for a year. I talked to Coach Norvell before the game, and we both kind of reiterated the same thing.
We're having more fun doing this now than we have the last couple of years, because you know your guys, and your guys know you. And you have a chance to teach culture, teach discipline, hold on to some of those special guys. So like I said, I like the guys out there, and they had a good camp, and they came out, and they were ready to play tonight.
And unfortunately, we're walking out of here with a loss, and we're gonna have to knuckle up and go get back to 1-1 next week.
On the quick turnaround for the team
No, there's no doubt about it. I mean, we'll be back in the building tomorrow. We practice tomorrow night from six to seven o'clock. I expect it to be a fast, furious practice.
I expect us to get a lot of great things in. We have to have a great lift, great film session. We have to travel back like pros and get right back to work.
On quarterback Trey Hedden
Yeah, I thought Trey really stepped up. We're big believers in him, and that's why we named him the starter.
He's got some really good guys behind him, but I thought he did a really good job. They did a pretty good job of harassing him, and I thought the line stepped up too. I mean, I thought they played well.
But he made one poor decision early on, on that interception. But other than that, I thought he played a really, really good game. He played a tough physical game. So I'm glad he's leading us.
On how he feels about the team after playing FSU so closely
Well, it's funny. When you're around a group of men like this, and you're in the building every day talking about, we fully expected to come win this game, and I think you saw that from the get-go. I mean, this was not a game we were coming in and be like, let's play well. I mean, we're disappointed.
We felt like we had a real opportunity to win a football game. So really disappointed in that. We did just a lot of things we need to work on.
We got to be more fundamental sound on the back end of our tackling. We got to sure of some special teams things. Offensively, we got to be able to run the ball with more efficiency than that.
That's pretty good defensive front. But I don’t care who we are playing, we need to be a little bit more efficient running the football and continue to throw the ball down the field. So a lot of little things to get better at.
But excited to be back at Aggie Memorial playing in front of our home crowd. It should be a great environment. But if our kids continue to grow and continue to get better the way they did tonight, I think this could be a heck of a season, but we just gotta take it one game at a time.
So again, the goal this week, the only goal we have right now for this whole season, is to go 1-0 next week.
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This article originally appeared on FSU Wire: What New Mexico State head coach Tony Sanchez said after losing to FSU
