However, overall, their statements and interviews were not much different than the stuff everyone else has already printed numerous times.

But, here's a transcript of the Rich Rodriguez portion of the teleconference.

Opening remarks
"We thought it was a solid performance. It wasn't great. In all three phases we have work to do, but the guys played hard and it was a tremendous atmosphere. With having an in-state game there was a lot of talk about our guys staying focused. We got the win."

"We had a couple injuries, particularly Damien Crissey, our starting left tackle. He'll be out a few weeks. But, other than that, we came out health-wise I think OK."

Thoughts on getting them ready/pumped for Eastern Washington
"Eastern Washington even can scare you a little bit. If you look at what the Big Sky Conference did this past weekend... they had 2 wins over 1A schools... the key being Montana State over Colorado... and Eastern Washington has been the best team in that league the last couple of years. So they're going to come here, they're going to play us hard. Our guys have got to get refocused. We've been through this before, and our guys' attention has been pretty good... not only on our next opponent, but on getting better each week."

"We're working on two teams this week... one is Eastern Washington and one is West Virginia, and we're trying to get our team better."

"Montana State is a team Eastern Washington beat pretty handily last year."

On the first game being out of the way
"I think most coaches tell you they worry more about the first game than any game... because you hadn't had any pre-season games, and you never know what's going to happen with penalties, the turnovers, the silly mistakes. We didn't have any turnovers, which is a great thing. But we did have some silly mistakes. We missed a few assignments here and there."

"It's good to get that over with, and obviously right now we've got to try and correct those things we screw up in."

Did we hold anything back?
"We were doing as much as we had to... to try and score. It may have looked like all the same, but it wasn't all the same plays. We were using different formations, different schemes up front. We did a couple screens, some downfield throws."

"It wasn't like we were trying to hold anything back. The only thing we did in the second half a little differently was we didn't run Pat White as much because his ribs got a little bit sore. So we were limited in what we could do in the second half. Other than that, it was our whole offense."

Impacts of Michael Bush injury?
"I saw it on the highlights last night. I just feel bad for Michael Bush. He's a great player. I got to meet him this summer at the Big East function. He seems like a great young man. I'm sure it's a blow to them, but they've got a lot of talented players, and Coach Petrino and staff do a great job. So, they'll be OK. Our thoughts are strictly with Michael. We hope he gets a fast and speedy recovery."

On the Big East starting 7-1
"How 'bout that, huh? As I mentioned several times in the pre-season and after last year that I think the Big East... if they continue to improve... people would see that... in the next couple of years in our non-conference games. It didn't take long for that to hold true... in the first weekend of the season."

On the new rules with the clock?
"No, we didn't have any problems with it. But, we noticed it a little bit. We had a possession with like 30 seconds to go at the end of the first half... we had three timeouts left... so we took a timeout right before the first play, which you know we normally wouldn't have to do, obviously."

"Just look at the number of possessions at the end of the game. Normally, in most games, I think we have 12 to 13 possessions. I think we had 10 on offense in this game. There's no questions there's a shorter number of plays... and more importantly, there's going to be a shorter number of possessions, so you've got to make things happen offensively."

But... did you notice the game was still long?
"I did too. You make a good point. I definitely thought with the rules the games... even the TV games... would go a whole lot quicker. I remember looking down at my watch at the end of the game, and it was still over 3 hours and 30 minutes. So I don't know if there was an inordinate amount of commercials for this game... or what the case was... but the game seemed to drag on a lot longer than I think the rules had wanted it."

What happened on the blocked field goal?
"We had one guy that was bad fundamentally. He didn't get his hand out to stop the rush. He's a backup there because Damien Crissey... that was his position, obviously he was hurt... that's not an excuse. We've just got to work on that. It's a breakdown we normally never have. It certainly can cost you. We'll get it corrected."

Same time next week.