Oct. 24, 2009

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Western Carolina Head Coach Dennis Wagner
Opening Statement
"Tonight was real disappointing. We blew an opportunity. This was a game that we had many times to win this football game. We couldn't stop the fullback all day. When we got some momentum, when we needed a big drive, we didn't get it. (Marquel Pittman) went out and that hurt us a little bit because we were not able to keep them off the field. We wasted an opportunity today."

On the running game:
"We continue to get better. These freshmen running backs and this offensive line get better every week. Until you win, it doesn't really matter. It's good to get that thing going. It's helped us to get our offense going. There were critical times today when we needed a run, but we didn't get it. There were some nice runs, but we have to capitalize on short down situations."

On Wofford's offense ability to capitalize in short-yard situations:
"Anytime (Wofford) crosses the 50, (Coach Mike Ayers) is going for it. Even if it's fourth and five, he is going for it. He doesn't kick many field goals. He wants his kids to believe in his offense. Hats off to (Wofford) There weren't any surprises coming in (to today's game). That was the big thing for us all week. We had to get them stopped on fourth down because we knew once they had crossed the 50, they were in fourth-down territory. I am disappointed that we were not able to get off the field when we needed to."

On the play of special teams:
"The missed extra point is really frustrating. (Blake Bostic) hadn't missed a field goal all year. He's done a good job in practice. He knew the field goal was a little out of his range. In warm-ups, he was kicking 50 (yards) in the wind. We didn't think there was any purpose of punting the ball down there. We would have liked to come away with some points. They really weren't rushing that hard or getting pressure on us. We took the shot with a field goal. That was a tough one. If he made it, it was a great kick. If he missed it, then you come back and try again. The extra point really hurt us."

On the offensive success after the first couple of drives:
"Every team tries to give you a little curveball. Most of the teams in the Southern Conference are going to play what they play because the coaching staffs are established. I knew they would be in an odd front then they put that safety in the box. In the first three series, they had eight or nine guys dropping down in the box. We were trying to run the football, but a guy was unblocked. We had to get the football out of the perimeter and toss the ball or run some sweeps. We ran some play action and threw it to the outside and we also ran the bubble screen. They sat on it a couple of times and almost had a chance to take one the other way. I think it was just making an adjustment to their adjustment coming into the game. It took a couple of series to get those guys going. Once we were able to move the ball around and not just run the power game inside, we were able to toss the ball outside."

On adjusting to the triple option in the first quarter:
"We talked about this week. It's hard to simulate that offense and the speed that comes at you with the scout team. It definitely affects you early, but you hope that you make adjustments and stop it before they score the first two or three touchdowns. I thought we did a nice job at halftime. We made some plays in the second half on defense. But when we needed them, we didn't get them."

"There were a couple of fourth downs they were able to continue drives. Then that last drive to get the score, they really broke our back. We had a lot of momentum by taking the ball down and scoring. We were hoping to get a stop there and getting a chance to go out and score. We will have to go back and watch the film, but in my opinion the fullback really hurt us today."

On making halftime adjustments:
"I think we didn't make many adjustments compared to we were getting squared away to what need to be doing. We missed a few tackles in the first half. We had chances to make plays and we didn't make them. When that happens, players have got to make plays. They went to the fullback and that hurt us. We had to regroup at halftime. I thought the kids did a good job of (adjusting). It really hurt us in the fourth quarter with the fourth down conversions and that last score. "

Western Carolina Player Quotes

Senior Linebacker Adrian McLeod
On the loss:
"We let a game get away. We definitely let this game get away from us. What coach said, it comes down to making plays. In the first quarter, we made some mistakes and they took advantage of it when they had a chance of it to."

On defending the triple option:
"You can't simulate that in practice. They do that for the whole year and you prepare for one week of it. It's hard to do, but at the same time we should have adjusted to it much better. We didn't really make many changes. It was about correcting our assignments. We had the right people in the right spots."

On executing the game plan:
"We had a great game plan coming in. We ran (the game plan) well in the second half and we showed it. The beginning of this game really bit us in the back-side in the end."

On bouncing back from the loss:
"We have no choice. We will not quit. Our coach will never quit on us. We will never quit on our coach. This team has heart. We do it for each other. We will do our best. We will go back and watch film and regroup and plan for a `W' at Chattanooga."

Redshirt-Freshman Runningback Dion Wilson

On the loss:
"We let one go. We scored 26 points on offense, the most this season, but we still come away with a L. It's really demoralizing."

On starting off slow offensively:
"Coach (Wagner) said we always start off slow. Today we again started off slow. We started to pick up in the second quarter when (Michael Johnson) scored. We started clicking late. If we would have scored on our first drive, we would have had a good chance to have won this game."