Sept. 12, 2009

Recap |  Final Stats |  Notes |   

Western Carolina Head Coach Dennis Wagner
(Opening Statement)
"I thought we were on the field too long. I thought the defense spent too much time on the field. Even though we had a couple of drives offensively in the second half, we weren't consistent enough to keep the defense off the field. Our defense struggled all night letting the offense convert on third down. I don't know what the statistics were, but I'm sure it was high on third down conversions."

"The kids didn't quit, they kept fighting and they played hard. I'm not going to tell them that it's okay to lose. It's unacceptable. Our backs are against the wall. Our wins are going to come harder than they have so far."

(On breaking an offense scoring drought)
"I don't want to say I'm happier, but it's good to get that money off our back. We just haven't gotten into a rhythm offensively. Part of that is because of the number of players we have moved in and out. We had a different line up in this game than in the last game (with Vanderbilt). We have to get some consistency now this week with everybody being healthy. We need to get Jacoby Hammon back in the offensive line. Hopefully, we will get back him soon."

(On the comeback)
"During the last drive they really stuck a dagger in us. They drove the ball down the field and used the clock."

(On if conditioning was a factor)
"I don't think conditioning is a factor at all. I think it's early in the season. Speaking for our defense, they were on the field too long. It's a lot of plays and you don't have a time to rehydrate and rest on the sideline. It's a matter of too many plays on the field."

(On the offensive showcase in the second half)
"I think it's a rhythm that you get into. When something goes right, you can build upon that. Nothing went right for us for eight quarters offensively. When it clicked, things started to fall in place. Like I said, it was just one of those situations in the end that we put ourselves in a bad situation with no timeouts and the defense not able to stop them."

Redshirt Sophomore Quarterback Zack Jaynes
(On the slow offensive start)
"We started off slow. I fumbled on our opening drive. We can't start a game like that. Gardner-Webb is a good football team. They came out executed their plays and came out on top."

(On playing more consistently offensively)
"We made some big plays. I had a couple of guys step up and made plays for us. We needed to gain some momentum and that's what we got. We stalled the ball a few times in the first half. Turnovers have plagued us during the last two weeks."

(On the offensive surge in the second half)
"I have playmakers around me. The offensive line did a great job. Marquel Pittman made some outstanding catches. It's the players that make the quarterback."