Post-Game Quotes
Chattanooga 26, Western Carolina 6
E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field
Cullowhee, N.C. – Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018
Att: 7,362
Western Carolina head coach Mark Speir:
Overall opening statement:
“Tough loss for our football team. Congratulations to UTC; they've got a really good football team, we knew that coming in. I think we made lot of strides defensively and our guys played extremely hard and made some big plays. They are growing up every day. We are starting three two freshmen in the secondary and a couple up front. They are getting better each week.”
“Offensively we struggled. We couldn't block up front. The two big powerful guys they had in the middle, we couldn't block them. Tyrie (Adams) and Will (Jones) didn't have a whole lot of time to get reads down the field. We manufactured some stuff in the second half. That opening drive, we gave ourselves an opportunity with the ball down on the half yard line but turned it over. We've worked hard on ball security. It was a never a clean play from the beginning. It killed our momentum. Ty came back in and did some good things. Their front guys got after us.”
“We've been plagued with turnovers lately. You can't do that against good football teams. We've got to get that fixed – and we will get that fixed. I told the team, we have a good football team. But we are playing the Cats right now as well as the other team. Turnovers are hurting us.”
“Much-improved on defense and special teams. We've got to get the offense rolling again. When you lose, your true character shows. We know we can be good.”
On the quarterback changes in Saturday's game:
“Tyrie was a little rattled earlier, I thought. We thought with a lot of confidence with Will Jones to change things up. But I grabbed Tyrie and said 'you are going back in this ball game.' And he stayed in the ball game. Right now, when you get in a bad funk, we put another guy in there gets it rolling. Ty was good about it and went back in and played hard. We've got to play cleaner as an offense.”
On the defensive improvements:
“We are banged up in the secondary; we've got three older guys who aren't playing right now. We roll three freshmen out there and it's scary – but they are battling. I thought A.J. Rogers played a really good game for a true freshman and others. It is a growing-up process. It is the same as life. Life is going to happen. Your character gets you through life. This is a huge test for a young football team and I think this defense is going to get better and better. We know the offense can get better.”
On getting ready next week for Mercer:
“Preparation is the key. We've got to come ready to work. We've got a lot to play for. It isn't like we are 0-6; we are 3-3. And we've got another opportunity called Mercer next week. We've got to make a great effort and build confidence. It is tough. We have high expectations. This team has changed expectations of our fanbase. A bunch of players changed the expectations. Now we have to live up to those expectations and we've got another opportunity. It starts tomorrow.”
