University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coach Russ Huesman, along with wide receiver Chris Pitchford and linebacker J.D. Dothard, met with the media Tuesday at McKenzie Arena. Here's some of what they had to say:
Russ Huesman:
On the 42-41 loss to No. 3 Appalachian State ...
"From a fan's perspective it was a great game to watch; I'm sure it was a great game on television. I appreciate all the fans coming out and supporting us and doing a great job to help us.
"It was one of those games that if you're on the winning end of it you think about this for a long time; just a great game to be involved with. When you're on the losing end, you really don't care too much about it at that point in time."
On No. 6 Jacksonville State ...
"Just watching them on film, they're really good. They're pretty big up front; I think they can run. They're playing two quarterbacks - one's a true freshman [Coty Blanchard] and he's the guy that made the plays at the end. For anybody to make the plays that he made was one thing, but for a true freshman to make those plays was unbelievable."
On depth issues at defensive tackle ...
"We've got three defensive ends that are fine, but I guess Nick Davison will be the only [starting defensive tackle] that will practice this week. Hopefully we'll get Nick Craig back, hopefully La'Nard Carr will be back - that's going to be touch and go right there all week with those two. De'Markus Lee is probably out for a while.
I think we'll have La'Nard by Saturday and I think we'll have Nick Craig, so that gives us three tackles again."
Chris Pitchford:
On playing Jacksonville State ...
"We feel like we can play with anybody in this league. We don't doubt that. We have confidence and we know that we have guys that can make plays. ... Just to get the opportunity to play these guys, who just knocked off an SEC school will be a great opportunity for us to stand strong."
J.D. Dothard:
On the fumble recovery and return for the go-ahead touchdown by Appalachian State quarterback DeAndre Presley ...
"I watched it on film Sunday and it was crazy how that happened. The luck went their way on that play and I guess it was just meant to be."
On losing all-conference cornerback Buster Skrine for a few weeks ...
"When it first happened, I brought the defense together immediately because when I got hurt last year [at Georgia Southern] I saw the team break down. ...
I brought the defense together and I was in all their faces and I was like, 'I saw this happen last year and it's not going to happen again. We're fixing to win this game.'
"I think we might make a couple of changes in the secondary, but I think we'll be OK."
For more on the Mocs, see tomorrow's Times Free Press.
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