Ashley Ingram pre-Wingate press conference transcripts
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman heads to Irwin Belk Stadium for a rematch of last year's SAC title game and a date with No. 19/20 Wingate.
VIDEO: Ashley Ingram Press Conference
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman heads to Irwin Belk Stadium for a rematch of last year's SAC title game and a date with No. 19/20 Wingate. Below are Ashley Ingram's pregame remarks to the media about the Bulldogs.
OPENING STATEMENT:
INGRAM: We have a great opportunity this weekend to go on the road and play a great football team, a great football program. We will certainly have our work cut out for us. We've got a lot of respect for Wingate and what Coach (Rashaan) Jordan is doing over there. Got a lot of respect for their program and we're just excited for the opportunity.
Q1: They've had to replace a fair amount from last season. Obviously as veteran as they were defensively, but even offensively too. But doesn't seem like they've missed a beat. How are guys like their quarterback Elijah Holmes and their running back Xavier Pugh taking up what Brooks Bentley and company did last year?
INGRAM: They haven't missed a beat. The completion percentage is great. They run the ball really well. They're really good on the offensive line. Obviously they've got good skill. What they do is they just don't put themselves in bad positions. They had very few third and long situations on the season. So they throw on their terms, they run on their terms and that makes them very good. Then defensively, they did lose some guys, but if you look at their too deep. Of the 22 players there's not a single person who is not at least in their third year in the program. They've built a program with homegrown guys, very few transfers in the program and every single person on their defense in the two deep has been in the program at least three years.
Q2: You were held below 100 yards of total offense in the meeting in the SAC championship game. What makes moving the football against that veteran defense so tough?
INGRAM: Obviously they're just very, very good, very talented on the defensive line. Several All-American type candidates and an All-American playing for them last year. But if you look at them now, they've got two 300 pound interior defensive linemen that are super athletic. They just do a great job. They're not complicated. You know where they're going to be. But you/ve got to block them and you got to make plays against some pretty good players.
Q3: What can you say about Zane Whitson - the first quarterback to win a player of the week honor from the league office for Carson-Newman since 2014?
INGRAM: Hopefully we can keep it going. You know, we want quarterbacks that are athletic. We want guys that can make throws. We want guys that can make plays with their feet. Zane did a great job. Just his resiliency, you know, where he came from when we got here a year and a half ago to where he is now, learning a new system and then embracing it and getting very good at it. And then hopefully this week it looks like we'll be at full strength at quarterback as well. But yeah, Zane did great offensively.
Q4: Richemard Mellien continues to develop back to back weeks with interceptions. What have you seen from your Colgate transfer safety?
INGRAM: Rich is a very good football player, very good athlete. He's got good size and, you know, he's really playing his first extensive football in college. Played a little bit at Colgate as a freshman. Our expectation, he'll just keep getting better and better.
Q5: You're at the third a third of the way through the season. How is this team's development compared to where you were four games in last year?
INGRAM: I hadn't thought of it in those terms. I think there's still a lot of room for improvement for this team. We're not hitting on all cylinders. We're making too many mistakes offensively. There's too many missed assignments, too many busts. We're not playing as clean as we need to. And to win in the SAC, we're going to have to play much better than what we've played in the first four games. I do think we're making progress, but we've got to continue to get better.
Q6: How much of that is a Carson-Newman issue versus the caliber of competition you have played. Everyone you've played but LR has had a winning record.
INGRAM: And LR will end with a winning record. They'll play well down the stretch. That's a good football team. You know, obviously when you play good opponents, they're going to make plays. I don't have a problem with that. You know, the fade ball in the corner of the end zone against Morris Hill, that's a great throw and that's a great catch. You can live with that. Not blocking the right people, turning people scot free busting assignments is really more my concern. It has to be fixed and has to be fixed basically immediately.
Q7: Where's this team's head need to be going on the road for the next 35 days.
INGRAM: We're not going to make a big deal about that. We'll play wherever they tell us to play. We'll play in a parking lot if that's what they want. But our mindset needs to be to get better every single day and focus on what can we do today to get better so we have a chance to beat a very good football team in Wingate on the road.
Q8: Elijah Holmes, Wingate starting quarterback. What sticks out to you about his skill set compared to J.R. Martin, guys that you've already faced this year?
INGRAM: He doesn't throw many incompletions so that's usually pretty good for qb. He's got command of their offense and what Wingate is going to do on both sides of the ball, they're going to play within their system. They're not going to ask people to do things that they can't do. He is a very good quarterback. He's been accurate, he's managed the game very well. He's just a very good football player.
Q9: Anything else?
INGRAM: No, we're just excited for the opportunity this Saturday night.
Kickoff between the Eagles and Bulldogs is set for 6 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 5 p.m. with the AEC Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), MIX 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A video stream is available with a subscription to FloCollege at cneagles.com/FloFB. The ESN also allows you to go "Inside the Radio Booth" with a live feed of the ESN crew on YouTube
