Ashley Ingram pre-Catawba press conference transcripts
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman takes on Catawba Saturday in a matchup between the league's number one scoring offense (Catawba) and number one scoring defense (Carson-Newman). Below are Ashley Ingram's pregame remarks to the media about the Catawba Indians.
VIDEO: Ashley Ingram Press Conference
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman takes on Catawba Saturday in a matchup between the league's number one scoring offense (Catawba) and number one scoring defense (Carson-Newman). Below are Ashley Ingram's pregame remarks to the media about the Catawba Indians.
OPENING STATEMENT:
INGRAM: Very good football team. Coach Haines does a great job with them. We played a classic against them last year. Very good offensively. They've got a great quarterback, probably the best offensive line we'll see. Or one of the better offensive lines we'll see. They love to run the football. Obviously got a great little slot receiver. They're very athletic on defense. So we're going to have to play well to win this game.
Q1: Preston Brown. He's as efficient as they get. 72% completion rate. He's third in the country in that regard. How do they enable him to make the right read to complete that high volume?
INGRAM: Well one, he's got a lot of experience. He's a great player. He's surrounded by very good players. Like I said, really good offensive line. So when you can run the football, you have an opportunity to make those passes. Obviously their a big RPO team as well. So he's a very good player with good people around him and he's very well coached.
Q2: What sticks out to you about their very good running back room?
INGRAM: They have very talented running backs. Like you said, they have a lot of them. They got a quarterback that can make the throws, so it kind of keeps you light in the box. And then they have a very good offensive line in front of them. So it's a pretty tough combination to be able to handle.
Q3: You're playing consequential football in November. How do you prepare your team?
INGRAM: Well, all you can do is control what you can control. We're just trying to focus on getting better each and every day and then we're trying to take it one game at a time. We're very thankful that we're going to be at home this week to play a very good football team.
Q4: Zane Whitson is the SAC offensive player of the week after a five touchdown day on Saturday against UVA Wise, what are you seeing out of your senior quarterback?
INGRAM: He's made a lot of plays, whether it be, you know, throwing the ball. We hadn't thrown it a lot with him, but he makes the plays when we need him to. He's done a great job, you know, running the offense. Then he's had some really big explosive plays in the run game. The other thing he does, he brings an energy and a level of excitement to the game that we need.
Q5: You've had to shuffle your offensive line in parts, and I think this is now back to back weeks where you've at long last started the same five from one week to the next. That unit is largely healthy. And you have Blake Shinault, who started the last two games at left tackle, feels like he's played everywhere on the offensive line. What sticks out to you about his play that has enabled him to elevate himself into a member, that starting unit?
INGRAM: He's gotten better every week. He's much improved from last season to this season. So he's doing a great job for us.
Q6: How are your front seven and back four complementing one another defensively with Richemard Mellien leading the team in picks with three?
INGRAM: Rich continues to get better. Again, he's a young kid that really is playing his first significant football of his college career. So he gets better every time he goes out there. Our defensive front's played great. They held up against the run. Our linebackers are very good players, and obviously we love bringing Cruz in a lot of blitz schemes and things like that. He's got a knack for it. So it all goes hand in hand.
Q7: Jimi Olarinde becomes the 16th player in school history with two blocked kicks in a year, and comes off kind of a career day against the Cavs with five tackles and two and a half for loss. What sticks out to you about what he's doing as one of those Jacks providing pressure?
INGRAM: He's a part of a deep group over there with Mekhi Brown and Storm Livesay. He plays extremely hard, he's athletic, he runs around, he makes plays in the backfield. And then like you said, he's blocked two field goals the past two weeks, which is pretty impressive, because it's an effort thing.
Q8: You had 4,000 plus in the stadium on Saturday for homecoming. What would another big crowd mean for you here on Saturday against Catawba?
INGRAM: We need it. We need our fan support. Like I said, I think we're putting a good product on the field and there's some entertainment value there. But we've got a very, very tough opponent coming in, so we need all the help we can get. And this, like you said, is a very consequential game that sets up just a huge matchup if we can find a way to win it next week.
Q9: Anything else?
INGRAM: We're just excited for the opportunity. We have a very good football team in Catawba coming in. It's going to be a challenge, but it should be a lot of fun.
Kickoff between the Eagles and Catawba is set for 1 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at noon 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
