November 11, 2025

Ashley Ingram pre-Tusculum press conference transcript

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman takes on Tusculum Saturday in the Second Oldest Rivalry in the State of Tennessee. Below are Ashley Ingram's pregame remarks to the media about the Pioneers

OPENING STATEMENT:

INGRAM: Well, we're obviously excited to play. We're excited to honor our seniors and we'd love to certainly send them out with a victory. You know, this would be two seasons in a row where we hadn't lost at home. So playing here at Burke-Tarr has been good for us. But obviously we've got a team that's coming in, that's a rival, they're well coached. Coach Taylor's obviously a very good defensive football coach. I would expect that it's going to be a knockdown, drag out kind of football game considering the styles of play by both teams.

Q1: Talk about the seniors. There's 23 of them. What has this group meant to you here and your year two on the banks of Mossy Creek?

INGRAM: Well, I think if we win Saturday, I think these last two seasons we will be 16-6. So they've played a huge part in this turnaround and things are heading in the right direction and a lot of it really just falls on their shoulders. The buy-in they've had, they've allowed us to coach them. They've been a joy to coach a bunch of great, great young men who've represented Carson-Newman and it's been an honor and a privilege to be able to coach them.

Q2: Does it do your soul good given the number of games that you played amongst the service academies to see these two styles going at it on Saturday

INGRAM: It's gut wrenching. I coached in 32 academy games and you have limited possession so every mistake is magnified. So you got to play clean, you've got to take care of the football, you've got to play field position football. So certainly know what it's going to take to win. But it can be nerve wracking. You just don't have a lot of possessions.

Q3: What is what they're doing similar different from what you do offensively?

INGRAM: There's a lot of similarities. They've got an under center package, they've got a gun package, they've got some talented guys. I know they've had the injury bug hit them at QB quite a bit throughout the season, so that doesn't help. It seems to me like they're playing some of their better football late in the year offensively and then defensively they're good on defense and Coach Taylor knows what he's doing. He understands how he wants to attack us. I think last year we scored a lot of points, but I think some of that's a little bit of an anomaly (because of defense and special teams scores). We're going to have to strap it up and we're going to have to play well to have a chance to win on Saturday.

Q4: They do have the league's leading tackler. They are the only team in the league with three defensive touchdowns. What sticks out to you about how they play defensively?

INGRAM: They're an odd front, so they move around. They've got a good defensive front. They got good linebacker play. They will try to wreak some havoc with linebackers and they'll try to force some negative plays. And when you play that aggressively, you're going to get the ball out some. And in this game, because of the limited possessions, you know, that could be very problematic if we're on the wrong side of that. But then at the same time, if we play well on defense and we can force the ball out and get some good field position, that could be a big advantage for us as well.

Q5: What does the mental approach of this team need to be going into the regular season finale? Keeping hope alive for an outside shot of the playoffs.

INGRAM: Well, the big thing is we've got a team that would love to come in here and beat us. I have no doubt about that. So we've got to focus on practicing well, preparing well. We've got to focus on beating Tusculum. We're going to need a little help to get into the playoffs, but if we don't win, it doesn't matter. And so that's got to be our sole focus. We can only control what we can control.

Q6: Cam Ferguson had a little bit of a breakout game against Newberry on Saturday. What you see from him to merit a heavier volume of carries

INGRAM: Cam's a good player. He's got great size. He can run, he can block, he can catch, and, you know he's shown glimpses of greatness, you know, over these last two seasons. But there were times Saturday where he kind of took over the game and I told him that. To me, he looked like an all conference player. He looked like a potential all American type player. And we need to see that all the time. I think it's on us to figure out ways and be creative to get him the football. Now, we know we've got one game this year, but I think there's a lot of things going forward. You know, we made a schematic change from year one to year two. We're doing a few more things and I think getting him involved going forward so certainly needs to be a big part of what we try to do.

Q7: What growth have you seen from this team over the last 10 weeks that has it in position potentially to make the playoffs?

INGRAM: They just keep getting better. Our defense has really played well all season. So proud of them and they really hadn't had a letdown. You know, we played a great team the other day and you got to give them their props. But I think we're still the leading defense in the conference points per game. Offensively, we keep getting better, we're making progress. You know, we keep having an injury bug at quarterback as well. We keep bouncing back and forth with one guy healthy, one guy injured, or both guys a little banged up. But I've been proud of our guys. They've been resilient, they battled. Certainly we'd love to have a game or two back and get a redo, but it doesn't work that way in football. So I'm just proud of our guys. Again, I said it. You know, all the games this year basically came down to the very last possession. We lost a game in overtime, we lost a game by seven or two games by seven. And we were going in the end zone with a chance to win it the other day. So our guys are tough, they're resilient, they're battlers. I told them we're a really good football team and we're on the. We're knocking on the door to being a great football team and I think we're heading in that direction.

Q8: How do you use a game like this to establish a tone? We hope you're not heading into the off season, but if that is the case, how do you use this as a tone setter for 2026?

INGRAM: Well, the big thing you do is if you can win the last game you play, then there's a positive taste in your mouth throughout the off season. So we need to play well. I'm not too concerned. Concerned about that part of it right now. We'll focus on that later. But we just. We need to win this football game against a team that's going to come in here and give us their best shot.

Q9: Anything else?

INGRAM: No, we're just excited to play, excited to honor our seniors. We'd love to have a big crowd out here and cheer us on to another undefeated season at home.

Kickoff between the Eagles and Tusculum 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), 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