Chattanooga Football Postgame Quotes
Chattanooga at ETSU
Tipton Stadium – Johnson City, Tenn.
Saturday, Oct. 1

Head Coach Russ Huesman
Thoughts on the game:
"It was a big win.  A great win for us on the road.  I think East Tennessee has improved so much in two years.  They've got good football players and we knew it would be tough.  Thank goodness we made enough plays to win this game.

"I thought our defense played really, really well.  Offensively, we didn't run the ball very well.  Didn't block very well, but we did make some plays when we had to. 

"The other thing I don't think people realize is special teams.  We pinned them back a couple of times and almost blocked a few punts, forcing some bad punts.  I think we gave our offense really good field position." 

On Henrique Ribeiro's 52-yard FG:
"How about that.  The last one he kicked in warmups was a 52-yarder, and (Special Teams Coordinator) Rusty (Wright) said he can hit it from 52.  Sure enough, he hit it and hit is with a lot to spare."

Standouts on defense:
"Nakevion Leslie caused the fumble and he looked like he was really active.  C.J. Fritz did a great job. He was in press coverage the whole time and they caught one ball on him all day."

Standouts on offense:
"I think Derrick Craine ran really hard.  It was a huge third down on the swing pass to keep the drive alive.  He made a guy miss and then made another guy miss and kept his balance and picked up a key first down.  He always does that though.  He knows if it is third and whatever, he has to make a play.  And he does, somehow."

Lucas Webb – Jr.-DB
On the team huddle between the first and second quarter:
"I believe Justin King initiated it.  He is one of our leaders on defense.  He just wanted to make sure we did not start out slow or playing outside of our game that we are used to playing."

On the slow start in the first quarter:
"ETSU did a really good job and started off with some tempo.  They ran some plays that we hadn't seen yet.  It was just getting used to the speed of the game and getting used to the way they were playing." 

On the overall play of the defense:
"I feel like it was pretty solid, once we found our rhythm and our groove.  They had a great crowd and were excited for the game.  That is definitely something that we are going to have to deal with this year.  I really think that after we found our rhythm, things were just coming smoothly and we were playing like we are used to playing."

Alejandro Bennifield – Jr.-QB
Thoughts on the game:
"We didn't come out and execute to perfection, but we made some plays.  We got Craine a couple of touchdowns and Bagley scored.  Every time you win, it is a great feeling."