Chattanooga Football Postgame Quotes
Weber State at Chattanooga
Finley Stadium – Chattanooga, Tenn.
Saturday – Nov. 26, 2016

Russ Huesman, Head Football Coach
Opening statement on 45-14 win over Weber State.
"It's a really good win for us and our program here. There's always so many unknowns when you're playing teams that you're not very familiar with. We weren't familiar with them and they weren't familiar with us. The 99-yard fumble return in the second quarter was huge for us. They're going to punch it in and it's a ball game at half with things that are going to be different. Statistically, I don't think we dominated this game, but obviously two defensive touchdowns make a big difference in the playoffs. We're really pleased that we beat a good team. I'm proud of our guys and proud of our football team. Now it's on to Sam Houston State, we'll be excited to go down there."

Emphasis on special teams.
"I was really scared coming in on special teams because they had been so good. We kicked the ball to different spots today on the kickoff and we tried not to let them get their kick off set up."

Gaining confidence.
"I think we probably should have some confidence, but I hope our guys realize what it takes to play well against Alabama and what it takes to win these kind of football games. Doing things the coaches ask, make a commitment to be great, to work hard and to study film. Two weeks ago, I think these guys refocused and recommitted themselves to play well. Next week hopefully we can continue this trend and continue to work hard.

Alphonso Stewart, Wide Receiver
On early 20-yard touchdown catch.
"We kind of had our backs against the wall early on and someone had to make a play. 'Dro (Alejandro) made a great pass and the line held just enough to make something happen."

On opening up the game.
"We wanted to come out strong and make a statement on the opening drive. We wanted to show that we we're back, getting out fire back and that we're ready to go for the playoffs."

Nakevion Leslie, Defensive Lineman
Preparing for Weber State.
"It was a little different preperation this week. They use their tight ends a lot. (Vollert) is a great player. We had to prepare to the stop the run game, especially into the center, and we don't see a lot of that in this league."

On starting out quickly.
"We wanted to come out aggressive and build off of what we did last week against Alabama. We wanted to play a physical game and start the playoffs right."

Corey Levin, Offensive Lineman
On trying to block against Weber State.
"They bring a lot of different schemes and they kind of got us on a few things today. We know they use a lot of exotic blitzes and for the most part we did our job."

Gameplan coming in to the game.
"We made an emphasis to be physical on the point of the attack on zone plays so that we could really stretch their defense out and let (Derrick) Craine do what he does best."

Jay Hill, Weber State Head Coach
Opening statement after 45-14 loss to Chattanooga.
"When you come in and play a team like Chattanooga, you know that you can't turn the ball over five times without getting one or two back. If you lose the turnover margin like that then you'll be in for a long day. I was really impressed with their defensive players flying around and they were everything that we thought they were. They made some offensive plays and executed well, they're a really good football team. We knew that coming in and you have to give them a lot of credit."

Fighting off turnovers including 99-yard fumble return for TD to close first half.
"Even with that, you battle back and it's still not out of hand. You just can't turn the ball over three times in the first half and expect it to be close."

On the one difference in today's game.
"We were moving the ball okay, the total yards weren't drastic. We didn't play well on defense and we turned the ball over five times. It came down to one stat and that was turnovers."

Jadrian Clark, Weber State Quarterback
Trying to match with Chattanooga's speed on defense.
"You can't really simulate speed that you don't have. They are a really good team and their linebackers flew around quicker than anyone I've ever faced. They are a really athletic team and very well coached."