Postgame Quotes
Chattanooga at Auburn
Jordan-Hare Stadium
Auburn, Ala.
Nov. 6, 2010
Head Coach Russ Huesman
Opening Statement:
“We obviously lost to a good football team. They have the talent level and they're a better team than us and that's why they're
number two in the BCS. They're well-coached and I believe they're a disciplined team. They're a class act and this is a great program at Auburn. I think we executed on offense well. I know they took their starters out early in the second half. They also took a knee at the end and that they had some secondary guys that wanted to score at the end, but they're a class act.”
On his impression on Cam Newton:
“He's good. He's probably the best player we'll ever see or play against at our level and that's why he's probably going to win the Heisman Trophy. Watching him on TV, he seems like a great person. He's a good player.”
On giving up big plays:
“A couple of those plays were because we missed tackles, but some of them were because the play was going 8,000 miles and we were running only 1,000 miles. We did miss some (tackles), but some were the 'see you later' type plays and that's what speed does. That's why they're winning in the SEC. They can run. If they couldn't run then they wouldn't be number two in the country.”
On the passing game and any positives from game:
“I thought our wide receivers had some nice catches and B.J. Coleman threw some good balls. We did drop some, but we got some people open. It was windy out there and that affected some deep balls. I thought we did well and our kids got it. We protected B.J. Coleman well. He hit the ground maybe once or twice today. We actually sacked Cam (Newton) three times or so. I don't even think he's been sacked that many times all year. We'll take something from that.”
Junior Quarterback B.J. Coleman
On opportunities to convert on pass plays:
“First things first, we tip our hat to them. They have a great offense and they do a great job of moving the football. They have a great coaching staff. On defense, they have a lot of good players and a lot of senior players. I know linebacker (Josh) Bynes had a great game, and they have three out of four defensive backs that are seniors. They've been playing great football and they do a great job of rallying to the football. But I'm proud of our guys; they came out, and they weren't worried about who they were playing, or the name on the jersey. They just went out and did the play that was called and they checked into a lot of plays, which was cool. We were able to move the football up and down the field a little bit. Auburn's going to have a chance to play for the National Championship, which is what they've wanted for a long time. But we've just got to move on to the next one.”
On playing the game without turnovers:
“Sometimes things just start clicking. I'm very happy for Brian (Sutherland) and Joel (Bradford), and I think all my wide receivers had
catches. Garrett (Hughes) had a touchdown catch, and I thought we were going to have a touchdown in the latter part of the third quarter. There were things that we did great, and things that we're always going to have to work on. We wanted 100 yards rushing, and we got that. We didn't want any three-and-outs, and I think we only had one. It was just good, hard-nosed football today.”
On backup quarterback Graham Nichols:
“Graham did a great job. We got him some short throws early and he was confident. He did what we told him to do and he got to take a shot in the end zone one time. I know he liked that. Anytime you get a guy in there for some reps, that is good."
Sophomore Wide Reciever Brian Sutherland
On his kickoff return for a touchdown:
“It was a great feeling, actually, to take one back this season. Whether it's against Auburn or any team in our conference, it is a
cool thing to be able to do. I just saw how they were setting it up to pursue one way and I just brought it back the other way. Not too many people are going to catch me once I get into the open, so I was pretty confident about that part.”
On playing in this type of atmosphere:
“It was excellent. This is my first time playing in an atmosphere like this. It just made me want to play harder. It was a different set
of athletes, and they're considered D-I athletes, and we're considered D-IAA. I just wanted to show that there was no difference.”
On their offense today:
“We are a pretty efficient offense. I think we can pass the ball against anybody. We just need to have protection, but we made plays. We were where we were supposed to be, and B.J. (Coleman) put the ball where it was supposed to be.”
Junior Wide Reciever Joel Bradford
On the good things they did on offense:
“I don't think we turned the ball over. We drove the ball and we tried to execute as much as possible. I think overall we did alright
offensively.”
On breaking the school's single-season receiving record:
“It's pretty cool. I don't get to play at Auburn every day or every season. We've got two games left against Samford and Wofford, and we've got to focus on that.”
On what they can take from this game heading into the final two weeks:
“We came out healthy and we wanted to focus on the one-on-one battles and see what we could do as receivers. We tried not to drop the ball and run the routes and the quarterback threw the ball and stayed in the pocket. The offensive line did the right things blocking today. It was those one-on-one battles that we tried to focus on. We didn't think we were going to come out here and blow them out, but, we wanted to compete and fight hard for what we have. I think we did a good job.”
Senior Linebacker Ryan Consiglio
On Cam Newton:
"Obviously, Cam Newton is the real deal. He is a real football player and it was fun. It's not every day that you get to come out and try to tackle a Heisman Trophy candidate. He ran around today and showed everybody why he's on that list. You can't think that it's unfair to play a team like Auburn because its football and you have to treat it as football."
On allowing Auburn big scoring plays:
"It's not fun to give up big plays no matter who you're playing. You can't give up big plays if you want any chance to win a game, but you have to tip your hat to Auburn. They have a great offense, a lot of good players, and on those big plays you just have to hand it to them."
On the game physically and what the mindset is after the game:
"I don't feel nearly as beat up after this game as I did last year when we played Alabama. They were defiantly faster. That's something I noticed early was they're defiantly faster than Alabama. They had a good offensive line and Cam Newton is Cam Newton. It's fun to play teams like this. More than anything, I'm just ready to get to these next two games going so we can get to the playoffs. I am more interested in playing Samford and Wofford these next two weeks. We came down here and tried to compete the best we could. Now, like Coach Huesman said, this one is behind us and it's time to go get in the playoffs."
