Chattanooga Football Postgame Quotes
Chattanooga Mocs at Samford Bulldogs
Seibert Stadium (6,700) - Birmingham, Ala.
Saturday - Nov. 5, 2011
Chattanooga Head Coach Russ Huesman
Thoughts on the game:
"Thank goodness our defense played really well. They've been playing good all year. They created turnovers. I don't know how many sacks we had, but we had a bunch of sacks and negative yardage plays. [Defensive Coordinator] Adam Fuller and the defensive guys are doing an unbelievable job with them. I told the football team it was a great team win because offensively we didn't turn the ball over. We took care of the football, we punted it and that's why we won the football game. They turned the football over and that's why they didn't win. I think it was two evenly matched football teams."
On playing three quarterbacks throughout the game:
"We didn't know it was going to be a three-headed-monster. We didn't know if Terrell [Robinson] could play, probably up until today. We were really practicing the two guys with Sloan on being kind of like a wildcat guy. Terrell felt good today so we played him. We did just enough on offense. We weren't very good to be honest with you. I don't know if we had a first down in the second half other than penalties, but we hung onto the football and let the defense win the game."
On winning with the defense over the offense:
"I just like winning. I like when our offense can score points, but this is what we are right now. As long as the offense takes the ball and gets us something we'll be fine."
Thoughts on Wes Dothard's fumble return touchdown:
"He was carrying that ball like a loaf of bread. I was screaming, 'Get down, get down. Hang onto it, Get down,' and then all of a sudden he breaks a tackle and it's a touchdown. So I looked like an idiot there, but that was huge. They actually had a chance. It was 17-6 and they had it on the 5-yard line, but they threw a pick in there. If they score right there it's a different ball game. But Wes' return was huge."
On keeping the Samford offense in check:
"We forced them to kick the field goal, which was huge. They actually had it down there pretty good. I think we got some negative yardage plays, and we made them kick the field goal. That was big, and we needed a first down or two and didn't get it. Then Joel punts it about 80 yards down to the 15-yard line, and I actually felt a little bit better when he kicked it down there. I thought, 'It's going to be hard for them to get all that way,' but you never know."
On the Mocs offensive play:
"Our offense played hard. I have to give them credit. They're battling, fighting and playing hard. We're just limited in some of the things we can do. It's not Sat's fault, it's not our offense's fault, and it's not our offensive line's fault. We're just kind of limited right now in what we can do, and we'll get better, but they played and fought hard."
Wes Dothard, sophomore, linebacker
On what happened on the fumble return:
"I just tried to make a play. I stripped the ball out of the quarterback's hands and it just came back to me. I scooped it up and just tried to run it into the end zone. Second touchdown of the year. It's great."
On the strong defensive stand:
"We just tried to come out and stop the offense from scoring. We stepped up, made plays and that was part of it."
On late-quarter penalties:
"We had a couple of mishaps like the defensive line jumping offsides. We just tried to talk to them and calm them down. We just tried to step up, make plays and stop them from scoring."
On the defensive strategy, success:
"We try to work hard on not letting teams score. We work hard at practice and we focus on turnovers. I think that helped this game by getting two big turnovers. Chaz Moore caught an interception when it was looking like they were about to score. That really helped us in stopping them from scoring."
Chaz Moore, sophomore, defensive back
On the goal line interception:
"We've been practicing on that all week. I knew he was going to give me a little inside stem. I just kept my head on the outside and the quarterback gave me a gift."
On the defensive strategy, success:
"We just focus on not giving up touchdowns in the red zone. If we can hold them to a field goal, like tonight, we got a turnover and kept them out of the end zone. Preparation helped that out."
On preparing to play today's game without starter DJ Key:
"I've been playing nickel all year, so Coach has already prepared me to play corner in case somebody goes down. It wasn't a big deal or factor."
Sloan Allison, senior, wide receiver
On getting to take snaps at quarterback:
"We were fortunate to get out there. I got a few runs called and got a few yards here and there. It was a great time out there."
Thoughts on the three quarterback rotation:
"We were working two all week, and then Terrell thought he was going to be ready to play on Thursday. I've never heard of anybody with a three quarterback system, but we were pretty effective in the first half."
On the play of starting quarterback Graham Nichols:
"I give all the credit to Graham. Obviously he kind of did the most, but played the least. He made some plays, especially in the second half down there on the goal line to get us out of a real bad situation."
Thoughts on the Mocs defense:
"You have to give credit to the defense. They've been lights-out all year. On offense, we just tried to not turn the ball over, and we tried to get some first downs, touchdowns and field goals to keep us in it."
