Chattanooga Football Postgame Quotes
Chattanooga at VMI
Foster Stadium – Lexington, Va.
Saturday – Nov. 23, 2019

Head Coach Rusty Wright
Opening thoughts on the game:
"Any time you turn the ball over, two fourth down stops, snap the ball over the punter's head, fumble return for a touchdown and a missed field goal, it is going to be hard to win football games doing that.  A lot of credit goes to VMI.  They played hard and made things happen for themselves. 

"We could not make enough plays early.  I thought the fumble in the first quarter was huge.  We had a chance to go up 13-3 or 17-3, and they go and score and make it 10-10.  I knew we were going to have a hard time all day."

On the fight in the team.
"We have done that all year.  Hopefully that has set a foundation for how we are going to play around here and the things we are going to do. 

"We have to handle some adversity better.  Right now we are not very good at doing that and we have to get better.  We will. 

"They will play hard and there is no doubt in my mind they want to win.  They will try to win.  They will compete, we just have to do it in everything we do."

On the six-win season:
"It was important for me to get to six.  I wanted 7, 8, but that meant a lot to me as a first-time head coach.  I am not a loser.  I might be average, but I am not a loser.

"The way we started and that first stretch of four games … we won five games in this league for the first time since 2016.  If I had to do it over again we could have gone 2-2 in the non-conference we would have been playing for a little more today.  We probably had a legitimate chance to win one of those games out of the other two. 

"From where we have come from to now … I know it did not end like these guys wanted it … I had 58 guys out there practicing on Tuesday.  We are going to get it better and we are going to have a lot of fun around here for a long time." 

On all of the adversity faced, from the flooded practice facility in the spring to the injuries during the season:
"It will be OK.  We are going to get better.  We are going to recruit good people who are going to give us a chance to win.  Then we have to go do it.  We have to push them, mentally, physically, emotionally, to get over some humps and do some things better.  We will always have some talent here to go win in this league."

On the play of VMI:
"I'll be honest with you, the group that has done the best job in this league is the one we just played today.  Coach Wachenheim and those guys have done a tremendous job all year.  Those kids understand what they are trying to do and how they are trying to do it.  I told him that before the game started."

Chris James – Sr.-TE
Thoughts on the game:
"We shot ourselves in the foot a lot.  Credit to VMI.  They capitalized on our mistakes and we just played sloppy." 

On the two touchdown catches:
"It was the same play.  They overlooked me on the first play.  We thought we would run it again and it happened again and we got lucky." 

On the season as a whole:
"I am proud of our guys.  Six wins doesn't come very often with a first-year head coach.  I know we all want to be better and we want to have a better record next year, but I am proud of how we adjusted and how people stepped up." 

Nick Tiano – Sr.-QB
Thoughts on the game:
"Came up short today, unfortunately.  We played about as bad of a first half as we could have.  We did what we have done all season and battle back in the second half. 

"We have a lot to be proud of this season.  We fought through a lot of adversity and I am just proud of the guys.  Really enjoyed it." 

On VMI stopping the run game early:
"They were really loading the box and daring us to beat them on the outside.  They did a great job all day wreaking havoc in the backfield and getting pressure to make it hard for us to keep the chains moving." 

On the fourth down stops.
"They had a good call and brought pressure off the edge.  There was nowhere for me or Ibi to go.  It was a really good call by those guys.  They did a good job.  Credit to them."

On the fight of the team:
"That is what this team has done all year.  We have fought for four quarters every game.  Unfortunately, the execution just wasn't there in the first half. 

"I am just so proud of this team.  Proud to be a part of it and have enjoyed every minute to it." 

Khayyan Edwards – Sr.-DL
Thoughts on the game:
"We did a lot of things that we don't usually do.  We made a lot of mistakes.  I think that is what shot us in the foot.  It just shows that you have to stay focused all year.  No matter what happens, you have to stay focused and finish out the year strong." 

On the fight to get back in it.
"That was big.  It took a lot of courage from everyone to keep fighting and turn it around.  That is just what you have to do when you get down quick." 

Devonnsha Maxwell – So.-DL
Thoughts on the game:
"It was a pretty physical game.  They came to play and I have a lot of respect for them."

On shutting down the run game:
"That was pretty key.  He was the leading rusher in the SoCon and we wanted to make sure we had that handled first and the passing game second. 

On the effort of the defense:
"I like the effort that I saw.  We had a lot of seniors out there playing their last game and playing as hard as they could.  It just didn't go our way this time." 

On what to expect in the offseason:
"A lot of improvement and getting better.  Just working.  That is all we know."