The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team hosts Western Carolina in its Southern Conference opener on Saturday for a 4 p.m. ET kickoff inside Finley Stadium. The game will be carried LIVE on ESPN+.

Below are excerpts from today's press conference with photos.  The full videos are attached to the story.  Today's press conference included remarks from head coach Rusty Wright, junior defensive back Jerrell Lawson and senior quarterback Nick Tiano.

Jerrell Lawson, Jr.-DB
On heading into conference play after tough opening stretch.
"We're very excited. Those first four games were really tough and against good competition. We look at it now as we're 0-0, so we're excited to get into league play and see where things can go."
 
On Homecoming week.
"It's just a regular game. We're going to come out with the mindset to come to work every day. We won't look too much into the festivities or anything like that. We're excited to get into conference play against Western this week."

On goals still being obtainable.
"Everything that we want is still right there in front of us. One of our goals is to be able to win the SoCon. We're not looking too far ahead of ourselves and we're taking it one week at a time. This is our first opportunity so it should be fun."
 

Rusty Wright, Head Coach
On last week's battle against No. 2 James Madison.
"We played a good James Madison football team last week. They were everything as advertised and then some. They're a good football team. We managed to keep it a game for a little bit and give us an opportunity. About halfway through the third quarter we couldn't make some plays. A little bit of depth and talent took over for them and made it a tough stretch for us in the end. I thought our guys competed and played hard to give themselves an opportunity. That's one thing we're doing right now, and I know that's football cliché, but we have some guys really battling and trying to do things right. It'll take the same effort his week against Western Carolina."
 
On facing Western Carolina to open up SoCon play.
"They're 1-2 after beating North Greenville a couple weeks ago and had last week off. I'm sure we'll get their best shot. They lost to a good Mercer team the first week of the season. They're sitting there trying to get 1-1 in the conference like we're sitting here trying to get 1-0. We'll have our hands full. I'm looking forward to having a good crowd and a bunch of folks coming out to have a good time for Homecoming. Hopefully we put a good product out there."
 
On the team's outlook moving forward.
"That's my biggest concern for us moving forward. It's like a pitcher having stressful innings. It's different if your pitch count gets up and you're getting stressed. I'm concerned about our depth a little bit, and our health and mentality. When we play the last three weeks like we've played, you have to play at a high-rate of speed and it's stressful every snap. That's not because of what you're doing, it's because it's the way you have to go and compete every snap just to stay in it, much less go and try to win it. I'm hoping that helps us as we start moving forward and getting into the league. We'll see. I'm looking forward to watching them go play. They're excited."
 

Nick Tiano, Sr.-QB
Starting with an 0-0 record.
"Everything we have set out to do this season is still out in front of us. These first four games are important to remember, important to learn and grow from. As far as our mindset, we're 0-0. We're ready to get one win under our belt this week and continue to put great weeks of practice together. Having a great game plan, great game and put a win under our belt. We want to do that week after week for the rest of the season."
 
On every goal still available to reach. 
"Coach has said that since Saturday night. As much as it hurt to lose that game, we fought hard to be in. Everything is still in front of us, that's the great thing about it. You hate to lose, nobody wanted to be 1-3, but fortunately for us, everything we want to do this season is still in front of us."
 
On the Homecoming crowd and home atmosphere.
"It's a great day. Stick with us. We're tough, we play hard, and we're going to start winning. The crowd is huge for us. We can make an environment where our home fans are behind us, giving us energy and making it hard for our opponents, that's huge in helping us get a win. We need it more than ever this weekend."