Chattanooga Football Postgame Quotes
Western Carolina at Chattanooga
Finley Stadium - Chattanooga, Tenn.
Saturday – Sept. 28, 2019

Rusty Wright, Head Coach
On offensive explosion in tonight's 60-36 win.
"I don't know if we'll score 60 points every time, but we can run the football. We have good enough guys to block up front. We took shots when we were able to take shots and threw it when we were able to throw it. We can do some things offensively, but we can't start like how we started. Could you imagine if we started well? We had a plan to run the football and those two guys [Ailym Ford and Elijah Ibitokun-Hanks] ran hard. I was pleased with those guys. Anytime you score 60 points, I don't care how you get it, it's awesome. I told our guys Monday and before we played today, that this was going to be one of the hardest games we'll play all year to win. I knew it was going to be like this. Thankfully, we gave ourselves an opportunity to score a bunch of points. We made stops when we needed to make stops defensively, and that's all that matters.""
 
On the play of the offensive line unit battling through injuries.
"Those guys, they come to work every day. Those guys come to work every day. They don't gripe and complain. They don't care that you make them go to study hall and do extra stuff. They're just great guys to be around and they're playing really well together. It's hard. We didn't have anyone to sub for them at the end of the game. We have to get a couple more into it, get some freshmen some reps, and do some things to build a little more depth. I was really proud of how those guys played."
 
On responding with win after tough four-game stretch to open season.
"We got tired out there today. We have a bunch of guys that have played a lot of snaps so far this year. I know those kids know that we have played good people, but I knew this was going to be a tough football game. I tried to prepare them for it all week. I told them Monday morning, hardest game all year, and it wound up that way. Hopefully, our guys understand that we keep playing, we can't do bonehead things to get started, or special team errors, but those are things we can fix and get lined up again to compete. We have to get some guys back. We have one more week before an open date and hopefully we can patch things together. They fought. It was a good team win because a lot of people who played football for us today."

Nick Tiano, QB-Sr.
On 400+ yards of rushing in tonight's win.
"For me, all that matters is if we win. I don't care if we hand it off 50 times, or we throw it 50 times. It's a testament to how much time and effort our offensive line has put in, especially with having to swap out at right tackle with Harrison [Moon] going down. Colin [Truett] stepped up. For us to come out and run the ball like this, it's awesome. It's great momentum for us going forward for the rest of the season."
 
On Colin Truett stepping up at RT in first career start.
"I thought he did a great job. Harrison [Moon] is a great player. Me personally, it hurt all of us, but it broke my heart more than anything. Colin [Truett] was able to step in to a tough spot with little notice and play great for us today. 400 yards of rushing, those guys all had to play pretty good."

Ailym Ford, RB-Fr.
On rushing for 195 yards, just seven yards shy of UTC freshman record.
"Honestly, those aren't my yards, those are the offensive lines' yards. We work together, and we're a team. We just keep pushing and work hard."
 
On the balance and execution at the running back position.
"There are a lot of things going on with the running backs. We feel like we have to play for each other and just be confident and physical on the field. That's what we have to do."