Chattanooga Football Postgame Quotes
No. 11 Chattanooga at The Citadel
Johnson Hagood Stadium – Charleston, S.C.
Saturday – Nov. 5, 2022

Head Coach Rusty Wright
Overall thought on the win:
"I am just really proud of these players and coaches bouncing back after last week and giving themselves an opportunity to come down here and win.  We had a lot of adversity from Friday morning until the time we got here and I thought everybody handled it great.  Everyone pitched in and we got a good team win."

On the play of the offense in the game:
"They just kept battling.  They just kept battling.  It is hard.  It doesn't matter what you do offensively -  running the ball, throwing the ball – people have time to prepare for you and they do a god job. It is hard and then it is a chess match. You have to figure out what they are doing to you and I thought our coaches didn't abandon what we were trying to do.  We just figured out how to do it a little better. I know we have to play a little better at times. We gave away too many things, but I thought they did a good job of just continuing to play."

On the play of the defense:
"Any time you give up just 188 rushing yards and you are playing a triple-option team, I will take it every time. I thought we had a great week of practice.  I thought Devonnsha Maxwell and Marlon Taylor played phenomenal.  I am not sure I have been involved in a game where two interior defensive linemen played the option the way they played it today.  It made it awful hard for them because that it where it starts. I am just proud of the effort and resolve. We got thin back in the secondary real quick.  Those guys just kept battling. They played their tails off."

On the catch made by Ailym Ford to keep a second half drive alive:
"What a great call.  He got hung up coming out of the backfield to start with.  It was a good throw, good catch.  Preston had time to put it on him because the defender had his back to him."

On the defensive play of Reuben Lowery, Ty Boeck and Jay Person:
"We had some guys get sick and could not play today. In 24-hours we had to move Reuben from his over-hang spot to corner to free safety.  Kam Brown was sick today.  There was a lot coaching and finagling going on this morning.  Reuben is another one, good human being who works his tail off and he is a good player.  Ty, the nature of what we do defensively, he is going to have an opportunity to make plays.  Jay Person is going to have the same thing being on the back side of things."

McClendon Curtis – Sr.-OL
On overcoming a slow start on offense:
"Guys just have to stop thinking and go out there and play football. All of the guys we have on offense are good football players. We think too much and when you think you try to play football fast and it isn't going to work.  Just do your job. We practice this stuff all of the time.  We don't do much on offense, but at the same time, you have to know what you have to do. I felt like in the second half we did that.  Guys came out and just played ball.  The offensive line was more physical.  The receivers were doing their jobs down the field, running backs keep running and quarterback playing his game. That was the difference. 

On getting Ailym Ford back this week:
"He is a guy who is always one level.  He is always GO.  You don't mind blocking for somebody who is always on go.  That whole running back room is the same way. He leads by example, so having him out here makes a big difference. 

Ailym Ford – Jr.-RB
On getting back on the field after missing last week's game:
"It was a terrible feeling staying at home watching the game. I was supporting from a distance.  I felt like I owed my guys this week.  They fought their tails off last week and a I feel like we really deserve this win.  We worked our tails off, worked on the mistakes from last week and now we are back in business."

On overcoming a slow start:
"The Citadel does a lot of things defensively.  The offense caught on a little bit later in the game, but they still fought the entire game. It was great to get some momentum towards the end of the second quarter and into the second half."

On the advantage of having both he and Gino available:
"It is definitely a great 1-2 punch.  Gino is a phenomenal back. Not one guy can just dominate the entire game. It is good to have a back-up guy.  That is the case with any position on the field. It is just an honor having him as a back."

Devonnsha Maxwell – Sr.-DL
On the difficulty of playing against The Citadel:
"There are a lot of technical things that we have to focus on.  We have to keep our eyes in the right spot and focus on the little things."

On forcing some key turnovers:
"It was huge.  When ever we have an option team, we know a lot of guys are going to have the ball.  We know if we can get our hands in there, sometimes we can get it out and that happened today."

On the strong defensive play on first down:
"That was our focus, keeping them behind the sticks. They'll take three yards, so we were trying to keep them under three yards.  We did that pretty well."

Jay Person – Jr.-DL
On the typical tough, physical game against The Citadel:
"We knew coming in this game was going to be a hard-fought game.  Four quarters, physical, so we knew we had to prepare all week and really get ready mentally.  We knew it was going to be pretty physical."

On playing aggressively against the triple-option:
"We knew we had the talent to play with them and be physical with them, but it was going to come down to the little things.  Reading our blocks right, reading our keys and fitting the right gaps."

On getting ready for the upcoming week:
"This week was a big one coming off a loss.  As a defense, we knew we wanted to get our swagger back.  We just have to focus this week and be ready for Saturday."