2023 Chattanooga Mocs Football
vs. East Tennessee State – Oct. 21
Finley Stadium – Chattanooga, Tenn.
Postgame Quotes

Rusty Wright, Head Coach
On the big win.
"They're never easy. To our credit, we did what we talked [about] at halftime. [We] played well in the first quarter, not so well in the second quarter. Give them credit. Give those coaches and those kids over their credit. They kept fighting, kept playing, but we came out in the second half, and I think we scored on the first two drives offensively and that's what you have to do. We put the distance between us, stopped them on defense; those are things you have to do."

On running back room without Ford (injury - unavailable on Saturday).
"We've got a competent group. Gino runs the ball hard, it was good to get Reggie back today, get him going again and doing some things, Lance has the ability to do stuff, so there's four guys in there. We've got to be smarter; we can't be running out of bounds with a minute and a half left, but Chris Houston can do things. We've got guys that can do things, we've just got to be smart about it and put them in the best situations to succeed."

On Reggie Davis.
"It's the first time he's played [since Week One]. We got him cleared Tuesday at practice, he worked his tail off. Reggie's got a chance to be special."

On the defense.
"Three points, 75 yards rushing? I'll take that. They played like they're capable of playing against a team they should have played that way against. A lot of times, defense is just being in the right spots, having eyes in the right spots, and just playing your tail off. It's not a mystery. That's what we talk about all the time; we can't give people things. If people go and make plays, it is what it is. Our guys go make plays offensively. We gave away so much three weeks ago, just by not physically in the right spots. Credit to the defensive coaches, they've got plans and we've done them. We're a better football team than the one we just played, no question, but it's hard. We're getting ready to go play our 13^th week straight."

On staying level in the emotion of the rivalry.
"We talk about it all the time, about doing things right all the time, and I'm not going to put up with it. They know that. We want those free yards; I don't want to give anything free to somebody out there if I don't have to. My guys know better, and we're constantly talking to them on the sidelines about those things, pulling guys off, and talking about making good decisions on and off the football field, it's what you have to do."

On pulling for Clay Fields III to get an interception.
"Are you kidding me? Three plays in a row, I think one of them hit him in the helmet. I don't know what else you can do to help a guy. He was right there on top of them, read it, did what he's supposed to, and he played well. He prepared himself, played well, gave us a boost knowing Jordan Walker had to sit out the first half. Clay's watched a lot this year, but he's a good football player, smart young man, and credit to him for giving himself an opportunity to go out there and play well."

Gino Appleberry, RB, Sr.
On the rest of the running backs having to step up with Ailym Ford being out.
"It's running back by commitee and it's always been running back by commitee. Our coach, Coach DJ Knox, he's always done a great job at getting us together and preparing us week in and week out so we're ready for Saturday."

On being able to extend drives today on third downs.
"Coach emphasized that we came out and played fast, and whenever he could tell that the energy was low, he wanted us to bring our own juice to the party."

Clay Fields III, DB, Sr.
On him stepping up on defense with Jordan Walker being out the opening half of the game.
"On our side, I knew for me personally that I had to step up to fill Jordan's shoes. When we looked at the game plan coming into today we knew it was a young quarterback, so we wanted to take advantage of that as much as we could today just in terms of his reads and stuff like that."

On the defensive line helping to put pressure on ETSU's QB to help the DBs jump some routes today.
"Guys like Jay Person and Ben Brewton, they put all that pressure on him that forced him to throw to a lot of routes that wouldn't necessarily be open."

Chase Artopoeus, QB, Jr.
On starting the game with three touchdowns on the opening three drives.
"Yeah that's just a great way to start off a game. Couldn't have asked for anything more from our offense there. In the second quarter we kind of faultered a little so we need to go back and watch the film there. Overall I'm proud of how the offense played today."

On the team's slump in the second.
"It was an afternoon game, maybe some of the guys were getting drained in the second quarter. It was 21-0 at that point so it's easy to sit down on the bench just a little too long. Luckily we were able to come back out in the second half and our defense helped bail us out multiple times. I'm really proud of the team overall."

Jay Person, EDGE, Sr.
On putting tons of pressure on the QB today.
"We knew this was going to be a big game coming into this week. He was a freshman and we watched a lot of film on him. He's calculated and a good quarterback that could make some plays, so we knew we had to collapse on him to help out our DBs."

On limiting how long ETSU's offense was on the field.
"Our offense did great, especially those first few drives. That gave us a bunch of time sit on the sideline, get recuperated and really just get our legs under us."