Ashley Ingram pre-Emory & Henry Press conference transcripts
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman heads to Fred Selfe Stadium for a matchup with the owners of the nation's third-longest active home winning streak and Emory & Henry. Below are Ashley Ingram's pregame remarks to the media about the Wasps.
VIDEO: Ashley Ingram Press Conference
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman heads to Fred Selfe Stadium for a matchup with the owners of the nation's third-longest active home winning streak and Emory & Henry. Below are Ashley Ingram's pregame remarks to the media about the Wasps.
OPENING STATEMENT:
INGRAM: Well, I feel like we keep having the same conversation of going on the road to play a really, really good football team. You know, they are a veteran team, senior quarterback, they score a lot of points. Coach Hunter and his staff does a great job defensively. They/ve got a defensive end, who's a great player. Then you've got their the back end. You know, three of the four in the secondary are all conference players with an All-American. We had our hands full with them last year and I expect a great game.
Q1: What makes them so good at causing that chaos defensively?
INGRAM: They do a great job coaching them. Their scheme and system kind of puts you in a tough spot. They'll pressure you obviously versus conventional people a little more. But they're just very athletic on the back end. I think they led the nation in interceptions last year. Maybe turnovers caused. They're kind of doing it again. They scored on a punt return last week versus Anderson, a great play by their returner and then they had a short field. I think they maybe had a 10 yard drive or something because of a turnover. So they're obviously good on offense but their defense gets the ball for them in great places. If we have any chance to win this game, we have to take care of football. Last year we lost a close game. We turned it over four times and they turned it over once. So that'll be the key to the game.
Q2: You alluded to the punt return. Cam Peoples leads the nation in average yards per punt return. What makes him so dynamic?
INGRAM: He's an All-Conference wideout. He's just very, very athletic guy. He's been around a while. He's just a very, very good football player and they know how to get him the ball in space too.
Q3: Gotta talk about E&H and their RPO offense. What makes it tough to defend with Charles Mutter and Cole Lambert running it.
INGRAM: I think you just said it. QB play is very good. Got good Running backs, big, long, athletic wide receivers. And then they've got an experienced front line. I think there's three, fifth-year seniors playing on the offensive line for them. So just a very good scheme with very good talent, which is a, you know, pretty nasty combination.
Q4: Where is this team at mentally after a wet, lengthy win at Wingate?
INGRAM: They seemed to have great energy yesterday and I think they understand the magnitude of this game. And I think they also understand we've got an open week coming up after it. So I think we'll be excited to play. We better be. We're playing a good one. And I think the other thing is, you know, I'll stand on the table for our SAC guys. I don't understand why Wingate hadn't been ranked higher and more often than they have been. And Emory & Henry, if you look at what they've done the last two seasons, there's no reason that they shouldn't be a top 25 team as well.
Q5: It is crazy that E&H didn't receive a vote in the AFCA poll.
INGRAM: Well, that's just incompetence. I mean somebody's not paying attention to what they've done. I think they are 4-1. They won nine games last year. So you're looking at a team that's 13-3 in their last 16 games playing pretty good competition. And I don't think there's a bad loss in that mix as well.
Q6: What's it say about this league as a whole that there are I think seven or eight teams with only one loss?
INGRAM: The league's great, the coaching's great, the players are great. I just don't think it's getting the credit it deserves nationally right now.
Q7: You've been a little nicked and dinged injury wise, especially on the offense side of the ball. What does that say about the next man up mentality of that side of the ball for your team?
INGRAM: Yeah, that's just kind of the way we have to do it right now. We've had some injuries. Fortunately, none of the injuries are serious. Just about every one of those guys were out practicing yesterday, which was a great sight to see. We don't make any excuses and we just put another guy in there. We expect them to perform at the level that the guy they're replacing.
Q8: You're closing in on the midpoint of the season. What have you seen developmentally from this team the first five weeks against the fourth toughest schedule in the country?
INGRAM: I think we're continuing to grow offensively. You know, we're doing some new things this year, so there's some growth there. I've been very pleased with the young guys that have had to step up and play due to injuries. And defensively, we just get better and better every week. So we'll need all those things again this week to have a chance against Emory & Henry.
Q9: You really don't have any crazy stat standouts defensively in part because of just volume of plays run by your opponents isn't that high. It's tough to rack up tackles when they're only 45 offensive plays for an opposing team. Who has stuck out to you on the defensive side of the football, that's meriting of all conference and all-America consideration?
Ingram: Well, both of our corners, Isaiah Cane and Champ Baker are doing a great job. Mekhi Brown is playing well. Luke Scott had a great game last week. Chico Mason is. There's better defensive linemen in the league consistently than him over the last two or three years. I'd be hard pressed to find them. Cruz is playing great. Cruz Temple, the whole group. David Alexander is playing great. So the front seven is playing really great. Our corners are playing great, and the rest of them are kind of coming into our own as well.
Q10: Anything else?
INGRAM: No, I just excited for the opportunity. We're playing a really, really good football team on the road for the second year in a row. Not sure how that happened, but thank the scheduling crowd for that. But we're excited to play a really, really good opponent - I think we'll play well.
Kickoff between the Eagles and Wasps is set for 1 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at noon with the AEC Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), MIX 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A video stream is available with a subscription to FloCollege at cneagles.com/FloFB. The ESN also allows you to go "Inside the Radio Booth" with a live feed of the ESN crew on YouTube
