Ashley Ingram pre-Anderson press conference transcripts
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman heads to Anderson to conclude a three-game road trip with a matchup with the SAC's top scoring defense. Below are Ashley Ingram's pregame remarks to the media about the Trojans.
VIDEO: Ashley Ingram Press Conference
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman heads to Anderson to conclude a three-game road trip with a matchup with the SAC's top scoring defense. Below are Ashley Ingram's pregame remarks to the media about the Trojans.
OPENING STATEMENT:
INGRAM: The bye week came at a great time. You know, we've been going since early August, had a few guys banged up and looks like we're going to be pretty healthy going into this game. We got a great challenge in front of us. Obviously, Coach (Bobby) Lamb's a great coach. They've done a great job building this program. Great facilities, great home crowd. They're 5-2 now. Just had a big win over Lenoir-Rhyne. They're well coached. A lot of the same players we played last year, but just another. Another year under their belt, another year older. And then they've got this little thing called confidence right now. So I think they're super excited for us to come into town.
Q1: Bryson James is the reigning SAC offensive player of the week at running back. School record 221 yards, 70 yard rush, 73 yard rush. Had the two longest rushes in program history in the same game. What sticks out to you about him at running back in a league that's full of talented tailbacks?
INGRAM: He's athletic, he's big, he's explosive. He can break a tackle, he can make you miss, he can jump, cut and then run away from people and score. So he's a very talented young man.
Q2: In year two of the program, Anderson has the best defense in the South Atlantic Conference. Nobody gives up fewer yards and fewer points than the Trojans. What are they doing defensively in year two to be a top 10 defense nationally?
INGRAM: They are very well coached. Then they've got good players and they're playing with confidence now. They're playing fast, they're playing hard and they got a good group.
Q3: Another week where you face off against the quality secondary. Carter Wit is the reigning SAC defensive player of the week. After what you saw 14 days ago in Emory & Henry's back end, how do Wit and company compare back there for the Trojans?
INGRAM: Like I said, they're talented, they're athletic and they're really, really well coached. You know, we've done a good job this year taking care of the football. I think we're number one in fewest turnovers in the country. But we just hadn't hit our stride offensively. We need to have a coming out party this week and we've talked to our guys about that. Defensively, we're playing great. We got to clean a few things up from the special teams, but offensively we've got to play better than what we played. We've got to be more consistent, we got to be more physical at the point of attack and that's the plan this week.
Q4: You say you want to get the offense to make those strides, to get on pace with the defense, but how challenging is that with what's in front of you defensively?
INGRAM: Well, they're good, but we're going to have to go give it a whirl, see what we can do. But we certainly need to play better offensively than what we've been playing the last few weeks.
Q5: Aside from getting healthy, how did you utilize the extra time last week?
INGRAM: We did spend a lot of time trying to get healthy and recharge and get fresh. Obviously we practiced, but just kind of focusing on Carson-Newman and what we need to do to improve down this back stretch.
Q6: Playoffs and a SAC title still can be in the mix if you win out. Is that an emphasis point at all or is it keep it within Carson-Newman getting better to be the best it can be.
INGRAM: Well, we got to focus on Carson-Newman and then all our energy has to go towards beating a very good Anderson team. All those things are great and nice things to talk about, but we have our hands full with Anderson and we'll just focus on Carson-Newman and getting better and we'll focus on this game this weekend versus Anderson.
Q7: Anything else?
INGRAM: Coach Lamb's done a great job there. They're playing with a lot of confidence. They've got very good players and we're excited to go over there and play. I'm sure they're going to have a great crowd there waiting for us.
Kickoff between the Eagles and Trojans 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
