Mike Clowney Opening Statement: It was a good day for our guys yesterday, being able to come in and meet on Labor Day and just kind of talk about putting last week's game away and going into this week's game versus ETSU. I think it's a game that our guys look forward to, and that they're excited about. The biggest thing that makes it exciting is the fact that you get to go play up a level, and that's also the thing that makes it the biggest challenge. The biggest thing we continue to challenge our guys to do is make sure we come out and give the best effort and preparation that we can each and every day. Not only is it going to be a big week for us, but it's a big month for us when you kind of look down the road a little bit.
Q1: You have an FCS school and then three straight DII teams that have either been ranked or receiving votes in the AFCA or DII polls. I suppose it's easy to not look ahead, given the consecutive challenges that are laid in front of you. But how critical is quick growth, after VUL, looking into these next four weeks?
That's why we're talking about it. You try to stay week-to-week as much as you can, but when I looked at the schedule yesterday, I felt like that's something that we needed to address. I mean, you're going to play, like you said, and FCS team this week and then play a team that played in the playoffs and received 30 votes, being top-25. The next two teams are in the top-25 in Division II, so we've got a good challenge in front of us. This week is the only one that we can worry about, and we talked about that in the meeting yesterday. So, the biggest thing is for us to be focused and be ready to get better every single day.
Q2: Biggest area of emphasis for improvement from the VUL game to this upper-Division game?
I think the thing that we want to do is continue to clean up what we're doing. When you go and watch the film, when you win, not everything shows up on the scoreboard. Sometimes if you lose, everything doesn't show up on the scoreboard. Being able to clean some of that stuff up that you don't necessarily see from the stands. Number one, I think for us, is the execution part of it. For the most part, defensively, we executed fairly well. The biggest thing is we still had potential for a couple big plays to get out. Now, the great thing was we got those guys on the ground and were able to hold VUL to a field goal. When you play against a little bit better football team, you're going up a level. Those mistakes, like the turnovers that we had, we were able to get back. You don't want those to turn into scores going the other way. So defensively, those are the things that we've got to clean up. Offensively, naturally it's execution. Making sure that guys know what to do, and then we can go out and execute the call, as it's called, without a whole lot of coaching. I think for us coaches, we want to be able to get most of the coaching done during the week. Then on Saturday, you want guys to be ready and know what to do on the field as far as playing. We're still having to do a lot of coaching from the sideline on Saturday.
We've been able to see him a little bit over the last couple of years. My guess is he'll probably show up because he's a tough kid. He's been fairly resilient for them over a long period of time, and that's not something that just vanishes in the night. So, I would expect him to do whatever it takes to be able to get back on the field as long as that's a possibility for him. But the big thing for him, I mean he is just a really good athlete, solid quarterback, runs the ball well, and does a really good job of hitting people deep on the long ball.
Q4: You look at what your running back room did. Nine guys all have a carry of at least nine yards. That's something that hasn't happened for Carson-Newman football in the last decade. How valuable was Thursday for that room, especially considering that you didn't play TJ King or Tyree Nelson?
I think it was good, because we talk about Cam and Jayden, two guys that had some success in that game that didn't play for us at all last year. I think it's a good kickoff game for them to be able to get their feet underneath them and to see how they perform against someone else. They've done well in practice, but it's always good to see it happen under the lights. Then, you still got those guys that were Steady Eddies for us last year, with Vonte and TC taking snaps. They did a really good job. Then, as you get down the road, you start interjecting Tyree into the game plan. Jelan has been injured, played snaps late in the football game on Thursday night. So, that room we feel like is pretty deep. The biggest thing for us there is to continue to work and compete every day, and keeping our composure.
Q5: Saw the debut of Bryce Bevins and Julius Cobbs in the receiving corps. Cobbs obviously some familial ties to this program out in accordance with his little brother. He scored a touchdown, and Bevins had a few passes caught. What'd you see from your end in week one and look to improve week two?
I think it was good to be able to get the ball in those guys' hands. Bevins transferring down from a FCS, he's had several good days of practice for us during camp. To be able to get a couple catches under his belt, we feel like he's a guy that can be a Steady Eddie for us. Julius, naturally with Ivan being his brother and coming in, it was fun being able to watch him have some success. You go back and you watch his high school tape; man, he's a kid that's fast and can run. He actually came in a little bit late, so he's getting to the point where he understands and knows what to do a little bit better. I think as we continue to go along, he'll continue to work to be a little bit more of a factor for us.
Q6: Defensively for ETSU, what's the biggest thing that stands out to you about the box on that side of the ball?
Yeah, they're big. I mean that's the thing that you get when you go up, is the size of the kids. There just so much bigger than what we see week-in and week-out. Upfront, their defensive line and their linebackers are huge. They do a great job of attacking. They play gaps. Coach Taylor's been there I think since ETSU's had football, and he continues to do a good job of making sure that he's getting the right guys in the right places. They do a great job of stopping the run, which is something that we still feel like we have to be able to find a way to do in order to be successful.
Q7: Quite a few East Tennessee ties; Carl Torbush is certainly one between Carson-Newman and ETSU. Obviously two time All-American here, helped revive the program in the mid-2010s. Jay Guillermo, former offensive line coach for the Eagles, now for ETSU. And then George Quarles. I mean if you're talking about East Tennessee football, you've got to talk about one of the most successful high school coaches, not only in this region but in this country. How fun does that local geography make this match up?
To me, that's one of the biggest things that brings energy to this game, is just locale. We all know and are familiar with one another. ETSU is one of those games that's saved in my score stream even if we aren't playing them, just because they're close and you want to see and know how they're doing. Especially when Coach Torbush was over there. I want to see what sideline he stands on, is my biggest challenge for Carl. "Where are you going to be on Saturday, Carl? Are you going to be at home with the Eagles?". And we know he is significant there, but I'm sure that'll be a little hard on him. But we do expect him to be sitting on the Eagle side. Then with George, I mean just being able to recruit his school for years when he was at Maryville, and just the success that he had there and just him still being here in this area. I think speaks volume just for the East Tennessee area in general. Then Jay, getting his first full-time coaching job, he was at Western and then he comes here and coaches offensive line for us. Then he goes to Virginia and winds up right back down the street. And he played for Coach Quarles in high school, so I'm sure that relationship's significant for the two of them to be able to be back together. So, it's going to be a fun day, and a good family competitive environment.
