Mike Clowney Opening Statement: UVA Wise is a good football team. I think that's the thing that we've learned. We've played them more than anybody. We've played them, too, during the Covid year and went up there two years in a row. They are a good football team, and it's a good environment. They'll make us get up early, come over there, and play a 12:00 kickoff, but it's something that our kids are looking forward to being able to play again.
Q1: The winning season is still potentially in grabs. How crucial is that for this program as it develops and grows?
I think it's something that we definitely want to be able to accomplish. It just kind of, on paper, it keeps you at least in the same ballpark that you were in last year. The biggest thing we've got to do is try to figure out what's on paper versus what's off paper. The big thing that we want to do is continue to grow, continue to be competitive, and continue to move the program in the direction that it needs to go.
Q2: Defensively, your pass rush has really developed since October. It was there in September, but it has turned into an elite pass rush over the past four weeks. You're fifth in the country in sacks. I've been doing Carson-Newman games for 12 years, and I don't remember being able to rush the passer like you have been here of late. What is that development owed to?
The guy's up front. They continue to do a good job of working. It was cool, that's what we talked about in our meeting on Monday. This game this past Saturday, the things that you work on on the field during the week, you're actually starting to see show up on film on Monday mornings. Just being able to have that success, I think a lot of times will breed more success. It's been a total effort from our defense. The front's doing a good job of getting pressure, and guys on the back end have done a really good job of getting guys covered up to continue to buy them time. It's a formula that normally works. We'll need it this week against UVA Wise. They are a super talented football team on the perimeter and in the air. Coach Damron does a great job with what they do in the passing game, so it's something that we'll have to make sure we bring with us this Saturday.
Q3: Is it owed more to the front four or your back four, covering people up?
It's a good debate to have because they really truly do work together, and I think it's probably a fair balance of both.
Q4: You allude to UVA Wise's passing game. It's, at least in the past, been a little bit different than anything else that anybody faces. A lot of quick hitters which negates the ability to get pressure on the quarterback. They've got one of the better receivers in the league in Dorien Goddard. What sticks out to you about their aerial attack?
Number one, Goddard's become a staple in the conference, so we've got to make sure we're aware of where he's at and what he's doing. I think the other thing that they do is just the tempo that they work at. They do a good job of just basically taking what you give them. If you give them short underneath routes, they're going to play pitch and catch. If you get up in their face, they're going to throw the ball over top of you, so we've got to make sure that we do a good job of kind of staying balanced with the things that we do. We've got to do a good job of tackling. When they do play pitch and catch, we've got to get the ball tackled, and then we've got to be ready to get lined up fast and communicate and play quick.
Q5: I think the impressive thing about their offense this year is the development of their running game. Between Jeavon Gillespie and Zavier Lomax, I mean it feels like they've got a ton of guys that are capable of going off. How have they integrated the run successfully this year?
I think a big thing for them is they've gotten better up front. Last year, I know they were really young up front. Those guys have had a little bit more time to grow and develop which has kind of equated to the talent that they have in the backfield and having the opportunity to be more productive. The big thing is they're similar to us in the fact that they do have a bunch of different guys that get opportunities. When they got those opportunities, they're working to make the most of it.
Q6: Tremendous balance on Saturday with both 200 yards rushing and passing, and a ton of different guys involved in that. Jayden Sullins, first player in I don't know how long who has a 50-yard rush and a 50- yard pass caught in the same season. James Maddox scores a touchdown it seems like anytime he touches the football. What do you see out of that group?
I think that's one thing with that room is like I think there's just a lot of talent in that room. I think it varies. Those guys in the room all kind of have a little different skill sets which gives us the opportunity to do know some different things with them. Coach McKeethan and Coach Weaver and our offensive staff have done a great job of kind of being able to mix that up. It's just cool when James gets into the end zone to watch our guys celebrate and have a good time. Just being able to watch the versatility of those guys is cool. You talk about Sullins being able to rush the ball and catch the ball out of the backfield. We can line him up as a receiver, or we can line him up in the backfield. Tyler Curtis had a great rush for a touchdown. Tyree Nelson has done a good job of just coming on and becoming a more consistent player for us.
Q7: You bring up TC. He's second in the conference in rushing touchdowns. He has been a bruising back throughout his career. What has he done to take his game to the next level?
He's a talented kid, and he's got a lot of size. He can run. The big thing has been just kind of keeping him healthy. He's starting to get to the point where he is a little bit healthier. I think he understands his role a little bit more. It's like we started off just trying to get a bunch of guys doing a bunch of different things. Now, they are getting to where they understand what they are doing better which gives them a better chance to execute. They understand a little bit better where that hole is supposed to be for them to hit it. Early in the year, we just had a bad habit of bouncing everything outside. I think guys are starting to kind of be able to see and feel what's going on in the offense. TC is a guy that's definitely benefited from that offensive line.
Q8: Outside of Christian Jones in you're starting five on Saturday, the other four from left guard over to right tackle either hadn't started or were not at the positions at which they started the season. What can you say about their growth and development? I mean, they rolled up 470 yards total offense against an Emory & Henry defense that was only giving up 330 a game.
They've been unshakable, to go back to the theme. Every single day, we don't know who's going to be here. We don't know where they're going to be. You go to practice every day with your toes crossed just because you want to try to get the same group to a game at least two weeks in a row, which last week was probably as close as we have been to being able to do that. Those guys have been resilient. We've moved them around like checker pieces, and they just continue to show up every day. We are finally starting to see some of that work pay off and starting to get a little bit better movement. My guys up front are kind of getting a little bit of cohesiveness from a communication standpoint. That group has to probably work closer together than any other group on the team. One big thing that you want is consistency and continuity there, and we haven't had that from the same guys, but I think Coach Ray and Coach Peppin have kind of done a good job of kind of instilling that into that entire group to where we have been able to mesh different guys in different places and still give ourselves a chance to compete.
Q9: Your tight end position, which Drew Morrison has done it about as long as anybody, but you've mixed in two true freshman. RJ Brooks and Elijah Davis, what have you seen from that group as freshman?
Coach Cryder does a good job with those guys. Drew's been that steady Eddie. We continue to work pushing him every day. I think one thing that he's done is he's done a good job of helping transition the young guys. RJ has played that position all year and has gone through a couple growing pains as a freshman which is what you experience, but has continued to kind of grow and develop. Then one day you know, EJ comes over and he's like, "You know I was All-State tight end", and we were scrambling there just to find guys. We moved Gavin Gosnell to quarterback which was just a super unselfish move for him. I guess he probably consulted with some people in his family, and just to have him come in and say "Coach, I'll do whatever it takes, whatever the football team needs me to do, I'll do". That's the type guy that we have at that position. I think it speaks to that whole group. I think it speaks to the guy that coaches them, Coach Cryder. So, they're just an unselfish group that's willing to kind of go in and work and learn and just encourage them to continue to do that.
Q10: Defensively, UVA Wise is fifth nationally in defensive touchdowns. You're coming off a game against Emory & Henry where you faced a team that turns people over right and left. Ball security for Carson-Newman has been okay for the most part, only played turnover free once, but what's that take against a Wise team that clearly is capable of not only turning people over but taking it to the house?
The thing that we've got to continue to do is make our guys be conscious of how they're securing the football. You do the drills, and in drill, they do a fairly decent job of it, but it's just making guys conscious of carrying the ball. You carry it so much that it's easy to get comfortable with it, but guys just have to make sure that they do a good job of securing it so that we don't fumble it. Then, at the quarterback position, we just have to be smart with how we handle it. We've got to take good reads, and we've got to throw the ball in the hold. If something's not there, there is a fine line between playing confident and playing cocky, so we want to play with great confidence, but we can't be cocky to the point that we give them an opportunity.
