VIDEO: Ashley Ingram Press Conference 

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - No. 18/18 Carson-Newman returns home looking to improve upon a 6-0 start when it welcomes UVA Wise for a 1 p.m. kickoff Saturday.  Below are Ashley Ingram's pregame remarks to the media about the UVA Wise Highland Cavaliers.

OPENING STATEMENT:  

INGRAM: We're excited for the opportunity. Great to be playing at home again. Every road trip so far has been quite an adventure, and so to be able to play here in Jefferson City is going to be great. Got a good opponent. UVA Wise is much improved. Coach (Gary) Bass is doing a great job. They had a big win, you know, a couple weeks ago over Catawba, and obviously we know what kind of team Catawba is, so we'll certainly have our hands full this weekend.  

Q1: They've already matched their win total from a year ago. What sticks out to you about what they're doing?

INGRAM:  Well, he's an old o-line guy. They're a tough football team. Got a really tough running back. They're just doing a nice job and are well-coached, physical, aggressive. They play hard. So he's doing a great job.

Q2:  Your're top three in the league in most defensive categories except for one - turnovers forced. Are you content with, hey, three and out, three and out, three and out? Or would you like to see a little more chaos?

INGRAM: I'll take three and out, three and out, three and out any day of the week. But we'd love to get some turnovers. We would love to get some picks and pressure to quarterback and gang tackle and cause some fumbles. Certainly something I know Coach Slade is focusing on with our defense. But if we continue to play well and we can get three and outs and we can make people punt, we'd be happy with that. I think the thing we're most excited about after last week is to get Major back for the whole game, to get Kendall Williams back. We expect him back. Jet was down for a little while. He's doing fine in practice yesterday. So to be at full strength again will be the most exciting thing.

Q3:  You are at the halfway point, biggest surprise in the first half of the season for you.

INGRAM:  I think anytime that you have to play as many quarterbacks as we've played and then continue to have success, I think is obviously a surprise. You know, I haven't really been around this, obviously in this offense because guys are runners. You can get people injured, but to lose three, I just haven't been around that. But as I told the guys yesterday, our expectations, our desires don't change based on who's playing quarterback. It didn't change when we lost the majority of our secondary last week. We just got to play the next guy and the guys have been resilient and I'm super proud of the way they've handled those situations.

Q4:  I would say you've secured a winning season and I know that that is not a satisfactory point for you. More. Hey, you're 6-0 with a chance to do something special, but do you take pride in that right out of the gate, but with a lot in front of you?

INGRAM:  You know, I hadn't really thought a lot about it and what I've told our guys is, it's kind of human nature to get ahead of yourself and start looking down the road. But really all we can control is how we prepare today and practice this afternoon and then we can do it again tomorrow and then again on Thursday. And ultimately the goal is to win this football game on Saturday and move on to the next one. Then, when the season's over, I think we'll have time to sit back and look back at what we've done and what we've accomplished and what we did well and what we need to improve upon. But yeah, I'm happy for the guys. You know, our players, especially the older guys, have had a lot of struggles here and for them to get some success and then get some accolades for their success and their hard work. I'm happy for them. But as Nick Saban says, we can't eat the rat poison. We've just got to focus on today and just keep getting better and then because none of it will have any bearing when we play on Saturday, we've just got to play and the best team will win.

Q5:  You alluded postgame Mars Hill that this was the first week where you felt like you might have taken a step back instead of progressing forward each week. How do you get back on that stair step of climbing and continuing to get better?

INGRAM:  You know, an old coach told me one time when things aren't going well, sometimes you need to kind of go back to the basics. Maybe you need to simplify. So it's really just kind of focus on what we're doing, not get ahead of ourselves offensively. And, again, you've got to give Mars Hill a lot of credit for some of our problems the other day. They switched some things up on us that maybe we weren't quite prepared for, which is, you know, probably not uncommon this point in our offense. But we'll just get back to basics. We'll get back to work and, you know, when you win a game, it's a lot easier to coach guys and coach guys hard and our guys have been receptive throughout the season so far.

Q6:  It felt like it became quickly apparent to you that Major Williams, Cade Meeks were two captain-worthy people. When you have to coach hard, how easy, easier is it when you have two solid leaders like that that you can rely on?

INGRAM:  I told the guys early on, and obviously a lot of coaches have said this, but when you can coach your leaders and you can coach your best players hard, it kind of sends a message to the rest of the team that no one is above it. And those guys, you know, it's hard. You know, when you do that and they push back, well, then you got an issue and you got a culture problem. I haven't seen that whatsoever.

Q7:  Defensively, a lot of veterans back on this unit, who's somebody youthful that has stuck out to you from the first half of the year?

INGRAM:  Brandon Dumezil being a freshman and having to play and has done a nice job. Cruz Temple has done a great job. Cruz Temple transferred in. You think Isaiah Cain, who has not played a lot but has had to be thrust into a position to play more. He's a very good football player, very natural. I'm just trying to think of who else but those are the guys that kind of come to mind right away.

Q8:  Offensively for Uva Wise, Dorrien Goddard has plied his trade as a receiver tight end hybrid for a long, long time. 16 career catches against Carson-Newman all time. What sticks out to you about a pretty substantial body, 6-4, 230 that you have to defend this week?

INGRAM:  Yeah, he's a big kid, he's talented, he can move, he's got experience. They'll certainly try to get him to football and he's a matchup problem. I mean, it's just reality of it.

Q9:  It's community appreciation day, so free admission for pastors, law enforcement, teachers, the backbone of the community. How important is it to recognize the linchpins of what make a local area work?

INGRAM:  I think it's huge. You know, we're obviously a Christian school, so, you know, obviously pastors and people in the services there are very important to us. I'm from a family of teachers and coaches, so certainly we always want to give back to those people and hopefully they can come and enjoy a good day of football and hopefully we can bring home a w.

Q11: Anything else? 

INGRAM:  We're just excited to play. We have a huge challenge in front of us, and we're just excited to go out there and play against a really quality UVA Wise football team.

Kickoff between the Eagles and Cavaliers 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.