VIDEO: Ashley Ingram Press Conference 

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - No. 24/25 Carson-Newman takes on Anderson for Homecoming and Senior Day on Saturday at Burke-Tarr Stadium at 3 p.m.  Below are Ashley Ingram's pregame remarks to the media about the Anderson Trojans.  

OPENING STATEMENT:   

INGRAM:  I think the biggest thing is we're just ready to get back out on the field and play a football game. Kind of get this bad taste out of our mouth from the last game. We have a quality opponent coming in. They're getting better and better each week. They're talented, obviously, they're young for the most part, but Coach Lamb's done a great job. He and his staff, I think they have a quality program. They are getting better, as I just said, and I think they're going to have a really good program for a long time over at Anderson with Coach Lamb

Q1: It's homecoming, a lot of festivities, a lot of alums coming back. It's Senior Day. You're honoring about 20 in this senior class. Focus on homecoming first. What's it mean to have some people who've made investments in this place returning?

INGRAM:  , I don't think it'll change our approach. You know, we've got to practice each day and we got to prepare for the game. We can't be focused on any kind of outside distractions. With that being said, we certainly want to play well. We certainly want to put a good product on the field for all the people that will come back. Obviously, we're excited to have a good crowd and we certainly want to play good football and Carson-Newman football. So ouralums will be proud of us.

Q2: I know it's your first year with the program, but what has this class meant to you in your first year on campus? Potentially the final home game for 20 seniors.

INGRAM:  I think all of our success that we've had this year really comes down to the buy in and it has to start with your senior class. So if your seniors will buy in, typically the underclassmen will follow. So I'm certainly very appreciative of all their efforts. We've had a great season up to this point. Obviously, we want to continue it. We want to go undefeated at home and we want to celebrate those guys the right way. But the way to celebrate them is to prepare this week to have a good week of practice and then obviously play well on Saturday.

Q3:  Military Appreciation Day. You've got two former service members on the staff and Tanner Fleming and Chuck Petersen.  Can you speak a little bit to appreciating veterans, including the two that you've got working with you day to day?

INGRAM:  Tanner and Chuck certainly appreciate their service to our country, obviously being at the Naval Academy and spending 16 years there. All the young men that we coached have gone on to serve in the Navy and the Marine Corps. So certainly proud of their service. So again, we want to honor those people with the way we play and hopefully we can do that again on Saturday.

Q4:  You talked about Bobby Lamb for a hot second, he's no stranger to building programs. He was a had a 10-win team in his first year in reviving Mercer's program. Multiple playoff appearances at Furman. What sticks out to you about his style that he's instilled in year one for Anderson?

INGRAM:  I have a lot of respect for him as a person, just a great person. Obviously as a football coach, his track record speaks for itself. I was fortunate enough, really kind of my first event when I got here is we went over to a coaches meeting at Anderson back in January. I mean, the facilities they have and that they have built are second to none in this league. They're FCS quality facilities. So they've done things the right way. He's certainly doing things the right way. He has a good young football team that's going to continue to get better and better week after week and obviously year after year as they progress.

Q5: An upperclassman that sticks out as the quarterback, Tyler Wesley. Feels like the league this year is just chock full of pretty solid quarterbacks and he's one of them. Top three in the league in most passing categories. What's he done to put his name up there with some known commodities like a Dustin Noller or a Preston Brown?

INGRAM:  He's a good football player and he's very well coached. He has some athletic ability too. He can stay alive. He can create with his feet as well as his arms. So just another good player. And seems like everybody in the league is able to keep their quarterbacks healthy too. We're struggling to do that.

Q6: I guess the good that you had on Saturday was you did the room at least got larger. Trey Luttrell returned to the field for the first time since the Wingate game. What is his presence aside from just depth?

INGRAM: It was great to get him back and he practiced last week. Obviously, maybe we threw him in probably a tough situation, maybe was not fair to him after just coming back, but no, it's great to have him back. He's a great young man. He's a good football player. He's a good leader for our team. He's so unselfish and mentally tough and physically tough and he just keeps battling. So it's certainly a blessing to get him back.

Q7:  The issue on Saturday was something that really hadn't hampered your team heavily this year, and that was the turnovers.  Just the second game all year where you've had multiple turnovers. How do you address that? 

INGRAM: I think you always have to bring it up. You have to address problems and confront them and a couple of them were just pure decision making. One of them was an unfortunate play on a throw and his arm got hit. We got to do a better job protecting then one was just we didn't have as good a ball security as we should have had. So we've got to do a better job securing the football. Then we've got to do a better job at quarterback making decisions and we have to protect the football if we want to win games. It's really that simple.

Q8:  You're under consideration for the NCAA playoffs and if my read of the data is correct, then you're somewhere between three and four in the region rankings. What does that mean to you in year one of this program?

INGRAM:  Honestly, it doesn't mean a lot to me right now. It's great that we've played this well up to this point. It's great to be in consideration, but none of it matters if we don't continue to win. So everything we're going to do is going to be focused on becoming a better football team. This week the team that played at Emory & Henry was not good enough to win that game. We've got to play better this Saturday to beat a good Anderson team and our guys better not overlook them. They continue to get better. You just look at their scores, you watch them play. They're well coached, they're talented, they're not young anymore. Most of those freshmen are redshirt freshmen. They're second-year college players who've now played going into their ninth or tenth college football game. So they've got a good football team with a great coaching staff.

Q9: Anything else? 

INGRAM:  We're just excited to play again and I know we have a great challenge and excited to prepare, excited to get back out there and hopefully get a bad taste out of our mouth.

Kickoff between the Eagles and Trojans is set for 3 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 2 p.m. with the AEC Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A video stream is available with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/floFB.