VIDEO: Ashley Ingram Press Conference 

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - No. 24 Carson-Newman heads to Miles to play in the SAC title game Saturday at noon EST, 11 a.m. CST.  Below are Ashley Ingram's pregame remarks to the media about the matchup with the Miles Golden Bears. 

OPENING STATEMENT: 

INGRAM:  We are super excited and honored to be playing in the Division II playoffs. We've got a great challenge in front of us. Miles has a super talented team, athletic, they can run around, they're well coached. You know, Coach Sam Shade has done a great job there. I think they were a one-win team three years ago and you know now they're a nine-win team. It'll be a lot of fun.

Q1:  What sticks out to you about what the Golden Bears do offensively and defensively?

INGRAM: They're just super athletic. They can run, they can run, they can run, and Ivory's an athletic quarterback that can obviously throw the ball, but he can make plays with his feet. Their skill is very good on offense. Defensively, the defensive front is great. They've got a defensive end- he'll be as good as we've seen all year and that's saying a lot. So athleticism is kind of the name of the game for these guys and they're very well coached as well.

Q2:  How do you handle the chaos that they cause defensively?

INGRAM: The big thing, we got to take care of the football. We got to make great decisions, going to have great ball security. But then the other thing - we've got to make them play our style of play. They are exotic with their blitzes and they bring a lot of pressure. We've got to kind of slow them down. They're a talented team that's well coached and we've got to do a great job handling the pressure and taking care of the football.

Q3: Just how proud are you of the resiliency of this group to fight through and have the resume to to keep playing football during the final weeks of November? 

INGRAM:  I've been super impressed with our guys. They've been resilient, they've been tough, they've stuck together. You know, we through everything, we've got nine wins and two losses - both on the road to teams that have a combined three losses. So very proud of our guys, proud of everything that they've done. And obviously they want to get a win so we can keep playing and keep doing this and I expect us to to play well.

Q4:  Defensively, really rounded in the form here of the last month of the season, three straight weeks where you felt your opposition under 260 yards of offense. What do you owe that to?

INGRAM:  Well, Coach Slade has done a great job and like you said mentioned earlier, we've had injuries and to get to the right people in the right places, especially on the the back end. Kendall Williams is now playing safety for us and has done a great job. Obviously Major is doing a great job, you know, Mekhi Brown, Christian Hicks  are really coming into their own as the season progresses, the defensive fronts playing better. So we're doing a great job and we're playing good people and we're going to need to play that way again Saturday.

Q5:  You've shuffled positions within that secondary. I hesitate to call them safeties because Kendall's been a corner throughout his career. They'll both rush the passer. What does that varied skill set enable you to do with the back of your defense?

INGRAM:  They're talented - one - and two - they're they're selfless. They've put their personal stats to the to the back for the good of the team. And then it shows you how smart they are too, that you can play multiple positions at a high level. And then it shows you, you know what a good job Coach Slade, Coach Goss have done coaching those guys as well.

Q6:  Offensively, what's the next step of progression as you get this extra time this season to continue the development of that side of the football?

INGRAM:  We just have to be more consistent. We've been really, really good. And then we've had times where we've struggled. I think what we're trying to do is get back to basics this week so we can play faster, we can be more physical that we can be tougher. If we can do that, I think we'll continue to take steps forward.

Q7:  Anything else? 

INGRAM:  We have a again, said it all year, we've got a great, great challenge in front of us, but man, what a great opportunity we have to go on the road in the state of Alabama and get out and do some recruiting. There's some great players there. One little tidbit is Ronald McKinnon, who's a all time great at North Alabama, maybe Division II's all-time great linebacker Harlan Hill award winner. Their linebacker coach is a dear friend of mine. So look forward to battling against him on Saturday. I'm thankful he's not playing.

Kickoff between the Eagles and Golden Bears is set for noon Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 11 a.m. with the AEC Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville) and online at cneagles.com/live.