Charlotte 49ers College Football Pregame Quote, 09/27/2022

Really proud of our football team and the fight that we showed in the first half (at South Carolina). Obviously the third quarter did not go as we planned, but it was an incredible opportunity and experience for our team. We fought hard and we are getting better on a daily basis. I’m proud of where we are going as a team and proud of our guys for stepping up when we needed them.

You’ve completed the preseason, and now we are onto the conference schedule which is key for us. We have a massive game with UTEP coming up. Dana [Dimel] has done a tremendous job, with their recent win over Boise State. Held them to 179 yards of total offense and established their will in their 27-10 win. Everyone knows nationally how good of a team Boise State is and UTEP is on an emotional high for sure. It will be a tough match-up with a really good football team.

I know offensively they have a receiver that’s leading the conference in yardage. They are second in the conference in time of possession and top-2 in every statistical metric on the defensive side of the ball. Their offensive and defensive lines have played a lot of football and have a lot of starts amongst those groups. They can attack you in a lot of different ways on offense and they’re tough on defense and make life hard for you on that side of the ball. It’s a tough match-up for us and we have to have a great week of prep.

On how weather may impact the game:

Most of the time what happens in those types of games is that the team that’s the best upfront wins the football game. You could say that in most games, but especially in games like that. The turnover battle becomes important, field position, and special teams become massive in those types of games. We have practiced with wet balls or in the rain so we have prepared for those types of issues. The little things in this game will be so much more important. How well do we play at the line of scrimmage and how well do we tackle? We will practice with a wet ball as much as we can this week.

On getting into conference play:

We have a group of guys that have put their heads down and worked hard every week. It hurts me as a head coach when your players work hard and they don’t have wins to show for it, but I’m so proud of how much better we have gotten each week. I know what this team is capable of doing and I know they will reach their potential. To be able to go into conference play now, with all of our goals still ahead of us is exciting. Our leadership is strong and as we continue to get guys back and healthy it will only improve this team more. It will be fun to challenge ourselves with a good UTEP team this week.

On competing at home again:

I just want to play well at home. This place has been really good to us and our students have been amazing to us. I want to play well at home for our fans and our students and I know these players do too.