Opening Statement:
“First of all, a big game for us this past weekend here versus Troy, one of the better teams in our league. I thought our defense played very solidly, offensively we played well in the first half, didn’t do much in the second half, but we had enough there to get the win. That was a big win for us, we obviously knew what was on the line, the opportunity to play for the Sun Belt championship and also to be able to host that game.
“It was senior day for us, not very many seniors but proud of the seniors and what that class has been able to accomplish in this transition for us over the last four years. To be able to play three straight bowls, this will be our fourth bowl in a row for this senior class that’s one of the winningest senior classes that’s been here, really proud of all those guys, and now very excited to play the first Sun Belt championship game and to be able to have it right here in Boone in front of our fans is going to be exciting, 12 o’clock kick on ESPN, there’s a lot of neat things that’s happening this week here for our university to be able to showcase our school and our program and we’re excited about that.
“We know we’re playing a Lafayette team that’s kind of unique because we’ve played them already once this year, a team that I think, man, from last year to this year, what an incredible improvement that Coach Napier and his staff have been able to do. They started out 1-3 and they’ve been on a roll the last half of the season. They have a very explosive offense, a defense that’s very aggressive and solid, they’re a good football team and we’re going to have to have a great week of preparation to try to play well against these guys.”
On Louisiana:
“We played six weeks ago, two teams after six weeks you change a little bit, people get dinged here and there a little bit with injuries and that type of thing. When we played them it was the middle of the season and they’ve kind of settled in on who they are as a football team and we have too. Now here at the end it’s very similar. You kind of grow as a team, but you are what you are at this point in time. I think it still comes down to fundamentals, it still comes down to blocking and tackling and who makes the least amount of mistakes and that will be the one that wins the game.
“This team is very explosive offensively, they have three running backs that are probably all all-conference caliber running backs all three of them, they play two different quarterbacks that are capable runners and can throw the football, and they have some skill out wide at receiver. Offensive line wise, they’re probably one of the better offensive lines that we’ve faced in the conference, very solid up front. They’re one of the best offenses in this league, you have to play great on defense if you want to even try to slow them down. They scored against Mississippi State 10 points and against Alabama 14, and we know how good their defenses are. We have our work cut out for us defensively.
“On the defensive side of the ball it looks like to me they’ve gotten a lot better, they’re aggressive on defense, they’ll play man, they’ll blitz, they’ll do a lot of different things, they’re an aggressive style defense. They have skill, they have some good players as far as guys that can run and are strong, a very solid football team.”
On Appalachian State defense:
“We’ve played a very good year. We’re top of the conference in about every category defensively, and really one of the top in the country defensively when you look at the stats. I just think overall our coaching staff has done a great job of zeroing in on the opponent for that week, and then our players really understand our defense. Our defense you have to fit it right in order to be a good defense, and everybody has to do their job and not try to do somebody else’s job and they’ve been really good at that. The big thing we can do is run, we’re not very big but we can really run, so if you do make a mistake and get out of your gap our guys are fast enough to get back where they need to be. It comes down to execution and the skill we have out there, guys that can really run.”
On the play of the defensive line:
“Up front we rotate a lot of defensive linemen. Stout is our starting nose, we rotate two other guys in there to play nose as well. We’ll play up to nine to 10 guys in the defensive front. When you’re doing that and you’re rotating those guys they’re staying fresh, they’re staying healthy, and then it enables our four linebackers, who I think all four of them are all-conference worthy linebackers and probably lead our team in tackles and stats, the four linebackers, but it starts with our D-line, our D-line frees those guys up to go make plays and that’s how we’ve been able to do it.”
On offensive efficiency:
“It all starts with the running game. When we lost Jalen in the Arkansas State game, that was a tough blow for us. I feel like he’s a player of the year-type player, and he has been. You lose him, but I think Darrynton and Marcus Williams Jr. have come in and done a great job at running back. And then Zac with his legs and being able to run the football that starts there. And then we have some dynamic receivers on the outside with Corey and Hennigan and some of those guys out wide are enabling us to throw the football downfield too. We feel like we want to be a balanced offense and to be able if they stop one thing we can go to the next, and we’ve been able to do that. We’ve been very efficient offensively. The two games Zac was out we didn’t do as well offensively, but since he’s been back and healthy we’ve been very solid on offense.”
On impact of Zac Thomas and Corey Sutton:
“Last year when Taylor Lamb was the starting quarterback, I think Zac knew he had an opportunity to be the guy the next year, so he worked hard, he’d stay after practice, Corey would as well, Corey couldn’t play because he was sitting out after transferring. They just worked well together. The bottom line is Corey’s a hard worker and he’s made himself into a really good player, and Zac has as well. Zac has come a long ways over the last two years, his accuracy and arm strength, and you add that with his running ability and it just puts a lot of pressure on defenses. He’s done a good job of getting Corey the ball and Corey’s made the most of it with eight touchdowns this year. They’re aware of where he’s at, you’ve still got to defend the whole field and that’s what we want to be offensively so they can’t do that. They have to defend the whole field and we’re going to take what they give us, but there hasn’t been a whole lot of that.”
On success in the Sun Belt and hosting the Championship Game in its inaugural year:
“I just think consistency. We’ve tried to have a program here where we’ve worked hard, we develop players and we continue to try to get better every day. We’ve been consistent with that, and I think that’s why we’ve been able to stay toward the top of the Sun Belt and we have another opportunity to try to win this thing.
“Our athletic department, they do a great job of doing all the things that have to be done in order to host a game. It is kind of unique in the fact that it’s the first Sun Belt Championship game and we’re the host team, so the Sun Belt kind of takes over. It’s really their game, we just happen to be playing it here in Boone, so we’re excited about that. There’ll be some things that are a little bit different with that. The great thing about it is we’re playing on ESPN at 12 noon on Saturday, we’re getting to showcase our university, our school, in front of a national audience and playing for a championship. We had a great crowd last week here on Thanksgiving weekend and I expect this one to be even better, so we’re excited about playing in front of our home people. I think it’s going to be an awesome atmosphere, this is kind of what I think our conference envisioned when we proposed doing this a year ago.”
On injured offensive tackle Vic Johnson:
“We haven’t practiced really, we’ll go back out tomorrow and practice and see where he’s at. A lower leg injury, so we’ll see. He says he’s playing and all that, so we’ll see, we’ll take it day by day just like we do with all our guys that get dinged up. A game like this, you’re going to do everything you can to get out there and all our guys will. He’s probably the biggest question mark out of everybody, I think everybody else will be fine. We’ll see where he’s at and we’ll take it day by day.”
On reaching this point as a program:
“We’re a program where we like to do a lot of firsts, and we’ve been able to do that the last four years. When you look at making that transition and going to our first bowl game, and then two years ago winning the conference in the Sun Belt, and now the first year that you’re able to have an outright champion we’re able to host the game. That’s just a credit to our players and our staff to be able to have the kind of season that we’ve had this year. We’re excited to showcase our school here this weekend. Games like this is what our guys play for, that’s why they’re here, that’s why they signed to come to Appalachian State, to play for championships, and so that just validates their decision. We’re excited about hosting this game to showcase our whole university.”
On relationship with Louisiana Head Coach Billy Napier:
“I was coaching here at App when he was playing. I knew of him just as a player, he was a really good player for them at Furman, and then we hadn’t crossed paths really in the coaching profession, but I knew obviously who he was because of his days at Furman. And I’ve met him over the last year since he’s been in this conference and talked with him, he’s done a great job with that program, kind of turning it around over last year, now they’re sitting here playing in the conference championship game so obviously he and his staff have done a great job.”
On if his team played at its capability in previous game:
“We watched the film, I think we played solid, it was a good win for us, we knew what kind of team they were coming in here, very dynamic offensively, defensively they get after it and were aggressive. We ended up a 10 point game last time we played. They’ve got talent and they’ve always had talent, I think they’ve done a good job of putting players in position to make plays with their staff. They believe and they’ve got confidence now. You look at it, from the middle of the season back then, I think they were 3-3 when they came in here. But now, they’ll have even more confidence coming in here and playing for a conference championship knowing what kind of season they put together. I think we probably played very solid when we played them before and we were happy to get that win.”
On improvement of Louisiana team:
“I don’t see anything different, what they have offensively with the three running backs, all three of them very capable of being all-conference type running backs, and the two quarterbacks as well. I think offensively they keep pressure on teams and they’re scoring a lot of points, and defensively they’ve done enough to keep guys out of the end zone and create turnovers. I think they’re really very similar just like they were six weeks ago and I think we are too. I don’t think there’s a lot of difference in either team. We’re glad we’re playing here so we don’t have to travel. What’s unique is this is their third trip in a calendar year to come and play us, because we played them at the end of last season in the regular season last year, so this is their third time so that’s unique I think, we’re just glad we’re hosting the game here.”
On quarterback Zac Thomas:
“It starts with his competitiveness. He tries to get every yard he can get, inside he’s really competitive and I love that about him. He’s got a talented arm, he can make all the throws, but he also has really good legs. He gets out of trouble with his legs and he’s able to get first downs, he’s even had some big touchdown runs, over 50 yard runs, so that keeps pressure on the defense as well. He’s done a good job of distributing the football, most games we get nine or 10 different guys catching the ball. Right now toward the end of the season, once he went out with his injury he came back and I think he settled down even more and just really has a better command of our offense and I think he’s playing at a high level right now.”