Postgame Quotes From App State's Win vs. ETSU

POSTGAME QUOTES
 
App State head coach Eliah Drinkwitz
 
Opening Statement:
"I'm just really proud of our guys, proud of our team. They stuck together. Obviously, we started off a little slow on the offensive side of the ball. The defense did a great job keeping the other team out of the end zone. I thought their drive to keep them from scoring before half was really big, and then our offense came out and drove for a touchdown. That totally blew the game open after that. I told our team at our staff meeting on Friday regardless of what happened we had to get a lot better, whether we won or lost we knew we were going to have to take what was on tape and get a lot better. There's a lot of things we've got to work on, starting with me and all the way through offense, defense and special teams. But, it's great to be 1-0. It's hard to win college football games."
 
On Drinkwitz's first game as a head coach:
"When you win, it's a lot of fun. There were a couple times I was sitting back there talking, and I forgot that I needed to be watching the defense. It was different. I had a couple of times that I needed to lock in and flip over to defense to make sure I was on top of that. When I was a seventh grade coach, I coached both offense and defense, so I never had to switch over the headsets, but this was a little bit different."
 
On how well ETSU's defense played:
"In the very first series, we were backed up and tried to tempo it on third down and had a ball tipped. On the third drive, we got a first down and we struggled on that third down conversion there. They did a nice job of getting us into third-down situations, but after that we settled down and ended up 6-for-10, so 60% on third down. That was nice, and we were 1-for-1 on fourth down. They did a nice job, especially in the first half. They had the ball a lot, and I knew they were going to try to limit us in possessions. I'm not sure about the total number of possessions, but our goal is to be three points per possession. We were obviously well ahead of that."
 
On how Drinkwitz thought the first quarter would play out:
"No, no, I thought we'd score on the fourth play of the game. We were backed up, and I got off my script because we were backed up. I wanted to be a little more protection oriented. We went three-and-out. We deferred, so they got the ball and punted it to us, and we went three-and-out. They got the ball again, so I think we scored in the first quarter, but it was the second possession of the first quarter. That's what happens when you defer. There's a chance you don't score for a little bit. We did a great job of capitalizing on the possession to start the third quarter and scoring and really driving it home after that."
 
On what was lacking on offense in the first half:
"We didn't do a great job of just Zac [Thomas] settling down in the pocket. A ball slipped out of his hands. He scrambled on one where I thought we could've converted. We had a couple that we just didn't execute the right way. He did a nice job on the second drive converting a route to the wide receiver. Thomas [Hennigan] got a pass interference call, and then he did another nice job on that unbelievable catch Thomas had. He played well, but we just have to get him into a rhythm sooner. That's all."
 
On Zac Thomas' touchdown pass to Thomas Hennigan:
"They brought a corner pressure, and they just ran around our tackle. We were trying to work a double move with a slot, and they went to a one-high coverage. It wasn't the perfect call, but at that point Zac overcame coaching and Thomas made a great play. Sometimes you just give guys a high five."

On Thomas Hennigan's big game:
"We knew in our game plan that we were going to find ways for Thomas to get the football. He's been our most consistent wide receiver through fall camp. They've had a great connection, and we believe in Thomas Hennigan. We told our whole team that you have to believe in yourselves like we believe in you, and he did a nice job of that today."
 
On feeding the hot hand on offense:
"You just got with the hot hand and never worry about it. If a dude is playing and playing well, then keep feeding him. FTS – feed the studs."
 
On the production from the running back group:
"It's the deepest group on our team. There are a lot of guys who do a great job with the ball in their hands. They've got great vision and speed. We have got to do a great job of making sure those guys touch the ball. Our offense is about getting the playmakers the ball, and so FTS, man. Feed the studs. Find ways to give them the ball. Find ways to get them in space. Shawn Clark did a great job of coming over there with some run ideas. He and Garrett Riley both did."
  
On the offensive balance during today's game:
"We just needed to settle down and lean on them [the running backs]. Our tempo was pretty good, and anytime the game gets out of hand, you tend to be running the ball more because you're just trying to run the clock and get out of the game. We threw it that one time in the fourth quarter on the fourth down, but other than that we were trying to get first downs and milk the clock."
 
On red zone efficiency:
"Execution. Execution. We did a great job with tempo when we were down there and keeping the defense tired. The only time we were behind the chains was that 2^nd-and-18 to the pass to Thomas. It's just execution. Something we focus on."
 
On any surprises from ETSU's defensive scheme:
"They pressured a little bit more than expected."
 
On the injury updates from Camerun Peoples and Victor Johnson:
"There's no real update on that yet. Letting our athletic trainer and doctors handle that. We will update that on Monday."
 

App State S Josh Thomas
 
Today's Objective:
"I think we had a good day. We stopped the run for the most part trying to contain Holmes, their No. 1. He's a good strong back, and we had to really gang tackle. I felt like they were going to spread us out on the perimeter, and I think we did good with our corners making tackles. We just had that one bad drive where we couldn't get off the field on third down twice, and it cost us a touchdown. Overall, it was a good day only giving up seven points."
 
On the lone ETSU TD: 
"The backup, No.5 came in, he made a great throw down the seam. Honestly, it was just a good pass. He just beat coverage that time, and they messed with our eyes on that touchdown throw. It was stuff that we had seen before, but we just had to make a play."
 
On improving in physicality:
"Me and coach Gasparato, that's what we talked about a lot, just getting better after last year. Coming into camp, it was just finishing plays and making tackles on people. In the weight room, I worked on being the strongest that I could possibly be for the season. And, then working on tracking the ball with good angles. I think that helped me a lot."
 
On tonight's win:
"That's a good football team, in my opinion. Like coach Drinkwitz said, it's tough to win college football games. They had good schemes and had a good coaching staff. They're coached really well, and they play hard. Getting this first win is the first step in this journey that we are taking."
 

App State CB Shaun Jolly

On starting: 
"It was something that I've been preparing for my whole life. It was just my turn, my time to step up and make some plays. Coach Roof did a great job of putting me in the right position to make plays, and I just had to execute them."
 
On stepping up to the line for the first time:
"Honestly, it was easier. Every day at practice we go against the best. Correy Sutton and Thomas Hennigan give us a great look. They work us to death, so they make the game time easy." 
 
 
App State RB Darrynton Evans
 
On the running back depth:
"I felt like it was good. We're real deep at running back with everybody from top to bottom. Even throughout camp and spring, we knew that whoever is in and whoever's name is called that they are going to produce. We really didn't have a problem with the rotation going on today. We were happy for each other."
 

App State WR Thomas Hennigan
 
On the spinning TD catch: 
"We had been working on that look all week. If the outside backer was to expand like he did, I was supposed to just run a straight-seam route. If he was going to go inside, I was supposed to do a cop-route on the safety. So, he was outside of me, and I just kept it straight down the field. Zac threw me a great ball and gave me an opportunity to make a play."
 
On increase in WR production:
"We had a couple different packages, where coach Drinkwitz and Zac felt comfortable with me running slants on the back side. I did a lot of it my freshman year, so it was good to get that back in part of my game. As a receiver, you love getting the ball thrown your way, and you just got to make the most of your opportunities."


ETSU head coach Randy Sanders

On ETSU hanging with App State in the first half:
"Well we played with them for a while and that's good, but we have to play with them for 60 minutes and finish the deal. I thought we had some guys play awful hard."

Benefits of playing a team like App State early in the season:
"Last year we had Mars Hill and then Tennessee, and I found a whole lot about my football team at Tennessee. Then we were able to do some things and make some adjustments and get better in a hurry. Starting this year with App State who's kind of our quote unquote Tennessee on the schedule early, I found out a lot about my football team today. I found out a lot about certain individuals, learned a lot in the first half. Some things I thought I knew got confirmed and some things I thought I knew got changed."

Challenges the defense faced against App State's offense:
"Well they are a very good offense. We felt like if we could come out and get a stop beginning the second half and go down and score, then we were going to be in for a heck of a ballgame. You got to give them credit - they converted some big third downs and had an unbelievable catch on a slant on third and short that was covered. It was a good defensive play but just a great offensive play."

Overall outlook on the game:
"The defense competed, the defense battled and the offense did a lot of good things but not nearly enough good things."