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 WCU head football coach Dennis Wagner |
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Sept. 23, 2008
Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina head football coach Dennis Wagner again took part in the weekly Southern Conference Head Football Coaches Teleconference Tuesday morning. He talked about last week's victory at Presbyterian, and turned his attention to this week's opponent, The Citadel Bulldogs, items he also discussed during Monday's "Catamount Coaches' Luncheon" held in the Ramsey Center.
One week after snapping its 14-game road losing skid at Presbyterian - its eighth-straight win over the Blue Hose - the Catamounts will tackle another streak this Saturday as they open Southern Conference play at The Citadel. WCU (2-2) has dropped 15-straight SoCon games - going winless in league play each of the past two seasons - dating back to its battle with Appalachian State in 2005, which was for a share of the conference championship title (L, 35-7 in Boone).
Western has not won a Southern Conference game since blanking Wofford, 24-0, on Nov. 5, 2005 in Cullowhee. The shutout win was the first-time since the Terriers joined the conference in 1997 that they had been shutout in league play.
The Citadel (2-1) has scored wins over non-conference foes Webber International, 54-7, and a fourth-quarter rally to down Princeton last week, 37-24. Its lone loss of the year came at Clemson, 45-17, back on Sept. 6. The Bulldogs boast the SoCon's top-scoring offense (36.0 ppg) and are ranked 24th in the latest FCS Coaches Poll and 13th according to The Sports Network tabulations.
The Cadets are led by receiver Andre Roberts who ranks third in the league in receiving yards per game (101.7) on just over five catches per game, and leads the SoCon in scoring with an average of 12 points per game. He also averages 26.2 yards per punt return this season and leads the conference with a 175.7 all-purpose yard per game average.
Defensively, linebacker Reggie Rice was named SoCon Defensive Player of the Week last week and ranks fifth in tackles in the league (8.7 per game).
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On the Presbyterian win:
"Any win for us at this time is a big win. I told the team I didn't care what the score was; we just wanted to walk away with a victory. But, we found a way to win late."
"As a coach, every time you win a game, you have to step back and compliment the team on the win. But also warn them that when they come in to watch film that we have to make corrections and get better. As a coaching staff, we have to keep demanding that our guys do things right and understand that you play four quarters of football."
On this week's opponent, The Citadel Bulldogs:
"They are an excellently coached football team. They can really run on defense. Offensively, they really make you prepare in that they do a lot of different things. We've already told our kids that they are going to be playing a very disciplined football team that runs to the football."
"(The Citadel) has a really solid offense and their defense is very opportunistic, they really run to the ball. They have three defensive linemen and a couple of linebackers and the rest of the guys are DBs (defensive backs) - and their backers run like DB's, great speed. They are very well coached. You can't afford to make mistakes in any game, but this is a team that will take advantage every time you make a mistake."
On emotions entering Southern Conference play this week:
"Obviously (the SoCon losing skid) is a big thing for us. We are in a stage with our program where we take it one game at a time. At Presbyterian, we talked about winning on the road and how that was going to be an important thing for us - winning games on the road because we felt we were going to get our fair share of games at home."
"Now we've got to go on the road and play a great Citadel team. We've got an opportunity to do a couple of things, again, in this game that helps our program move forward. The Citadel is a great program and our guys, right now have got to understand that each week we have got to start over and prepare."
"We are looking forward to the trip and our guys are excited about getting this conference season started."
More on the Southern Conference:
"It's an honor to be a coach in this league as a coach. The coaches in this league are established and have all done great jobs. I've had a chance to meet with the coaches on a couple of occasions and not only are they great football coaches, but they are also great gentlemen - and I want to be a part of that. The best way to do that is to win games and earn their respect. We are on our way; we are going to do what we can to be in the mix in this thing. But it is a privilege to coach in this league and an honor to coach here at Western."
On moving red-shirt sophomore Adam Hearns from quarterback to wide receiver:
"You put your best players on the field and find ways to get him the ball. Adam (Hearns) was our second quarterback (behind red-shirt senior Andy Horn). We felt that Andy was doing a good job and we have a lot of confidence in Zack Jaynes (second-string QB). So we felt we could make a move to help bolster our wide receiver position and give us some `juice' in the special teams. Adam is a young man that is willing to help the program in whatever way he can. And the great thing about that is our top two receivers (Hearns and Marquel Pittman) are both sophomores and are doing a great job and will be here for a while."
"We have to put guys were they fit to help our team. A coach can come in with an idea of what you want to do and what you want to run, but you still build your system around your players."
On red-shirt freshman running back Quan Warley:
"Each game, Quan has gotten a little better. He is coming off a severe leg injury last year and when we got here, he was non-existent in that he didn't get to practice until the end of spring ball. He continued to work hard and had a great summer. Each week he takes steps forward. He knows that there are a lot of things he can do to become a better football player, but he had a big week last week and we need him to step up to the plate like that - and our other backs because we are a running back by committee and we use guys in different roles. We are just excited that Quan had the week he did last week."
