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 Western Carolina head coach Dennis Wagner talked about the bye week and looking ahead to hosting Appalachian State. |
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Nov. 11, 2008
Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina head football coach Dennis Wagner today took part in the weekly Southern Conference Head Football Coaches' Teleconference on Tuesday morning, where he spoke with members of the media about last week's game at Elon and being idle this week.
WCU (3-8, 1-6 SoCon) fell at No. 11 Elon last Saturday, 33-14, at Rhodes Stadium. Elon visits Appalachian State this weekend in Boone in a showdown for first-place in the conference standings.
Western Carolina will host the archrival Mountaineers in the annual gridiron grudge match, the "Battle for the Old Mountain Jug" on Saturday, Nov. 22. The game will be televised on SportSouth as a part of "SoCon Saturday," with kickoff slated for 3:00 pm. The Catamounts have lost three-straight to their mountain-rivals, last winning the rivalry game in 2004 with a come-from-behind, 30-27, victory in Cullowhee.
Four of WCU's last six victories in the overall series have come at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field in Cullowhee.
Tickets for the "Battle for the Old Mountain Jug" are currently on sale through walk-up at the Ramsey Center ticket office and online at CatamountSports.com only. According to the WCU Ticket Office, as of Nov. 11, the only remaining seats are for the "purple" sections on both the East and West sides, $25 for adults and $15 for children ages 17-and-under.
As a special reminder, the final fall Catamount Head Coaches' luncheon will be held at the Birdie Lounge at the Waynesville Country Club on Monday, Nov. 24 following the ASU game. The event will begin at 11:45 with lunch ordered off the menu at the Tap Room Bar & Grill.
Here is an excerpt from today's conference:
WCU Head Coach Dennis Wagner:
On last week's game at Elon:
"I felt like defensively, we played well enough to win the football game. I thought that they gave us many opportunities to get into scoring position. Just offensively, we didn't do anything all day. (Elon) was able to pressure and get to the quarterback. Our running game never got on track and that really hurt us. At one point late in the third quarter, it was a one possession game."
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On beginning preparations for Appalachian State on Nov. 22:
"This week, we have worked on ourselves in getting better in our techniques and fundamentals. We have also taken a good, hard look at some of our younger players before we go out recruiting. It has given us a chance to coach them up a little bit more. They go to the scout team all of the time and sometimes they don't get as much attention as those who are playing in games. So, we have made a point to give them some reps and some scrimmage time while allowing the older guys to watch a little bit but still keeping up their timing with the few reps that they get."
"Our guys will be off on Friday and Saturday. We will meet on Sunday like we always do and get ourselves prepared for Appalachian State."
On the bye week:
"I don't personally care for byes. I'd rather play the season straight through. But, if you are going to have a bye, I'd rather have it earlier or in the middle of the season when you could use a little break there to revive yourself and players. But, I think at this point for us, what we have got to do to make sure our players stay focused and don't shut things down. We still have a very important football game because it is the next game we play. App is having a tremendous season and they are going to come in here with playoff thoughts."
"Our job right now is to keep our team focused and to get better on what we do; use this week as a week to get better and prepare ourselves for spring ball. As we get our preparation for App next week, we will just focus on Appalachian at that point. But this week it's really about us and what we need to do to get better."
