Notes and Quotes From Weekly Football Press Luncheon
October 24, 2012 | Football
QUOTES
On The Stony Brook Game
"I thought we came out and did a good job of slowing them in the
first half. [Stony Brook] wore us down. That is the best team we've
played all year, including Pitt. They are more physical. They've
added a passing element, they're not one dimensional. Coach Priore
has a chance to do some special things this year with that
team."
On This Week Against VMI
"They're young at the running back spot, but their quarterback
[Erik Kordenbrock] is talented and has gotten better over the
course of the season. They have some new guys up front on offense
and graduated some really good defensive players, but they're a
good football team. We're going to have to be ready and play sound
football. "
On VMI's Defensive Approach
"They will blitz you from every corner of the stadium. They are
sound. They do a good job of covering up gaps when they are sending
people. We have to make sure we're on the same page with routes,
reads and protections in practice this week. Our kids will be ready
to go Saturday."
On tight end Seth
Cranfill
"He has bought into what we're doing offensively. When you're
talking about the prototypical tight end, he has the frame. He just
needs to continue to add weight. He had a great spring when we
first got in here, but unfortunately got hurt and didn't play [in
2011]. We've been able to incorporate him more into the offense as
a blocker and line him up all over the place. He told me when we
came in here that he had the best hands on the team."
On quarterback Lucas
Beatty's improvement in 2012
"Lucas has always had a big arm, I think this season with more
snaps he has the confidence to let it go. He studies the game. He's
a leader on and off the field. You're talking about a very smart
young man. He's great in the classroom. His character is
outstanding. He knows the game plan every week as well as
[offensive coordinator Kurt] Beathard - and that's what you need
out of that position."
NOTES
* Beatty, offensive lineman Jamie Dunaway and linebacker Bradley Taylor have each been nominated for the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team. Each will appear on a district ballot, which includes Division I FBS and FCS programs. Gardner-Webb is a member of District III, which includes all Division I schools in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Members voted onto the District III first team will be eligible for the All-America ballot. The All-District teams will be announced on November 8, with the All-America teams announced December 6.
* Saturday's Homecoming Game vs. VMI is a Code Red event, with Gardner-Webb encouraging all fans in attendance to wear red.
* Gardner-Webb's last two games in Boiling Springs against VMI have been decided by 10 combined points. GWU won by a touchdown in 2008 behind a big passing day from Devin Campbell - and escaped with a 10-7 win in the 2010 season finale on a touchdown pass from Chandler Browning to James Perry III.
* Tight end Seth Cranfill ranks No. 6 nationally among tight ends in the Football Championship Subdivision with 30 receptions this season. The 6-foot-4, 230-pounder needs just two catches to tie Jason Bright's single-season school record (2001 season) and four catches to tie Coastal Carolina's David Duran for the Big South single-season mark (2010 season).
