Photo by: © Kobi Everett Photo
Tre Lamb Press Conference - Week 12 vs Charleston Southern
November 14, 2023 | Football
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - Every Tuesday during football season, Gardner-Webb Head Football Coach will hold a weekly press conference over Zoom at 9:30 AM EDT/8:30 AM CDT to discuss the Gardner-Webb football game each week. This week, Coach Lamb met with the media to discuss Gardner-Webb's regular season finale against Charleston Southern on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 1:00 P.M.
OPENING STATEMENT
"It was a great win Saturday. The defense played unbelievable. Probably the best in the three seasons I've been here. Eighteen tackles-for-loss, scored twice on defense, and blocked a kick on special teams. We only went for it once, we didn't have any turnovers, and we backed them up with six punts inside the 20. It was a huge day for field position and turnovers, which we needed to win the game. I'm proud of our defense and the way they stood tall and played against those guys with a really good performance."
"Now we move to this week. It's the second year in a row we're hosting a championship game in our stadium. It's going to be a beautiful afternoon for football. One o'clock kickoff. I can't wait to see our fan base and our student section show up. It could be a very exciting day with a trophy ceremony after the game. I'm really happy for our seniors to have earned this opportunity at home. They've earned it. We've done what it takes on the field and our kids deserve a lot of support on Saturday, and it's going to be a great day."
Q1 – How did you build upon your early lead to avoid a letdown like against Bryant?
"We didn't turn the ball over. Against Bryant we turned the ball over twice in the third quarter, and we went for it on fourth-and-two and didn't make it. We probably played smarter. I didn't think they could score on us with a long field. I wanted them to have to take a long field and have long drives to score on us. I didn't think they could do that against our defensive personnel. Bryant also came out with a different plan after halftime and they slung it around a bit. We didn't help ourselves by giving them a short field and turning the ball over. We played it closer to the vest, made them earn it, and we've been playing to our strengths."
Q2 – You said you had challenged your defensive backs this week, and they came away with a pair of pick-sixes. How do you have that carry over to this week's game?
"We're going to need them again this week. We went back to the basics on defense of what we're good at and how have we excelled in the past. We want our guys to play fast, know what to do, and win at the point of attack. And we did that at all three levels of the defense; defensive line, linebackers on the perimeter, and on the back end we challenged them. It was a really good performance by our guys."
Q3 – What stands out to you about Charleston Southern?
"We know how big this game is for them. This is their Super Bowl. They have a brand-new coach (Gabe Giardina), and this would be a statement win for him and this program in year one. They're in the same spot we were in year one under our staff. They have nothing to lose, which is a scary team to prepare for. We can't play close to the vest or ease into it. We have to play with aggression and go take it. We know it's not going to be handed to us. They have a young team. Their coach is in his first year at the program, and I know he's going to do a great job there. But they're more than capable of beating us, no question about it. They've been very good at times. They beat Tennessee State, they played William & Mary close, and they played Clemson close for a half. They're very active on defense. We know what we're up against. This is not going to be an easy football game, and our kids no that. We've been preparing like it's a playoff game, but the last four games for us really have been like a playoff game. And we've won all four. We knew we had to win out after our loss to Tennessee State. We knew a two-loss team would win the league. And we've won so far. Our kids deserve a lot of credit, along with our coaches. We're excited more for the opportunity than anything on Saturday afternoon."
Q4 – Can you talk about the evolution of your team from the beginning of the season to where they are right now?
"We schedule a lot of Group of Five and Power Five teams here. We've played eight since I've been here, and had three last year and two this year. So, our record at the beginning of the year looks awful. That's part of it. I took the job and knew that was part of it. But I'll tell you this, it helps us down the stretch. We won six straight last year, and we've won four straight in October and November of this year. And I think a lot of it has something to do with playing a tough schedule early. We've played Elon twice, they're a good football team. Austin Peay is a top-25 team. Eastern Kentucky is a perennial playoff team every year. You through App State and East Carolina in there, our kids understand that we're playing good teams. You watch the film early in the year, and you see us playing these teams that are as big, fast, and old as they are, and then you compare to the end of the year, you don't see it as much."
"It's kind of a coaching style we have. We make it an emphasis to our team that we want to be playing our best football at the end of the year. I think that's the mark of a good team. Does your team get better each week? I think we're doing that with a freshman quarterback (Jaylen King) who keeps finding his way and he's 4-1 as a starter. I'm happy with where we are at, but I think the toughness of the schedule the last few years has allowed us to win six straight and now four straight over the last two years."
Q5 – What's the excitement level been for the players and their response each week knowing that they have to win out to win the conference championship and make the playoffs?
"We try to take it one week at a time, but in the back of our minds we knew we were up against it. And we were up against it. But we stood tall and answered the bell time after time. We've gotten the turnovers under control a little bit. That was killing us early in the year, and didn't give us any chance to win some of those games. But I'm proud of our guys, especially our seniors. We have a lot of seniors on defense. And we'll honor them with senior day on Saturday. Those are a lot of guys I brought in my first signing class as transfers or freshman. And it's going to mean a lot to me to see this hopefully come to fruition for these guys, and I hope we can send them out with a win. Then we hopefully get a good first round opponent, and then we can see how much noise we can make. But first things first, we have to take care of business and take care of a really good Charleston Southern team. They're really well coached, and they're going to do really good things."
For media interested in joining Tre Lamb's weekly Zoom call, please contact Richard Martin for more information.
Gardner-Webb closes out the regular season at Spangler Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 18 against rival Charleston Southern. A win would give Gardner-Webb a share of the Big South-OVC conference championship, and the automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs for the second year in a row. Kickoff is set for 1:00 PM. Fans can purchase tickets online at gwusports.com.
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