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 #24/25 Gardner-Webb's week one game at Appalachian State on Saturday, Sept. 2.
 
Tre Lamb Opening Statement
"I'm excited to have football back as a whole. It's the best time of year. It's what we look forward to all summer. We only get 11 guaranteed opportunities and we have a lot of practices, weight training sessions, a lot of meetings that go into this, and a lot of recruiting. This is what we live for and it's the best time of year. I think the purest form of football nationwide is college football at the FCS level and I'm excited to get going this year."
 
"I'm excited about our team. We've made some big strides in year three and had a really good finish to last season. We're hoping to get started a little quicker this season and get some more Ws in the win column. But I'm excited to be back with the OVC opponents and with our schedule. I think we have a very competitive FCS schedule, along with two Group of Five schedules on the document, including this weekend at Appalachian State."
 
"I have a ton of respect for Coach Clark, the way they operate, and the culture they have built all the way going back to coach Jerry Moore, coach (Scott Satterfield), coach (Eli Drinkwitz), and now coach Clark. They have not dropped off. They have a great tradition and great culture. They were FCS roughly ten years ago, and have made unbelievable progress since going to the FBS. It's a great atmosphere at The Rock, and I can't wait to see it on Saturday."
 
Q1: What do you feel are the keys to the game to pull off the upset over Appalachian State this weekend?
 
"First and foremost, we have to take care of the football. It's a very loud environment with a hyped-up crowd. These are two good teams who are very excited to play each other. But we have to control our emotions early, take care of the rock, and value the football. We have all new quarterbacks who are going to play for us, and they have to control the football.
 
"On the other side, we have to take away the football. I think Coach Clark said yesterday that they are 15-1 when they win the turnover margin. App State does everything right. They're everything you want in college football. They're blue collar, they play hard, they run the football, and they can throw it deep. They always have great quarterbacks, all the way back to Armanti (Edwards), who can control the football. For us, we're going to have to take care of the ball, force some turnovers, and maybe we can have the ball bounce our way on special teams a few times and we can stay in the game."
 
Q2: Last year, your team had a pair of close games against two Group of Five teams in Coastal Carolina and Liberty. How does that give your team confidence going into this year's contest with App State?
 
"It certainly gives us confidence. Our team has an edge to them that they really don't care what logo is on your shirt or where we're playing. We're going to control what we can control and prepare how we can prepare and play as hard as we can. I would put our effort up against any team at all levels of football. We play really hard and that's something I take pride in as a head coach. That's one thing we're going to do. We're going to play with our hair on fire at every position with an aggressive style of football and not play scared. We play to win against anybody."
 
"With that said, they have 85 scholarships and we have 63. There certainly are some disadvantages when you go up and play Group of Five and Power Five teams. But our guys play with that chip on their shoulder and have that blue collar mentality of 'who cares' and let's control us and do the best we can."
 
Q3: Every season is different. Last season had a strong end with the playoffs. What have you learned about this team in the last month of camp that maybe you didn't see from the team last season?
 
"Defensively, we have a lot of guys back. We struggled to move the ball on offense during our first two weeks of camp because that's how good that side is. Coach Reardon has done a great job recruiting, developing, and keeping our best players here. We have a lot of depth there this season that we didn't last year. We brought in some transfers to help with depth and the competition has been better than ever, because the roster is stronger and everyone has a chance to play."
 
"In today's college football landscape, no one wants to give a coach five to six years because no one has patience anymore. Now that I've been a head coach for a bit, and after coming in at 30 years old, I'm 33 now, I see what people are talking about. It takes getting to your third, fourth, fifth recruiting cycle to get your roster competitive. Your first few years, you're having to do things out of necessity, and run certain plays and schemes, and your roster is not very competitive because you have some freshmen who aren't ready to play. Now, you need to show off at practice or in meetings or the weight room if you expect to play on Saturdays. There's another guy at every position we can put in the game and be just as good."
 
"I think the competition has been different, but better. We have an older team, so they aren't as beat up because they know how to practice. We don't have to teach the basics as much. It's still been physical. We have done a ton of inside run and point of attack drills, but at the same time, I know what a lot of these guys can do. They've played a bunch of snaps. That's new this year, because we now know what to expect from our guys."
 
For media interested in joining Tre Lamb's weekly Zoom call, please contact Richard Martin for more information.
 
Gardner-Webb kicks off the 2023 football season on Saturday, Sept. 2 at Appalachian State. Kickoff is set for 3:30 PM. Fans can watch the game on ESPN+, or can listen live via The Varsity Network app or at gwusports.com.