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 week three game at Tennessee State on Saturday, Sept. 16.

OPENING STATEMENT
"(Last Saturday) was a good day for us on both sides of the ball and special teams. We finished the game and won the game in the fourth quarter, which is something we didn't do at Appalachian State. I don't believe Elon ever held the lead in the game, so the next step for us is to put games away and put opponents away. That's the next step we need to reach as a program, where we can put games away earlier and not let people hang around."
 
"Elon's a really good team. They won eight games in the CAA last year, made the playoffs, and beat a top-5 ranked William & Mary team. They are a great ball club, are well coached, and you have to give them credit for the fight they had. But it's great to get a win, it's big for our conference to get a win like that, and it's incredible for our players."
 
Q1: This team looks a little more balanced and is spreading the ball around more than last year. What can you say about your receiving corps through two games this season?
 
"Last year, we had at least four or five season-ending injuries at wide receiver. We lost Justin Franklin in game one, Darius Hough in game two, Ephraim Floyd got hurt, Caleb Borders had to come in and we were playing with a lot of walk-ons at wide receiver last season. This year, we've been lucky to stay healthy so far. So, it's more of a product of last year only having Cutrell (Haywood) and TJ (Luther) getting the most touches, while this year we feel confident in seven or even eight wide receivers that can play for us and in this style of offense."
 
"We like to run a lot of plays in this offense. We need a lot of skill guys to step up and be fresh for us. We ran 91 total plays on Saturday, and ran 75 or 76 against App State. We're going to play a lot of plays offensively, we're playing with good tempo, and we're distributing the ball well. Our goal is to make them defend all five skill guys."
 
Q2: For those unfamiliar, what can you tell us about Tennessee State?
 
"Coach (Eddie) George has done a great job recruiting. And this team plays with great discipline. They're well coached. They're not going to beat themselves. Defensively, they're always in the right spots. They have good talent and a great defensive line. They're playing two quarterbacks right now, so we'll have to see who's out there."
 
"But I've coached against Tennessee State three times and played against them every year I was in the OVC. It's an historic program and is one of the most established HBCUs in the country. Coach George has done a great job. Coach (Rod) Reed was there when I was playing and coaching. So many great players have come through there, and they know how to win."
 
Q3: How excited are you to start conference play, and what will you need to do to get a conference win?
 
"We're obviously excited. It's the first game towards making the playoffs. That Elon win is going to go a long way towards our resume and getting into the Top-25 and hopefully we have enough FCS wins to get in the playoffs. But we don't want to leave it to chance or with a tiebreaker. We have to take care of business and get our team ready to go again. This is college football. You don't get a redo or a second shot. It's just one game a week. And we have to go out and have a good practice today to get ready."
 
Q4: In a traditional conference schedule, you would normally have all conference games at once at the end of the year. What's it like to play one conference game and then have a bit of a break before the next one?
 
"I like it this way. You see the SEC is trending that way, with Tennessee-Florida and Georgia-South Carolina playing early. I like it. I like getting a couple of these out of the way early to see where you stand and reevaluate after a bye week and a nonconference opponent. We have (Tennessee State) this week, and then don't play another conference game for three weeks. It's important to get one under our belt, but it's not going to be easy. They're a well-coached ball team with great players, and we have to go play there and play well."
 
Q5: Your week one opponent (Appalachian State) played well against a power five team this weekend (North Carolina). How does that make you feel about your team this week?
 
"I saw that score after our game and all I could think was "oh my god. We have a really good ball team.' I do hate comparing scores because I think it is stupid and doesn't account for several factors. But this early in the year, we had a lead on App State late in the third quarter, and then they pushed North Carolina, who I think is a top-10 team with a Heisman-level quarterback, to double overtime. That shows me that we're pretty good, and it's encouraging for sure."
 
Q6: Your team will be on the road for a while now. How does it feel to be away from home for so long, especially after your first home game this weekend?
 
"It is what it is. It's FCS football. You have to go play your two money games and create revenue for your school, which is great for us. They're great opportunities to go knock off a name brand like App State or ECU. And they're fun games. We have no pressure on us."
 
"But it stinks being away from home for three weeks, because we had an awesome crowd on Saturday. One of the best crowds we've had since I've been head coach here. Credit to our students and fan base for showing up. There was a threat of rain, but they still showed up and tailgated and it was a really good Saturday."
 
Q7: Tell me a little about Jay Billingsley and the rest of the special teams group, and how they came up big in a close game this weekend.
 
"We were a little disappointed in how the specialists played at App State. We didn't punt well. We had two shanked punts and a sky kick opportunity we didn't execute, along with a kickoff out of bounds. So, I challenged those guys this week. We're only as good as those guys are. It's like playing offense without a quarterback. You're only as good as your specialists. You need 10 guys rallying to the ball and playing with their hair on fire, but you have to execute as kickers, punters, and long snappers, and we didn't do that at App State. I'm very proud of the way we did that on Saturday. Jay was 100 percent, and I would've felt very confident putting him out there for a game-winning field goal, but we wanted to finish the game on offense and be aggressive. That's how I call the game, and it's how we play on defense and special teams. We're going to play to win. Jay kept us in the game early with a pair of field goals and made all of his extra points. It's awesome for him to get player of the week."
 
For media interested in joining Tre Lamb's weekly Zoom call, please contact Richard Martin for more information.

Gardner-Webb opens conference play this weekend, traveling to Nashville, Tenn. to face Tennessee State. Kickoff is set for 6:00 PM Eastern.