JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Oct. 30, 2023) – After two straight road games, the ETSU football team will return home this Saturday when it welcomes VMI to Bank of Tennessee Field at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium. Head Coach George Quarles, running back Trey Foster and linebacker Teddy Wilson met with media members on Monday to discuss the upcoming matchup with the Keydets.
 
Below are the comments from Coach Quarles, Foster and Wilson.  

 
HEAD COACH GEORGE QUARLES
 
On the continued success of blocking kicks & on Saturday's game overall
Give Teddy (Wilson) along with Coach (Kirk) Garner and Coach (Austin) Gatewood a lot of credit. Everyone on that unit has done a great job with their effort and our coaches have come up with wonderful schemes to cause chaos. Teddy has a knack for getting in the backfield. It's been fun to watch. When we blocked that kick on Saturday, it seemed to lift our spirits and gave us confidence.  Overall, I'm really proud of our guys and how we competed. We played hard and with tremendous heart. There's no quit in our team.
 
The defense had a great day at Furman, what are the keys in slowing down VMI's running attack that totaled over 200 yards running and passing last week vs. Chattanooga
Coach (Billy) Taylor and our entire defensive staff does a great job each week. Like we told the team last night, it is a pretty thing when you have the guy on your left and right doing their assignment. When that happens along with the effort we had, you get an outing like we had on Saturday. As for VMI's outing vs. Chattanooga, you take your hat off to them. Especially after the Mocs got out to an early lead. They made some adjustments and gave themselves a chance late in the game to win. They will be well-coached, disciplined team and we have to be ready for it.
 
Thoughts on the offense
We moved the ball well at times in between the 20-yard lines. Things get tougher in the red zone with limited space and teams tend to pressure more as well. We have to win more one-on-one matchups on the outside in the red zone since it's more difficult to run. We're still battling and competing. We had our chances on Saturday but we didn't take advantage of them.  
 
RUNNING BACK TREY FOSTER
VMI nearly upset Chattanooga last week, with that result is there extra preparation for this game
I think in the SoCon you have to be ready every week. You know VMI is going to play hard and be a disciplined squad so it'll be a tough test on Saturday
 
On your career-high day against the Paladins
It was good. I was trying to do the best I could for the team. It was good after I persevered through some injuries that I was able to contribute. It gives me confidence that I can have performances like that moving forward.
 
LINEBACKER TEDDY WILSON
What makes you guys so successful at blocking punts
I think it comes down to being physical at the point of attack. It can't be just one guy; it has to be a group of everyone doing their job to make it work.
 
On the success of the run defense, especially lately
It feels great to have the guy next to you want it as badly as you do, which is what it takes to be a successful defense.
 
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