Georgia State Head Coach Trent Miles
Opening Statement
“We were obviously disappointed with the result. Somebody made a comment to me that the boys kept fighting. That's not something to be proud of, it's expected in this program. The defense in the second half was outstanding, we gave up three points. Offensively, we need to do a better job as a coaching staff in helping these kids get points on the board.”
On the offensive struggles in the first half…
“Charlotte’s defense locked up man-to-man and they pressured the quarterback. We had some busted protections and flaws in the run game. We never got into a rhythm and kept turning the ball over. Our field goal kicker is money, but we had the blocked field goal and that's the difference in the game.”
On the team moving forward…
“Charlotte did a great job and give them credit, but as a coaching staff we need to do a better job with the offense. We need to do a better job in putting out players in a position to succeed.”
“We talk about not believing the hype, sticking to what we do and working hard.”
On the struggles of the offense…
“Not having Joel [Ruiz] and Donovan [Harden] healthy, they are both all-conference players on the same side of the ball that we didn't have. That's not an excuse, we make no excuses, but it would've helped to have them on the field. Taz [Bateman] is an explosive player and he's got good vision and he'll keep getting better as he goes along in the season.”
What will you take away from this game?
“I learned that we have the ability to play good defense. We have a much better ability to play offense than we showed. We need to control some of the discipline issues [on the field] and some of the more controllable things in order to be successful.”
“Now we're going to focus on New Mexico State next weekend.”
Charlotte Head Coach Brad Lambert
Opening Statement
"I've got so much so much respect for Trent Miles and you can see it in them that they are just not going to quit. It was a big day for us."
On the defense...
"We deferred for the first time in a long time and we wanted to see our defense go out and play. They really stayed active the whole game. We're going to have to grow and get better moving forward with this season."
On the offense...
"We need to take care of the ball better. It's tough to win a game and lose a turnover battle and we've just got to value the ball better."
Georgia State QB Nick Arbuckle
On the offense's struggles
"We just didn't execute (the game plan) like we were supposed to. We had a good game plan, but we just didn't come out and throw the ball like we did in practice."
On throwing more deeper passes than last season
"That is something that we want to work more on. We have what we believe is the best receiving corps in the conference, and we want to utilize those guys going on the field."
On throwing the first interception in the end zone
"We thought it was man coverage, and we audibled to a play that we thought could win with the slot going to the corner of the end zone. The cornerback that was covering the outside receiver peeled off as the ball was in the air and made a really good play on the ball.
On the absence of Donovan Harden and Joel Ruiz
"Donovan is a great player. He showed what he can do last year, and so did Joel (Ruiz). I know Joel wasn't able to go at full go today, but that is not the reason we didn't do what we were supposed to do. We don't make excuses, and we don't believe in any drop-offs, but the guy that comes next is supposed to fill that production. I think we have the capability and the talent behind those guys to do that. I could have put Glenn (Smith) in better position to make more plays, and I missed Penny (Hart) earlier in the series when we were looking at a touchdown. Those are plays that our slot receivers would have made, but I just didn't give them a good chance.
Georgia State Safety Bobby Baker
On whether he has ever had 5 turnovers in one game
"I don't think so. Maybe something close, but nothing like this."
On the defense's mindset
"We came out really fired up. We knew that there was going to be adversity and things that would try to bring us down. We knew that coming in, and so I think we were really prepared coming in. We were really fired up every time we came out, kind of almost excited. I know the offense was a little slow to get started, but I was excited to go out.
On what the team can improve on for next week
"Communication is always a big thing. I don't think it was too much of an issue, but you can always improve on communicating. Other than that, the scheme was great... we were in position for almost everything. One of the biggest things that you do need in football is wrapping up. We had a lot of missed tackles and guys slipping up, but next week, it's a whole other game.
