Georgia State Head Coach Trent Miles
“I’m very excited about the homecoming victory. I’m happy for our alumni, team, student body and faculty/administration. I’m very pleased with the way our defense performed. This is the first time in school history that we’ve never given up a touchdown. I think that shows how outstanding our defense was today. Hopefully, we can get everyone healthy and get ready to go down and play South Alabama in a big time football game.”
“Offensively it was a little rough. We lost our starting quarterback on Thursday, during a two-minute drill, and he gets the majority of the reps all week long. For Aaron Winchester to find out he was the starter this morning, I thought there were some moments he wishes he had back, but for his first time, he was able to move the ball around with his feet early in the game. We have to get a game plan for him if Conner can’t get back. I’m happy with the way Darius Stubbs ran the ball. We had 166-yards rushing. The mark of a good football team is when the offense is struggling, the defense and special teams picks it up for them. They played together as a team. The defense had some scores. Offense had some scores, and we won the game.”
Question about how the offensive game plan changed:
“Drastically. Conner’s skillset isn’t the same as Arron’s skillset. When the majority of your game plan is set for your starter, and you find out that late that it’s going to be the other guy, you can only change so much. There were a lot of adjustments going on during the game trying to narrow down what he felt comfortable with and what he didn’t. I thought for him to be put in that situation on such short notice he did a really good job. There were some decisions he wishes he had back, but it’s a part of the learning process.”
Question on Stubbs receiving more play time:
“He [Stubbs] plays just as much as anyone else at running back. We still like to alternate and use Tra Barnett, Kendrick Dorn and Demarcus Kirk. Yes, he played well, but we’ll still be a running back by committee.”
Question on the improvement of the offensive line:
“They’re getting better. They’re putting the work in. The one group on the field that’s the hardest to get in sync is the offensive line. It takes five guys, doing the exact same thing at once. They’re going to need to be really good next week because South Alabama has a good defense. As long as we can continue to get better and run the football, it will take pressure off of the quarterback position.”
"I'm very proud of our football team. I'm proud of the way they performed today in what could have been a tough situtation, losing your starting quarterback basically the day before the game. That's a good football team we beat. They almost won at Hawai'i, they went to Cincinnati and had a chance to win that game, and they're going to win a bunch of games in their conference."
Cornerback B.J. Clay
Q: Can you break down the play for the pick six?
“We got a great rush from the D Line, Linebackers did their job and the safeties made the call. The defensive coordinator had me in the right place at the right time.”
Q: How did it feel coming in to start?
“I just had great confidence playing behind guys like Chandon and Jerome, best cornerbacks in the Sun Belt Conference. I’m just appreciative and happy to help my team.”
QB Aaron Winchester
Question: First start ever, how did it feel?
“It felt good, it felt good to compete with my brothers. It felt good
Q: What was running through your mind when you found out about staring?
“Just got to be ready. It didn’t change my preparation, how I prepare every week. When coach told me Conner’s down, he said it’s your team now.’ Nothing changed in my mind, just being aware of the situation.”
Q: Any butterflies going in?
“No, not really. If you are prepared you don’t get those and I felt like I was very prepared for this.”
DL Marterious Allen
Question: Can you talk about the fumble recovery?
“Coach mentions daily that I have two flat wheels on my feet, I was in a lot of pain, I scooped the ball up, and my teammates assisted me to the end zone.
“Back in high school I used to carry the ball, so that moment was very reminiscent for me, it felt good.”
"We just played or scheme and a lot of our players executed really well.”
LB Michael Shaw
“It feels good, especially for homecoming, it feels good to finally win.”
“As a defense we had great communication, we saw a lot of stuff that we saw in practice, so communicating everything we saw helped us fly around to the ball.”
UT Martin Head Coach Jason Simpson:
Overall thought on the game
“First of all, we wasted a good effort on our defense. 285 yards, got two turnovers, and we only scored six points. So, you know, we were not very good on offense. I give their (GSU) defense credit to hold us to5-for- 17 on third down. Just on getting those turnovers and being really good on third down. They were a bowl team last year, and they deserve to win. Overall, it was not a good showing. However, we are going home this week and when we walk out of that room, our focus will be on EKU; I am ready to get back to work.”
Talking about the different losses in the league
“I know we are three and one in the league, and I think that gives two teams losses today and that bunches things up a little. I put it on destiny. We have four more games in front of us, and we control our own destiny. That is all that we can ask for right now.”
