ULM Head Coach Todd Berry
Opening Statement…
“Probably one of the more difficult days I have had in coaching. We don't have all the details yet in terms of Daniel (Fitzwater)'s passing. Only that it doesn't seem to be self-inflicted or that there's any foul play. We found out about four hours prior to game time. I was able to kind of get the team together about three hours prior to game time. … He was a great young man. He worked hard and had a lot of friends on the team. Obviously there was no time to grieve – it was just shock. Obviously we didn't play as well as we needed to and I understand, quite honestly, some of it because it was hard just going out on the field before the ballgame. It was hard enough to coach. I can't imagine what it was like to try and play. So we'll bounce back. As soon as I know arrangements and all those kinds of things, I will let you know as soon as I talk with the families. Again, I would very much appreciate at this point in time if you don't talk with our players and let them have a chance to grieve because they haven't had that opportunity yet. We just got thrown out on the field, and I wish you guys – obviously we've always tried to give you guys opportunities to talk with our kids even in difficult situations. But this is one I would like for you guys to respect, please. Thank you all.”
Georgia Southern Head Coach Willie Fritz
Opening Statement
“We did some good things offensively. There were a few times where we could have put the game away earlier, but we didn't quite finish with conversions and things like that. We ran the ball extremely well. Still, I told the guys that we played really sloppy; a lot of penalties which really killed some drives, but we enjoyed winning the game by three touchdowns after not playing really well. We're happy about that in particular especially on the road.”
On time of possession
“We had some really good drives. Wesley Fields look great in the end and L.A. Ramsby had a really big fourth and one run. Our guys really ran tough and we were able to change the field a few times. All that doesn't happen though without a great job by the offensive line as well as the wide receivers and the tight ends.”
On bouncing back after ULM cut it to a seven-point game
“We bounced back really well. That pick-six for ULM happened right in front of me and it was like it was in slow motion. If we would have ran any other route their guy would have been beat by 10 yards. It was just unfortunate, but we faced adversity and were able to bounce back and finish the game. We got some plays from the defense, when other times we needed the offense to make plays. It was good team football.”
On how ULM's offense differed from the one they faced last week
“ULM's offense was quite a bit different. They run a lot of empty sets and they will gain yards on you, it's just a matter of limiting the big plays. A couple times we blew assignments, but overall we got some takeaways and we didn't allow them to run the ball very effectively.”
