On Saturday night's loss at Western Carolina:

Saturday's loss was a tough defeat for us. The real disappointment for us as a team was that we gave them the opportunities. They did what they had to win.

On Appalachian State:

Appalachian State is a great team and I am confident that our team will be ready for them come Saturday night.

They are an outstanding team. They have two quarterbacks that can beat you, a mature and physical offensive line. They have 11 guys on defense that run like deer.

They are great not only at the I-AA level but at any level.

On the Bucs penalty problem:

We are not going to be the team we can be with all these penalties. We are getting calls on us that we can control.

Some of the penalties are mental mistakes. We just need to relax more.

On the 2000 season:

Every football campaign is a like a race. It doesn't matter where you start but where you finish. If we can eliminate mistakes we can be a very good football team.