Bucs travel to Spartanburg for 1:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Oct. 24, 2022) – ETSU football hosted its weekly press conference at the William B. Greene, Jr. Stadium tower ahead of its road matchup at Wofford set for Saturday, Oct. 29 at 1:30 p.m. in Spartanburg, S.C.

ETSU head coach George Quarles was joined by junior wide receiver Isaiah Wilson (Norcross, Ga.) and sophomore defensive back Sheldon Arnold, II (Loganville, Ga.) during today’s press conference. 

Below are comments from Coach Quarles, Wilson and Arnold.

Head Coach George Quarles

How hard it is to compare teams like Wofford and ETSU when seemingly each week is different?

“It’s hard to compare scores each week. You can fall into that trap if you’re not careful. Wofford is very similar to us in a lot of ways. They’ve been close in some games, they had trouble scoring points early in the year and have been a little bit better at that the last few games. They obviously got their win against The Citadel. Like I’ve said a number of times this year, I’m not concerned about who we play — it’s just how we play. I don’t think this week will be any different. I think defense has carried us most of the year and has kept us in games, and the offense has been searching for an identity and then last week it kind of flipped…hopefully we can tie up it where both sides of the ball put it all together.”

What clicked for the offense Saturday?

“We made plays. I think some of those weren’t necessarily designed. A couple of those touchdowns, Tyler scrambled around and hit Will (Huzzie). Some of them were well-designed, like the trick play. That was a play where you couldn’t have done it much better. It’s about making plays. You can have the greatest offense, but sometimes something is going to go wrong — protection or a receiver gets held up. Somebody’s just got to make a play and I thought we did a good job of that Saturday afternoon. I thought Tyler played his best game of the season. He gave guys chances, he threw it away a couple of times, but not much. I thought he played a little more aggressive and got rewarded for it.”

Will it be challenging preparing for a team that’s under a different regime and coming off a bye week?

“Maybe a little. We’ve been able to see two games with (Interim) Coach (Shawn) Watson and it looks like they do a lot of the same stuff. I think you’re going to see a group that maybe plays with some more confidence. They got a big win in their last game, and now they get the open date to feel good about themselves for a little bit. And they get to play at home. I think you’ll probably see a lot of the same stuff, but you’re going to see a group that’s playing with a lot more confidence than they had earlier in the year.”

What has Wofford done different to score more points?

“I think it’s the same thing — just making some plays. They really switch their philosophy. When Coach (Mike) Ayers was there, they were definitely a running team and ran some option. Coach (Josh) Conklin wanted to be a little bit more spread, more modern if you will. They’ve had to switch the whole roster in a lot of ways and it hasn’t gone as well as I’m sure they would want it to. Philosophical change can take some time, but I think the last game they just made some plays. Defensively, they are really solid. They don’t give up a ton of points. I think Virginia Tech scored maybe 27 points and Samford, very explosive, scored 28.  They’ve played well defensively to keep them in games and last game they made some plays on offense to get the win. 

What’s your motivation for the rest of the season?

“Every week just being the best we can be. This is certainly not the season any of us had hoped for. I think just giving our guys the best chance to win — that’s my motivation. I want our guys to be able to get wins and to feel good about themselves and feel like everything we’re doing in practice and the weight room and all that stuff is going to pay off on Saturday. It’s such a bottom line business — how you do each Saturday — and it’s a pretty discouraging feeling coming away on Saturday with a loss…I want them to be able to struggle and get through a struggle and realize life’s tough, but keep working at it. You only lose when you give up.”

Wide Receiver – Isaiah Wilson

Regarding the pass on the trick play, did you have any prior experience at quarterback?

“I used to play quarterback growing up, but not high school. It felt good. I feel like I hit the spot on that play. I got some (arm) in me, T.Y. taught me a little bit. But I prefer catching for sure.”

What’s motivating you the rest of the season?

“Losing, to be honest. We’re not used to this. Everybody worked hard all summer for this (season). Even though we’ve had a lot of change, it doesn’t matter. Most of life is change. We don’t like to lose and y’all have seen what we are capable of when the offense is clicking and the defense is clicking. My teammates are basically my motivation right now — trying to get through for them.”

Do you still enjoy football — even though it may not be as fun as last season?

“We’ve got to. It’s football. We’ve been playing this for our whole life. I’m just thankful to be able to play again and again, week in and week out. Us losing still hurts a bit. We’re not used to that. But we still feel good and we’re always going to excited to play football. I feel like if you’re not excited to play football, then you don’t need to be playing football.”

Defensive Back – Sheldon Arnold, II

Are you motivated to face Wofford after facing a tough Samford offense last week?

“On the defensive side of the ball, yes. We are a confident group and believe in what we can do. I know last Saturday wasn’t our best game, performance wise, and some other games this year haven’t been our best performance. But we’re a confident group and feel like we can compete.”

What was the difference in the last couple of weeks compared to the early part of the season?

“The last couple of weeks, we’ve played some teams with different kind of schemes. Samford is obviously really tough because of how fast they get the ball out and how many plays they run, tempo-wise.”

Talk about your competitions with fellow defensive back Chris Hope?

“When you have a one and two spot competing, as much as we are around each out, we really feed off of each other. If one person is doing good one day, you got to bring it the next day and that kind of helps our team out more. It helps us as individuals and helps our team progress and become better. Everything is competitive between us — we are like brothers. Video games, talking about assignments — like when we are on punt team together. We’re a good group with a tight bond.”

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