Postgame Quotes from CSU vs. Liberty

LYNCHBURG, Va. - Charleston Southern Head Coach Jay Mills and sophomore defensive back Charles James addressed the media after the team's 44-20 loss on the road at Liberty, Saturday night.

Coach Jay Mills
On the play of his team
“I was very proud of our team and how we competed, we felt like it was a great match up, with the two-time defending conference champs, and nobody has won more games in the Big South Conference than Charleston Southern. So we expected a good football game, we expected it to be hard fought, and that’s certainly what it was. I am very proud of our young men. I thought in all three phases of the game they played their hearts out. We just made too many mistakes; the turnovers were just really difficult to overcome. We certainly have to give all credit to Liberty for their performance. Mike Brown is an outstanding player, they have great players in all three phases of the game including Matt Bevins kicking for them. We played a very good football team. We played them, and also had to compete against ourselves”

On how things changed with a fumble on the LU 2 yardline
“Obviously we felt like in the worst case scenario we have the field goal and we have the one point lead, and there was a momentum factor there’s no question about it. At the same point in time, I also felt like we had 98 yards to our back. You know that when you get into games like this that they are going to make some mistakes and we’re going to force some. We’re going to make some mistakes as well, and you just have to keep competing. So it was disappointing obviously, but I did not think it was a back breaker. I felt like we had 98 yards to our back, we had field position so I liked our chances.”

On how using backup quarterback Andrew Trudnowski affected the game
“It didn’t change the game plan. Our plan was to redshirt Trudnowski, so that next year he would be redshirt senior, much like AJ Toscano, but when word got back to us after that series, we had to make a decision of whether to pull the redshirt off of Andrew. Talking to our medical people, we are praying that the outcome is going to be more positive than initially anticipated. Whether or not AJ will be able to play the remainder of the season remains to be seen, so we felt like percentage wise we need to pull the redshirt off of Andrew. The thing that I really appreciate was the selfless love and unity of this team, this is what Charleston Southern football is all about. We haven’t had some of the fiscal or physical resources, but we have had the intangible things which has been the quality of the people and this was evidenced by Andrew. He in that he didn’t even stutter, I said get warmed up, he said yes sir got warmed up and came out and competed hard. I know there are some plays he would like to have back, I know he did not nearly have the reps in practice over the last couple of months as AJ has, but I thought it was an inspiring performance by Andrew.”

On the late touchdown on fourth down at the end of the game
“Well, I think that I can only account for myself. I can only coach one team I can’t address the other. I can only explain the circumstance as I saw it. I wanted our guys to compete to the very end, which I am proud that they did, I think the kickoff return is indicative of that. We knew that the game was for all practical purposes decided, but all I explained to Danny was as we talked after the game, we have had a good relationship in the years we have known each other. When they did not go victory (formation) I had to keep training my team to play football as well. So our decision basically was, we had to keep competing because they were.  So I had anticipated that they were going to go for it on fourth down, but if I let the clock run out while they are running the football I don’t think it makes the right statement to your team about competing in life, it’s a life lesson to the very end. I made the decision to call the timeout, thinking they would either go for it and would get it, and I wouldn’t use the last time out and time would run out, or we would stop them and we would have something to build upon for the next week and we get maybe one or two shots at a pass play down the field. Nothing from our standpoint was personal. It was just a reflection of playing the game out, as it was dictated to us. I didn’t see him coming out towards the field to shake hands I had no clue about that at all. I was looking at the marker to see if it was a first down or not, because if it was a first down we were just going to let the clock go on. The fourth down decision, I wouldn’t change it because you can’t tell your guys to compete to the very end on the football field and in life if you don’t do that.”

Sophomore Defensive Back Charles James
On the matchup with Chris Summers
“He is a great athlete, he is a really great athlete. I knew coming in I had to come out and compete against this guy. I actually played against him in high school. He’s a phenomenal player. Big tall physical guy. I actually read the stats during the week and he was number one in every category, so I knew I was going to have to bring it. I really appreciate the defensive line and linebackers, the whole defense coming together. Coach Smith does a great job with the game plan. He puts us in the right position to make plays, and fortunately I was in the right position to make a play.”

On how to defend an athlete like Summers
“It’s hard. Basically you just have to read your keys, from a cornerback’s standpoint you just have to read from the offensive linemen to the receiver and then just play the ball. It comes from a lot of hard work, our defense played hard. We always just try to win the turnover battle, unfortunately we didn’t win it today, but we came out and competed hard. Chris Summers and Mike Brown is a good athlete. We just wanted to come out and compete.”

Game Recap