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CONTRIBUTED BY ETSU ATHLETICS
JOHNSON CITY – ETSU Football held its weekly press conference on Monday afternoon ahead of Saturday’s contest against 18th-ranked VMI. Head Coach Randy Sanders addressed the media and was joined by junior tight end Nate Adkins (Knoxville, Tenn.) and redshirt-senior defensive end Olajuwon Pinkelton (Cincinnati, Ohio).

Below are comments from Coach Sanders, Adkins and Pinkelton:

Head Coach Randy Sanders
This game has a lot on the line, how to approach that this weekend?
“Well, it does have a lot going for it. I try very hard with the team to not make a big issue about big games or anything else. It is the next game and they are all big. Each week you play the biggest game of the season because that is the one that you are playing that week. I expect us to play well and I think that the open date fell at a pretty good time for us. I will know more about that based on how we play on Saturday. We didn’t go too hard but we were able to get things done during our bye week. It is going to take a good effort on both sides and we have to take care of the kicking game.”

How do you feel about the league this year and the possibility of getting 2 or 3 playoff teams?
“Well, I think that the Southern Conference is really good this year. I thought it was going to be a lot of one-score football games, whether it was us or other teams. You knew going in that VMI had a good football team, as did Chattanooga. I feel we have had a good football team going into this fall. Most everyone in the league had their teams returning, so I am sure everyone felt they had a good football team.

What have you seen on film about VMI and what to expect this weekend?
“I think that they are having more success running the football than they have in the past. Everyone knows how good their receivers are. Anytime that you get two or three receivers that are threats, it makes it a whole lot tougher on the defense. You now have to defend the whole field, and when that happens, it opens up a lot of things in the run game. I think that their offensive line is much improved. Some of the looks they are getting in the run game is sometimes because of the threat of the three receivers.”

Tight End – Nate Adkins
What did you see out of VMI this past weekend?
“I saw that they had a 21-point comeback and they were able to make some plays and ended up winning the game. They are an impressive team and they do a lot of good things on defense and on offense. It is going to be a good game this Saturday.”

Do you feel that you are more prepared after coming off a bye week?
“An extra week of preparation is always going to help. At the end of the day, we have to be able to have a good week at practice and come out and execute the game plan that Coach Sanders has for us.”

Defensive End – Olajuwon Pinkelton
Does this weekend get your juices flowing a little more with homecoming and just three games left?
“It gets me going knowing that teams are wanting to come in and ruin it [homecoming]. We know that it will be a fight, especially after VMI came back from 21 points. We know that we have to put them away in all four quarters because they are going to play hard all four. Everybody around us knows that it is crunch time this weekend.”

Talk about trying to play either side of the defensive line and the whole “next man up” mentality?
“It is one thing that Coach Sanders says is ‘next man up’. So basically, everyone on the defensive line has to play hard and sometimes injuries happen when you play hard. It is about knowing the defense and knowing your positions. I know my role and the man beside me for our defense to work so that if I am needed there, I can move over and play the same technique.”

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