North Carolina A&T Head Coach Sam Washington Opening Statement:  "Big ballgame for us. It was a game that we really needed to win to get back into good grace and give the guys something positive to build upon. I thought the defense played exceptionally well. Minus-three yards rushing is a feat within itself. I thought the backend played admirably, but what I was most disappointed with was the penalties. We had 11 penalties, and three of those kept a drive alive in which they went on to score, so I was quite disappointed. The weather was very tough, very cold and rainy. The guys did not buy into that and did not fall into that trap. They played with a lot of pride, and we were able to do some things. Offensively, we could've played better. We left a lot of plays out there. I think it's all about execution, and we are not executing fully, but I do think that we're on the right track, and we have to get better at what we're doing." 

Coach Washington on how weather elements affected the game:  "It affected it quite a bit, particularly when you were into the wind. We were fortunate in the first half; we had the wind in the second quarter and in the second half, we ended up with it in the third, hoping that we'd get something going offensively and get some points. I thought the defense was playing well enough to hold up at the end of the game, and fortunately, we were able to do that." 

Coach Washington on turnovers:  "That's part of the recipe. Stop the run and protect the football, and we did not do it, you know, two interceptions and a fumble. It's where they occurred that I think was most significant. You don't just turn over the ball in the red zone, which we did." 

Coach Washington's assessment on quarterback Jalen Fowler:  "It's been a seesaw. It's been up and down, and I think we've yet to see his best for whatever reason. To be honest with you, I'm still waiting to see him play his best, but I can assure you that we have not seen that yet. 

Coach Washington on if Fowler's struggles are a confidence or experience issue:  "I think it's a combination of both, you know, with the lack of experience, and then when things don't go your way, you're not having success, you begin to doubt yourself, and that's possibly part of the issue." 

Coach Washington on Kingsley Ifedi being used primarily as a runner: "I have a problem with that as well. I think he needs to throw the football because everybody's just packing the box on him. So, nice observation, but I agree with you this time." 

Coach Washington on how much input he inserts on offense: "I defer a lot to (offensive coordinator Chris Barnette). I trust what he's doing, but I think in the last few weeks, he and I have sat down and had a lot of one-on-one conversations, and I tell him what I think he's going to see defensively, what he's possibly going to see, and I'm a numbers guy. If you have three people trying to block four, that doesn't work, so if we can get a hat on a hat and get people moved, we should be able to run the football." 

Coach Washington on what road win means for confidence: "It means so much for the morale of the team. It happened at the right time. It happened when we needed it most, and I'm just pleased with our effort." 

Coach Washington on gambling during the game on Saturday: "The thought was, we were in the wind and did not want to punt into the wind at that moment. We needed a play that would give us momentum instead of going (Charleston Southern) momentum and fortunately, it worked." 

Coach Washington on South Carolina State:  "Right now, they're in our way. We want to finish strong. I think it's important that we finish on a strong note, on a winning note, to carry over into next year. It's hard to win in South Carolina; in Orangeburg, it's hard. Coach Pough and his staff will have their team prepared and ready to play. I think we've won, I just learned, the last five, and I doubt if any of them have been by more than a touchdown. It's been competitive from start to finish, and we don't anticipate it being any different this week." 

Coach Washington on blitzing a lot at CSU:  "If you recall, last Monday my biggest concern was the quarterback, and the last thing I wanted to do is give him running lanes. We decided to get aggressive and play on their side of the ball and see what happens and fortunately, it worked out in our favor." 

Coach Washington on Tyquan King:  "I was so pleased and then, too, as a freshman, you're not sure how they're going to perform, and he went out, and he played like a seasoned vet. He played with a lot of energy and emotion, got the defense lined up, and made all the necessary calls. I'm very impressed with his performance." 

Coach Washington on Jacob Roberts: "He's okay. No, listen, I say football players make football plays, and that young man is a football player, and he has a very high football IQ. I'm just happy he's on my team, to be honest with you." 

Coach Washington on coach Pough and his team: "He's always going to have his team fired up ready to go. His philosophy is very similar to mine. He believes in stopping the run, and he believes in running the football and that's something that they do very well. Their special teams are very sold. I think they have possibly the best return guy in FCS football this year, so we have to be very clear and precise in our cover teams and not allow him to hurt us in any way." 

Coach Washington further on coach Pough:  "I'll tell you what, he's a character guy. He has a lot of character, and I have a lot of respect for that man." 

RB Bhayshul Tuten 

Tuten on what happened on 92-yard reception: "We knew the play was going to work all week in practice. It was a new play that we put in designed for me to get free underneath the linebackers. The play obviously worked, but as I continued to work up the sideline, I guess about the 20-yard line, I tried to hit second gear again, and being as the weather was against us, my hamstring wasn't going for it, so I just have to do a better job stretching on the sideline, staying warm and not letting it happen again." 

Tuten on weather impacting the game:  "It was a big factor. We throw the ball a lot; we run the ball a lot. But, still, even with running the ball, the wind, how cold it is, people weren't able to get as warm as they would like, so it played a huge part on our bodies, but I think overall as a team, we need to warm up more and stay loose on the sideline more instead of trying to hop in and get hot." 

Tuten on team's attitude after the win:  "I think the general attitude was just hunger. We were just hungry coming out to show that we're not having a losing season. We don't want to be losers, in a sense. But, that we want to finish the season out strong for our seniors, for the team, and the coaches, so I think our attitude coming out was play strong and let's win this game, let's win it out." 

Tuten on what he's heard about SCSU rivalry:  "I haven't heard anything yet. It's Monday, so I'll definitely hear something today, but, as you said, I'm new to it, so we'll see what I hear." 

Tuten on fellow running back Kashon Baker:  "He's been a great teammate to help me succeed as a player. He's not selfish at all. He tries to bring us up as a running back corps. He made a great cut block outside to free me up and let me run free, so, as you said yourself, he's unselfish, and he does whatever it takes to put the team in front of us and help us win." 

Tuten on the importance of blocking as a running back: "It's very important. Coach Gibbs harps on blocking. He says being a great football player is not only with the ball in your hand but without it in your hand, too. So coach takes pride in us blocking without the ball in our hands. Pass blocking, run blocking, so he harps on that and makes sure we have the right tools we need to succeed in blocking. The right technique and stuff like that is a really big part of playing running back." 

LB Jacob Roberts 

Roberts on the excitement of double-A gap blitzes:  "Of course. That's what I love to do, and this whole linebacker corps loves to do. We love to blitz, so when we get the opportunity, we try to make the best of it." 

Roberts on weather's implications:  "I feel like it worked in our favor. It was raining, it was cold, so they couldn't do anything else but run the football, and we like to stop the run, so it worked in our hands." 

Roberts on King's performance:  "He played great. That's actually my roommate, so we stayed up, talked about the game, talked about the game plan, studied the game plan, and I'm proud of him. He balled out." 

Roberts on the key to holding CSU to minus-three rushing yards:  "Just stopping the run. Winning football games here as a defense, we try to go out every game and stop the run." 

Roberts on if Big South competition will give A&T advantage playing SCSU: "I think it's going to be about the same. South Carolina State has always been a good team, a tough team. So it's always going to be a tough battle every time we play them, and we're going to give them our best shot."