Oct. 14, 2002

Charleston, SC - Coach Ellis Johnson spoke Monday about the win against East Tennessee State and the upcoming game against Furman.

Travis Zobel earned player-of-the-game honors with two made field goals, two made extra points, and a foiled punt attempt in which he tucked the ball and scampered for 43 yards. Zobel commented "I was going to punt it until I had people in my face and I saw a crease and just took off."

Zobel was the reason that The Citadel had such good field position throughout the game.

"We played defense extremely well," stated Johnson. The Bulldogs held East Tennessee State on third downs to only 3 successful tries out of 13 attempts. Improvement on defense was a crucial factor in the win on Saturday.

"They knocked Klein around, but he played well," commented Johnson. Klein has passed 197 times with only one interception, which pleases Bulldog coaches. The Citadel put together six drives of seven plays or more in their win against the Buccaneers. The Bulldogs hope to continue their effective play this weekend against in-state rival, Furman.

Coach Johnson recognizes that the Furman Paladins will not roll over or loose focus in their match-up this coming weekend. "This is going to be a tremendous challenge to try to stop Furman, stated Johnson. "The Paladins run a power offense. They also have a great offensive line and talented wide receivers."

Coach Ellis Johnson has just as much respect for Furman, as Furman head coach, Bobby Lamb, has for The Citadel. Coach Lamb commented on The Bulldogs by saying "The Citadel is a talented team and we must be careful."

With improvements coming on the defensive side of the ball, coupled with Klein's accurate passing, sets the Bulldogs up for a strong showing versus the Furman Paladins.