Sept. 22, 2003

Charleston, SC - Director of Athletics Les Robinson joined Coach Ellis Johnson and the media to reflect on last week's loss to Western Carolina and to discuss the upcoming renovations to Johnson Hagood Stadium at The Citadel's fifth press conference of the season on Monday.

The Citadel loss 28-21 to the Catamounts in Cullowhee, NC in the Saturday match-up against a team coach Johnson said was a mirror image of the Bulldogs. "It was a really tough game and a tough loss to accept," Johnson said. "The most disappointing thing in the game was the inability to get the ball across the goal line."

Johnson discussed three critical plays that would have resulted in significant drives for The Citadel that fell through. "There were key plays where fifth-year seniors were the breakdown," Johnson said, disappointed in their performance. "They were older kids trying to take it upon themselves to make plays which ended up turning into disasters."

Despite the tough loss, there were some positives coach said the team needs to draw upon. "It was a winnable game, one we could have used to get a jump start on the conference."

Looking ahead, Saturday's match-up against Appalachian State will be the Bulldogs' first home appearance since the season's opening 61-10 blowout against Charleston Southern. "Hopefully, we can find a conference win right here in our home stadium," said Johnson, who is optimistic about this week's competition.

Director of Athletics Les Robinson is not only optimistic about Saturday's game against the Mountaineers, but he's optimistic about the entire football program. "We came very, very close last year to a solid winning season and that was with a rough schedule," Robinson said. "Football takes longer to turn a program around and I'm very positive about the future of the program."

"We'll never dominate the league," Johnson said. "What I don't accept is that we have to be in the bottom half of the conference. We've proven we can be competitive."

Robinson also discussed with the media the school's plans to tear down the home stands of Johnson Hagood Stadium at the end of the season. "I don't want to see that there next year," Robinson said as he motioned towards the stands. "To get started, we have to tear that down first."

Robinson said it's hopeful that once alumni visit the campus throughout the year for commencement exercises and other activities and see work being done to the stadium, more people will make donations and speed up the process of building a new facility.