Nov. 14, 2005

Charleston, SC - The Citadel head coach Kevin Higgins welcomed the media to the Altman Athletic Center in the end zone of Johnson Hagood Stadium Monday afternoon to discuss the Bulldog's 21-0 Homecoming win over Elon and preview their final game of 2005, a trip to Lexington, Virginia to play the Virginia Military Institute this Saturday.

Coach Higgins opened the final press conference of this year with a thank you to all supporters and followers of Citadel football. He moved into talking about how well the defense played and the tackling improvement from previous weeks.

"Getting the shutout on Homecoming was huge for our team and our fans," coach Higgins explained. "Our execution was better and we got some great tackling from everybody. We got great pressure all day up front and our blitz package threw them off a little."

The play of freshman quarterback Ben Carnell impressed coach Higgins and may have moved up his list of possibilities at that position for the spring. Carnell started his first game against the Phoenix and completed 14-of-20 passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns.

"Ben played really well and was impressive in the pocket," said Higgins. "He made a couple of third and long completions that you don't expect freshman to make in their first start. He stayed poised in the pocket and gained a lot of respect from his teammates this weekend with his performance."

Coach Higgins wrapped up the press conference by previewing the VMI Keydets and the Bulldogs' chances in the Military Classic of the South. The Keydets are coming off an open week, but last time out they lost to the Richmond Spiders 38-3.

"They have 10 starters returning from last year's squad," Higgins stated. "They will play us hard because of the rivalry and we need to know that going in. It will be a great challenge for us in Lexington and hopefully our seniors, who will be playing their last game, will lead us to victory."

The Citadel travels to Lexington, Virginia to play the VMI Keydets. Kickoff is slated for 1 pm.