Golden Eagles now focus on Yellow Jackets
By Michael Dailey
Charleston Daily Mail
As T.L. Asbury walked off of the field at sun-drenched University of Charleston Stadium Saturday afternoon, he was a happy camper.
Asbury smiled and posed for pictures with friends and family moments after Charleston's dominating 33-6 win over visiting West Virginia Wesleyan.
But Asbury, a 6-foot-5, 245-pound junior defensive lineman, knows there's little time for celebration with West Virginia Conference and intracounty rival West Virginia State next on the Golden Eagles' schedule.
Charleston (3-1 overall, 1-0 WVC) will travel to Institute Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Lakin Field against the Yellow Jackets (2-0, 1-0).
"We've got State coming up next week and you can throw the records out when we play State," said Asbury. "It's UC versus State. We're only a couple of miles apart. It should be a good one.
"We've got a couple things to do, but we'll enjoy this win today before we get back on the field and do what we need to do and get ready for State."
One aspect of the Golden Eagles' game that doesn't need much work is a fast, hard hitting defensive unit that has allowed just 20 points in its last 11 quarters.
"Our motto is ‘Play Fast, Hit Hard,' " said Asbury, a former high school quarterback. "We came up with that this spring and that's what we've done since then."
The architect of the "Play Fast, Hit Hard" attitude of the Golden Eagles' defense is coordinator Carey Baker.
"Our defensive playbook doesn't say ‘University of Charleston' on it, and it doesn't say ‘defense' on it," said Baker. "All it says is ‘Play Fast, Hit Hard 2007' on it. That's all it says.
"We are trying to keep things as simple as we can. Play fast means a lot of things. It means we are not allowed to think. We want to react and attack. If we make a mistake, we're going to correct it and play fast on every play.
"We've just got some good players that have really bought into what we're trying to do defensively. They're playing really hard and doing a good job of studying during the course of the week. That helps them keep from getting surprised, at least too bad, anyway."
Both Asbury and Baker agree that experience has been the biggest difference maker this season compared to years past.
"We're really just playing well as a unit," said Baker. "Our defensive line is clearly the biggest difference in this year over last year.
"They're the same guys, but last year we had 18 freshmen and sophomores on our two deep. We were like a junior college.
"Now those guys are sophomores and juniors and it's a totally different story."
Asbury agreed.
"We've got guys coming back with experience on the field this season," said Asbury. "That makes a lot of difference. We're more mature this year and we understand the game better.
"We've also gotten bigger, faster and stronger. We just play fast, hit hard."
The Golden Eagle defense limited Wesleyan to just 210 total yards (86 rushing, 124 passing), while scooping up a pair of fumbles and an interception.
A second quarter Dominick Iacovone recovery set up a 2-yard scoring plunge by Josh Culbertson, giving UC a 7-6 lead.
Freshman defensive back Stephen Howard helped ice the game by returning a 98-yard interception return for a score, giving UC a 33-6 lead with 1:47 to play.
"Whatever it feels like to be in the zone," said Baker. "I think our defense got there in the second half today."
Charleston Daily Mail
As T.L. Asbury walked off of the field at sun-drenched University of Charleston Stadium Saturday afternoon, he was a happy camper.
Asbury smiled and posed for pictures with friends and family moments after Charleston's dominating 33-6 win over visiting West Virginia Wesleyan.
But Asbury, a 6-foot-5, 245-pound junior defensive lineman, knows there's little time for celebration with West Virginia Conference and intracounty rival West Virginia State next on the Golden Eagles' schedule.
Charleston (3-1 overall, 1-0 WVC) will travel to Institute Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Lakin Field against the Yellow Jackets (2-0, 1-0).
"We've got State coming up next week and you can throw the records out when we play State," said Asbury. "It's UC versus State. We're only a couple of miles apart. It should be a good one.
"We've got a couple things to do, but we'll enjoy this win today before we get back on the field and do what we need to do and get ready for State."
One aspect of the Golden Eagles' game that doesn't need much work is a fast, hard hitting defensive unit that has allowed just 20 points in its last 11 quarters.
"Our motto is ‘Play Fast, Hit Hard,' " said Asbury, a former high school quarterback. "We came up with that this spring and that's what we've done since then."
The architect of the "Play Fast, Hit Hard" attitude of the Golden Eagles' defense is coordinator Carey Baker.
"Our defensive playbook doesn't say ‘University of Charleston' on it, and it doesn't say ‘defense' on it," said Baker. "All it says is ‘Play Fast, Hit Hard 2007' on it. That's all it says.
"We are trying to keep things as simple as we can. Play fast means a lot of things. It means we are not allowed to think. We want to react and attack. If we make a mistake, we're going to correct it and play fast on every play.
"We've just got some good players that have really bought into what we're trying to do defensively. They're playing really hard and doing a good job of studying during the course of the week. That helps them keep from getting surprised, at least too bad, anyway."
Both Asbury and Baker agree that experience has been the biggest difference maker this season compared to years past.
"We're really just playing well as a unit," said Baker. "Our defensive line is clearly the biggest difference in this year over last year.
"They're the same guys, but last year we had 18 freshmen and sophomores on our two deep. We were like a junior college.
"Now those guys are sophomores and juniors and it's a totally different story."
Asbury agreed.
"We've got guys coming back with experience on the field this season," said Asbury. "That makes a lot of difference. We're more mature this year and we understand the game better.
"We've also gotten bigger, faster and stronger. We just play fast, hit hard."
The Golden Eagle defense limited Wesleyan to just 210 total yards (86 rushing, 124 passing), while scooping up a pair of fumbles and an interception.
A second quarter Dominick Iacovone recovery set up a 2-yard scoring plunge by Josh Culbertson, giving UC a 7-6 lead.
Freshman defensive back Stephen Howard helped ice the game by returning a 98-yard interception return for a score, giving UC a 33-6 lead with 1:47 to play.
"Whatever it feels like to be in the zone," said Baker. "I think our defense got there in the second half today."