ETSU players look to put loss behind them

There is no 24-hour rule for East Tennessee State center Maddox Radcliffe and defensive end Charles Woodard. The pair of ETSU players take a loss personally. The only way they're going to get over last Saturday's season-opening 49-37 defeat against Campbell is to bounce back with a strong performance this Saturday against Tusculum. "I think it takes until the next game to get a win," Radcliffe said. "You could say a day and all that, but it hurts you the rest of the week. All you're thinking about is that loss, what the fans think of you. You want to show them what you can do as a team." The offense had a good game with 37 points and 528 total yards. But, the defense wasn't able to get the needed pressure on Campbell quarterback Kamden Sixkiller, who was named the FCS National Player of the Week after accounting for 436 yards of total offense and four touchdowns. Woodard talked about the difficulty in stopping Campbell whether the defense had trouble with the Camels' scheme or if was Sixkiller's abilities. "It could have been a little bit of both," Woodard said. "He was a really good athlete. We'd get back there, and he made some plays on his feet. He rolled out, made some good passes. Their team was good too, but I see both of those as an excuse. I know what my defensive line is capable of. I know we can get to the quarterback and make him worry the whole game." On the positive side, the Bucs offensive line didn't allow any sacks of freshman quarterback Mason Mims. He didn't have any interceptions, although he had a costly fumble. Although the Bucs offense produced 528 yards, Radcliffe pointed out it wasn't a perfect performance. "We did pretty good up front, but we still gave up some hurries and pressures that shouldn't have happened," Radcliffe said. "That made Mason run out of the pocket and throw a bad ball. We have to do better and protect him more." Coach Will Healy's message to the players in the locker room were one of self-reflection. Woodard definitely took it to heart. "We have a big thing called, man in the mirror," Woodard said. "Looking in the mirror, what could we have done to win this game? I felt it. We were talented enough to win that game. I think we gave that away. It's having a sense of urgency to fix those mistakes." Radcliffe wasn't surprised to see such a strong performance from Mims. They have become close in the center and quarterback relationship, and he's seen a ton of growth from the Louisville transfer. &emsp;&emsp; Quiet by nature, Mims has become more outspoken and one to give positive feedback to his teammates. Neither of the players at Monday's press conference is taking Tusculum for granted. Woodard pointed out even though the Pioneers are a Division II team, the Bucs have good players on their roster they've recruited from the D2 ranks. Tusculum offers a different challenge for the defense as they run a triple-option offense. It forces a defense to be disciplined. "The biggest key for the defensive line is go in there with the mentality of I'm going to be tough and I'm going to do my job," Woodard said. "If 10 guys do the right thing and one guy doesn't do his job, they hand it off to your guy, and now you have an explosive play. The biggest key is to play sound fundamental football."