Marshall University Athletics
Postgame Quotes
10/11/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Doc Holliday, Marshall head coach
On the overall game
"I was excited about the way our team came out and started the game. I thought we played well and I thought we had to start fast and we did. We got sloppy there in the second quarter, but it was critical to come out there in the second half. That kick-off return kind of set the tone for the game. We went down and scored that first series, which was huge for us, but that's a good football team that we just got through playing. [MT Coach Rick] Stockstill has done a great job with them. I'm excited about where we are at this point. We will enjoy this one tonight and get ready to roll on the team we got on Saturday next week."
On the Marshall defense
"They are playing extremely well. We put them in a bad situation in the second half and it is not acceptable. Those guys are playing extremely well. They are well coached; they tackle well. They are athletic and can run. I thought some guys stepped up today. We had some injuries, and we had some other guys step up. That is what good football teams do."
On the team
"This football team is a special bunch. These kids like each other. They are fun to be around. They care about each other. That is why we are good. They trust each other and when something happens to one of them, it hurts all of them. They think a lot of each other, they trust each other, they care about each other, and that's why we are playing the way we are."
On receiver Deon-Tay McManus
"He is a talented guy. He is physical. You got a 225 pound man, and there aren't very many corners of that size. It is a tough matchup. He has the speed to run by them and he is a good football player."
On Rakeem Cato tying Russell Wilson's record
"I've said it many times, how proud I am of what this kid has accomplished. He took some criticism early on, but the people who criticized him didn't know him. He is a tremendous kid. Where he has come from and overcome it is unbelievable for him, and he deserves everything he gets because he is great for Marshall University. Look what has come from Marshall. You talk about Chad Pennington and Byron [Leftwich] and now you can put Cato in those same words and terms. It is just unbelievable. I am glad he is on our team."
Rakeem Cato, senior quarterback
On the receiving unit continuing to step up following injuries
"I told those guys, when someone goes down, the rest of the group has to step up. I thought Craig [Wilkins], [Justin] Hunt, all of those guys did a great job stepping up. They played a lot of minutes and did a lot of positive things for us."
On returning to his home state of Florida next weekend with the possibility to break the record for most consecutive touchdown passes
"It's a blessing, but it's just a business trip. It's not about the record, it's about one thing, and that's the 'W'. If I get the record, that's a big deal. But if I don't, I'm just worried about the win. If I don't get the record, but I get the win, I'm still a proud man. Bottom line, it's a business trip and we're going down there for one thing: to come back 7-0."
Neville Hewitt, senior linebacker
On getting revenge against Middle Tennessee from last season
"It feels great. It was good to come out with that mindset, knowing it wasn't going to happen again."
On the defense not allowing an opening scoring drive yet this season
"That's the way we set the tone: come out on defense first. Let them kick the ball, take it and see what you can do. We set that tone every game."
Craig Wilkins, senior wide receiver
On the receivers having to step up due to recent injuries to teammates
"We all practice and play hard, and have that confidence that we can play that way and in each other. It's just the next man up, and we are always ready. When the next man has to go up, we play ball."
Devon Johnson, junior running back
On his recent offensive success
"The O-line do a great job, and Cato does a great job communicating to me what they see and where I need to be. The line gives me a great level to get my feet moving."
On his running style
"Coach Barclay always tells us, north and south is always better. That's what I try to do: head north, you get more yards out of that than going 15 yards sideways. Going north means going faster."
Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee head coach
On the game overall
"We have to hit the deep ball. At times we covered it pretty good, they got some pass interference calls. It depends. They made some really good individual catches and other times they got behind us. That's probably the best ball [Rakeem] Cato throws is the deep ball. They have some really talented receivers. They went out and made plays. [They] spit out a couple runs in there. For the most part, we had a hard time defending the deep ball. You hate to get in a hole like that to a team as talented as Marshall. We had 17 [points] at the half and got ourselves back in it. They shut us down in the second half and I have to give them credit there, they have a really good football team."
On scoring a touchdown before the half
"Well, instead of going in down 18 we were down 11. The big thing is that is coming right off of them having the ball in great field position down there and we backed them up. They had a penalty and a sack, I think it was before we backed them up. Potentially, 14 points because they were in prime position to score right there. It gave us a little momentum and kept us in the game."
On putting together the second-quarter drive
"I don't ever want to say there was a game changer or anything like that. We had our last five possessions in the first half. We get two touchdowns and a field goal and they stopped us, we punt once, then that was it right there before we stopped ourselves. Potentially when we don't have those penalties we potentially could have scored four of our last five possessions. Those penalties will kill you."
Austin Grammer, Middle Tennessee sophomore quarterback
"Catch-up is hard, definitely when we play away. I feel like we did a good job getting off the field. They did a really good job. Their team has a good offense. We got away from our game plan and we need to try and stick with it as much as possible."
