Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Football Postgame Quotes
11/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
MARSHALL
Doc Holliday, head coach
Opening statement:
"I think, number one: it was a really emotional day for all of us, the fans, players and coaches. I thought our kids handled it extremely well. I thought they showed up the way they were supposed to, played the way they were supposed to and I'm just proud of the way they played."
"I can't say enough about that fountain ceremony this morning. The number of people there, it's the largest I've ever seen. I'm just proud to be the head football coach here, I really am. The way our kids played and the way our fans showed up, it was a great day for all of us. How'd you like to be the head football coach as a team where you've got to win that game, you've got no choice but to win that game? That's a heck of a deal, but thank goodness we did."
On players handling playing the game on Nov. 14, on the anniversary of the Marshall plane disaster:
"Every time we've put that '75' on the helmets, they've responded extremely well in these last three years. These kids, you can tell by the way they practiced all week, the way they handled themselves at the hotel and there's just something about when you put that No. 75 on your helmet and show up here at home, especially on the actual day it happened."
On dominance against FIU:
"This is probably the most dominant performance that I've had since I've been here in all three phases. I'm proud of them and we'll give them a couple of days off here. We've had 11 straight weeks here. It's been a grind, so we'll get a couple days off here now and get them back here and ready for that next one."
On defense and special teams:
"I've always said to win championships, you have to play some great defense. Our kids did that today. You have to take care of the ball and we did that. I mean, Rodney [Allen] had the one freak turnover on defense there, where he got the interception and turned it back over. We had the one with [Michael] Birdsong there at the end of the game, but I thought Chase Litton and the offense took care of the football, which they had to. We scored in the red zone and we played great special teams."
"Richard Leonard is a tremendous player and returner. We wanted to come out of the game and have everyone talking about [Deandre] Reaves and not Leonard and I thought that's what happened. On that punt return, he [Reaves] hit that thing and exploded through and that was fun to see."
On kicker Nick Smith's field goal:
"It meant a lot. I was so happy for the kid. I don't know if I've ever been happier for a player in my life than what I was for that kid today. I was holding my breath, man. I was hoping he made that thing and he did and guess what, he's fine."
On the 18 seniors:
"It was huge. We had 18 seniors there and of course some guys weren't able to dress, but it's a great senior class. They've all got their degrees. They're all really good players and they changed the culture around here and won some bowl games. I'm going to miss them and we need to find a way to get them one more home game."
Deandre Reaves, senior wide receiver
On the emotions of the game:
"We don't like losing at home and it was a very emotional week. We went out there and played for the 75. We usually do that every game but we took it up to another level today because of the day. We went out there and played with a lot of emotion for the 75."
On his 69-yard punt return for a touchdown:
"We worked that scheme all week and I told the guys 'Trust me, if you block like how you did in practice, I promise I will make them miss.' This was for my family. I couldn't asked for a better Senior Day."
Remi Watson, redshirt senior running back
On the emotions of the game:
"We took our emotions and turned it into positive energy. We had a lot going on today and people look at it as distractions but we knew the ultimate goal was to go out there and win this ball game because if we didn't do that would have been an even bigger disappointment than just a regular loss so that was our primary focus coming in this week."
On his 62-yard touchdown run:
"It felt great. That was my longest run in the Joan [C. Edwards Stadium] and then on my Senior Night at that. This is exactly what I prayed for. I asked for this so that was just my prayers being answered. It was fun."
Evan McKelvey, redshirt senior linebacker
On attacking FIU's passing game:
"Teams are going to copy what other teams do but when we played against Middle Tennessee, they found some success in the passing game and FIU tried to do the same thing to us but we strategized against that."
On defense:
"Coach Heater is a guy that will get after the quarterback. Our No. 1 thing is to stop the running game but at the same time if we get pressure on the quarterback it's going to be hard to pass the ball too."
FIU
Ron Turner, head coach
On playing an emotional Herd:
"It's obviously difficult. They are a very, very good football team. We knew that coming in and we would have to play our best game just to have a shot."
On Marshall's strengths:
"I think they're good all around, very well balanced. Good on offense, good on defense, very good special teams. They know what they're going to do and do it well."
On FIU's performance at the start of the game:
"It just couldn't have started out worse for us. We don't move the ball and then we shank a punt and give them great field position, and we just couldn't get out of the hole. You just try to make a play to give you a bit of a spark, get your confidence up. But we never really got that going. We just couldn't get into a rhythm."
On senior defensive end Michael Wakefield out in the first half (due to targeting at Charlotte):
"It was huge. Not just because of his play on the field, he's one of our best defensive players, he's also one of the leaders, so not having him in there was very tough."
