Marshall University Athletics
Quotes/Video from Doc Holliday's Sept. 8 Press Conference
9/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Opening statement:
I want to thank our fanbase and our community for the great atmosphere we had. To tell you how much that meant to our football team but it's time to move on now and put that game behind us. As you know, we have a great challenge. Ohio is a well-coached team and we have to have a great week of preparation in order to go up there and play with these guys.
Our captains for this week:
On defense it will be Steve Dillon and Taj Letman. On offense it will be Michael Selby and "Swede" (Sebastian Johansson). Anytime you go on the road, it's critical that you have great leadership. Along with those four guys, you have to provide that with the rest of the leadership on this team. If you don't have great leadership on the road, you have no chance, so that's going to be something that we need to make sure we have. As you know, I have great respect for Coach (Frank) Solich and that team that we're getting ready to go play. He'll have them prepared, so we have to make sure that we have our guys prepared too."
On combination of short week and rivalry:
Anytime you play, you have to put it behind you quick. You have to move on regardless. Our guys have been able to do that and we have to make sure that happens soon. In our case, it's a really quick turnaround because we have one less day. They (Ohio) did a good job of scheduling. They played on Thursday which means they have three extra days on us, plus Sunday didn't help us. They were smart. It was great exposure for us. We had to do what we did, but it makes it tough going into this week, so we have a lot of catching up to do. Our kids worked extremely hard at it yesterday and we'll get back to work again today.
On avoiding emotional meltdown after tough Purdue game:
We've done a good job of that in the last couple years. This team is a lot more mature. Again, you've got great leadership. They understand that if you have any emotional letdown against these guys, you're not going to win the game. You better be prepared to play an extremely physical game or you have no chance. That's just the way those guys always are and they always play that way and if we don't, we'll get beat. They have to figure it out and they will.
On whether turnovers are magnified more on the road:
Turnovers get magnified period. Normally when you turn the ball over three times you're going to lose. Fortunately they turned it over too. We won the turnover margin, but you can't turn it over. You just can't. We work extremely hard at that. Other than the turnovers, I thought we played extremely well. Our special teams played extremely clean. The first game we had zero penalties in special teams. It was pretty clean for a first game I thought, but you have to eliminate the turnovers. If you turn the ball over, as you know, up there, you're going to get beat. That's just the way it is so we have to take care of the ball.
On team trusting Birdsong despite being a newcomer:
There's seven minutes on the clock and we have to go what 70 or 80 yards to win the game and he did. You talk about first starts and a lot of people asked me, `well how did he play?' I said he played darn well because he won the game. When it counted, he took the ball down the field and made a play. We made four plays against their best corner in that game. Davonte Allen made a play; Justin Hunt did a tremendous job. All four against #24 (Frankie Williams) and our guys found a way to get it done. It was a critical drive. It was great to see Devon (Johnson) get back in there after he turned it over the one time. He found a way to get in the end zone and that's what good teams do. Great teams find a way to go win that game when it's on the line. We did it in the championship game a year ago. One thing I like about our players, they know how to win. For the first two or three years I was here, we found ways to lose. Now we find ways to win and that's when the culture changes. That's what happens. That's when you become a great team, when your team believes in itself and believes in each other and trusts each other so that you can get it done when the game is on the line. That was a pretty sight.
On Nick Smith, Amoreto Curraj and Tyler Williams and other firsts against Purdue:
There were a lot of firsts in that game. We met and we were just talking. You look out there offensively and see all these red stripes when we go into that game and we played like it in the first half. But we came out in the second half and played extremely well. Sandley (Jean-Felix) played like a big time left tackle and we had a freshman in there at right guard (Nate Devers) who played the whole game and then we put another freshman (Dowrey) in for him. (Ryan) Yurachek is still a young guy. (Deon-Tay) McManus is somewhat young and we have a first-time quarterback (Birdsong) in there, so there were a lot of firsts on that offense. You mentioned Nick Smith and you mentioned Amoreto. For a game of that magnitude, and what was on the line with the fans and the atmosphere, a lot of those kids went in there and played extremely well under those conditions. We'll be a better football team because of it.
More on Ohio familiarity:
The good news is that we know them and the bad news is they're all back. They have 19-20 starters back. They're better because they're back. That offensive line has been together a long time and they just got a lot of players back. They've played an awful lot of football. They still have two quarterbacks and both of them were extremely efficient in the last game. It's going to be a great challenge for us and we have to get back to work here quick. But you know what? I like our team. It's a great bunch of guys who love ball and they just go to work every day. That's what we'll do: go back to work today. The game is always won by the way you prepare on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday up to that game. We've done a great job up to that point and we have to continue.
On whether Birdsong leading the last, successful drive came as a surprise:
No. The kid's a winner. A lot of people, when you talk about picking quarterbacks they say, `Why'd you pick him?' There's a lot that goes into being a quarterback other than just they throw the ball around, making all the throws and doing all those things. It's called `it'. It's called `intangibles'. You mentioned what the kids think about him and the respect he has of his teammates and he steps right into the huddle. He told them on the sideline what's going to happen before we went out there. He told every kid out there, `we're going to take it right down the field because that's what we do.' And he did. They have great confidence in him and we have good players around him. That's what separates the great players from the not-so-great players is when a game is on the line. Can they get it done? That's what the great ones do. I'm not sitting here and telling you that he's a great one right now. He's played one game but he's 1-0. He got it done at that point, so he's well on his way.
On the defense:
Coach Heater does a tremendous job coaching those guys, but they're good players too. Tiquan Lang, and I said it when he came in here as a freshman, he's a tremendous football player. There's a thing called `it', you know? He didn't get recruited by a lot of people because he's 5'8", 175 pounds, but I guarantee that he can play for anybody in the country. He's physical, he's fast. He's just a good football player and he's got `it'. That's why people make mistakes recruiting; they recruit based on all these measurables and they don't turn the film on and ask, `can he play football?' Do they have it?' And he's got `it', he's a good player and I'm glad he's here.
More on Tiquan Lang and Taj Letman:
They're well-coached. Coach Heater coaches them up and (Keith) Baxter had an interception there towards the end, so again, that's what good teams do. They find a way to make plays. We got that second interception because Steve Dillon was right in (Appleby's) face. There were other things that went into those interceptions that you don't see on the game day but the kids did a tremendous job.
On Keith Baxter interception to seal the game:
You all know that Keith Baxter is a great kid. This is the first camp he's been through. As a matter of fact, he had a little cast on his hand. He caught better with that cast than he did without it. He came up with it for us and we're happy for him.
On newcomers for defense:
(Blake) Keller played tremendous; he just plays so hard. One thing about that defense when you watch them play: they play hard. They run to the ball, they play hard and when teams do that, good things happen for them. Gary Thompson...we've been getting on the ends a little bit; they kind of disappeared in camp, but he played really well. Armonze Daniel, Joe Massaquoi, Devontre'a Tyler. You mentioned it. I think he (Tyler) played like 50 snaps and played well for us. There are a lot of new guys and new faces in there that, like on offense, went in there for the first time and played well.
