Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Football Postgame Quotes
9/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
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MARSHALL (1-2)
Doc Holliday, head coach
Opening statement:
There is no question, that's an excellent football team. That's quarterback is a special guy. We made a few plays early, but in the end we did not make enough plays. It's like I told our football team, we have a lot left out there, all our goals and dreams are still there, we have not had any conference play yet, and we just have to keep fighting. We have to come back tomorrow and get ready for work. We have an excellent team that we are playing against in Pittsburgh.
On Lamar Jackson's passing ability:
No, it did not surprise me. I mean just watch the film, he did the same thing to Florida State and Syracuse. He can throw it, and he can run it and we just felt like we tried to keep him from getting going and I thought we accomplished that at times. He is a tremendous player; anyone will have a hard time trying to limit him or trying to shut him down. He makes enough plays against everybody, if they can keep him healthy they are going to be tough to beat.
On Garet Morrell's play package:
Pretty limited, to Garet's credit I thought he went in there and battled, that kid went in there and fought. I thought our whole team battled the entire game. That is a tough situation, to put him in against that particular football team for his first start. He went in there and fought his tail off, he made a couple plays and he will get better because of it.
On when the call was made concerning Chase Litton:
Well I don't if he will be ready for next week. The call was made early on; Chase did not practice all week. We knew by Tuesday that he was not going to be able to play.
On the success of the second half:
We ran the ball pretty well in the second half. I thought (Tony) Pittman and Anthony (Anderson) ran the ball pretty well, and of course we had the fumble recovery for the touchdown. If there is one positive for that game I thought Anthony and Pittman both ran the ball pretty well.
On the crowd:
It was tremendous, what a great atmosphere. I wish we could have played a little better I will be honest. That was a tremendous crowd, second largest in the history of the school, that was great and I sure appreciate all of them coming out.
Looking forward to Pittsburgh:
They ran the ball, they ran it well today against North Carolina, they ran it well against Penn State. That's their staple, they work extremely hard at trying to run the football, so that will be a big challenge for us this week. They have a great running back, who is a great story and they will come in and try to run the ball.
Garet Morrell, freshman quarterback
On the influence of Chase Litton:
Chase has been a leader for this team. He was always giving me words of encouragement during practice. Even though he was not here tonight, I know that he was watching us and rooting us on.
On his touchdown pass to Ryan Yurachek and his scramble for a first down:
It was a nice pass, but I love the catch that Ryan made on that play. On the run, I knew that the defense was not expecting it. They had not seen that yet.
On the team's leadership:
I knew they guys had my back. They kept picking me up in situations where I should have been down. They just kept telling me to go after it.
Ryan Yurachek, junior tight end
On Louisville's defense:
That's a special team. They have size on the inside and both size and athleticism on the outside. That's probably one of the best two or three front sevens in the nation. I thought we were able to run the ball fairly well against them tonight.
On the performance of Garet Morrell:
I cannot think of a more difficult place to start your first game. I thought he did a good job. That's a tough defense to have to play your first game against. Once he got comfortable towards the middle of the second quarter and into the second half, I thought he played well.
Terry Richardson, senior defensive back
On his interception:
We ran a no-pressure play. I saw him roll out and figured he was going to take a shot down that side of the field, so I went and made a play on it.
On the team's performance:
We were competitive. I thought we stayed in the game for as long as we could and we competed for the entire game. We didn't have our starting quarterback, but nobody wavered. Everyone gave it all they had.
Corey Neely, senior defensive back
On Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson:
He's a good player. I thought we did a good job limiting his ability to run the ball and made him throw the ball more.
On Louisville running back Brandon Radcliff:
He's a good player. We tried to limit him to what we could.
On Louisville's speed as a team:
They have a lot of speed as a team. We tried to replicate [Jackson] in practice, but it's completely different when you actually see it.
Chase Hancock, redshirt sophomore linebacker
On Lamar Jackson:
He's in the running for the Heisman for a reason. He's a good player for a great team. I give him his props. I want to play the best and he's definitely one of those guys.
On the atmosphere tonight:
I just want to thank all the fans who came out tonight. It was a big game and it felt good to have that support.
Michael Selby, senior offensive lineman
On Garet Morrell:
If this was my first game, I'm not sure that I could have done as well as he did tonight. He did a great job. He came in this week and worked his tail off, so he was ready when the game started.
On the team's performance:
I'm really proud of our guys tonight. [Louisville] is a great team and I'm proud of the way our guys fought, especially in the first and second quarter. We were hanging with them for a while.
No. 3 LOUISVILLE (4-0)
Bobby Petrino, head coach
Opening statement:
I thought it was a good win for us, we started out sloppy offensively, but the defense really did a great job in the first half in putting the offense in good positions and getting turnovers. In the second quarter, the offense started to move the ball and put points on the board. I was really happy with the two-minute drive before the half. That was great execution, and Lamar (Jackson) did a great job trusting his teammates. We then finished the game. It was a good win for us. It wasn't the best game we've played, there are some things we need to clean up before our game on the road next week at Clemson.
On big plays:
I think we had to earn it more tonight. Their defense did a good job of mixing things up and executing their plan. That was good for us coaches to have to adjust on the sideline.
On Marshall freshman quarterback Garet Morrell:
I think he did a really nice job. He took care of the ball and was very patient. Our defense is pretty good and got good pressure on him, but I was impressed with how he played for them.
On winning a potential trap game:
We had to win this game to make next week's count. We had a good week of practices, and a good travel day and walkthroughs. I think this was a good environment to play in, we know next week will be loud and tough.
Lamar Jackson, sophomore quarterback
On making adjustments on offense:
We got hyped up. Our [offensive] line got into it and we got in a groove. I don't even remember [when the offense started clicking]. We started off bad and in my mind I was like 'we need to make something happen.
On next week's game against Clemson:
I feel like we're ready. Everyone has been hyping it up. It's here now.
On staying focused this week:
I've been in a predicament before when we thought about something else in the future. We ended up losing and I wasn't having that. I wanted to focus. We wanted to win. We wanted to play Clemson and be undefeated just like them.
On how he would grade his performance:
[I would give it a] F.
On teams daring him to beat them with his arm:
I let them know that I can throw the ball.
Keith Kelsey, senior linebacker
On Marshall's offense:
We studied a lot of film this week. We studied a lot of tendencies that they do. They're a young team, but they have a bright future ahead of them with their quarterback. He's young, so he'll progress later on in the season.
On limiting Marshall's offense:
We have confidence in our defense. When we go out there, we feel like we can stop anyone. It's not about what the [other] team does. It's about what we do.
On the defense stepping up:
You're going to have those games. Offense has had our back and defense will have the offense's back. Coach Petrino says it all of the time, 'hold the rope. Don't let the rope fall. You have to back your brothers up.' It doesn't matter what the next team does. It's about us and we're a team.
Cole Hikutini, senior tight end
On the offense starting off slowly:
I think we just came out a little antsy. Once we slowed it down, played our game and stuck to the game plan everyone started executing. Lamar got comfortable, made the right reads and receivers went out and made catches.
On what clicked for the offense:
I don't know off the top of my head. I'd say after that first drive. We came out on the sideline and realized that we needed to step up, because Marshall came out strong. They were pumped. They were amped up. Once we realized that, we needed to buckle down and tighten up. We just made plays.
