Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Football Postgame Quotes
9/2/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
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MARSHALL
Doc Holliday, head coach
Opening statementââ'¬Â¦
Wow, what a game. You know going in I thought we were playing a pretty good team and they were. That quarterback was a hand full. I just feel so proud of our kids. That game was won because of our strength staff and what happened in January and what Luke Day did, they took over that entire strength staff. The way they got that team ready. Our coaches did a great job of preparing them and I knew it was going to be a great game. I felt let going in if we could win in a couple phases, and I told them Friday if we played tremendous on special teams we would win the game and obviously, we did. I'm going to enjoy this one for about an hour and 15 minutes, we have a great challenge ahead of us in Raleigh.
On how they handled adversityââ'¬Â¦
I told them going in, you'll watch those games early on, Texas to Ohio State to all of them, they all had adversity early on. The teams that responded ended up finding a way to win that football game. There was a lot of adversity, I told them they had to start fast. We did, we got that kickoff return which was huge and then we got the second on. I don't think I've ever coached in a game where that's happened, where you got two kickoffs returns for touchdowns. We didn't have a lot of plays offensively because we got two special teams touchdowns and Chris Jackson had the interception for the touchdown. I'm happy we got out of there with a win.
On the importance of this gameââ'¬Â¦
It's huge, number one who it was. We all know, Miami has been a great rivalry around here. Anytime you can beat him it's a great feeling. Guys don't think that's not a heck of a football team, that quarterback is special, that quarterback won six straight and should have beat Mississippi State in that bowl game. We knew going in they had 18-19 starters back and they are an excellent football team. I knew going in that we had to play extremely well to win that game. At the end of the day we found a way to win it.
On Keion Davis as the returnerââ'¬Â¦
I got some young kids that can run but they have never been back there. To be honest I made that decision because I felt like he's a guy who has had reps back there and I trusted him in that he would play well back there and he did. He had one bad decision back there, but we will get that corrected. Those other two I didn't think he could run that fast.
On the maturity of the teamââ'¬Â¦
That's the maturity rate of this entire team. You have a couple safeties over there that played a lot of football and we have some young kids playing too. This is all about our football team, we care about each other and we are not concerned about who gets the credit. At some point, we are going to need them all. There are some guys that got banged up out there today and some other guys had to go in there and play. It's a tough game and throughout the season we are going to need everyone at some point.
Chase Litton, junior quarterback
On relaxing when things go wellââ'¬Â¦
You shouldn't feel like that. As an offense, there were times we stopped ourselves, we are driving and driving. We got down to the five-yard line and we get a false start, it's just there are situations where we can improve as a team. Situations that I have to improve in is not forcing the ball, we are going to put it together. We are happy for the win but we have a lot of looking in the mirror to do to keep winning.
On the touchdown to Bradyââ'¬Â¦
We had a boundary call, and once I saw the safety not rotate I knew I was going to my open side. I kind of rolled out a little bit and then stopped to hold up 24 (Heath Harding) a little bit as much as I could. Then I put it to a spot where he could get it, he's a tremendous football player who is going to win a lot of games for us this year.
On the completion on 3rd and 8 to Bradyââ'¬Â¦
That changes games. From it being fourth-and-10, we could have ended up punting in our own end zone. We would punt it to their 40, and they only need 30 yards to get a field goal. We had a lot of guys step up and make tremendous plays for us. We knew the coverages we were getting and it's everything we saw on film and we just had to execute it, and the times we need to, we did. We just have to continue to do it. We cannot get complacent on offense. We can't try to slow our offense down, we have to keep improving and keep going.
Ryan Yurachek, senior tight end
On Miami (Ohio)ââ'¬Â¦
They're a hard-nosed football team. We expected them to not make many mistakes and they did that. We got what we expected from them.
On the team's performanceââ'¬Â¦
We could've been a lot better on offense. Our defense kept us in the game and our special teams was unbelievable tonight. I'm just happy to be 1-0 coming out of tonight's game.
On improvements that need to be madeââ'¬Â¦
We shot ourselves in the foot offensively at times. There were three or four drives where we're going in to score and we fumble the ball, throw an interception or get a penalty. We can't be doing that to ourselves.
Brandon Drayton, redshirt freshman safety
On the team's performanceââ'¬Â¦
We were good as a team overall. The special teams did a great job tonight. We have some work to do in the secondary, but for the most part, we played good.
On his team-leading 12 tacklesââ'¬Â¦
I didn't even realize I had that many tackles. It's a good start, but I think there are some things that I could get better at. It's just a blessing to be out here starting as a freshman.
On his forced fumbleââ'¬Â¦
Coach Heater always emphasizes that our post safeties have to show up and I did that. I went for the ball and made a play.
Keion Davis, redshirt junior running back
On the opening kickoff, which he returned 99 yards for a touchdownââ'¬Â¦
I have to give credit to Marcel Williams because he stuck his nose in on that play and made a great block, which set up the return.
On the significance of beating Miami (Ohio)ââ'¬Â¦
This win is huge. I'm not sure if everyone was saying it, but we knew this was a big game. This was a very big game because it's the first game. It's always good to get a win in the opener.
Chase Hancock, redshirt junior linebacker
On the defenseââ'¬Â¦
Coach Holliday emphasizes to just keep playing. They're going to make plays, and that's okay, that's just football. We just have to stay focused and keep executing our game plan.
On Keion Davis' 99-yard opening kickoff return touchdownââ'¬Â¦
Coach Holliday always says that the first play sets the tone for the rest of the game. That play set the tone for the rest of the game and we needed that. We kept carrying the momentum from that return into the rest of the game.
Willie Johnson, redshirt freshman wide receiver
On Keion Davis' two kickoff return touchdownsââ'¬Â¦
That was great execution. We practice on that every day and make sure that everybody knows their job on the play, and executed it during the game.
On the significance of the winââ'¬Â¦
It's a great feeling. There's been so much talking about what they had done against us in the past. We just came out, had fun and played to the best of our abilities.
On his returnââ'¬Â¦
It felt great to get back out there competing. Last season, I got hurt in the Pitt game and missed the rest of the season, so it felt good to be back out there again.
Chris Jackson, sophomore defensive back
On the winââ'¬Â¦
It feels great to get a team win like that. I just did my part to the best of my abilities tonight. I'm trying to grow every game and every practice.
On his pick-sixââ'¬Â¦
In high school, I played a lot at receiver, so when I caught the ball, I looked for where my blockers were and where the other team was so I know which way to go. I thought that I had to do something to make someone miss and then I saw Davon Durant come out of nowhere to lay out a great block on the quarterback, so I went around him and kept going for the score.
