Head Coach MIKE SANFORD (Full Video)
Opening statement:
"Very pleased with the resolve of our team. Emotional victory for us on the road. We were 1-of-6 FBS teams who started out the season out with 3-of-4 true road games. And for us to finish an opening stretch like that against a quality opponent that took Notre Dame - at Notre Dame Stadium - to the wire, who scored 24 points against Ball State and won by eight. I was really pleased with our overall effort by our offense and very pleased with the resolve of our quarterback position. To have three quarterbacks ready to play, let alone one or two, been very pleased with that group and how they've responded and the unit that they've proven themselves to be ... Transitioning right now into the Marshall game. Big, big, big opportunity for us. It's a brand new season, it's a one-game season. The schedule does set up nicely, as tough as it was to go four straight non-conference games [where] 3-of-4 were true road games. The travel was tough, we got home a lot of times after midnight or two in the morning. But now we have a one-game season to set conference off the right way against a bitter rival and in a great environment. This is family weekend, it's a blackout, weather's going to be great. And just like we've been asking our players to give us championship football for four quarters, we can't wait to have Hilltopper Nation there [to] give us that kind of support that these players deserve and want for four quarters to take this game into deep waters against a really good Marshall team. I do really believe Marshall on film is probably the class of Conference USA as far as it relates to their player talent. Outstanding talent at Marshall. They're a team that went through their hardships two years ago, playing a lot of young players, finding their identity, built it last year and now they're playing with a whole lot of returning starters who have a bunch of talent. So, we're going to have to play better than we did against Ball State to give ourselves an opportunity to win this game in the fourth quarter. We're going to have to play better special teams, we're going to have to have a better, cleaner effort in terms of penalties. But overall I think we just have to be that much better from Week 4 to Week 5 for us to start the way that we want to start Conference USA play."
On the team's attitude after returning home with a win:
"Where I noticed a difference was on Sunday night's practice. Sunday night practice those first three weeks following losses, I thought [we] were a team that was ready to go back to work with a chip on their shoulder, had an edge; it was more workman-like. Yesterday was spirited, it was guys flying around, excited about the opportunity to play against a rival, against Marshall. There was a different bounce in the step of our guys, and that's confidence. That's why the result was so important, just to breed that confidence, and for our players to understand that all of the hard work they keep giving is resulting in tangible evidence."
On the offensive line sealing the game at Ball State:
"That group is getting so tight and so cohesive. Their identity and their calling card is being tough guys and I think those guys, all of them, are buying into that ... The credit goes to the leadership in that group, like Miles Pate, Tyler Witt and now Seth Joest. Those guys are coming together, they're having a next-man-up mentality, and they know whoever steps in there is going to have that same level of care factor and toughness as they have as a starting five, and we're going to need that as we go on. It's a young group, it's a fun group, and they're going to be playing a long time together on The Hill, and that's what I love about them. They took the game and they wanted it on their backs, that's what we wanted. In the Maine game, obviously we were questioning that, [but] in this game they answered that and they passed with flying colors. They wanted us to call the same play. We called the same play seven of the last nine plays, literally the same exact play. And that's what you want when you want to finish a game, 'Hey guys, we're running right here. we're pulling this guy. try to stop it,' and that's what our offensive line did."
Defensive Coordinator CLAYTON WHITE (Full Video)
On what the film showed about the performance of the defense:
"To start out with, definitely excited about the win that we got on Saturday versus Ball State, which is a good team. After evaluating the game, we were a little disappointed with the first drive. They marched the ball down the field and scored on us, which I think we did a good job of adjusting. Most important thing I think our guys got off the field; clutch late in the game when we needed it most to get the win to get our offense back the ball. The negatives were, number one, the third down and long situation we gave up, we had a penalty, we had a scramble and a couple recoveries where we weren't tight enough and the quarterback, Riley Neal threw some really good balls but for the most part, we're very proud about the win. Our guys played hard, they fought, we missed more tackles than we normally have but we feel like we've got the win, we did what we need to do and we got off the field during a clutch time when we needed it."
On the defense getting a crucial 3 & out in the fourth quarter:
"Coach Sanford, one of his things from the offseason was, we felt like last year we didn't complement each other. That was a moment where we did and when we needed it the most. Our offense I think had just scored and then we had to go out right now and three and out is what we had to have and we made some adjustments, because they were driving the ball on us a little bit from third down, so we made some adjustments on the sideline, and our players talked about us going three and out. That was proud as well. I felt like a proud father in that moment when they came to the sideline, that was the hyped we've been and then to watch our offense just methodically get first down, first down and then eventually go score. That was probably the best moment we've had as a team as far as complementing each other since we've been here when we needed it the most."
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