Post-Game Quotes
9/1/2005 12:00:00 PM | Football
Sept. 1, 2005
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Head Coach Tom Amstutz
"I was proud of our defense causing turnovers and our special teams made big plays. That's a good sign that the attitude of your team is good because the special teams is playing hard. We have to continue to work on everything and stay focused and work on all aspects of the game. We weren't perfect and we still have a lot of work to do. Any win you get is a precious win and we're happy to get the win tonight."
(on the defense and the special teams helping out the offense)
"I was pleased with our defense at times especially with the takeaways we created early in the game. We got a couple scores on defense and special teams and that was big for us. You need to have that when your offense is a little out of sync like it was tonight early on. Their defense gives you a lot of multiple looks and we needed some time to get things worked out."
(on Clint Cochran playing in the second half and making his collegiate debut)
"I thought Clint did a real nice job in his college debut. I thought he ran the team well and controlled the team. Obviously he will get better from this experience on."
(on Richard Davis' game)
"I wasn't surprised. He's been practicing like a special player and working hard. He's going to get more and more playing time and he produced a lot for us tonight."
(on the big plays by the defense)
"That's the kind of defense we want to be. We want to keep offenses out of sync and off balance. That helps you make big plays."
(on true walk-on Jon Allen's scoring a touchdown in his collegiate debut)
"He's a special young man. He came from Chicago and just outright worked his way onto the field. He made plays day after day in practice. He's a big target and he made a nice play on the touchdown. That's special because it's hard for any freshman to score a touchdown catch like that in his first game."
Toledo senior cornerback Antonio Malone
(on the defense playing well after struggling early in the year last season)
"It all started with Coach Rose coming in and putting in nice little defense for us. It's so complex that offenses are off-balance and don't know what to expect. We mixed up the defenses a lot today and I think we sent out a pretty solid message tonight."
(on taking an interception back for a touchdown)
"Our leaders said before the game said that we need to lead by example with this being our last opener. I got a good break on the ball and there was no turning back."
Senior QB Bruce Gradkowski
"Things started out slow for the offense. We just need to get things rolling. We know the mistakes we made. We just have to have better focus. We have a lot of things to work on."
"Our defense did a great job today. That's what picked the team up."
WIU Coach Don Patterson
"That was one of the more unusual first halfs I've seen. The total yards were very close but we were down 42-0. We did everything wrong possible in terms of turnovers. They didn't turn the ball over until late."
"We did a nice job on defense in the first quarter. We held them, forced them into a couple of field goals when they had great field position. We had a couple of lapses in the second quarter. I think the guys were getting a little tired."
"In the second half we battled. I don't think we quit. And we were able to get on the scoreboard a couple of times."
