Head Coach Tom Amstutz

 

“Our guys were motivated a played a good, solid game. We moved the ball and had good drives. But you have to finish off the drives. When you have first-and-five at the goal line you don't want to settle for a field goal. You've got to come out with a touchdown there. If we turned at least one of our field goals into a touchdown, it could have changed the game.”

 

“It was one of those games where you wish you could have one or two plays back on either side of the ball.”

 

“Dan LeFevour is a special quarterback. He did a great job of getting the balls to his receivers and making plays. He came out big on third down. We have to play tighter on third down, but I give Central credit.”

 

“We have an offense that can score points. We just have to keep working on execution in practice. Our players have been working hard in practice. We played a very good Central Michigan team and battled them right to the wire. We're still improving as a team. We have a lot of young players out there. I see us getting better as we go down the stretch. We've got to finish out this season with some wins.”

 

Senior WR Nick Moore

“The game was definitely exciting. We have a friendly rivalry with Central Michigan every year. We've battled them with some hard-fought games. We just weren't fortunate enough to come out on top today.”

(on scoring his touchdown off a deflected pass)

“At first I didn't even think Aaron was going to throw it. But then I saw him step up in the pocket and he took a good hit. I kind of knew it was too high for the defensive back so I waited for it. As soon as he dropped it I just thought touchdown.”

Junior SS Barry Church

“The defense and offense played well. We played our hearts out. They just made one more play than we did and I tip my hat off to Central Michigan. They're a real good third down team and we worked on that practice all week. They just made more plays than we did.”

(on the loss of Desmond Marrow to injury last week)

“It's a real big impact for the defense as a whole not just the secondary. We have good players to step in and take his spot. They're going to get better as the season goes along.”

Junior QB Aaron Opelt

(on the game in general)

“I think Barry said it best. It's tough to lose a close game like that. I thought the offense and defense both played well. If you lose by one point you have to go out there and correct all the little things. Hopefully we'll turn things around by doing that.”

(on the running game)

“It was a big-time improvement for us with DaJuane and Morgan establishing the run. We're definitely a better offense when you have all those threats. The whole offensive line did well pushing up front and we definitely stepped up the running game this week.”

 

 

CMU Head Coach Butch Jones

“Anytime you get a win it's very special. We know throughout the years getting a win in the Glass Bowl takes everything you got. I can't say enough about our kids at the end. We need to get back to tackling better and correct some things on offense. We didn't turn the ball over and I thought our kids preserved and made plays down the stretch to close it out. That was critical.”

(on Toledo offense)

“They have great personnel and Opelt is a really good quarterback. They have some good running backs and some very skilled wideouts. We didn't help matters any by missing tackles on the zone play where they were going to their tight end. That's something we have to get corrected.”

CMU QB Dan LeFevour

(on the offense)
“We were just running the ball well like last week and that helped us a lot. The big thing for us was to finish our drives and a lot of that starts with what I do. The offensive line has been doing a great job and the receivers are doing well also. We have to put points on the board when the opportunity presents itself.”

(on Toledo)

“They're a great football team. Every team is a little inconsistent at times so we prepared for the best Rocket team and that's what we got.”

(on closing out the game)

“I think it's a tribute to our great coaching staff pushing us in the off-season and during practices. They don't let up much. We have great mental focus. I think it starts in the off-season because you can't build a championship team in the fall.”