Toledo Head Coach Jason Candle
On Tuesday’s win over Kent State
“Conference wins are tough to get in November. Everybody wants to be playing meaningful games in November and that’s where we’re at. We played a much-improved team tonight and it was a gritty performance from our guys. I’m really proud of their effort.”
“We have a very young football team, and it can be really hard to predict what’s going to happen. I trust the leadership and makeup of our players, we recruit guys who are winners. Pride is a tough thing, it can be a slippery slope. It can bite you or it can propel you to some great things. Our guys have responded the last couple weeks and they’ve gotten a couple tough wins.”
On the running game
“As a team, when you can rush for 289 yards in a conference game that’s incredible. We’ve really relied on our running game all season long, so give those offensive linemen some credit. Our receivers have done a good job on the perimeter, they’ve had some tough moments when the opponent knew we were running the ball. Our receivers have showed their toughness and selflessness in that respect.”
On the two-point conversion stop in the fourth quarter
“Our backs were against the wall. That’s a tough situation; you can look back at all the plays that led to the touchdown, but the reality is they scored and now you have to make that stop right there. Credit to our guys for staying focused on that play.”
Toledo Running Back Shakif Seymour
On the strength of the team to hold on and defeat Kent State 35-33 on Tuesday night
“It all goes back to what we’ve been saying since January. We came together as a group to make sure we were all on the same page, and that helped out a lot. Even if our backs are against the wall, we’re still communicating together as a team on the sideline and we’re still in it together.”
On the offensive line
“I had 100 percent confidence in the offensive line tonight. They all looked at me and said ‘follow me’ and that’s exactly what I did.”
On rushing for a career-high 175 yards
“It feels good to have a game like this, but I’m ready to get back to work tomorrow. I didn’t have a perfect game, so I’ll need to watch the film and see what I can improve on.”
Toledo Defensive Line Jamal Hines
On stopping Kent State from converting a late two-point conversion
“We knew that our backs were against the wall and we had to do whatever it takes to prevent them from scoring. I think the defense did a great job on that play.”
On the team’s resilience
“I feel like we’ve done a good job of coming together as a team these last two games. We’ve faced some tough moments, but we came together as a team and worked through it together.”
Kent State Head Coach Sean Lewis
“Winning in this league is really hard, and we need to continue to fight and find ways to win. That’s all a part of the process of building a program the way that we want.”
“They threw some different schemes at us in the first half, some things that we hadn’t seen on film. I think that’s a credit to our kids and what we’ve done that we’re getting some new wrinkles from our opponents. The players and our staff did a good job in the second half of settling in and playing the game as it came to them tonight.”
