Post-Game Quotes - Kent State
Head Coach Jason Candle
“Really proud of our football team. Obviously you never want to fall into an early hole like that, but we’ve talked a lot here about the response to the problem as opposed to the reaction to the problem. I thought our guys had a really good response. I’m really happy with the leadership some of our guys showed tonight.”
On the difference in play between the first and second half
“I thought we came out a little bit flat, but it was just as much about the start that Kent State had. Things just didn’t go our way to start the game. We were just a hair off. The reaction wasn’t ‘oh no, what are we going to do?’ It was all about seeing what we can fix and going out there and playing.”
On quarterback Dequan Finn
“He was very impressive. I think the sign of a good quarterback is that he plays within himself, he doesn’t try to do too much when he’s down and he doesn’t try to do too much when he’s up. His growth has been impressive and we’ll need him down the stretch to continue to play that way.”
On the play of the defense in the second half
“Once we settled in and adjusted to the pace of how their offense operates, which can be hard to replicate in practice, things got better. The only stat that mattered at halftime though was the score, 31-28. Take all the other stuff, put it away. We just had to figure out how we were going to play 30 minutes of football better than they did.”
Mikel Barkley
“Like Coach Candle said, stick to the process. Take advantage of the opportunities, because you never know when you’re going to get your chance.”
“My mindset is, ‘next man up and do my job. The main thing is just to get the win, work hard, and help the team, so that’s what I’m going to do.”
“The mindset for the team was to stick together and not panic and know that we have control of it. Do what we know we’re capable of and fought back. We got it done, we got the win.”
Nate Bauer
“They [Kent State] came out with a good tempo, and I think it just took us a quarter to get settled in. But once we got settled into a tempo, we had a good feeling for what they were doing and being able to play better.”
“We knew we just had to stick together. We knew we were going to have to scratch and claw for 60 minutes because we got off to a terrible start. I think it just shows the resilience this team has. We’re not going to back down, we’re not going to fold when adversity hits us. We knew we had to stick together and play our game.”
“Our front seven stepped up, they were coming out with a great tempo and once they locked into the game and figured out what they were doing, I think they played a great game.”
“He’s incredible [Dequan Finn]. He’s the best quarterback in the conference. Going up against him everyday really helps the defense everyday. I’m glad he’s on our team, that’s our leader.”
Dequan Finn
“I want to give a huge credit to our O-Line. They put a lot of work in, and a lot of time invested in the film rooms.”
“I feel the passion and love for the game. In the first quarter, they [Kent State] got us and punched us in our face with the 21-lead against us. We had to come together, come up with a different game plan and execute every play and not put all the points in one drive. Take it one drive at a time.”
“After the first touchdown, I looked at everybody in the eyes and said we got this. Everyone followed the energy and came together as one, and the rest played out.”
