Toledo Quotes - LIU Game
Head Coach Jason Candle
"We had the game in hand the entire way and field position was in our favor. Our defense played strong the entire game. We do have some things to clean up and improve on from Week 1 to Week 2."
“I think we had some moments where we probably weren’t at our best. We started 10 new guys from last year and we had a lot of new faces playing. We were less aggressive and conservative early on, because didn’t want to make a bunch of mistakes.”
“We had a lot of growth that happened with our offensive line tonight. Anytime you average five yards per game with five new starters you’re doing pretty good."
Junior Linebacker Dallas Gant
On playing his first game for the Rockets
“It felt great to be back out there and to be back home. I couldn’t have chosen a better place to be or better teammates. Everyone has been supportive since day one.”
On his expectations coming into the game
“I didn’t really have any expectations for myself. I had expectations for the defense as a whole. I’ve been very impressed with the guys here, my teammates are awesome. Not just talent-wise, but as people too. For myself, I just wanted to go out there and have fun.”
On the way the defense played
“The talent on this defense is incredible. I can’t say enough good things about the players we have on our defense. We started off the year the right way with a shutout and I’m excited to see what we can do the rest of the season.”
Sophomore Quarterback Dequan Finn
On his performance
“It felt great getting back out there and getting to hit someone else besides our teammates. Everyone was excited to be out there and playing our first game, it feels great to start with a win.”
On the offensive performance
“Everyone was a little jittery to start since it was the first game, but after halftime we calmed down things started to develop.”
On tight end Jamal Turner
“I’ve seen him grow a lot from the start of fall camp to now. He’s really improved his route running and pass catching. I thought he played well last year, but now he’s taken his game up another level.
LIU Head Coach Ron Cooper
"They played hard. We had some guys do some pretty good things. We tackled well early. We gave up a couple of big plays that sort of broke our back."
"They (Toledo) have four to eight defensive linemen who can play anywhere. That didn't surprise us."
"We're going to be good. We've just got to get better each week. We've got to keep practicing and keep them motivated and find out who is going to step in to lead our offense. I wanted to see all three quarterbacks play tonight and I saw all three play. We'll just keep doing it until we find the right one."
