Postgame Press Conference Transcript

University of Toledo Football Postgame Press Conference (Eastern Michigan)

Mike Jacobs: Obviously, this is a big win for us on the road against a really good Eastern Michigan team, especially since none of us were pleased with our performance and how we played last week against Buffalo. So to come out and respond the way we did – we talked about having to start fast, I thought we were extremely physical throughout the course of the game, even as even as some injuries piled up.

We were executing at a pretty high level. Defensively, we were after their quarterback all day. I think we had at least six sacks on the day, which was huge. A bunch of hurries. I thought we affected him most of the day, and again, JAR was extremely efficient. He was 24-30 for 288 yards.

We were five of 13 on third down. So, a little bit better. Need to be better in the second half, but listen, all in all, the response from start to finish, from the time that game ended last week to what we put on the field today, I’m extremely proud of the kids and their response.

We’re really excited about this one. We’re gonna enjoy it. This is a big one for me. This is where I started my coaching career. So kind of a cool moment to be back here. There was a picture going around of a young Mike Jacobs. I kind of look like a thumb. I had a buzz cut. This is special, and I’m just really proud of our kids and how they played today.

Question: What was the biggest difference Eastern did in the second half? Obviously, you guys were putting up points and drives in the first half.

Jacobs: I mean, it started a bit disjointed, right? We punted, and there’s a turnover, and then there were two reviewed calls, and it got a bit out of rhythm at that point. Again, we had a couple injuries that added up that as you get into your third and even fourth in some instances, sometimes it just doesn’t go as smooth.

But we’ll watch it and evaluate it. Obviously, Eastern made some good adjustments and executed a little bit better on defense in that second half.

Question: Any word on Connor [Walendzak]? How’s he doing?

Jacobs: Lower leg. We’ll know more tomorrow. I don’t have a ton of information right now, guys.

Question: I know you talked a lot on Monday just about starting fast. Five for five on your first five possessions. What difference did you see in that early-game execution? How did that really just set you guys up for success in this one?

Jacobs: It starts with having confidence and belief in themselves, right? And so, obviously, the guy next to me [John Alan Richter] did a really good job. The offensive line kept him clean. I don’t think we had any sacks today. And then our wide receivers made some big plays.

That throw to Dabbs on the first touchdown was big time. It was a great route by Tay. And again, just super efficient. Took what they gave us and was incredibly accurate throughout the course of the day. And that allowed us to stay in rhythm and on target.

Question: I know penalties are still a bit of an issue in the last two games. What was the difference today, just the way your team was able to overcome that compared to last week?

Jacobs: Some of it is we weren’t playing from behind this week, but listen, we’ll clean up. I’m never going to not have an aggressive team, right? So we’ll look at everything. Again, pre- and post-snap, unacceptable, lack of discipline things, right? And so, everybody understands that we correct that stuff, right? There are up-downs immediately after it happens for the entire team in practice.

Some of it’s a technical thing. Some of it’s young guys playing the most football they’ve played in big-time situations. So, again, I’ll watch it. I’ll evaluate it. It needs to be better, obviously. But I’m not going to dwell on it when we won by three scores on the road against a team that was leading the conference. But we’ll work really hard to clean it up going into the Western game.

Question: How much did you like the punting? A couple of times you guys did punt, there was the muff, and then you guys got the ball down to the 1. What did you like on the special teams?

Jacobs: Listen, Matt Ulrich does a great job, and I’m hard on him because we got a lot of different looks. I think we stress people with the amount of stuff that we do. I think for a first-time starting long snapper and a first-time starting punter who was a soccer player a few years back from Germany, I think Marcus is doing an exceptional job punting the football.

We’ve done a good job protecting them. Those guys in that personal protector role really do a tremendous job with the communication. And then it’s just a buy-in, and it’s most important playing football.

Question: It felt like the offensive line wasn’t really ever getting tired out there. I’m sure they were. A couple of weeks ago at Ball State, CJ had that huge run. What can you say about the offensive line’s ability to just keep wearing on?

Jacobs: I’ve been most impressed with the next man up. Again, Brian Folkerts, I think is as good as anybody in the country. I can’t say enough about the way he teaches, the way he prepares his guys, the mental toughness. I’m just really pleased without watching it, and how well those guys played.

I would have liked to have one there at the end, just more for a mindset thing. But, again, I thought he had those guys ready to play, and they were a big part of that fast start of the 5-for-5 on the first five drives.

Question: Coach said a second ago, the sacks, the pressures. The ball popped loose there in that first quarter. What can you say about the defensive line?

Andrew Zock: It starts in practice throughout the week. Obviously, we had to put it to bed. What happened last week was a bad taste in our mouth. We came in, we attacked Sunday. Tuesday was a Thursday practice. We had a great game plan in place, and the coaches put us in a great position. All of us, we’ve just been jamming and working together as a front.

I’m really proud of all the other D-linemen who get in there and make plays. That’s why we had a big day. Zach Johnson, Lambert, our guys just continue to step up, and they make my job easier. We had a good game plan in place. We knew that if we stopped the run, we could force them to throw the ball a little bit and get after the quarterback. That’s what we did.

Question: John, for you, how much better does this feel after a win? How much of a get-right is this, I guess?

Richter: Obviously, last week we didn’t play our best. We’re just excited to come out here and put on tape what we know we are and just be us. That was the whole thing this week, just be us. We’ve shown we play well and execute at a high level. We started out well. We’ve got some things we’ve got to work on in the second half. We’ll work on it this week and continue to get better.

Question:John, where did you see the most improvement offensively, just from practice this week and executing that on game day today?

Richter: I think coach is on us. We’re practicing hard every day. Obviously, our goal is to get better every day. I think we executed at a high level this week in practice. Just continuing to do that every week and putting ourselves in good positions to play on Saturday, I think, is the goal. You can’t have a good week if you don’t have a good Sunday. That’s our goal every week, just take one day at a time and one play at a time.

Question: I know you touched on it earlier, but just talk about how that really set you guys up, especially the D-line, to make plays in that passing game. How much more fun is it for you to be out there when you just feel unblockable at certain points?

Zock: I’ve got to give a shout out to the rest of the defense. The linebackers are doing a great job fitting their gaps. The back end is doing a great job coming down the run game and not playing soft in coverage, making it hard for them to just do the quick game RPOs.

We knew they were going to give us a different look as far as run game. Like I said, we put in a good game plan. We had a great week of practice, so we came in and we executed well when they did try to run the ball.

We knew that we could get them in those second- and third-and-long situations that we could make them drop back and pass, and we could actually get after the quarterback. We had some penalties, some of them on me. I’ll clean that up. We played aggressive, we played physical. I’m proud of the whole defense. It’s a great feeling to get after them.

Jacobs: Thank you. Appreciate y’all being here.

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