Final Stats |

Ohio Head Coach Frank Solich

Opening remarks:
I am proud of what the players have accomplished and our coaches. I thought our staff has done a great job this year. There were a lot of turns throughout the course of the season, you have to adjust to them and I think our coaches did an excellent job of that throughout the season. I thought our players have been remarkable in terms of how they have prepared. Not only practice, but also how they have prepared since last season and how they worked to put themselves in this position. I couldn't be any happier and any prouder of those guys to get it accomplished. As you know there were a lot of struggles in the MAC east to get this thing done. A lot of close games, a lot of tough football played. So we are proud to represent the MAC East and look forward to going to Detroit. This was a game that we should have been able to get a touchdown or two. We had one and a misalignment caused that to not be a case. The game shouldn't have been quite as tight, but I give a lot of credit to Akron and their staff. They had a lot to fight for. They could have been bowl eligible with a win. It ended up being two pretty good football teams battling.

Thinking back on the game:
You hope you get your fair share of bounces and we didn't get ours against Tennessee. They had the ball on the ground five times and we didn't get any. Tonight there were some balls bouncing around that we could have had easily and we didn't get that done. We lost the turnover battle one to zero, but there were other phases of the game that I thought we played really well in. We still have to improve in terms of being a better football team and offensively we just have to get to where we can finish things off a little more. We had a couple linemen out for this game, Maleek hadn't practiced much lately, and Dorian hadn't practiced much the last two weeks until the end of this game week. He hasn't had a lot of real speed practice and I thought all of those things really affected us. Somehow we lost momentum going in to the off week and we haven't really gotten it back yet. We have to find a way to get it back. We won tonight and that is building momentum, but we have to find ways to get some of these things cleared up. We have to put more points on the board too to help our defense out.

On Ugly Win:
I don't know anyone who could say anything against players who won a football game. To call a game ugly, ugly is in the eyes of the beholder. That was a beautiful win. Sometimes you have to win those games that kind of way to move on and have the kind of season you hope to have. They don't all come easy and if they do then you have to be pretty fortunate. You have to know you had luck on your side, you had bounces go your way, you haven't had a lot of injuries along the way and you didn't have to reach in to your depth. I would never use the term ugly to describe a football win. Obviously there were aspects of the game we could have played better, but I would never call a game ugly. 

On getting to Detroit:
It'll be great to get back there. Now that we have an indoor practice facility, I think that does make a difference in preparation for the game in Detroit. When we didn't have an indoor facility, we practiced outside and then we went indoor and had guys cramping up. It is hard to condition and get your team ready to play indoors if you are practicing outside all week. Having an indoor facility will be a big advantage for us going in to the game and for Toledo and Western, whoever wins that game. It'll be neat to get prepared to play indoors.

On defense being on the field at the end:
I wouldn't use the word fitting. I would rather have our offense just killing the clock. They have had an outstanding season. The thing that we have been fortunate about on defense is that our backers have been able to play through tough injuries. We have young depth there and when they had to supply the depth they did. Up front, we were too deep across the board. We aren't there now. Hopefully we didn't get anyone too seriously injured going into the MAC championship game. We had a lot of people also step up in the secondary. As Quentin said, they played with experience and now are playing pretty well. They are giving us a chance and the defense has responded to every situation they have been given. 

On final possession for Akron:
I didn't see it from where I was at, I thought it was contested at least. I'll call a new college rule, you have to have control when you come to the group and if it bounces at all it is an incomplete pass. Those things happen and you have to get some breaks along the way. We lined up wrong; we had one guy off the line of scrimmage. Otherwise we have seven points on the board and it isn't as tight coming down the stretch. You have those kind of plays that happen along the game and there is a spotlight when it happens towards the end of the game.

On what this game means to Solich:
I feel so good for the players that I am slow in responding. It means a great deal to me. I felt we had the ability if we had things go our way to have a team that is capable of doing it. To see this come to fruition now and in the manner that it did, these guys have earned it. I am so proud of them in that regard. They have made the game fun for me, I am not a fun loving guy and I need help. These guys have helped me have fun and it has been great to coach a team like this. When you coach a team like this, you want to see them have success and get a lot of credit.

On team's resiliency
The game against Tennessee did tell us something about our team. They showed signs of that in the off-season though. I've been around it enough to know when a team is generating what you want them to generate to put themselves in position to have a good year. These guys did this all the way through. To see this take place is so heartwarming to me. I take losses very hard and the wins I kind of accept and keep moving along. The losses jolt me, so it is that profession for me. I accept all the wins. Sometimes I am not as happy as other times, but I accept all the wins and I am happy with this one.

I don't think there was a game that was easy and we didn't have to battle or work for. To be able to do that for a whole season, it can be tough on your football team. So for them to respond in the way that they did game after game, shows to me that there is something special about them.

On coming out on top with three QB's in a season
I haven't seen a lot of quarterbacks go down in a season like what happened in the MAC this season. It did seem a little strange. We had a redshirt freshman that had six starts and for him to come out on top the way he did in these games is special in some ways. A lot of teams had their problems with the quarterback position this year. We had a good core of people to start the season with and I think that core of people allowed our quarterbacks to get better. It gave us a chance. Greg was about eighty percent and hopefully he will be one hundred percent soon. He stepped up at times, played well for us and won games for us.. It goes to the importance of a quarterback this day and age. If you don't have one, you struggle. If you have one or two, then you have a shot. When you start going two or three deep, you need to have some other things go well.

Ohio player Quotes

Linebacker Quentin Poling
On getting to Detroit:
It's wonderful. I mean it is my first trip here. I love that we had the chance to do it at home. I love the chance that we had to do it for the seniors, so I think we pulled through for those guys. I know it means a lot and I love those guys. They play hard every game, so I am really happy we did it for them.

On whether or not he has ever been a part of a defensive game like this:
I mean it brings back to you know a lot like Akron last year the 14-12. They had a field goal each quarter. I mean that Marshall game last year was 14-7 until the end. Numerous three and outs by both teams. So those are two big games that come to mind with defensive battles.

On going to Detroit and the challenge and reward it presents:
It's a huge challenge. Obviously we still don't know who we're going to play yet. That will be fun to watch that game on Friday and see who our competitor is, but it is a great opportunity for the guys. The young guys who came in and wanted to be a part of a winning program and get back to Detroit after a couple of years is really what this program needed.

On always saying take it one game at a time and the last play defining the season and if he thought it would come down to it:
Absolutely. We knew coming into MAC play this that every game is the Super Bowl. Every game was decided by seven points or less except for the Buffalo game. We are not getting blown, we are not going to blow people out. It's going to come down to the last drive or last two drives every game. We knew that coming in. It gave us extra time to prepare, so we knew we weren't going to come out here run all over these guys and stomp them. I mean we expected what we expect and pulled through and got the win.

On if it felt right to have the defense out there to clinch it:
I think so. I mean if it comes down to it we always want to be the ones who are on the field with the game on our shoulders. We want that pressure, we have the experience and playmakers. That's what thrive for. I mean we want that opportunity.

On Brad Ellis:
I mean he made a lot of big plays for us obviously. I mean he will attest to it he made some mistakes. He came up big several times. I mean they were attacking him with a 6-3 receiver a lot of times or a guy who weighs about 160 pounds and runs 4.3. He did not have an easy job out there on the island and he did a very good job and I am very proud of him.

On next guy up on the defense:
I mean expect the unexpected. Every person has to be ready to play. On me thing that I thing we did not do very well last year was when key players would go down, I don't think we stepped up with the next guy and played to the level that it took to win. I think we have been doing that this year especially at the corner position. I mean we have a lot of guys going in there with minimal experience and they're giving great effort facing large challenges and they are making plays. Occasionally they'll get beat. That's fine it is expected. Every time that I don't attack my gap, I mess up that play I have someone to make me right. If they make a mistake it turns into an explosive play. I mean its allot harder job for those guys.

On the resolve from not capitalizing on turnover opportunities:
If we lose today it's totally on the defense. We come into this thing and we know that we need to get turnovers to win. We didn't do that today. We had many opportunities and we didn't pull it off. So that's on our fault and I'm glad we did it at the end there cause we kind of blew it throughout the game. Even its just, a lot of those series where stop them, but we have to give our offense better field position.

On if being an underdog gives them an edge in the Championship:
I don't think so. I mean like I said I'm just waiting to see who we play before I start to think too much about this thing.

Kicker Louie Zervos 
On whether or not he thought the game would come down to field goals:
I'm not sure. I don't know.

On if he was aware of the tying the freshman single season field goal record:
I wasn't aware of it. I don't really look at stats going throughout the season. I just focus on the game ahead of me. I mean it's great, but we still got two games left the bowl game and the MAC Championship. I mean just focusing on those games now.

On being a new guy and having such a good role:
I mean everyone was welcoming the first day I got here on campus. I mingled with the guys. I'm just glad I got a great coaching staff. A head coach that trusts me, a coaching staff that trusts me. I mean its welcoming so I mean everything has kind of bound together and worked out the way it has.

On if he thought that he was going to be the only guy scoring:
No not a chance. I mean I thought it would come down to a field goal at the beginning of the game because that's what my mindset always is. I was ready for it, but I dint think it was going to be all field goals.

Quarterback Quinton Maxwell
On the game from the offense's perspective
Props to the defense they played their butts off the whole game. They were huge at the end. We executed really well at times, just when we needed to, we didn't execute as well as we needed to. I didn't execute as well as I needed to in certain situations. That especially hurt us. But a win is a win no matter how ugly it is. We're excited for the opportunity to go t Detroit. We know we are going to face a good football team who ever shows up. So we are going to come into this week try to have a great week of practice and try to fix the mistakes we made in this game and make sure they don't happen up in Detroit. 

On needing touchdowns next week to win the MAC:
Our offensive production has to go up. We can't ask our defense to do that that many times. A great job to them. It's not that we played bad, we just didn't play as well as we needed to in the crunch time situations. That will get better. We'll get better at that. We'll take a look at film and figure out what we have to get fixed for next week.

On seeing Akron drive down the field late in the game:
Just sitting there come on D do what you have done all game, do what you've done all game. And those guys and Q (Poling) can attest to that they have a bend don't break mentality and that's what they did. I couldn't be prouder of this team. I couldn't be prouder of this defense. I couldn't be prouder of Louie. I mean we gave him three opportunities and he hit all three. So it was big for us. I was a little nervous I am not going to lie. I think just about anybody would be, but I had the utmost faith in them the whole time.

On if he ever felt overwhelmed:
At this position a lot of that does happen. People look at you when things are going good and when things are going bad. There are a lot of guys with a lot of experience around with JR, C Bass, the O-Line up front, Papi, Dorian, Maleek. I've got playmakers around me and my job in the offense is to distribute the ball and manage the offense and execute. We could have done that better at times tonight, but it's a good feeling knowing that we are going to Detroit. This group has been going since spring ball started and winter weights. This group had one goal in mind and that realizing that is a good feeling.

Akron Head Coach Terry Bowden

On Akron being one catch away from a win:
"We could not have written a script and have them play it any closer. Don't turn the ball over great defense, they're a good field goal kicking team, hold them to field goals, don't make mistakes, get the ball game to the fourth quarter, and make a big play at the end of the game. There was everything but the big play at the end of the game and we had a couple of chances. I told the players no one can do what Tyrell Goodman did in the last two games. The games won't go down as W's but the effort that he did allowed us to play and the kids to play. It was a heroic effort by Tyrell Goodman. Tough loss, we had to play a lot of young guys, we could not overcome our injuries this season, we could overcome all of them but the quarterback situation, that's the one we couldn't overcome. So we'll build from it, we had to play a lot of people this year and we'll build from it, these kids will get over it and we'll grow up and move on."

On defensive effort:
"If you remember, in preseason we said we were going have a developing defense they're not going to be real good at the beginning but by the end of the year we ought to be pretty decent. Offense, we're going to score a lot of points, we're going to be productive, we've got some play makers, we've got a quarterback that can get it to them. That's the way it was going until we lost our quarterback situation. Everything else kind of fell into place so tonight the biggest thing is that a lot of guys would have said let's give it up but the players played it to the very last play, I'm so proud of all of them and for the work that they did and for how the coaches prepared them."

On Goodman stepping in at quarterback:
"He ran ball when he had to. We took out all the over the middle plays all the plays you have to have to sustain drives. He did what we were supposed to do, I don't know if the last play was a turnover or not but the game was pretty much no turnovers. Again he gave us a chance to win the game threw some balls, gave us a chance to win the game. And the defense gave us a chance. Everyone played to script everybody did what they had to do. That was the only way few were going to beat that team was exactly how we didn't beat them by not scoring that touchdown at the end of the game."

On JoJo Natson Jr. dropping the ball at the end of the game:
"Well he can't catch them all, he's made so many big, big catches for us this year, to win so many games. You can't make every one of them."

On throwing to Austin Wolf on the last play:
"He's made big catches. He's 6'3" he can make a big play too. We try to get the ball to Jerome Lane, {JoJo Natson Jr.} and {Austin Wolf}, those guys make those plays and we got the ball up and had a chance to make plays. Give Ohio University credit, they did what they had to do to win the game."

On preparation for the game:
"A lot of people don't realize, since the Appalachian State game, we have not known who the quarterback is going to be until 5 minutes before the game for eight straight weeks. Tonight we knew who the quarterback was and we're so glad we have him."