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OHIO HEAD COACH TIM ALBIN

Opening Statement:
"I have to take my hat off to Toledo, they played well tonight. There were a lot of big plays by them. We had opportunities in the first half, but we had two holding penalties, a penalty on the kickoff return for touchdown, a personal foul facemask on defense in the first half. Our defense played well enough to get us to 14-to-6, it was a one-score game and we challenged them at halftime. We got the ball in the third quarter and got some points out of it and then they got some huge plays. One from the receiver, a transfer kid from Georgia, was just a huge play in the game. Offensively, we couldn't hit any of our shot stuff today. Against Miami and Eastern Michigan we made some plays down the field but tonight we just didn't make those plays. We had to nickel-and-dime it down the field and just couldn't get the ball in the endzone. Hats off to Toledo, they've got a complete football team and going into the game I told the team that we would have to basically play our best four quarters of football to have a shot; we didn't and we were in it. We just couldn't make the plays that we made the last couple of weeks"

On kicking a field goal on the opening drive of the second half:
"Yeah, it was just 14-9 and our defense was hanging in there. The big plays hadn't started yet for Toledo and it's 14-9. That's what my gut said and that's what we did."

On big plays in the second half:
"On the long pass, it's a number one passing concept. Everybody runs it. That's the first look and that transfer from Georgia is just a really good player; he doesn't have a lot of catches and he's gotten off to a slow start, but the last two or three games I think he's starting to come on."

On playing with an injured offensive line:
"T.J. (Jackson) showed unbelievable toughness. He was really beat up last week and we thought he wasn't going to be able to finish against Eastern Michigan. He hung in there and got through it, and he was limited in practice this week. T.J. in particular, he was very tender and pregame his mom came in and he did his very best, but he pulled himself at halftime because he just couldn't do it. We played a lot of young guys in the second half and I said to the team 'this is MACtion.'"

On not making big plays:
"With Isaiah (Cox), we'd like him to make the catch but we're not going to make every catch on the post route. Their guys made plays, we didn't; I'm not upset with Isaiah, we're going to have those drops playing that type of defense. The pass to Cam (Odom) was good coverage and a well-thrown ball, Cam just didn't come up with it. But now you're 2^nd and 10 against a good team and that's where we struggled tonight, I thought."

On the 2021-22 senior class:
"I couldn't be prouder. After the pandemic, almost all of them came back to fight for this program and this university. They've done that every day with class. It's why I coach and I've been doing this for 33 years and the first 10 or 12, it was let's go win some games. As my children got older, it's about developing young men and that's why the staff here works seven days a week and the offensive staff is here at 4:30. It was a tough game tonight, but those guys on the sidelines were about it. They're leaving Peden Stadium and their entire careers and all the games they won, but there are four quarters left against Bowling Green and that's what it's going to be about for those guys."

On walking with Zach Burks for senior day:
"He said, 'Coach, it would mean a lot to me if you and your wife would walk out,' and I said, 'Buddy, I'd be honored.' I'm proud. That's what it's about."

On speaking to Ryan and Adam Luehrman before the game:
"I saved them for last knowing it was going to be tough. Those two youngin's grew up in my back yard on my trampoline with my son and my daughter, their mom and dad are dear friends of the family. I've watched them play little league baseball, basketball and football growing up. It was very emotional and it was tough, but I'm very proud of all those guys."

OHIO TIGHT END RYAN LUEHRMAN
 
When asked what kind of issues they had finishing drives off:
"Getting in the redzone, the field gets shorter and definitely trying to fight through our routes. You could tell we struggled a little bit, but I mean, it was all just together, just getting organized. I think getting the right play calling was an issue, but I think it's just execution. I feel like once we got to the redzone we just were complacent. We could not finish drives and that's been something that's been talked about throughout the season. With the sport you must take advantage of every opportunity and we did not do that today."
 
When asked about the O line during the second half:
"He's been tough as nails this whole week. He's been fighting through injuries. And we all are. Sometimes you get a short week, and this cold weather makes everyone a lot tighter. You could tell he could not play the potential that he wanted to and it just sucks because that's just part of the game. It's a physical sport. Everybody gets dings and bruises and sometimes they they turn into something more. It's next man up mentality because that's how the sport is, you can't sit back and watch your teammates, you got to learn from them."
 
When asked how he feels about playing his last game on this field:
"Every time I walk out onto the field, I look at that hill.  I see kids playing around, running around, and I just think was me. I was dying to hop over that fence and play football on this turf and to be able to do that I'm forever grateful. It really hasn't hit me yet playing my last game at Peden Stadium. It'll hit me here soon, probably when I go see my family outside and to get to do with your brother."
 
When asked if it was the right call to come back for the extra year:
"Yeah, definitely is. Once got back into things. I got a little out of shape to say at least but then I reflected and looked back at it like this. This is too good of an opportunity to take up. If I'm 30 years old or however old I am now, it was definitely worth it, 100%."
 
When asked to describe the season: 
"Ups and downs. Trying to get all the pieces together. MAC football is game of turnovers, physicality, and execution and combining all that into four quarters, special teams, offense, and defense. It's a hard thing to do in college football, but we just couldn't get that all together in the right amount of time. It was frustrating but I love every single one of my coaches and teammates. They fought tooth and nail every step of the way. I'm very content with their effort."
 
When asked how special it has been playing under Coach Albin for 7 years:
"He's honestly one of the nicest, most caring, people you'll ever meet. He loves every single one of his players. He wants to know them. He wants to know what they're feeling and everything. Being a player for him has been an honor for this year." 
 
When asked if the highs during this season have outweighed the lows:
"When you lose a game you can't really sit back and sit on it because next week there's another game. We definitely earned from the lows. There were a lot of lows obviously more than highs for this year. Seeing everything come together for those games has felt great. The plan, all the effort, there's so much that goes into it. You put everything into it and proceeded to come out just for those few games. It still it outweighs my losses."

OHIO DEFENSIVE END WILL EVANS
 
When asked about the challenges they faced in the second half:
"I felt as if they were coming out more so to run the ball and then they kind of had us schemed up a little bit. I felt like certain things that they were doing in the second half that they didn't do in the first half."
 
When asked if they wore down in the second half and how he would assess the big plays: 
"I don't think it was because we were worn down or anything like that. It's just getting to the key positions and making sure you're following the keys. I felt like we cut out a little short in that area."
 
When asked if they were confident coming into this game: 
"We absolutely felt confident coming into the game, and we did get a couple guys back that were injured in the previous weeks. We felt really good coming in this game."
 
When asked what the extra year has meant to him:
"It meant everything to me. Last year when I thought I was done playing football I didn't want to leave my brothers. I didn't want to leave this coaching staff and all the support groups that's here with it. With me get an opportunity to come back, it was like a dream. II was happy that the coaches welcomed me back with opened arms."
 
 
When asked if he knew the outcome of the season beforehand, if he still would've come back:
"If I knew the outcome of the season, and I had to go back and make the decision again, I'll make the decision all over again. That's because the people on the team and the guys I'm out there battling with and battling for."
 
When asked what it feels like to play his last game here at Peden:
"It's bittersweet. I love all you. I love the fans. I love it here. I feel like I've been here for so long. So, this is a bit about bittersweet feeling."
 
When asked if they will ramp up for BG: 
"Yeah, shouldn't be an issue. We're going to go tomorrow and watch some film. We need to make sure we know how we're going to dissect BG and how we know how we're going to play."

TOLEDO HEAD COACH JASON CANDLE 

How did Bryant Koback impact the game in the second quarter? 
"He is a tremendous player; he has been for a long time here," said Head Coach Jason Candle. "He made some big explosive runs and picked up some tough yards in a game when safeties run blocking down there and meet him at the line of scrimmage. I am really proud of his effort and proud of how we ran the football tonight." 
 
Was the game plan after the second quarter to continue running the ball since you were doing it well?  
"You're always trying to get your guys the best look and when you're playing four guys back and pass defense you want to run it as many times as you can until you get a safety down." 
"But the table is set by the running game, and what your team can do off of that." 
 
Thoughts on the third quarter, 5 plays, 149 yards and 2 touchdowns, 45 total plays in the game. 
"It didn't seem like we had the ball the whole game," said Candle. "You know, we had 45 total plays on offense, it's incredible to only have 45 plays in the game. You know, and obviously our defense was out there too much but when you are scoring quick touchdowns, it is part of the game. Weird game, but glad to get another win."  
 
What are your thoughts on the team's efficiency tonight?  
"Well, I think, running the football well and getting 7, 8, or 9 yards a carry, we were able to keep sticks moving and stay out of third down for the most part."  
"We didn't do a great job of that on the first two drives in picking up those third down conversions, but those big runs on first and second down, opened it up and gave us some more flexibility in what we could call, and the kids executed at a high level."

TOLEDO CORNER BACK SAMUEL WOMACK 
 
Talk about the strategy and job the defense did in the first half to hold them to just field goals.  
"We knew that we had to come in and do our job this week," Womack said. "We knew we had to get big stops and with our offense getting started slowly, we still did our job and in turn allowed them to score." 
 
Talk about physicality of the game and defense. 
"It was most definitely a physical football game, but we knew that coming in. We talked all week about how it was going to be a physical game and especially coming off a short week we knew we would have to grind." 

TOLEDO RUNNING BACK BRYANT KOBACK
 
What were your thoughts on this game and going out there making those big runs?  
"I just want to go out there and run the ball hard and continue to try to get first downs so we can keep the offense on the field to have good drives and score points," said Bryant Koback. "I mean, I just want to go out there play hard for my teammates, I know this is the last away game for a lot of the seniors, so I wanted to go out and give it my all."  
 
Were you going into the huddle saying give me the ball?    
"No, not really, I was just out there playing ball and having fun," said Koback. "As long as we score and as long as we're winning at the end of the game, I could really care less."  
 
How was the physicality of the game and you taking those snaps?  
"I like the physical games, it's a lot of fun because then you really see who's putting in the work during the offseason and I trust my boys up front to be more physical than their defensive line. That's what they came out here and did tonight, they proved it and because of them I continued to drive down the field. That's really what opened the lanes. We just have to give all credit to the offense line."

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