NIU-Toledo Postgame Quotes
November 9, 2016
Chicago, Ill. (Guaranteed Rate Field)

Toledo Head Coach Jason Candle

Opening statement…
"Real proud of our team, definitely put forth in the second half to finish off that game. You know we needed all 30 minutes of it to get it finished. Much respect for Northern Illinois and their football program and Coach Carey and his staff and what they've been able to accomplish there. His team doesn't quit, we knew that going in. We knew that there's been a history of these two teams playing competitive games all the way to the end. We knew it was going to be a fight for 60 minutes and really proud of our guys that we finished it off."

On offensive changes for the second half… 
"I think it's a matter of execution and just playing better. Some mistakes (were) made, some self-inflicted wounds, a couple of penalties and a turnover when our quarterback and receiver weren't on the same page. Just some tough things and we had to overcome. You know at halftime it was just reminding our guys that this is a team of fighters and people who don't quit. We have one or two ways you can go the next 30 minutes and they certainly responded. It's a team that's really close, they play for each other, selfless group, and they showed it in the second half."

On finally beating NIU….
"I think the play that sticks out to me is the third down when (Kareem Hunt) is stopped around the midfield and he breaks a tackle and gets the first down. That right there, I think that's a sign of a true senior, a guy that put his heart and soul on the line for the football team. These seniors have heard for four years how they can't beat Northern Illinois. 'You haven't done it. What are you going to do to do it?' It's just right those guys got to share that moment."

On the matchup problem with Kenny Golladay…
"Well, he's a matchup problem for everybody. The guy is a humongous receiver, he's 6-foot-4, he's got gigantic hands, he runs good routes, he has enough speed to get behind you and he catches the ball well in traffic. He's going to have the chance to play football for a while in my opinion. He creates a matchup problem. They're a well-coached team and they try to get the ball to them."

NIU Head Coach Rod Carey

Opening Statement…
Obviously we are disappointed by the outcome of the game. Congratulations to Toledo. It's always a four quarter game. It's always a hard fought game. It felt like they made one more play than us and that was it. It wasn't necessarily at the end of the game. It could have been first quarter, second quarter, third quarter or fourth. We just didn't make that play and certainly disappointed, but our guys played hard and am extremely proud of them for how hard they played. They didn't budge an inch. They didn't flinch.

On the quarterback situation…
Maddie tried and you have to give Anthony a lot of credit. He really rehabbed all week and it really felt like he was going to be able to do some things come today. I give Ryan a lot of credit because that's a hard position to be in because he was preparing to be the guy. I told him that earlier in the week and he didn't flinch. He prepared and I thought he came out and played well.

Talk about playing at Guaranteed Rate Field…
Little hard for me to see the forest through the trees because we are disappointed with the loss. I got that question earlier too. After the game thinking about it our administration, the White Sox organization, Guaranteed Rate Field, and some alums. Jeff Yordon helped put this together. Amanda Sanchez too. Couldn't be happier with the venue, how it was set up, how it was done. I thought it was good to get down more fans. I thought we had a decent turnout. I was certainly hoping for more but I was certainly happy with the event in spite of the loss as hard as that is right now. 

On message to the team as the season comes to a close…
Well, I told them in the locker room I was extremely proud of them. I think they played extremely hard tonight and we focus on one week lives. The end of the season, we will deal with what the season record is at that time but we got 24 hours and a seven-day turnaround. It's MACtion now so it's kind of back to normal schedule. We'll take our 24 hours. We'll learn from it and make the corrections we need to make and certainly get back to work. That's one thing I give them credit for. The leadership of this team and the entire team, they have not flinched and they have kept getting better and kept working. I know some of the big picture things are out there but they have done a great job of blocking that out and just going to work and I'm really am proud of them for that. We are all disappointed with where we're at right now and we're looking to get better.

NIU Player Quotes

Kenny Golladay

On playing at home in Chicago…
"It was great. It was my last home game in Chicago, (I was) focused on the game pretty much. (I'll) talk to family (later)."

Ladell Fleming 

On playing at home in Chicago…
"You know when you're at home, a lot of people are going to see you so it's good for the pre-game. It's "hey, I'm here" but after, when the game starts, you lock in and play."

Ryan Graham

On how he played…
"I thought I threw it ok, a lot of throws I wish I had back but you know overall happy I was able to go in there and get with my guys again but definitely  disappointed with the loss."

If anything changed from 2015 to the 2016 game against Toledo…
"I don't remember a lot of last year. I know they played a lot of zone this year. They're pretty good, a little different than what we studied for but we're always ready to adjust."

If being on the sidelines this season helped…
"Yeah, (Anthony) Maddie is a great guy to learn under from. Today I was trying to go out there and take it play-by-play."