Nov. 18, 2009

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POSTGAME QUOTES

Buffalo at Miami

November 18, 2009

Miami Head Coach Michael Haywood on tonight's game: "I think one of the things that happened, as I mentioned earlier in the week, was our lack of defensive linemen which were going to be able to play in this game. I don't think we did a very good job getting off blocks on base defenses. One of the reasons we weren't blitzing like we always do is that we went into the game with only six defensive backsââ'¬Â¦we were trying to play with six in the boxââ'¬Â¦but we didn't have enough people in the box to stop the run."

"There's a little bit of frustration when you drive the ball down the field, and you turn the football over. One of the things we have to do going into the off-season is to do a much better job on ball security, because we're turning the ball over on too many occasions. We have to make sure that we can get our PAT/field goal unit fixed because we haven't been as successful as we've been in the past. We're going to spend a lot of time on red zone offense. We need to make sure that when we get in the red zone that we're 100% touchdowns."

On what to work on in the offseason: "One of the things we have to do is get bigger, stronger and fasterââ'¬Â¦ with strength and conditioning we're going to work on upper body strength and speed and conditioning because those are two areas we need to get stronger at. We have to get bigger and faster."

On the players returning: "Off the field, guys are living a quality of life that will allow them to be championsââ'¬Â¦the majority of the team is headed in the right direction. From a football direction, I think we are definitely headed in the right direction, we just need to get physically and mentally tougher."

On the Buffalo running game: "One of the things we talked about early in the week, with the athletic quarterback that they have, once they were able to get the running game going a lot of time we weren't able to contain him. Once he gets outside of the box we don't have anybody on the field that can catch him because he's that athletic and that fast. They did a good job once they started running the football and I commend them."

On Brayden Coombs: "Brayden has done a tremendous job. When the season started he was down on the depth chart, and he just kept fighting and kept fighting, and next thing you know he became a starter and did some really good things this year. He stepped up and I compliment him on his effort and his attitude."

On his first year at Miami: "I think the most important thing that I have to do is to find my niche of where to spend most of my time coaching. I'm going to sit down and talk with the offense, defense, special teams, and let them know what I think my niche is and where I should be spending my time. At that point in time I'm going to do more hands on coaching because that's what I do best. We had a lot of adversity early, primarily how guys were living their lives off the fieldââ'¬Â¦a lot of things we had to change. But we've cleaned up that aspect of our program and are now headed in the right direction."

Buffalo Quarterback Zach Maynard "We executed our plays really well; we ran a couple trick plays."

"I'm just trying to play football and get points on the board really."

Buffalo Running Back Brandon Thermilus "We just went out and put it on the line."

"Being injured hurts a little bit but you just got to fight through it...it is what it is."

Buffalo Free Safety Mike Newton "We definitely needed a victory like this. We feel like we've played hard the last couple weekends...it helped us all out a lot with confidence and helped the younger guys out."

"The D-line actually stepped up and played pretty well."

"Davante was all over the place making tackles- I'm happy for him, every play he had a chance to make he made."

Buffalo Strong Safety Davante Shannon "I think it was important for us to come out here and get a win like this because the past few games we were struggling at the end and we couldn't finish, and this game we came out and finished and kept the lead so I think it was good for our momentum heading into next year and for the seniors to go out."

Head Coach Turner Gill "It wouldn't have necessarily needed to be a blowout, we just needed the win. And to win here at Miami for the first time, it had obviously been a tough season from the standpoint of that."

"Since I've been here in this program, the running backs have been the depth of our football team. Obviously this year it's great that we do have that depth."

"Overall for this whole football team to win the football game and then to see all the guys play well for the most part. Again, a great win, especially here in Miami."