DE KALB, Ill. — Nevada cornerback Bentlee Sanders is the national leader with five interceptions this season.
Quinyon Mitchell had four on Saturday in UT’s 52-32 liquidation of Northern Illinois.
On a career day, the Toledo cornerback caught more passes than all but one Huskie and all but one of his teammates.
“Instincts and play calls,” Mitchell said when asked about his performance.
His four interceptions tied a program record (Jerry Palmer, 1950) and no Rocket had intercepted three passes in a game since 1985. Five is the single-game NCAA record.
Mitchell’s four interceptions and the ensuing returns accounted for 45 yards, which would have been the sixth-most receiving yards of the game. Incredibly, he had zero career interceptions in 24 games entering Saturday.
“Our group has been working very hard on trying to make sure we can support this defense any way we can, whether it’s [pass breakups] or intercepting the ball,” Toledo cornerbacks coach Corey Parker said. “Quinyon has actually dropped three interceptions this year, so his teammates have been hard on him and I’ve been hard on him. This week, I forced him to catch 20 balls per day on the Jugs machine. This was after grueling, hard practices. That’s 80 balls in a week.”
Practice made perfect, as Mitchell jumped a route on Northern Illinois’ second play from scrimmage, intercepting an Ethan Hampton pass and racing 25 yards down the visiting sideline to give UT a 14-0 lead.
Mitchell’s second pick-six came late in the first half, again off of Hampton and again down the visiting sideline. The 20-yard sprint put the Rockets up 35-7.
“If you put up 12 points, you make it very hard on the other team,” Parker said. “Plus, it puts mental stress on the other team. I’m just happy to see our defense do that and bring that to this team on a consistent basis, creating turnovers and opportunities for our offense to score.”
Mitchell’s third interception, again via an errant throw by Hampton, stopped a Northern Illinois scoring threat. The Huskies had it first-and-goal at the 3-yard line with 16 seconds left in the first half.
Mitchell’s program-record-tying fourth interception came on the third play of the second half. Hampton was the unlucky quarterback.
“He works really hard,” Candle said. “He’s established himself as our No. 1 corner, and he made No. 1 corner plays. Shutdown corners are valuable at all levels of football. That’s why they get paid so handsomely in the NFL.”
Jerjuan Newton lines up across the field from Mitchell every day in practice. He’s familiar with Mitchell’s tricks, his physicality, his technique, and how he plays bigger than 6-foot.
“Quinyon is really good,” Newton said. “He’s a master of his technique. He always puts in the extra work, and it showed out there today. He has a great instinct for it, and he has the full package — size and speed.”
As quarterback Dequan Finn was reliving UT’s statement victory, attention turned to Mitchell.
How many times has he intercepted you in practice, a reporter asked the Toledo quarterback.
“Not many,” he said.
Candle, a few feet down the hallway, shouted, “Never!”
If Hampton could have said the same thing, the outcome of Saturday’s game might have been different.
First Published October 9, 2022, 1:29 a.m.
