Michigan State-Ohio State Post-Game
11/6/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 6, 1999
East Lansing, Mich. -
MICHIGAN STATE VS. OHIO STATE - SPARTAN STADIUM- Nov. 6, 1999
POST-GAME PLAYER QUOTES
MICHIGAN STATE HEAD COACH NICK SABAN
?I'm very proud of our football team for coming back like they did today. I know it was probably a boring game to watch, but we planned it that way. We thought it would be really important for us to win this game on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. I wanted them to have to tackle T.J. Duckett and we wanted to put Bill (Burke) in a position where he could be a game manager and not feel like he had to make more plays. We obviously passed the ball effectively when we needed to today and we only had one turnover, but we got one back so we did a better job in that area as well. I think the wind was very difficult to go against today. I think it affected the quarterbacks, so if you couldn't run the ball it was a tough day to play offense.?
?I was very pleased and very proud of our football team for bouncing back. We told the players before the game that this was a defining moment for our season. We told them everyone needed to do a little gut check and figure out if all they've put in to this season was meaningful enough to commit to playing these last three games like we did earlier in the year. I felt like our team played more like that today.?
?I think it says a lot about our team and our players that we're able to accomplish things like this. The conditions weren't great for playing offensive football, especially for throwing the ball. I was pleased with the way our players played on defense today. (Defensive coordinator) Bill Miller should feel real good about this.?
?For our team to beat Notre Dame, Michigan and Ohio State in the same year is something they should be proud of. It's something I'm proud of them for accomplishing, and I think it's good for our program.?
MICHIGAN STATE'S AMP CAMPBELL:
?We buckled down once they got the ball in our red areas, started pushing it back a little and made a punt. We sucked it up. We came out and played for 60 minutes - that's what we wanted do today. We are back on track. I think coming and playing for our home crowd and just getting out there and performing for them felt great. We have two games left, Northwestern is next. Now we just have to get ready for them. I'm glad they (Penn State) lost. That's a big advantage for us. Everything is going to work out for us if we keep playing the way we are playing. We had a lot off guys nicked up and that week off gave us sometime to rest up and work on things.?
MICHIGAN STATE'S GARI SCOTT:
?I'm glad to get that winning feeling back, get back to having fun. It's a crazy league. We have to stay on our toes. These last two games are very important for us. If we keep playing the way we are playing, we'll come out victorious. The Big Ten this year has a lot of good teams. The defense kept us in the game.?
MICHIGAN STATE'S LLOYD CLEMONS:
?The week off gave us a chance to get focused. We just had to get our spirits back and the coaches helped us concentrate on the basics and go back to the beginning. We knew that we could be the team that was 6-0, but we just didn't play like that. If we would have played like that in the two losses it would have been easier to accept. But we didn't play like that so we knew that we still had the team ? it's just the fact of going out on the field and executing what we had to do. The Big Ten is up in the air right now. We got our confidence back. You go through those two weeks of practicing and not having a game. You practice against each other and get sick of that and you get ready to play against somebody different than your own players.?
OHIO STATE HEAD COACH JOHN COOPER:
?What you saw today was just a good old-fashioned butt-kicking. The game was not as close as the score indicates. We couldn't do anything on offense, their blitzing killed us on defense and our special teams were horrible. Our team couldn't kick, pass or rush. We simply got embarrassed.
?Offensively, the biggest aspect of the game was the pressure they put on our quarterbacks. Our line could not protect against their rush, and they completely shut down our running game. Since we didn't establish a running game they knew we had to pass, so they blitzed, and shut down our passing attack as well. There was absolutely no excuse for our poor blocking today on offense.
?Without a doubt, I am disappointed with our offense as a whole this year. Defensively, we just need to start making some big plays. We had the one interception, but we definitely need to do more to win the big games. Besides that one play, the defense didn't do anything to cause turnovers. The offense didn't produce, but the defense needs to step it up as well.
?This game is definitely frustrating at this point in the season. I know that we can play better than we did today. Michigan State is a good team with excellent leadership, and we knew that coming into the game, but I still think that that our team needs to pick it up. We have a big game against Illinois next week, and we just need to regroup and play some good football. The team knows that they need seven wins for a bowl game, so next week will be very critical.?