News From The Locker Room
9/14/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 14, 2002
Recap?|? Final Stats?|? Notes
Michigan State Head Coach Bobby Williams:
"I was very, very disappointed in the performance today of our football team. It's hard to win a football game when you turn the ball over as much as we did today. We really never had a chance to try and overcome all of the negative things that happened in the first half and we never had a chance to sustain anything in the second half."
"We were not consistent today. We didn't coach, we didn't play, we didn't do anything. But you have to give Cal a lot of credit. They are a very good football team. They are a very talented football team."
"It was very frustrating out there. We never showed up. It was very disappointing. Mainly, I'm disappointed in myself and the coaching."
"Our football team did not play today, you cannot blame it on just one guy. Our offense didn't play very well. Our special teams didn't play very well. Our defense started out halfway decent, but eventually they wore out and then they didn't play very well. It was a team effort. We didn't play very well. We didn't coach very well. We didn't do anything. It wasn't just one guy. It was a total, collective effort by the entire football team."
On coming out at halftime...
"We wanted to see if the team would come back and get something going. We got two quick scores, but then they went 69 yards and got another touchdown. That deflated us a little bit."
On the upcoming week of practice...
"We're going to look at this entire team, the players and coaches. It will be a total evaluation of this team."
California Coach Jeff Tedford:
On the game:
"It was a great effort by all three phases of our team. In the first half, the defense played excellent, as well as the special teams creating turnovers. We sputtered a little offensively in the first half, but in the second half the offense came back and ran the ball a little bit more effectively keeping the defense off the field. I'm very proud of our young men. They're playing as a team, they're executing, and they're hanging in there. They very easily could have folded in the second half when they came out and scored two touchdowns, but they didn't and they took it right back at them. They hung in there. When that happened in the second half, I was looking around the sidelines to see what the mood was, and it was no different from any other time. I'm very proud of them."
On staying ahead in the first half despite struggling offensively:
"The special teams created turnovers, LaShaun (Ward) had a good kickoff return, we got a couple of fumbles down deep. Our defense did an excellent job in the first quarter. When they were knocking on the door to score, we came up with two critical turnovers. So the points in the first half weren't so much of an offensive efficiency, but of special teams and defense creating some field position for us, and Mark (Jensen) had a good day kicking field goals."
On beating a Big Ten team and what that says about the California program:
"Well, all it says is that we won this week. There will be another challenge next and we'll just continue to prepare, and we'll look ahead, Air Force is going to be a great team and we'll have to hit on all cylinders to compete against them. Michigan State has a great football team, they're well coached and very talented, and hats off to them, but I think our kids did a nice job. We just continue to work every week and just try to prepare and be focused for each opportunity."
On his experience here with Oregon in helping him to prepare for today:
"It really didn't help to prepare for today. The only thing it did tell us was a little about what the environment was going to be like. They have great support here, great fans, it's a very loud positive environment. We prepared for that, and we discussed that. We weren't going to let that effect us; we wanted to stay poised in those conditions. So from just being here before, the atmosphere was really the only thing that I had knowledge of."
Michigan State Player Quotes:
LB Mike Labinjo:
"It was a tough game today. You have to give some credit to Cal. We made quite a few mistakes today, had a lot of turnovers and they took advantage. We cannot afford to do that against a team of their caliber because you can see what can happen."
"I think the most important thing right now is to put this game behind us. We have a tough game coming up next week against Notre Dame. We will need a real good week of practice to get ready."
S Thomas Wright:
"As you can see we have a lot of work to do. We didn't come out fired up enough today. We have to make some corrections and come out next week ready to play."
QB Jeff Smoker:
"The feeling you get after a game like this is not very good. In the first half, we just didn't get it done. We came out slow last week and slow this week. We fell behind too far and weren't able to catch up."
"One of the hardest things to do in any game is put a loss behind you, but you have got to be able to do it. Next week is a whole new week and a whole new team. If we let down, we are going to go down hill. We need to forget it and focus on next week. We have to work twice as hard this week in practice and make sure this doesn't happen again."
WR Charles Rogers:
"This is a disappointing loss for our team but we have got to go out there and regroup. It's a loss. Luckily it wasn't during the Big Ten season. We have to get ready for work on Monday and come out here and get a win against Notre Dame. We still have nine games left this season and still have the chance to make our run and we plan on doing so."
"They (California) played well on defense. They came in here and showed they wanted it and played well."
