News From The Locker Room
9/21/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 21, 2002
Recap?|? Final Stats?|? Notes
Michigan State head coach Bobby Williams:
"It was a very, very disappointing loss. I thought that the players did a tremendous job in the second half, coming back, fighting their way back and taking the lead. I challenged them at halftime and we came out and got some things going. The defense kind of kept us in the game the whole time and then we finally got the offense going. The protection got better and Jeff (Smoker) through the ball well and of course, Charles (Rogers) made some excellent plays. Unfortunately, we couldn't sustain what we had going and lost it at the end."
On Charles Rogers' second touchdown catch:
"It was a tremendous effort by him. It was courageous way for him to come back after he was injured. It was an excellent effort by Smoker to hang in there. He took quite a few shots. Jeff through the ball a little high, but Charles went out and got the ball and did a great job of concentrating to come down in bounds."
On the difference in play between the first and second half:
"Our protection got a lot better. Jeff didn't have a whole lot of time in the first half and as a result, he took some good shots. I'll have to look at the film and see what we're doing. In the first half, we didn't play very well. Our defense is doing some things to keep us in the game. We just couldn't sustain anything. We came back out and got much better protection in the second half. We've come out in the second half with a lot more energy. We're just a tentative football team in the beginning."
Notre Dame Coach Tyrone Willingham:
On the game winning touchdown:
"It was one of our underneath routes and they put on a lot of pressure. Pat (Dillingham) did a nice job of getting it to him. Arnaz (Battle) caused a missed tackle, he came out the back then, and then it was just 'could he get to the end zone.' He did a great job."
On Carlyle Holiday's injury and the play of Dillingham:
"I will talk very little about it. It is a shoulder injury and we will wait to diagnose it fully later. Pat went in and was amazingly poised and had control of his game. We asked him on the sideline what he felt good about doing and we tried to move to him and he did an excellent job."
On enjoying this victory:
"The great thing about this one is that we have a bye, so at least we can think about this one until Monday."
On Charles Rogers and his performance:
"That's a great player, making a great play, and he did it all day long given the opportunity, and even when he wasn't given the opportunity because I thought our coverage on him was excellent. I go back to his first catch where Vontez (Duff) was doing a great job. I mean he (Duff) was all up into him and he (Rogers) just reached over his back and took it like he wasn't even there. That's a great athlete. He played a great game and you knew at some point he was going to make some plays, but I think our guys did a great job, for the most part, of keeping him quiet."
On getting the win at Michigan State:
"You have to understand, I don't put much stock into coming back to Michigan State. This is another football game for our football team. There is no nostalgia; there is no emotional tie. We have to come in and play our best football and that's what we tried to do. What is really special about this is that we go 4-0 into our bye, and that's a great place to be positioned."
MSU Player Quotes - T B David Richard:
"I just tried to do what I could when I was called upon. Running the ball, picking up blitzes...whatever I had to do. I have confidence in my abilities. I know what type of player I am. I'm not satisfied since we didn't come out with the victory. I just tried to do what I could."
LB Mike Labinjo:
"I thought we played well most of the game. We can't afford to take plays off. We should have pressured the ball. It is the second week in a row we gave up a long touchdown that has kind of taken the air out of this team. We can't afford to do stuff like that against a good team."
On pressuring the Notre Dame quarterbacks:
"We knew their offensive line had some problems picking up blitzes and the whole day we were trying to come after them, trying to make their quarterbacks throw bad passes. I though we did a good job with respect to that. We will try to continue to do that and start generating some more sacks to take the pressure off our secondary."
QB Jeff Smoker:
"I don't know what to say right now. This is not the time to pack it in. We still have a lot of goals to achieve and we have to remember that.
"We just have to regroup and realize we are starting the Big Ten season, which is a new season. As long I'm behind the center, I'm not going to let these guys pack it in. I'm not going to let that happen."
SS Thomas Wright:
"Notre Dame played a good game. We showed that the defense can play better. The defense came out and we did our thing. Basically it was one play that cost us the game.
"We still have Northwestern next week, a game we lost last year. We just need to come out and keep the intensity up."
DB Jason Harmon:
"I'm really short on words right now. Obviously, we did not handle our business well enough for the whole game to come out on top.
"We just have to stay focused and realize that we have the Big Ten schedule in front of us. It's going to be tough. It's going to be a real long week, but we need to bounce back."
SE Charles Rogers
On tying NCAA record
"It's good to have the record, but getting a win today would certainly have been more important. We're 2-2, but we're a much better team than that. Now it's time to focus on our second season. We open Big Ten play with a clean slate.
"Notre Dame played well and they had a good defensive game play. This is a tough loss, but it's time to a get a fresh start in the Big Ten.
On the go-ahead touchdown:
"I ran a post route, but got double covered so I decided to go to the back of the endzone. Thankfully, Jeff (Smoker) put enough air under it. That was a great throw. He put the ball in a position so that I could only get it. I was working to get my feet in bounds. Luckily, I got one down."
