From The Lockerroom
10/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 11, 2003
Recap?|? Final Stats
Michigan State Head Coach John L. Smith Quotes
On the game . . .
"I'm particularly proud of our coaches. They put together a tremendous plan. It was tough duty this week, and at this point of the season, it's going to be tough duty every week because we're without guys. We've got guys banged up and bruised, and the second team guys are stepping in and playing hard.
"You're not going to be mentally sky-high and emotional for every game, but you have to be able to go through your business in a business-like manner, focus, and take care of business. We're starting to learn that.
"I don't necessarily think that we played as focused as we would've liked to because we had too many mistakes. We had a couple of penalties there which called touchdowns back. We can't afford to have that.
"We played the deep ball pretty good. They play-actioned us, and that's the one thing that they did do a little bit and had a little success with. I thought we tackled decently. We gave up more yards in allowing them to run the ball more than I would've liked.
On the Big Ten Championship . . .
"You've got to have a dream, but the dream is one day at a time, one game at a time and one play at a time. That dream is out there and everybody should have that dream."
On Eric Smith's Interception . . .
"I think that was the play that turned the tide and sealed the deal. That was big."
Illinois Head Coach Ron Turner Quotes
On the team's confidence level . . .
"We got a better start, I thought we came out with good energy. Our confidence is so fragile right now, when something bad happens we loose all our confidence. We just have to keep fighting, I thought the guys prepared well and got off to a better start and all of a sudden, it just kind of collapsed."
On how to build the team's confidence . . .
"We're going to try to get better, we're going to come in everyday and fight to improve, fight to get better, and fight to build that confidence back up. We have got a lot of good young football players, there is no reason not to have confidence, and we just have to build it back up."
On the Michigan State defense . . .
"They came after us, they tried to put pressure on us. They've got a very good defensive line, obviously, leading the nation in sacks and fifth against the run. We just wanted to come out and compete and try to run the ball at them a little bit, which we did early, and made some plays, but they're a very talented and athletic defensive group.
On the performance of quarterback Jon Beutjer . . .
"I thought he came out early and was very sharp. He had a good week of practice and he had a real good feel for what we were doing, but a quarterback has to have some help. When he throws to guys, we're not getting a whole lot of separation; we're not getting a lot of yardage after the catch and were not making many plays down the field. We came out running the ball well, but if you're not making plays, eventually it will catch up with you."
Michigan State Player Quotes
OG Paul Harker
On being bowl eligible . . .
"It's tremendous that we will have the opportunity to experience something like that (a bowl game), but we have to make sure we remain focused. If we have too many guys thinking we're bowl eligible now, we could drop the rest of the games because we were thinking we had it in the bag. We don't want that to happen."
On having a chance at a Big Ten title . . .
"With how things played out last night with Minnesota getting beat, and a big game between Ohio State and Wisconsin tonight, the Big Ten is up for grabs right now. If we keep improving each week and stay focused, there's no reason why we can't have the dream of being Big Ten champs and going to a bowl game."
RB Tyrell Dortch
On scoring his first career touchdown . . .
"After the touchdown, Coach (Smith) came up to me and said it took three and a half years to get in the end zone. On third down, I thought I was in there, but the line judge to the right put me down at the 1-yard line."
S Eric Smith
On his interception in the 2nd quarter . . .
"I think it kind of killed their (Illinois) momentum and it got us going too. We knew someone needed to make a big play, and I got the chance."
On Illinois' 92-yard touchdown drive . . .
"We had some break downs and weren't getting lined up. They were showing us some new stuff that messed up our checks, but once we got everything situated and everyone on the same page, we were alright."
QB Jeff Smoker
On Michigan State's team performance . . .
"We are playing good football right now, and we just want to keep that going. We don't want to be satisfied with being bowl eligible. We want to keep this up. Honestly, I wasn't sure where we would be at this point of the season, but I can say I'm real happy with where we are. We can do something special here."
On what can keep Michigan State from a Big Ten championship . . .
"Ourselves. We are the only team that can keep us from a Big Ten championship, us beating ourselves. We still show some signs of being ourselves."
