Michigan State University
Iowa
From The Lockerroom
9/27/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Final Stats?|? Notes
Michigan State vs. Iowa
Spartan Stadium - East Lansing, Mich.
September 27, 2003
MSU Head Coach John L. Smith
Opening statement:
"I am proud of our team. I am proud of our coaches because they put together a darn good plan and we went out there and we executed it really well. We made some adjustments on some things that they hadn't seen. We started the game with force and then we showed some courage and went on to win. I want to congratulate the coaches and to congratulate our kids because they did a good job today. They showed courage late (in the game) and that is really great because (Iowa) is an awfully good football team. I can't say enough about our guys. They are really starting to believe in themselves, they are having fun out there with what we are doing and they care about one another. That was a win and now we have to get ready for Indiana."
On Spartan defense:
"It is coming around. We are still making some mistakes back there, but the fewer we make, the better we play. Our first guys, we are going to get after up front. Those guys are having a great time. They think this is neat, that they don't have to protect people and they can just make plays on their own. They start to have fun and the mental aspect is big, so they make fewer mistakes. The field position is key for a team like Iowa that is that good. They aren't going to hit you with the big plays. They are going to give you the run and they are going to throw the play at you. Making them have to work to go the entire length of the football field is the reason you win the game."
On MSU scoring early in the game
"That was huge. You let the offense work for you and you take what you can get. We got the first one and then we ended up getting a turnover and good things happened. If you win the turnover battle, good things usually do happen."
Iowa Head Coach Kirk Ferentz
Opening Statement:
"Well there's not a lot to say. Congratulations to the Spartans. They played a fantastic football game. To stop Russell (Fred)- that's basically what happened. We made some critical errors obviously, but you have to give them credit. They did a fantastic job. They were well prepared to play. We have to do a better job. Certainly, we have to play better and we'll go back to work tomorrow.
The three turnovers certainly didn't help. We got beat at our own game today, because Michigan State did a great job protecting the football. Michigan State played well, they knocked the ball out and got it loose. Certainly, being the kind of football team we are, the turnovers are major. It wasn't good.
Michigan State obviously did a great job. They changed things up, they came out in a little different offense and threw some screens at us. They took us out of our rhythm. That first drive was a thing of beauty, certainly. It was excellent planning, and excellent game plan on their part."
Spartan Player Quotes
QB Jeff Smoker
"This is a tremendous start right here. We had a pretty good preseason and you always want to start off with a win when you go into your conference. It gives you a tremendous boost and to get a win against a team like Iowa is just a great start."
On his physical condition:
"I felt a lot better physically. I didn't really feel my toe out there at all. I still have a little soreness in it but I didn't feel it at all today; adrenaline was high and I wasn't even thinking about it."
On MSU's quick start:
"You would like to keep it going the whole game, but it is kind of hard to do something like that. That was tremendous start to the game. That is something you would like to do every week, just come out with a bang like that, get a good start and try and sustain it. They made a few changes on us and they started playing us tougher but our defense came up huge and helped us out. You win as a team and lose as a team, and we won as a team today."
LB Monquiz Wedlow
"It was good game, but we knew from the beginning it was going to be a defensive game because they run the ball a lot. Everything depended on how well the defense played today. I think we did a real good job stopping the run and we won the turnover battle. There were a lot of big hits out there. This is the Big Ten, it is smash-mouth football and we are trying to get that Spartan toughness back, that warrior mentality... And we want it back."
LB Seth Mitchell
"Our mindset when we went into the lockerroom at halftime was that was 0-0. In the beginning of the season we tended to let teams come back, so that was the emphasis today, act like it is 0-0 and go out there and play hard. If they didn't score, then they weren't going to win."
"If you win the turnover battle and win more big plays you are going to win the game. We made the big plays and we stopped the big plays."
LB Mike Labinjo
"I think we had a really good week of practice, our scout team gave us a really good look. We looked at this game as a challenge. We knew they were going to come in here and try and run over us. We put it upon ourselves to try and stop them and take them out of the game and give our offense a chance to score some points."
