From The Locker Room
9/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 6, 2003
Recap?|? Final Stats?|? Notes
Michigan State vs. Rutgers
Spartan Stadium - East Lansing, Mich.
Sept. 6, 2003
Michigan State Head Coach John L. Smith
On the win:
"We can't make it easy. As I told our football team right afterwards, it was a little difficult for us this week. I wasn't very pleased with how we practiced and how we handled the week, but there were some distractions. But that's no excuse. We have to learn to practice better. That's the first thing I told them. It's good; we got a win, but we've better tear off the rearview mirror right now and come back tomorrow with blinders on for Louisiana Tech."
On correcting mistakes:
"We have to focus on not making crucial mistakes. The three mistakes we made in the first half gave them 21 points. You have to give Rutgers credit. It's not that I'm taking away from what they did - they're a good football team - but we made three stupid mistakes and you can't afford to do that. We have to correct those mistakes and be more disciplined."
Rutgers Head Coach Greg Schiano
About today's game:
"Well, I think we can sum it up; we played out guts out but we are not ready to win a football game like that yet. I wish we were because guys have worked awfully hard. We will be soon. This team will be ready to win a football game like that this year, I believe. I'm looking forward to it."
About MSU:
"That was a very talented team that we played against. I said it all week getting ready, you don't get picked to win the Big Ten Conference a year ago going into the season because you have no talent. There's a lot of talent on that sideline. I thought our kids went toe-to-toe with them and did a great job. We made some mistakes that a young football team makes and I think they did a very good job coaching."
About Jeff Smoker:
"He had a heck of a day and I think he's a good quarterback. Like I said all week, (Smoker) is one of the best, probably, experienced guys if you look at his numbers. He probably has one of the best sets of numbers in the country over his career."
MSU Players
QB Jeff Smoker
On coming back from deficits:
"That's definitely a positive sign that when we were down, we fought to come back. That's something that's going to happen a lot more. You're going to be down in games, then tie it up, go down, maybe by a touchdown or two. You're going to have to make the plays that will get you back into a game."
On the two-minute offense:
"We were able to make some big plays. I love the offense. It's great - any offense would love it. The two-minute offense is something that you practice all the time. We were able to use it today, where we were able to get down there and make a field goal. There could be a time where that might be the end of the game instead of halftime. I think we executed things very well."
WR Agim Shabaj
On the offense improving:
"We had a couple of bad practices this week and Coach talked to us, but I think overall we improved a bit. It will take more time in practice and preparation to get where we need to be, but I think we are doing all right now."
On MSU's receivers:
"We have a lot of really good plays and there is no one receiver on this team. Anybody can have a good game and anyone can get open. We have a great receiving corps."
LB Monquiz Wedlow
On improving the defense:
"After we gave up the first 14 points we communicated a lot better. I think we came to play again this week. Everybody ran to the ball. We made a lot of big plays, but we also gave up a lot of big plays. We have a lot of things to work on as a defense and as a team because we have to learn how to win games in the fourth quarter. We can't let teams score on us in the fourth quarter and we can't have that many penalties in the fourth quarter."
On his interception return for a touchdown:
"I was just sitting there and I thought he (Hart) saw me. He just threw it and I couldn't believe it, my eyes got so big. I got in the end zone and I didn't really know what to do."
RB Jaren Hayes
On his receiving yards:
"I just wanted to go out there and try to make plays. The first one I scored on, that was designed for me. We were going to use it last week but didn't get a chance. The other play was a screen, they blitzed and I had a big opening and scored."
On offense improvement:
"I think in some areas we improved. Last week we didn't get out on our screens and I think the receivers caught the ball well this week and made plays."
DT Matthias Askew
On the team's defensive performance:
"It was a hell of an effort. The coaches gave us a great game plan. We were kind of shaky at first but then we got everything together-the momentum and we stopped making mistakes. By the fourth quarter they didn't have any momentum."
"I think we came out more prepared for this game, mentally and physically."
LB Mike Labinjo
On improvement from last week:
"There were still a lot of mistakes out there today which resulted in a lot of big plays and scores for them. We can't afford to do that against stronger teams. At the same time, I was really proud of the way we rallied when we were down. The offense did a good job today of putting points on the board and taking heat off of our back."
P Brandon Fields
"I've been working a lot on improving the hang time of my punts. Today, I was fortunate to pin Rutgers deep a few times."
"Last game was a new experience for me. Today, I felt a lot more relaxed. I just went out and kicked the ball."
