Inside The Lockerroom
10/9/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 9, 2004
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery
Michigan State vs. Illinois
East Lansing, Mich.
Oct. 9, 2004
Michigan State Head Coach John L. Smith
Opening Statement
"There's no way we make it easy, is there? Most of the games it's not going to be easy, that's the way it is. I was pleased with the way we played the first half. I thought we played the first half pretty darn intelligent, pretty darn good for the most part. The second half we came out and they threw some things at us. The one thing I was disappointed in today was the punt block. That was terrible. We work on punts every day and that punt block is the one thing we cannot allow. The other thing I thought was that our tackling was terrible. I think I'm going to quit practicing these things and maybe we'll get better at it. Our tackling was poor. We have to tackle better. I can't say anything more about it than that. Give them some credit for the guys carrying the ball but we have to tackle better. That poor tackling let them back in. I think those two things cost us.
"I thought that our offense performed pretty well all day long. One positive thing to me at the end was when they had 4:30 or so to go and we ran the football to win. That was something positive that we can build on. There comes a point in every ball game where you have to run it to win. I tried to caution our guys that yes, congratulations are in order because you got the win but you can't forget what we've done the past couple weeks. We practiced hard two weeks ago then we got to Iowa and get beat. Last week, we practiced harder and we got better. We can't forget that. We have to do the same thing this week to now get prepared for Minnesota. We have to come to the field tomorrow get ready to go and keep it going. We have a long way to go."
On being encouraged by QB Drew Stanton's command of the offense...
"Drew is doing some of the things he needs to do and I'm very encouraged about the things he's been doing and the way he competes. I'm more encouraged that his health is good. I think every week he gets better and feels better on that knee. You see it in his running and in his throwing. Drew is a competitor. He threw the ball better this week than he did a week ago."
On the team's psyche after the win...
"Guys, the games get tougher from here on out. That's why it's important that we continue to grow. The win is fine but we have to go work hard, get better, exhibit the right attitude and I think we did that the past couple weeks."
On Field's blocked punt and the punt he put down on the one yard line...
"Until I look at the film, you don't want to point fingers completely but they came up the middle and we should have had enough time. It looked like he was out for a Sunday stroll and the only thing was that his girlfriend wasn't with him. No, it looked to me like he took a long time on the blocked one but the other was a good play."
Illinois Head Coach Ron Turner
On the team's frustrations...
"It's very frustrating because I know how much they care and how important it is to these guys. I know the way they work, prepare and stay together. When you're not getting the results, it's hard. I'm frustrated for them. We've got a great group kids and that's important too. I keep telling them we're going to be a good team and I still believe we are, hopefully, sooner than later. We have to take advantage of opportunities, keep staying together, keep fighting and keep believing and good things will happen. Once a couple good things, once we get one, our confidence is going to soar."
On scoring three points on two long drives with the game at 23-16...
"That's one of the keys of the game. In the first half, we've got to get stops defensively on third down and we've got to convert on third down. They were converting on third (and long) and we didn't convert on third and (short). That's one of the keys, and then I keep talking about taking advantage of opportunities. We throw the ball down, our guys have a lot of confidence and we miss a field goal and we kick a field goal; we get three points on two times we're down there where we've got to find a way to come away with points. And I believe we had opportunities. We've got to coach better and we've got to play better."
Is it difficult to account for Michigan's State's offensive weapons?
"They've got a lot of weapons; we knew that coming in. Since they've put (Drew) Stanton in at quarterback they've settled on what they want to do. He's given them a huge boost of confidence. The kids believe in him, they rally around him and he's definitely the leader, you can see that. They play with much more confidence."
On Michigan State's trick plays in the first half...
"You've just got to play sound football. You throw the ball back to your quarterback; we've got somebody assigned to him. You just need to play good, hard, sound, fundamental football. If you throw a halfback pass to your receiver it's the same thing. We've got guys assigned to everyone. We've got to execute better, we've got to coach it better and get our guys to understand it and do it. We've got to be more disciplined and we've got to just do our jobs."
PLAYER QUOTES
Drew Stanton, QB, So.
On today's game plan
"I think we played a really good game and made some plays today. I still don't think you've seen the best this offense can provide. The game plan was to do some different things and they ran exactly what we thought, so we took advantage of it."
On MSU's receivers today
"I think it's important for receivers to have confidence. I think having Agim (Shabaj) out there, no disrespect to our other receivers, but he is a good player and I just tried to get the ball in his hands. All our other receivers did a really good job today."
On his first career catch
"I caught it twice. I was wide open and I just kept thinking, `Don't drop it. Don't drop it.' I just made sure I caught it and got in the end zone. That was a great throw by Jeremy Scott."
On the importance of today's win
"I think it is important that we keep improving and continue going uphill. We didn't get the win at Iowa and came back to the practice field on Sunday and continued to work hard and that shows a lot about this team and our attitude that we are not going to lay down and we want to win and we proved a little bit of that today, but we are far from where we want to be."
Ronald Stanley, TB, Sr.
On the play of MSU's defense today...
"I think we did a good job. They had a couple or big plays and that was really the only bright spot they had. There big plays go back to our lack of communication. But, I think we played a good game today and we made up our minds to come out and get the job done."
"Starting the game out we came out and pitched a couple of three and outs. Second half we didn't let up and I think we did a good job of that."
Domata Peko, DT, Jr.
On the play of MSU's defense today...
"Our defense really stepped up today. This week in practice the coaches really emphasized that they were going to run the ball. It starts with our defensive line, we really worked hard this week on staying low and staying in our gaps and to dominate up front." On playing a run oriented team... "It really doesn't matter to me, run or pass. It is just all about dominating up front and dominating the person in front of you. Our defense really stepped it up today because last week we really got run over a lot but this week we held our ground."
DeAndra Cobb, RB, Jr.
On getting the win at home...
"It feels very good to get a win. It's especially nice at home in front of the fans."
On the offense and his contribution...
"Our linemen were doing a great job today. I just get the ball and when they open up holes for me I make them miss. Hopefully we can bring the kind of running game we brought today next week."
On practice last week...
"Our intensity was very high last week in practice. We need to keep that up to win next week, Minnesota is a great team."
On sharing carries with Jason Teague and Jehuu Caulcrick...
"We don't fight about who gets in. We call ourself `us' now. It's a group effort and it is all about who is getting it done at that particular time."
Eric Smith, S, Jr.
On the defense today...
"We had some good plays and we had some bad plays. We did pretty well overall, but that's not as good as we can play as a group. We gave up some big plays and that is something we need to work on."
On what the defense needs to work on...
"We need to wrap up a little better and prevent teams from getting yards after the first contact. Especially the way that Minnesota runs the ball, we need to tackle and play solid run defense next week."
On defesive improvements...
"It's obvious that we are improving as a unit every game. We just need to keep it up in practice. We had a great week of practice leading up to today, and we are getting more and more consistent."
Jerramy Scott, WR, So.
On his touchdown pass...
"We worked on that play a lot in practice. When it was called in the game I really was shocked, but everything turned out fine, the defense bit on the fake and Drew (Stanton) was wide open. I threw the pass pretty well in practice, but it turned out nice in the game."
On the wide-open playbook in the first half...
"We knew that we had been coming out to slow starts. The coaches did a great job to get us going. It's fun to run plays like that, it gets you into the game."
Assessing the season so far and looking forward...
"We came out of the first half of our season with three wins. We know we have some improving to do on both sides of the ball. Looking ahead we have some tough games.We think we have been getting better every game, and if we keep improving you never know what we could end up doing."
On dropped passes...
"We got so sick of heard about dropped passes. We have been working hard on it and we did it this week, I don't think we dropped a ball we should have caught. The receivers are starting to click with Drew (Stanton)."
