Inside The Lockerroom
11/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 6, 2004
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
Michigan State vs. Ohio State
November 6, 2004 - East Lansing, Mich.
Post-Game Quotes
Michigan State Head Coach John L. Smith
Opening Statement...
"I don't know what to say. You have to give Ohio State a lot of credit. They're a good football team. I'm proud of them (the players); they fought back to give us an opportunity to win but we didn't get it done at the end. And that's just pure coaching. Coaches deserve the credit for this loss, not the kids."
OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel
Opening statement...
"Well you called it, just look under the category named `Ginn.' Teddy came up with some huge plays; we practiced all week picking up their ground-ball punts. Whenever No. 16 went in the game he hit grounders and our guys were like shortstops all week in practice and it came true exactly as we hoped, because there's not a whole lot of hang time on those grounders. Obviously the reverses and so forth are always part of the package. They had the reverse covered with their defensive end, but that's a little bit of a mismatch. And then obviously the slant at the end; they decided to go two-over-one on both wide guys, and that allows you to throw some slants. Those guys made the plays and I thought the offense's last two drives were pretty darn important. You start on your half-yard line and chisel it out there for about three first downs and punt them way down to the other end. And then of course the winning drive was critical. But defensively we kept blasting away, kept doing a good job, and the whole outfit - special teams, offense and defense - just kept battling and that's what it's about, especially away from home."
Could the final drive catapult QB Troy Smith and the offense...?
"Any time that you're put in the position where the team needs you, and you come through for the team, that's got to do a lot for your confidence. I thought the guys over on offense were executing fairly well throughout the course of the day. We had that one fumble at the beginning of the second half on a nine-yard run. We had a penalty on a long run if I'm not mistaken. We've got to eliminate those things, but I think we're getting a little better, and got to get a lot better next week."
Comparing the recent play of DB Ted Ginn to his play earlier in the season...
"He's comfortable with what we're doing and how we get lined up, and we're getting the ball to him out in the open. When he's out in the open he can go and he loves to compete and I suppose you can say he's getting more opportunities."
Talking about the importance of the road win...
"This was huge. We had a good pre-season road win, and then we did poorly twice on the road to begin the league schedule and got some home games, and the energy that the crowd brings. Don't short-change the energy that our band brings; when our band is there all of the sudden you can see our guys' hair stand up on the back of their head. It was big for us to come here and jump out early, which we felt we had to do, and overcome the fact that they were resilient and we came back to win it. It was a good, big win for us."
What the team did defensively to stop Michigan State's draw play and rushing game...
"I don't know that we stopped their running game; they probably ran for 140 yards or so and we would like to hold people to less than that. I thought they did a good job with their bend-back zone stuff. I do think we did a great job on their draw stuff. They didn't run quite as much of their quarterback runs as they do with Drew, and maybe threw it a little bit more I think than they typically did when Drew was rolling. I thought the defense played good, sound, fundamental defense and made some plays, but so did Michigan State. I don't know how many yards they had, but it's not like they didn't do well."
Michigan State Player Quotes
Jason Teague, Jr., TB
On the mood in the lockerroom after the game compared to last week...
"It was almost the same. We had them and then we lost it. What can we do? We're hurt, everybody is hurting right now."
On how the game slipped away...
"I don't know. They made plays and we lost it. They made more plays and they were the better team today."
On Coach Smith and the coaching staff taking the blame for the loss...
"Yeah, they took responsibility for it. They said we gave ourselves a chance and he took the blame for it. But, I don't think it's his fault because we have got to make plays and execute."
On MSU's rushing game...
"I feel like we ran the ball pretty well today. We came into the game thinking we could run. We didn't have Drew's (Stanton) legs today but with Damon (Dowdell), I think he needs to run the ball more because he is pretty fast. If he can start running the ball more, then we still have the same amount of weapons."
Ronald Stanley, Sr., LB
On bouncing back after the loss to Michigan...
"We put that behind us. We came out today kind of slow but we bounced back and we just couldn't finish."
Comparing last week's loss to this week...
"Like last week, once again, they made some big plays and as players, we have to take initiative to make plays also."
On the coaches taking the blame...
"He said he is proud of us. We fought back and gave ourselves the opportunity to win the game. But we have to finish. Regardless of the coaches saying they take responsibility for the loss, we are the ones out there playing so we have to come up with the big plays."
Dave Rayner, Sr., K
On the game...
"I was hitting the ball well today. My leg felt good when I got here. The offense was moving the ball up and down the field and they were getting me in good position. I just wish we could have pulled out a win."
On OSU K Mike Nugent...
"I didn't feel like it was a competition today. He's the best kicker in the nation and he showed his leg today. I just hope that I raised my stock a little bit today and proved that I am right up there with him."
On his missed field goal...
"If you give me that field goal again, I could make it five times in a row. I just thought there was a little more wind and it was going to come back left, but it just hung up there. There's nothing I can do about it now, I just have to hit it next time."
Damon Dowdell, Sr., QB
On the game...
"We got off to a slow start. Maybe it was a little bit of pre-game jitters, and maybe it was a little bit of just figuring out what they were going to throw at us. I think we got the hang of it, and got some confidence and took a lead."
On the defense...
"They picked us up and kept us in the game. We can't ask for more than that. When we got down so quick, they came over and gave us a pat on the shoulder and said they'd keep us close if we put some points on the board."
On spreading the ball around...
"They didn't really take one receiver away from me. I was seeing everybody very well and at times we moved the ball down the field effectively. We saw a lot of zone and that is what we expected. I give credit to my receivers, they caught the ball pretty well."
Jason Harmon, Sr., S
On the OSU receivers...
"We knew coming into the game that Ohio State had some good receivers, but we knew that they were young. We had our eye on (Ted) Ginn but we had no idea that he was going to do that to us."
On the beginning of the game...
"It was disappointing to let Ohio State take a lead like they had today. We told the offense that if they started scoring some points that we are going to keep the game close. Once we got used to their offense, we did pretty well."
On his fumble recovery...
"I thought that when I got the fumble, it set us up to get the win. But what you've got to know playing in the Big Ten, the game isn't over until is over. We had a lead and went to overtime last week and the game was close this week too. You just can't quit in this league. Any team can give you a game."
