Post-Game Quotes
10/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 1, 2005
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
MSU head coach John L. Smith
"We need to make more plays and get more big plays on the offensive side of the ball. If we can't get that done, that's our fault. Our kids played hard, but they need to be better prepared. You have to make more plays to win. Now we have to pick up the pieces and move on. We need to get through this week, work hard in the off week, and get ready for Ohio State"
"We didn't play well on the defensive side of the ball. We gave up way too many big plays in the first half. In the second half, we gave up a lot of opportunities on the offensive side, and our kicking stunk. We all played a part in it."
"It hurts, it hurts real bad, and it should hurt. I hope the players feel it and I hope they don't forget the feeling. It's tough, but we'll bounce back."
Michigan State Player Quotes
Wide Receiver Kyle Brown
On the offense ...
"We were getting the ball moving. When it came down to it, we did not execute and put the ball in the end zone. I think after this game we have to get mad. It was a big game and we went out there and didn't play how we wanted to play."
On moving past today's game ...
"We've been pretty intense the past four weeks coming out, and today it wasn't any different. We just didn't execute. There were a lot of emotions running and I think we might have tried to do more than we needed to do. We need to get back to taking it one play at a time. These are tough losses to come off of. We have two weeks this year though. Last year we lost a heartbreaker to Michigan, but this year we have the bye week and I think we will be ready. We've got two weeks to regroup, but we have another tough game because we've got to go down to Columbus and play the Buckeyes."
Safety Eric Smith
On the Michigan offense ...
"I don't really know what to say about it. It wasn't that we weren't in shape or that the gameplan wasn't right. You have to give credit to Michigan running the ball. If we are going to let a team get three, four, or five yards a carry, we aren't going to win the football game. I think we blitzed when we needed to, but we hoped to get more pressure on them just rushing four."
On defensive adjustments ...
"We made good adjustments at halftime. There were a few of their formations that were getting us every time, and we made some changes of how we checked down and it made the coverage a lot easier. It's tough losing like that. We just can't make the little mistakes here and there."
Quarterback Drew Stanton
On the game ...
"They just outplayed us. They made fewer mistakes. I've got to give Michigan credit. I don't know what to say about it right now. We made too many mistakes against too good of a football team."
On the offense ...
"I think when we came out we had the jitters a little bit, but we settled down and did some good things. It's nothing new. We need to be ready to play and execute as an offense in order to win."
Wide Receiver Terry Love
On getting over the game ...
"I hurts right now. It's a game we should have won, but it's time to move forward now and prepare for Ohio State."
On how they felt the team played ... "I think today everybody took the game too seriously. We should've gone out there and had fun and played a little more relaxed."
Defensive End Clifton Ryan
On reaction to the outcome of the game ...
"We're really disappointed, but we have six games left on this Big Ten schedule. We're 1-1 and still in the middle of the pack. We can't get down, we've got a big game coming up two weeks from today against Ohio State."
On Michigan's performance ... "They just made more plays then we did. We had a chance, we were in there, just like last year. They just made the plays to win the game."
On having two weeks to prepare for the Ohio State game ... "It's a good thing because we can look back at our first half of the season and see what we're doing well and see what we need to improve on. We can get guys rested up."
Wide Receiver Kerry Reed
On his 61 yard touchdown pass from Drew Stanton ...
"Drew did a good job of hitting me on the run. I saw a seam and hit it hard. It appeared at first like nothing was going to come of it, but, a hole opened wide up to break me loose."
Offensive Guard Gordon Niebylski
On the game ... "You have to give credit where credit is due. They played a great game. It was a hard fought contest. We had a chance to win, but they made the plays they had to. We have to put this behind us and move on. The game is over and it's time to focus on Ohio State."
Linebacker Kaleb Thornhill
On the loss ...
"It's a hard loss. This one definitely hurts and people have their heads down but we have to get them back up with this bye week coming up. No doubt it is a tough loss, but we can't lean on this. We've got to pick it up and move on."
"You can't blame the loss on John (Goss) at all. The offense made mistakes, the defense made mistakes, so we will take it as a team loss."
On the bye week ...
"The bye week will help with us getting healthy so we go into the Ohio State game without as many injuries. They are a tough team and we will need everyone, especially on the road."
Wide Receiver Jerramy Scott
On the game ...
"The main thing is we just didn't catch the ball well today. I don't know if we were not focused or if we underestimated them and thought they would just come in here and lay down, but they played hard and came out with the win."
On the bye week coming up ...
"This loss definitely hurts, but we just have to get some rest, bounce back and get ready for Ohio State in two weeks."
On getting lost in the emotions of the game ...
"I think everyone was just caught up in the hype. I think some of the guys lost focus and didn't have their minds on catching the ball. They just wanted to make the big plays then it just slipped out of our hands."
Michigan Head Coach Lloyd Carr
Opening Statement
"I commend Michigan State for being an outstanding football team today. There were a lot of plays made out on that field by both teams. It was a hard-hitting, exciting and great football game. It would have been a lot harder to say that had we lost, but I think it's the truth. I'm very proud of our football team. We've been the most unlucky football team I've been around, from an injury standpoint, and our coaches have done a pretty good job, and our leaders have done a good job, keeping this football team together, and they came in today to a tough arena, and they played their hearts out. For that, I will never forget this day."
On the return of RB Mike Hart ...
"Hart is the heart of our team. We kept trying to take him out, and he kept going back in. I think if you measure our football team, Hart is the guy his teammates love because when he's in there on passing downs, he's blocking people 60-70 pounds bigger than him. He's got a great instinct and is such a fighter. I said this last week - I did not expect him to play, or certainly run the football as many times as he did, but he's a great football player."
On the mental toughenss of PK Garrett Rivas ...
"Garrett Rivas is one of those guys who loves pressure. I was so surprised when he missed it (the field goal attempt in regulation), because he doesn't miss many. That is in practice, and if you look back at his career here; he's had extraordinary accuracy. I asked him, `What'd you do?' and he said `I just pushed it.' I said `Well, make one in overtime,' and like a good Michigan player, he did what his coach told him."
On his team's roll as the underdog ...
"Anytime things aren't going your way, if you've got good people, people that care about each other, people who are goal-oriented, and people who have some character, it's true (possible to pull together.) I tried to convince them to come in here and fight their hearts out, and play together, and believe in each other. But I think any coach would do the same thing. So what I did was nothing - what they did is unforgettable."
On this win's effect on the team's confidence ...
"Confidence is a funny thing. Just because you're talented doesn't mean they have confidence; it comes and goes. It's one of those things in athletics that if you could bottle it, you'd have all the answers and you'd never lose or play badly. A win like this (is big) for a team that needed a win because we've had two tough losses that were affected by one play here, one play there. I don't think there's any question that there is going to be a big boost in our team's morale, confidence we have to see, but I know that the morale is awful important."
Michigan Player Quotes
Running Back Michael Hart
On UM's approach ... "We came to play today. It's not last week, it's not the week before that. We came to play and we came to win."
On playing through his injury ...
"I wasn't going to miss this game for anything. I didn't care how hurt I was. I did a good job getting treatment and our trainers did a great job. I just felt great and it was good to be out there."
Quarterback Chad Henne On getting ready for the game ...
"Some guys were beat up but they knew they had to push it. This is a big rivalry. Everybody focused and concentrated all week.
On today's gameplan ...
"We just ran the base package that we wanted to run this week. If they want to come up and pressure the run, we just go over their heads and throw the ball. If they want to protect the pass, we'll just run the ball."
Kicker Garrett Rivas
On his game winning kick ...
"Every week I fantasize about that moment, I want the game on my shoulders. I want that every week. It's like a dream especially when you come to Michigan State, these conference games mean so much. It's great when it comes down to overtime and you get a chance on a stage like this."
On his missed kick in regulation ...
"I learned a long time ago in high school that you have to have a short memory. That was one of the first things I learned about the mental game. You have got to be able to block it out and go. You can't focus on what happened, you just got to move on to the next play."
