Michigan State University Athletics
Mark Dantonio Weekly Press Conference Transcript
10/15/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 15, 2007
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Javon Ringer - Pontiac Player of the Week
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Brian Hoyer Interview
COACH DANTONIO: First of all, I thought we came out and responded in the Indiana game very, very well, and our guys came out and played extremely hard. I thought we played with an idea that we needed to play for respect.
I think that was the theme coming into this season. I think it needs to continue to be our theme as we move through this first season as we try and build a foundation here at Michigan State.
When you play a football game and the offense has 90 plays and your defense plays 37 plays, good things are going to happen. I think that was what happened. It was indicative of how well we played on offense. We played extremely hard there.
I tried to break things down and took a look at some of the things that we were able to do offensively. Javon Ringer played very, very well as you guys already know. Brian Hoyer played well, and Devin Thomas made big plays. We got great play from our offensive line, and Jehuu Caulcrick made big plays. We had two big explosive plays from Kellen Davis, so we really played very, very well on the offensive side of the ball.
We had the one turnover that resulted in a touchdown, but other than that the offense really played an outstanding game.
If you look at our special teams, three huge plays on special teams. One, Travis Key rips the ball out from the guy on the kickoff and we get the ball back down on the 20. We have a fake field goal which results in a touchdown later in the series. We have a big kickoff return again from Devin Thomas, and consequently our special teams played very, very well.
Defensively, we played relentless, with five three and outs. I think they were actually one out of eight on third down. We adjusted to what they did on the very first play of the game. They did hurt us with a couple big plays, but other than that the defense really played very, very well against Indiana, with an offense that was averaging 37 points a game and was really a concern going into the game.
So again, I thought our players played extremely well. We came out fired up, as I knew we would. We had great practices all week. Our attitude has been one where we've been unified in everything that we're doing, even though we were coming off the two losses, and I think that was a credit to our seniors' leadership and just the overall chemistry we have on our football team. And now, we look to the future.
When you look to the future, you look at going down the road to Ohio State, and that's an exciting place for all of us to go play. I think that's one of the reasons you come to Michigan State is to play in games like this. There's going to be a lot of media exposure, and a lot of things going on.
Of course, I've been with Coach (Jim) Tressel for, I guess, about 11 years of coaching, including my graduate assistant years at Ohio State. Obviously, he's a great teacher and mentor, and he has his team playing very, very well. When I look at them, you see a very, very quick and explosive defense, ranking number one in almost everything throughout the conference and up there in the nation too. Offensively, they're very, very solid.
The thing that I guess is a good thing for us is that we are so current with them (from a personnel standpoint). We played them twice when I was there at Cincinnati, so it's not the first time I've been down there as a head coach. We know their personnel. Usually as we get into a game on Mondays, you're trying to figure out your opponent's personnel. We know that Alex Boone, Steve Rehring, Ben Person, Jim Cordle and Kirk Barton are the offensive line. We know Rory Nicol and Jake Ballard are their two tight ends. We know the receiving corps: Brian Hartline, Ray Small and Brian Robiskie. (Quarterback) Todd Boeckman was there when I was there as a gray shirt, so we know their offense very well.
We know their defense in the same way. I could repeat all the names again to you. And certainly they play some of the same things that we had played earlier when I was there.
So Ohio State is a very well coached team and they have very, very good players. They're operating on all cylinders down there and rank No. 1 in the country. We went down there in 1998 to play the No. 1 in the country in the ninth game of the year. So it's another challenge for us. It's another measuring stick for us, the second time we've played against a Top 10 team, with Wisconsin being the first one. We have an opportunity to go down and see where we're at as a program. And without a doubt, it will be a great challenge to us, but it ought to be exciting for us. And with that I'll open it up for questions.
Q. That Indiana game, was that the most complete game this team has played so far do you think?
COACH DANTONIO: I think that we've had some complete games. If you look at the UAB game, we played very, very well in that game. I don't know if you ever play a complete game because there were a couple big runs (by Indiana) and then we also turned the ball over the one time offensively, but we played very, very well.
And I think that the one thing that I think we recaptured a little bit was passion because we were fired up. I think that's how you need to play every single game, but whether you play one play in that game or you played 90, our guys got ready to play and we were ready to play. Whether they had ever played a snap before, they were ready to play. We wanted to finish this game, and we wanted it to be to be a statement game.
Consequently at the end of the game, they really didn't look at the scoreboard too much, but they just kept on playing. I wanted it finished, and I think our guys did that. We played for the Old Brass Spittoon, so now we have two trophies. We're looking for three and four as we go.
Q. Could you elaborate a little more about the game nine years ago when Michigan State went down there and beat a No. 1 Ohio State team? What are your greatest memories of that and will you use that as a motivational tool at all this year?
COACH DANTONIO: I would use it as a motivational tool in the fact that you can get things done. We were 28 point underdogs at that time. They were the No. 1 ranked team, and we were a 4-4 team at that time. We went down there, and Julian Peterson sort of had a breakout game as I remember, and it came down towards the end and they had four shots at the end zone. We had five sacks. Turnovers are obviously key to any game, so we played very well in that area and came up with some turnovers, and we didn't turn it over.
But these are different football teams, and it's a different time. Coach Tressel is very, very good about not letting his players get too far ahead of themselves and keeping them current and keeping them focused on the task at hand. He is very, very good at that.
I would anticipate some of the things where we may have been underestimated a little bit in the past would not occur this time. They are a very well coached team, and I know from Coach Tressel, he works extremely hard on the intangible aspects of the game, in terms of focus and things of that nature.
Q. What makes Ohio State's defense so effective? They've only given up two touchdowns in one game so far.
COACH DANTONIO: Well, I would say that they know where they're going and they get there at a rapid pace. They also have very, very good tacklers and very, very good players. The longer you're in that system, offensively or defensively, and the more continuity you have, the better you're going to become. The system probably was implemented in 2001 when I was there, and it's been tweaked ever since.
And it's not the same system, but there are similarities there. So it's been tweaked and refined as they've gone through. The one thing that's been consistent there since 2001 is Jim Heacock, who has remained the defensive line coach and is the defensive coordinator, so he's entrenched in there. He was there before, so he has a history of players and what they've done. Luke Fickell has been there since 2002; and Paul Haynes was actually here, but he's been there since 2005. They've got some other good coaches on their staff as well.
Offensively, there's continuity (on the coaching staff) as well. I hope I'm not forgetting anybody on that defensive staff, but I know Jim, Luke, Mark Snyder, Mel Tucker and I were there together and two of those remain, so there's continuity there.
There's at least a foundation there in that defense. They've been doing that since 2001, so this is the seventh year that they've been doing this. When you do something that long, you're pretty good at it. Your younger players come in and they learn the system and they learn as a freshman and articulate themselves all the way up. So they play fast; they're very, very good players; they tackle very well in space and have good ball skills.
Q. The fact that they're No. 1 now, does that have any effect on either team?
COACH DANTONIO: Oh, I don't really think it does. I mean 1 through 10, what's the difference? You get the opportunity to play a Top 10 team, and that's exciting. Because you play the No. 1 ranked team means everybody watches that score throughout America, and I think that's big. Everybody certainly is watching every single week because of how this year is unfolding.
So I think that maybe that you have a little bit more media exposure, but as far as how good people are, I don't think you can make an assumption that this is the best team as opposed to Oklahoma or another team, you know, BC or another team that's undefeated. But it'll be exciting for us.
I think the nature of the Big Ten conference and this being Ohio State, we have a lot of players from Ohio, we have coaches from Ohio, and we have coaches who coached there, not just myself but others. We have people who are from Ohio playing for us. I think when you grow up in Michigan, there's that instant Ohio State Michigan, Michigan State Ohio State type thing going on, so it's a bit of a rivalry game, and we probably need to get a trophy for it (laughs).
But it's always been big here. Ever since I was here before, this game has been big, and you can go back to '74 when Levi Jackson made the run right out here, and Ohio State was No. 1 at that time, as well, so there's a lot of tradition here in this game, and I think that makes for a storyline.
Q. I know you're excited about playing Ohio State and you knew this day was coming, but most coaches don't like playing friends. Do you feel that way, not wanting to ruin the other guy's Saturday night? Is there a discomfort in you playing him?
COACH DANTONIO: No, there's not really a discomfort. You get a chance to measure yourself a little bit. It's fun to go back in that environment. When you're from that state and you've been there, you look forward to the challenge a little bit. It's on the schedule, and I knew it was coming, so I really haven't thought about that.
Q. Speaking of those games being on the schedule, could you have imagined a scenario in which Ohio State would be No. 1 by the time you all faced them this season?
COACH DANTONIO: No, I didn't really anticipate those things because we tried to look at things really just one game in advance. But I knew that as usual they would be good. I knew that their defense would be very good, and I knew they had a lot of people back who had played on offense but didn't necessarily start. The big question was quarterback, who was going to be the quarterback throwing to Robiskie and Hartline. They saw playing time last year as did the tight end, and the entire offensive line is back, so we knew that they would be pretty good.
Q. You made a lot of inroads in Ohio in recruiting. How big is a game like this as far as you're in Ohio and all those kids watching?
COACH DANTONIO: I think it's big. I think that's why you come to places like Michigan State, to play in games like this. Since I've looked at recruiting as a head coach, Ohio is a state that has in the past four years had right around 70 BCS players a year, including 45 Big Ten players. So they're always very talent rich. I don't know where it'll be this year, but they're going to have great players there. Certainly Ohio State is the team to beat in that state, but there are other very, very good players.
We have a couple players from Ohio that start for us on defense and punter, who starts for us as true freshman. Justin Kershaw, Greg Jones, Chris L. Rucker and Aaron Bates are all from Ohio. So very good players come out of Ohio, as they do come out of Michigan. Hopefully, people from Ohio - who see us play - can identify with us, so come on up.
Q. Eric Gordon is back starting at linebacker (on the depth chart). Was it last game Greg Jones started basically a match up situation and now you need more physicality?
COACH DANTONIO: Well, Eric (Gordon) will start depending on his practice this week and depending on the others' practice this week. I feel like we have four starters there (at outside linebacker), really, and Jon Misch has started before, too, so we're gaining experience at that position. It'll depend on his on his play this week in practice because I thought Greg played pretty well. SirDarean Adams also played pretty well (against Indiana).
Q. How close are you and Tressel now to this day? Do you talk a lot? Do you vacation? Just give us an idea.
COACH DANTONIO: We're very, very close. Coach Tressel and I are very close friends, and before I took this job, I obviously talked with Coach Tressel. There's a very true friendship. I admire him as a person, as a mentor and as a friend, and he's always been there. If we need to get him on the phone, we can do that (laughs).
Q. Considering the number of players you have here from Ohio and just their connections, will you handle things any differently as far as how you want them to approach the game? I mean, I talked to Greg Jones after the Indiana game and he was fired up already. Are you going to get them to calm down a little bit? Can you want them to rev it up and go with that? How do you want to handle that?
COACH DANTONIO: I want players to be passionate at game time, so we'll be fine. We've always looked towards the next game and got ourselves ready to play the best we can. Some things you can control, some things you can't, and that will rub off on other people. But I think our entire football team is going to be that way because our football team is looking for opportunities to prove themselves, opportunities to measure up.
So again, we're playing for respect. I think we need to have that mentality. This is the first year in this program, and based on the last three weeks, I think we need to continue in that vein and prepare ourselves. But we need to be excited going down there, and I think we will, but knowing we've got to play through the tough times down there, as well.
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