Michigan State University Athletics
Grid Insider: Player One-on-Ones
9/5/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 5, 2007
Listen to Spartan Sports Podcasts:
Joel Nitchman Interview
Kendell Davis-Clark Interview
Senior linebacker Kaleb Thornhill and senior running back Jehuu Caulcrick met with the media Monday afternoon in the LaSalle Bank Club at Spartan Stadium. Thornhill talked about walking out onto the field as a captain, his brother being named honorary captain vs. Bowling Green, and how the defense played in the opener vs. UAB, while Caulcrick talked about the offensive line and being named Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week. After Tuesday's practice, msuspartans.com caught up with center Joel Nitchman and cornerback Kendell Davis-Clark.
Senior linebacker Kaleb Thornhill:
On the defense vs. UAB:
We'll get there...We played good team defense. We swarmed to the ball, and everyone had their head on the ball, everyone was flying around. That's what we needed to do from not seeing anything from them. It worked out well.
On walking out to the field as a captain:
It's definitely one of those take a deep breath moments. It's awesome to go out there as a team locked up like that because we have been through a lot as a team the past eight months. It was good so see everybody locked up and come right out and I think everyone was ready to play and it showed. Everyone wanted to get the season started off right.
On UAB's offense using a different game plan than was practiced all week, and how the defense responded:
I think it says a lot. Obviously the first series was a little shaky. A couple things we have never seen before. I think it says a lot about our character - we didn't panic out there and that's what we needed. We had a lot of young guys out there...It's kind of hard to plan a play if you don't know what they are doing , but we flew to the ball and we did what we needed to do and we got it done.
On the younger players:
I'm always watching my position especially, but also all the younger guys as well. They played extremely well, and it's good to see that we have guys that we can bring in there and play that well so fast. Watching from the sidelines I definitely try to coach a little bit, show them what I saw when I was out there and what they can do play a little bit faster and better.
On his brother, Josh, being named an honorary captain for Saturday's game:
I was told yesterday, and it put a smile on my face. It's pretty cool, him being able to walk out with me will be a nice experience and another memory that I'll put on top of my list. I think it happens for a reason, it was in God's plan. For him I think to be smiling too as well right now, it's definitely something that keeps me motivated and keeps me going throughout the day, it's another memory that I can look at the positives instead of the negatives. I think me and my brother are definitely excited to walk out there together.
Senior running back Jehuu Caulcrick
On being named Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week:
We got the win, and the Big Ten Player of the Week award is just the icing on the cake. That truly goes out to my offensive line, because without them I wouldn't have been able to do all the things that I did.
On thank you cards he wrote to his offensive line:
Yes, I already did. They were in their lockers when they came in.
On what he wrote in the cards:
I gave them a thank you card, with just a message in there to them. Just thanking them for the job that they did.
On whether he has done that before:
No, it's something new we're doing this year, Javon and I.
On how it came about:
The first time it came up was last week we we're talking to my parents, and she said, "Do we do anything special for our offensive line?" I was thinking about doing something for them, and that just came in mind.
On Bowling Green giving him more attention because of the win over Minnesota:
Oh yeah, definitely. They're in a good conference. They have a better Big Ten record than we do right now. They beat a good Minnesota team. They're filled with a lot of heart and passion. They're going to bring the same thing here. We're just going to have to play our game and play poised to stop them.
On not letting this win get in the way of what they have to do next week:
We already watched the film and took care of all of that stuff yesterday. So we're watching film on Bowling Green right now. We're just focusing on BG right now.
On the pre-game walk and changing the route to the stadium:
It was great. We were walking and usually we go right. But Coach D pointed to the left, and Kellen and I looked at each other like "Does he know where he's going?" We just went along with it. It was a great experience. There were pennies he gave us. He told us about back in the day, when he used to go around Sparty and flick a penny at him. So we flicked it at Sparty. It was just a great feeling. That walk was just a different experience for me. It was different from the other walks we've done. The band was there. The hairs on the back of my neck just stood up. It was just different.
On the significance of the penny:
I'm not exactly sure. He didn't go into great detail about it. He talked about back in the day and told tales of him and his dad. How when they used to walk around they would flick a penny at Sparty. We went back there, flicked a penny at Sparty. We won.
On describing the offense and the versatility of it:
At first people thought we were just going to be a traditional, get a fullback up there, run up the middle, and throw the ball. But we just showed that we can do different things, motion the fullback, put just one back in there. We even went back to sometimes what we did last year, and put the running back out in the flat there and bring him back in. You spend a lot of time making game plans for that type of offense.
