Post-Game Quotes
10/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 18, 2008
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Michigan State Football Post-Game Quotes
MSU vs. Ohio State Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008
Michigan State Head Coach Mark Dantonio
Opening Statement...
It was obviously not a very good game today. Inability to tackle, turnovers, and we lost a very good opportunity I think to make an impact on this country. The most important thing to me is how we're going to refocus and play next week. We didn't tackle, we turned the ball over, we fought back in the second half, I thought [freshman quarterback Kirk] Cousins came in and did a nice job when [senior quarterback Brian] Hoyer got dinged, so we went with Cousins there.
On how falling behind altered the team's game plan...
Well it was 21-0 really very quickly. We didn't play very well defensively. Javon [Ringer] touched the ball 16 times, he didn't have as much success running the football as we've had. Give credit to Ohio State, they played an outstanding game. Give credit where credit is due - they showed up to play. [Terrelle] Pryor played an excellent game, I thought [junior running back Chris] Wells was dominant. You need to be able to tackle a good football player and he was very good, and their offensive line played very well. Things came together for them today. They had zero turnovers, I didn't see very many mistakes by them offensively or defensively. They tackled in space and they got the ball out. The last two (drives) we could have just sat on the ball and it would have been a 35-7 game, but you can't quit. We're not going quit, and we're going to keep throwing the ball.
On containing Pryor...
When he hits the edge, you know he can run, you guys have seen that. They got blockers up on us, the defensive end didn't take the guy the first time, he should have stayed square. But that's all football stuff, it's schematic things. We had a guy in position to make the play and he didn't make the play. They ran the play four or five times, and he was out the gate probably two. I think he scrambled one other time.
On bouncing back from the loss...
We'll be back. Our players have played hard, and they'll bounce back. I'm not concerned about them tanking it, but what we do have to understand was that we were successful today, but they didn't play well enough to win. We need to take our share of the blame as coaches, as players, and as a program. We didn't get it done today. We also need to focus on what we can change, and what we can change are things that will move forward and not backward in the future.
On being down 28-0 at halftime...
Well, that's what we talked about at halftime. We're on new ground here. We have not played like this. I thought we came back out in the second half and responded, Cousins moved us down the field and we scored. I thought he did a nice job, a very good job. I can't really remember the sequence of events, but we were down 28-7 trying to get back in it, and we go back down there again, and they pick up the fumble and run it 80 or 70 yards, then it was 35-7. I think we were working to at least try and become respectable back in the game. You can't get back in the game and just snap your fingers and say it's 28-all. You have to claw your way back. We could've gotten 14 and been down 14, then the whole complexion of their sideline changes. It's such an emotional game, and it went the other way. It just flipped.
Michigan State Offensive Coordinator Don Treadwell
Opening comments ...
Offensively today, it certainly wasn't one of our better performances. Frustrating would probably be the word. We're certainly disappointed, as well as our kids. There are certainly some things that we will continue to work on. We don't know all of those things until we've taken the time to watch the tape. We're still proud of our kids for fighting back. There are some opportunities that we need to make sure we're able to cash in on, probably more so in the first half. We had some guys that came back out and had the right focus. There were just some things that we have to overcome that we just did not do today. It all starts here on offense and we'll work to get the things we need to get corrected. A lot of times, structurally, we won't know until we watch the tape. We did come back and out and we did try to get done some of the things we needed to get done and it was an improvement. We'll leave that behind and we'll focus and get ready for the next game.
On how he thinks his program measures up to Ohio State...
Offensively, and that's all I can speak to, we did not perform as well as you need to in order to compete against Ohio State. They are a tremendous defense and you can't spot them anything, even a three-and-out, let alone have turnovers and a few things that we had.
On re-evaluating the quarterback position after the play of redshirt freshman quarterback Kirk Cousins...
I think we're just pleased he was able to come in and do that [complete ten straight passes]. As back-ups step in and perform well, that's a positive sign. We'll take that as a positive and move forward with it.
On Michigan State senior quarterback Brian Hoyer's confidence...
I'm not worried about it. He is very resilient and he doesn't carry baggage around. He'll study what we didn't get done that he wanted to do this game, we'll cut it loose and get ready for the next one.
On the play of Hoyer...
We'll be able to better judge that tomorrow. There are too many things going through your mind as a coach right now. There are a lot of factors that do contribute to that, so before we jump the gun, we'll go back see how were his routes, how was his protection, how were his reads.
Michigan State Defensive Coordinator Pat Narduzzi
Opening comments...
Ohio State beat our tails in today. Defensively we just didn't play well. We didn't execute and we didn't tackle well, something we've been pretty good at all year. Whether it was inside or outside, we had guys in position, we just didn't make them today against a really, really good football team. We've got to play better than that. We played solid in the second half, but didn't play well enough to win.
On what led to Ohio State's big offensive plays...
It's just a matter of making plays. Obviously when you have a running quarterback it takes some other things, but I think our kids were in the position to make plays.
On the play of Ohio State freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor...
It didn't surprise me. The guy is the #1 recruit in the country, everybody wanted the guy. Someone asked me before the game what my biggest fear was, and it was that they would click. Coach Tressel did a great job of getting those guys ready to go. They did a great job, and Pryor made plays while we didn't make plays. He's a great athlete and a great player and give those guys a lot of credit.
On the possibility of the team being fatigued...
If they get tired after one quarter, then we need to run them all day. They weren't tired. It's a matter of making plays.
On feeding off of the offense in the third quarter...
It was huge for our offense to come out there and drive right down the field. They answered the bell. We tried to get them cranked up at half-time. The offense did a heck of a job in going down and scoring and we just couldn't hold the momentum. Ohio State is a great football team, so give them credit.
On playing against the stiff arms of Pryor and Ohio State junior running back Beanie Wells...
We talked all week that Pryor was a stiff arm runner. Maybe we have to do a stiff arm drill more during the week.
On where the team stands after the loss...
We don't want to overreact. Jim Tressel has been there for I don't know how many years now, so he's continually recruiting one of the best classes in the country. We're not where we need to be. We will get there, but you can't do it overnight.
Michigan State Senior Quarterback Brian Hoyer
Overall impressions...
It's very disappointing, and it's a little embarrassing actually. Going into the game we had a great attitude and they kind of jumped up on us quick. I don't know if we were shell shocked or whatever, but we were looking to get things going and we did this was a turnover here, or a bad play there and we really just stopped ourselves.
On sitting out a couple of series with an injury...
I wanted to go back in but you're obviously not going to win an argument with a doctor. It was disappointing because I want to be out there fighting with my teammates. It was weird; sitting on the sidelines watching those guys battling. As much as I wanted to go back in I wasn't cleared to go back in.
On losing by a large margin...
It's disappointing because we came into the game with a great attitude. But as Coach Dantonio told us in the locker room, we're a 6-2 football team, not a 2-6 football team. We've got a huge game coming up next week and when you play a rivalry game like that you throw out the records. Maybe, if anything, it brings us back down and gets us more prepared for next week.
On Ohio State's defense...
They played hard and fast. Unfortunately, we couldn't really get anything going. Their offense made some plays and it was tough on our defense. You can't turn the ball over and we did that today and it really hurt us.
I don't' think the surprised us too much. They were flying around and trying to disguise things. It seemed like once we got anything going we would have a turnover or a bad play and would knock us back. It's disappointing and really embarrassing.
On Ohio State getting a quick lead...
I think we really fought back. Kirk (Cousins) came in and did a good job replacing me when I couldn't be out there. He came in and got those guys fired up but we were just too far behind.
On MSU turning the ball over...
We always talk about winning the turnover margin and today we didn't do it and it really hurt us. It's always going to hurt you when you give the other team more opportunities.
On facing Michigan next week...
It's good that we have Michigan next week because it is a rivalry game and our records don't matter.
Michigan State Freshman Quarterback Kirk Cousins
On dealing with the pressure...
It was tough to go get in there at first. At first I didn't really know what had happened to Brian [Hoyer] but the doctors and the coaches told me to be ready to go. When they told it was time for me to go in there and do the best I could, and try to get something going for our team. We need a come back at that point and unfortunately we were unable to pull that out.
On playing relaxed...
Well I feel like the coaches really make practice harder than the games. After going through practice for the past year and a half, I feel like they have prepared me well. It was Ohio State, and there was a tough atmosphere surrounding this game but I give the credit to the coaching staff and my teammates that really stepped it up. I knew if I wanted anything to go my way I would have to stay relaxed and that is what I tried to do while I was in the game.
On completing ten passes in a row...
To tell you the truth I didn't even know it was ten in a row at the time. I was just trying to stay focused on the moment and trying to complete the next one. At the time I knew we were rolling so I was working on try to get the momentum back to us. Obviously, we lost the momentum there on a couple of plays, but I was happy with the way our team did not give up and kept on fighting. I think that shows some character with out team, and I know we are going to bounce back. Next week is the most important game and we are going to prepare to that this week and I know we will be ready to go again.
Michigan State Senior Defensive Tackle Justin Kershaw
Overall impressions ...
We didn't measure up today. The game got out of hand. We didn't tackle well enough and we didn't block well enough. But we're a 6-2 football team, and we've got Michigan coming up so we can't hang our heads too long. Obviously we're disappointed, but we just didn't get the job done.
On getting down so early in the game...
I don't think that anybody was down, we were obviously disappointed but we continued to play hard. We came out in the second half and started to play well. Cousins got into the game, came in and did a great job, giving us a spark.
On what the loss means to Michigan State...
Obviously this loss hurts because we had high expectations. But we're 6-2, not 2-6. We still have the opportunity to win ten games and that's our mindset. Maybe in the long run this will help get us refocused because we've got Michigan coming up. Obviously this hurts me because I'm a part of the senior class and we never beat Ohio State since I've been here and that was one of our goals. But that's life and we'll just have to get over it.
Michigan State Sophomore Wide Receiver Mark Dell
On MSU getting caught up in hype for the game...
I don't think we did. We just have to take it one game at a time and just focus on what we have to focus on.
On Kirk Cousins' play...
Kirk is a good quarterback. We practice with him and Brian [Hoyer] all week so there isn't too much difference. When Kirk came in he gave us a boost of momentum because we scored and it was great for the team.
Michigan State Senior Safety Otis Wiley
On what happened during the first twelve minutes of the game...
They made a lot of big plays during the first minutes of the game, and as a team we were unable to stop them. On one account it was my fault, but coming into the game we were ready but we did not step up until it was too late. We saw some good instances though and had some good plays but when it came down to it, it was just too little too late.
On what's next for the team...
There is always victory in defeat and I am a firm believer in that. As a whole this was a big game, but so is Michigan and that is who we have to look to next. We are going down there to the Big House and it is going to be a test for our team to see how we bounce back. I know we are all going to be strong and we will learn from this and get ready for next week. We will prepare for them this week without a doubt to the best of our ability and we have a chance to redeem ourselves next weekend.
On preparing for Ohio State's offense...
You have been playing football all our lives and their offense, as a whole is no different than what we know. Regardless, you just have to go out there and make tackles. We knew Ohio State's offense was going to use the stiff arm on us and try to break tackles, but we knew we had to have strength and just knock them down. They had very good ball play, and we did not play like we have been this season.
Michigan State Senior Running Back Javon Ringer
On falling behind early...
It's tough to run the ball when you fall behind by so much so fast. Ohio State just played a great game offensively and defensively and we didn't answer the bell when we needed to.
On how frustrating it is to lose to Ohio State...
It is (frustrating). I've been saying all week I don't want to go through my whole college career without beating a specific opponent, Ohio State being one of them. You just have to learn from it, you don't want to dwell on it because we have a lot of important games to come yet this season. Congrats to Ohio State, they got the best of us today but we need to make sure this doesn't carry over into any other games.
On how quickly you put the loss behind you...
This will hurt tonight and then a little in the morning but then after that all our attention is on Michigan. This is not something we are going to let carry over into our next game because they are our biggest rival. Within 24 hours, this will be out of our head. We still have a lot of things we can accomplish this year and next week is Michigan, and that is a whole different category.
On being stunned with the loss...
I have to give credit to Ohio State, they played a tremendous game and we made a lot of mental mistakes and that is something we've been good at not doing in the last few games. We didn't put it all together, we made a lot of mistakes and it is something we're just going to have to deal with.
Ohio State Head Coach Jim Tressel
Opening Statement...
Our kids came out playing hard. They played really physical. They were flying around and we knew it was going to be a physical game. We had the ball bounce our way a couple of times. We obviously could have lost that punt fumble. Our defense played extremely hard and kind of put Michigan State in a position where they needed to pass and obviously the score did that as well. When you get two turnovers for touchdowns that is huge. We always say that if you are going to win on the road you better win the turnover margin, be solid in your kicking game, and be able to run the ball a little bit. I think that we did the things that we were always talking about wanting to do.
On the game as a whole...
I would say it was a good tough win on the road. If you want to be the champion, you are going to have to come up with good, tough wins on the road; so that is huge. They (Michigan State) are a ranked opponent and a team playing with a lot of confidence. There was a great atmosphere and the crowd was riled up and ready to go. It was an excellent win for us. Some things went our way today. We made some things go our way today. The ball bounced our way a little bit. We need to get better. We can't walk out of here thinking we're wonderful. The team we play next week is good.
On the Ohio State offense...
I thought we did a lot of good things. Field position is a big thing when you are on the road. You just can't give the home team a short field. We have a long way to go; we understand, but we only have until next Saturday to get there. I thought that we did a pretty good job. We seemed to know what we were doing. We seemed to pick up when they were blitzing. We weren't really complicated out there. We didn't run a whole bunch of schemes. I thought we did a pretty good job.
On OSU's defense stopping the Spartan offense...
Our defense is based upon putting pressure on you as is (Michigan State head coach) Mark Dantonio's. They're bringing people and we're bringing people, and they are two very similar defenses. We were able to keep a lot of guys in the box. Javon Ringer is a great player and an even better person. We were able to keep him from going crazy, which he does so often and when it was time to pass, we were able to put a little pressure on Brian Hoyer. That was not a 45-7 ball game. I think that we all know that. And we are both going to get ready to play tough teams next week.
On the impact of the loss on Michigan State's season...
I don't like the fact that, as it turned out, we got that one near the end. There's no question about it that he's doing what needs to be done at Michigan State. The ball didn't bounce his way today. The ball bounced our way. I know he's going to come back. He's got their arch-rival next weekend and they will be ready to go. I don't think that anybody in this stadium would disagree with the fact that he's doing what he needs to be doing. They've played eight games and won six of them. This was an unusual situation and I would rather not have had this type of late score. That won't affect these guys. They know what their mission is.
Ohio State Senior Linebacker James Laurinaitis
On Ohio State's defensive performance...
It was a good week of practice from us. We put a lot of emphasis on trying to stop Javon [Ringer], we knew he was a great player and great runner. We just made some plays and got some bounces. Our D-line has really been playing well and they've been growing and they had another great performance today. They went out there and just got after it and made some big plays for us. This is definitely something we can grow with, something we can kind of look back on and learn from, from the few mistakes in there.
On limiting Javon Ringer's performance... When you can make team really one dimensional you are at a huge advantage as a defense. Taking Javon [Ringer] out, you know who is an unbelievable player, one of the best in the country, really helped make them one dimensional. Taking him out really let us do some different things.
On his team's attitude...
This team's been loose and we know we have to go out there and have some fun and really get after it. You just have to be loose.
On Javon Ringer's ESPN Gameday comments prior to the game...
We heard a comment about it. We just know that obviously if you're a senior and you're at home you're going to want to beat every team by four touchdowns. I think maybe it got taken out of context because I know what kind of kid Javon is and he's a very humble player and a very great player.
On the offense's big early lead...
We knew with the score at 7 or 14, we knew that the things that they do well they could still do. They could still pound the ball if they wanted to. We didn't really feel like we could make them one dimensional until we really started to shut that down and get a few three and outs and get a few big stops on them. Doing that is huge in a game like this, especially when you have one of the leading rushing teams in the nation. When you stop their biggest strength that helps your defense out.
Ohio State Junior Running Back Chris Wells
On the performance of his offensive line...
They were doing a great job out there, I'm so proud of those guys, they're working hard.
On the difference between last week and this week...
People's will and determination to get better and prove people wrong. Guys are going to go out there and give it their all. When we're playing out there with top level competition and you know what's on the line, we can do it.
On Quarterback Terrelle Pryor's performance...
He played pretty good. He had some little mishaps out there, but that happened to all of us out there.
On the differences in his team's offensive gameplan...
It didn't really feel like a different offense. I guess we ran a little bit more than we passed, but that's expected. The offense really worked today, people were ready to play.
Ohio State Senior Wide Receiver Brian Robiskie
On his immediate reaction after the win...
Playing at Michigan State and getting a win here feels good. I'm proud of the way that we played against a team like MSU; we executed very well.
On scoring 45 points...
That's what it came out to. There were definitely some times in which they were putting more pressure on us and they were doing some successful things. I think we did a real good job being composed. Every time they came up and hit us, we did a really good job of just answering that.
On picking up a big win...
We took another step. For us, going into week eight, we need to keep moving forward especially with a tough opponent in Penn State coming up. We know we have to move more and keep making progress.
On what type of message Ohio State sent to the nation...
I don't know what the nation will think, but we made a statement for ourselves. We told ourselves we wanted to come out today and just execute from start to finish because we haven't been doing that all season. I think we did a job of it - from coming out from the first snap to the last - just executing and doing what our coaches had prepared for us.
Ohio State Freshman Quarterback Terrelle Pryor
On looking to next week...
The offense will be fine, we just have to do what we have to do to get the 'W.' That's all the matters, it doesn't matter if we get 130 offensive yards, just as long as we get the win and don't turn the ball over.
On how the game plan worked today...
I think coaches called the game aggressive. We had our backs against the wall because everyone was saying the offense wasn't good and we needed to step up and pick it up.
On his meeting with Coach Tressel this week ...
I was dead serious. I told him, give me the ball during the first half. If I don't move it, I said you better sit me down and put Todd (Boeckman) in. He (Jim Tressel) said 'Terrelle, I believe in you, you'll do fine as long as you don't turn the ball over.' I needed that challenge because if I don't do great, I'll just be sitting down. Todd's a great quarterback too - he can move the ball.
On what the media thinks of him...
I don't listen. People don't know me and people don't know what I can do. Everyone thinks that I'm overrated - wait and see. The time will come and you'll find out.
