Capital One Bowl Press Conference Coverage
12/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 7, 2008
Press Conference Coverage:
Coach Dantonio | Javon Ringer | Brian Hoyer | Justin Kershaw
Interviews:
Javon Ringer | Brian Hoyer | Justin Kershaw
Video:
Bowl Announcement at Men's Basketball Game Capital One Bowl Season Highlight Music Video Press Conference
MICHIGAN STATE FOOTBALL CAPITAL ONE BOWL SELECTION
PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MSU ATHLETICS DIRECTOR MARK HOLLIS: On behalf of Michigan State University, we are very proud to represent the Big Ten Conference in the Capital One Bowl.
First and foremost, I want to thank Coach (Mark) Dantonio and his coaching staff for an unbelievable job in preparing a great group of kids throughout this season. Nine wins is a remarkable accomplishment for this program in its second year under Coach Dantonio, and we're very, very proud of what he's accomplished here with the program.
Along with that, heading down to Orlando, it's going to be a great opportunity, not only for our team, but for those that support Michigan State, not only as a football program, but as an entire university. To be able to come together down there, both folks that live down in the Florida area and those that will be traveling down, great opportunity and we hope everyone purchases tickets through our ticket office here at Michigan State and helps support the future.
The MSU Alumni Association is going to be having a tour. All of the information on both tickets and tours are online, and the information is in the release on those web sites. We are looking for a lot of people going down with us.
As for me, Orlando is a great destination for all people with Disney and Universal and some of the other activities they have down there to offer. Steve Hogan is their executive director, and we have been in touch with him quite a bit over the past several weeks talking about the possibilities as well as some of the other bowl games.
We are very fortunate to have this. We feel we have earned this and we have done an incredible job and very proud of our coach and our team. At this time I'd like to introduce Coach Dantonio.
COACH MARK DANTONIO: I just want to echo what Mark Hollis has said, and add a couple things.
First of all, we are going down there to represent not only the Big Ten Conference, but the entire Michigan State University, alumni base and university. I think that you don't get these type of opportunities like the Capital One Bowl without, first of all, a great administration, great media exposure by John Lewandowski, and without the support of our administration and all aspects, without the support and really the representation of Michigan State University and the entire country. I'm Very thankful to be part of that.
I want to thank our seniors. Last year's seniors gave us a little step towards moving in the right direction, and this year's seniors boosted us up to a New Year's Day bowl game. They did an outstanding job in the memorable year, 9 3, and we've pretty much been in the Top 25 for nine of the last 10 weeks. All of the different things that go along with that: third place finish in the Big Ten, New Year's Day bowl game, Capital One Bowl game, which to me, represents one of the finest bowls in America. I remember my experience down there in 1999, before the millennium I guess, and without question it was one of the greatest experiences we had as a family and it will always be remembered.
So we are looking to duplicate that in terms of making a great journey for our players and a great experience for our players, not just in the game, but the entire eight days or whatever we are going to be down there.
In reference to the University of Georgia, this is an outstanding football team at 9 3. In the preseason, it was picked by many people to be No. 1 or 2 in the country. I have a deep amount of respect for Coach (Mark) Richt and what he stands for as a person and the way he runs his football program.
In a lot of ways, Georgia sort of mirrors where we are at in terms of how they got there. Eight years ago, he was hired, and he made great strides in their football program. If we can get to that level, and have that longevity in terms of what he's been able to do with their program, I know we'll be thrilled.
I think they have an outstanding football team. Georgia has an outstanding quarterback in Matthew Stafford and explosive skill players, like their tailback Knowshon Moreno. Like Javon Ringer, Moreno is a finalist for the Doak Walker Award; so they'll both be down in Orlando for the ceremony on Thursday. So obviously, they are a very, very good football team.
I think we are where we are at because of the close games that we have been able to win this year. Certainly, whether it's coming down the stretch, sort of distancing ourselves in the fourth quarter or winning right at the end of the game, we have won the games against the people that we have played because of a great deal of character and a great deal of intangibles that take us forward. Again, I appreciate our senior leadership and our football team for being able to do that.
As far as our football program, I'll just echo what I have said before: We are a work in progress and this is the next step. I think we have a very strong foundation at this point, and we will continue to move this program forward as we embark on the 2009 season.
So, with that, I'm extremely excited about this opportunity, and I can't tell you how much this means to this football program and this university in general.
As for final thoughts, I think we'll be very, very well represented down in Florida by the Spartans that live there and I guess you could say the snowbirds that go down, and I can't tell you how many people I ran across just coming out of the (basketball) arena saying they will be there. And we expect a great following down there, and the Spartans have always traveled well to bowl games, and I'm sure this will be no exception.
Q. Obviously you're a guy that talks about goals. Talk about getting those extra practices and what they mean to where you're going as a program?
COACH MARK DANTONIO: we will try to have 15 practices, and that's the equivalent of an entire spring practice. We have already had three this past week of what we would call fundamental practices where we have been able to work our younger players and improve a lot of the players, switch positions around; just do some different things to try and allow us to become a better football team.
So I think it's invaluable and it also sends a message in terms of confidence, in terms of the reality of the situation and where we are at. We need to start thinking of ourselves as a regular in post season play, and I think that's where we are at. I think two years into this, we could look at our football team and see that the expectations are to be there and to always be practicing and playing in December. And I think that sends a message not only to our football team that's currently here, but to all of the recruits that are thinking about coming to Michigan State.
Q. The fact that the Big Ten has won the last four Capital One Bowls, does it mean anything or have any kind of relevance?
COACH MARK DANTONIO: Well, I think the biggest relevance to me is beating the University of Georgia. In both cases, the football teams are 9 3. One of the two teams will finish 10 3 and I'm sure be ranked in the top 15 in the nation. When you look at that aspect, that gives you a great amount of excitement to be able to go and play and to win 10 football games; you have a tremendous season. So I look forward to that.
In terms of how people are represented, you have to go back four years. It's tough to evaluate that for me. I'm sort of not answering that I guess. But I'm looking forward to trying to win a 10th game against a great opponent and regaining a little bit of respect after our last game. We'll be mentally ready and we'll be motivated.
Q. Talk about this impact and another step and how it affects your recruiting being in a January 1 game.
COACH MARK DANTONIO: As I said before, everything in our program, we are a work in progress. We are having an outstanding recruiting year this year, 16, 17 commitments now, but I think these final guys that we take, you know, there's that aspect of being in the national media for this next month or so.
There's also that thought when you're looking at juniors, which recruiting has been so accelerated now when you're looking at juniors, and actually talking about those young men and setting our sights on those people; they see and perceive us as one of the prominent teams in the Big Ten Conference. And I think that, that's the correct way to view us at this point.
I want to bring up one player at a time. First, I'd like to bring up running back Javon Ringer. Javon is a finalist for the Doak Walker Award, and he will be down in Orlando on Thursday to represent us at the awards ceremony. He's had an outstanding year.
When I think about, if you come to our new facility and you see great moments, great teams, great future, when you talk about great players in the history of Michigan State football, I think Javon Ringer is one of those, and I'd like to bring him up here at this time.
RUNNING BACK JAVON RINGER: Following up on what Coach D said, this is a great step for our program. We are very excited and blessed for this opportunity we have and definitely to play against a team like Georgia. We know we have been prepared kind of somewhat now and a lot of our players, we have kind of anticipated this and pretty much figured we would be playing Georgia, so we've already started watching a little film on them. So I'm just excited and thankful for the opportunity.
Q. You personally took a beating over the season. How much are you excited about playing in a game where you have so much time to heal up and be ready?
RUNNING BACK JAVON RINGER: I'm very excited. This month, we have a long time before we play those guys, so I'm just letting the body heal up, that's going to be good.
I didn't take that much of a pounding during the season, I don't feel like it. My body still feels pretty good. Just the more time I have to get ready and prepare, the better off I will feel.
Q. Will you pay much attention to your matchup with (Knowshon) Moreno, the running back; will you look at how you two guys match up?
RUNNING BACK JAVON RINGER: Oh, definitely. As a competitor, anything that he does, I'm going to try to top.
You know, it's going to be a big step, because he is a tremendous running back, from last year and this year. He's a tremendous player and a tremendous athlete.
So definitely, I'll look at the matchup. And the competitive side of me, anything that he does, I'm going to try to make sure that I do better to help the team.
Q. What does it mean to you, the fact that you'll be going to Orlando, more than once, and also for the Doak Walker Award and college football award ceremonies, and then back with your team?
RUNNING BACK JAVON RINGER: What does it mean for me personally? I feel like I'm blessed just to be able to have the opportunity to go down there this coming up week for that award presentation; just to get familiar with the surroundings and I'm going to be staying in the same hotel we'll be staying at when I get down there. Just to get the flavor of the place, I feel like it's a great honor for me, one, to go down there for that award, and to go back down there again with my football family and get ready for this game. So I feel like I'm very blessed and privileged.
Q. After the Penn State loss, players talked about just kind of regrouping and healing up and getting ready mentally and trying to move forward. What's kind of happened over this downtime to move in that direction do you think?
RUNNING BACK JAVON RINGER: Well, for the team, we tried our best to just kind of put the game behind us, but we have not forgotten about it. We are doing our best to make sure we go over the corrections that we needed to make and just kind of move forward; but yet, still again not forget about it, because it's something that we don't want to carry over within a month to the next game.
That's why a lot of us were very excited and anxious for this game to come very quickly so we could get a win under our belt. And with playing a team like Georgia, just getting the respect back like Coach D said, and that's very important to us.
QUARTERBACK BRIAN HOYER: It's a great opportunity to go play on January 1 in the Capital One Bowl. I think Coach Dantonio said it last year after we played in the Champs Sports Bowl: The next step in the progression was the January 1 bowl game. So that was definitely one of our goals going into this year.
Knowing that this bowl is put on by the same people that put the Champs Sports Bowl on; we had a great time last year and everything was first class, so we know what we'll get going down there and we are excited. And the opportunity to play against a team like Georgia, who was ranked preseason No. 1 and had a lot of hype all season long; it's a great opportunity for us to bounce back and get this bad taste out of our mouth.
Q. Do you look at this chance of playing in the Capital One Bowl sort of redemption for the last bowl game?
QUARTERBACK BRIAN HOYER: It is kind of ironic that the two bowl games that I play in, they will both be in the same stadium.
That game has always left a bad feeling with me. But I feel like I got over that and moved on with this season. But I think it's kind of redemption for me to go down and play in the same stadium and to play in a January 1 bowl game and have a good performance while helping my team win.
Q. Don't want to get too much into Georgia, but watching film, what do you think about them defensively?
QUARTERBACK BRIAN HOYER: Like Javon said, we have kind of been anticipating this and we have got some of their film. I think I watched a couple games. I watched them play against Alabama.
They are definitely athletic. I think everything you would think about an SEC team: Their line is athletic, so are their linebackers and obviously their secondary. You can see and you just realize why they were preseason No. 1 team. You can see that they have a lot of athleticism and are very sound.
Like I said before, it's a good opportunity and a good chance for us to see where we are at and to go against one of the top defenses in the SEC.
Q. This will be the second bowl game that you're going to face arguably the top NFL quarterback prospect; does that add to your fire a little bit?
QUARTERBACK BRIAN HOYER: I guess I'm not alone this year. I have got Javon going against (Knowshon) Moreno. It's like Javon said about his situation. It's the competitive nature inside you. Obviously, I'm not going to be on the field at the same time as Stafford, but it drives you a little bit more. And like Javon said, anything that he does, I'm going to try to top, because I obviously want my team to win. But it's just that competitive nature that you have inside you to go against a guy like (Matthew) Stafford, who like you said is projected to be a high NFL guy if he were to leave. So that will definitely have some inner competition for me.
DEFENSIVE TACKLE JUSTIN KERSHAW: We had great opportunities to play in big games this year, and I don't feel like we made the most of them. I'm just really happy to get a chance to get on the football field again and play against a good opponent.
Q. The night the previous coach (John L. Smith) was dismissed, you and I were on the phone and you were pretty emotional about this program, and you said you were going to give these fans a January 1 bowl game, and now it's happened. Talk about what this means to you after what you've been through.
DEFENSIVE TACKLE JUSTIN KERSHAW: I just look back on this season, like I said before, we didn't make the most of our opportunities when we had a chance to win big games, and I really just want to get this taste out of my mouth in terms of beating a good opponent.
I think this program is headed in the right direction. We have come a long way in the past two years.
Q. What impresses you the most about this Georgia team? Is it their passing game or running game or having to deal with their speed? What's the most dangerous aspect of this team?
DEFENSIVE TACKLE JUSTIN KERSHAW: I think that overall they are a good football team. Obviously, they have a great running back in Knowshon Moreno; the quarterback (Matthew Stafford) is impressive and so is the offensive line. They are a good zone blocking team, so that's what impresses me.
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