Michigan State University Athletics
Player Analysis: Illinois
10/7/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 7, 2009
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Members of the Michigan State football team met with the media before Tuesday's practice to talk about this week's game at Illinois. The Spartans (2-3, 1-1 Big Ten) and Fighting Illini (1-3, 0-2) will meet Saturday at noon in Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
Sophomore quarterback Kirk Cousins
On how he plans to deal with his ankle injury for the next game...
We'll decide all of that as we get closer to the game as far as how to go about taping it or bracing it, probably a little bit of both. That's the trainer's decision because I don't know a lot there. Everyday it will get a little bit better and we'll just keep moving and seeing how it feels as we get closer to Saturday.
On if he felt pain in his ankle during his 41-yard run against Michigan...
Not as much because I was running straight ahead, and there's some certain movements where if I don't know quite where I'm going that that could cause me pain. That straight ahead movement didn't bother me as much, it wasn't that heroic. I was just playing the game and trying to get as many yards as I could.
On the reaction of his fellow students after the win...
Students will just walk by and say "Nice game Saturday, thanks for that." In the cafeteria kids will come by and say thank you. Usually I don't get a response at all when I'm walking around campus, but Michigan week is a little bit different, before the week and after.
Sophomore quarterback Keith Nichol
On being eligible to play this year after transferring from Oklahoma and sitting out in 2008...
All the hard work and everything I've been through is paying off. You're seeing it on game day and it feels good to come out with wins like that and contribute to wins like that...It's just fun to put the pads on and play against a team like Michigan and be a part of the rivalry.
On the grade he would give himself and quarterback Kirk Cousins at this point in the season...
We're young, we're not going to get around that fact: we're sophomores. The best way you can describe our play would just be that we play as hard as we can every snap, I don't think anybody is going to deny that. We have our ups and downs, yeah we've thrown picks, we've had fumbles, but [quarterback] Coach [Dave] Warner is coaching us up and we're moving the ball and we're scoring touchdowns. Sometimes we don't capitalize on certain things. Kirk's playing as hard as he can, I'm playing as hard as I can and we're learning on each snap in every game. I'd say we're playing well, not as good as we possibly could be, but we have two and a half years left, and I feel good about where we're at.
Freshman running back Larry Caper
On becoming more comfortable on the field...
I'm starting to see my reads faster and the game is slowing down...It's not high school anymore, you can't carry [the ball] like you used to carry it. Just carry it high and tight. I focus on that at practice and hopefully that will create habits and it will just show in the game.
On what went through his mind after he broke the last tackle on his way to the game-winning touchdown against Michigan...
Don't fall. Don't trip. Don't drop the ball. Don't do anything. Just win the game, get across the goal line and celebrate.
On how he would assess the performance of the running game at this point in the season...
I think the running backs have done pretty well...We just need to make sure the running game is going good for every game, not just certain games.
On Glenn Winston's running style...
Glenn is a powerful runner, he's just a North-South runner. He runs downhill, and if you get in his way you get run over.
On what a big win over Michigan does for the team's confidence...
You get all the confidence in the world because it's such a big game and it sets the tone for the rest of your season.
Senior cornerback Ross Weaver
On the impact of having alumni on the sidelines cheering the team on...
It was great. Otis [Wiley], [Justin] Kershaw, people from '06 - it was just a great inspiration to have Otis come back. From the motivation standpoint, if any people come back we're hyped and we celebrate it because its alumni coming back to support us.
On cornerback Chris L. Rucker's performance...
I just told him that you've got to make the plays, and try not to hark on the bad plays. Especially at cornerback, you've got to have amnesia and you can't think about the bad play that you made.
On how he would grade the secondary's performance at this stage of the season...
I don't even have a grade right now, I would say that we're just focusing on trying to get better. We've stepped it up in this last game, and I would say that we have to keep continuing to grow and not be satisfied with what we did and knowing that we can do better.
On how the secondary can grow throughout the rest of the season...
Basically playing solid. Not giving up big plays, communicating on the field and emotion. When you've got emotion you're unbeatable, instead of coming to the sidelines when something happens and putting your head down.
On the effect of the defensive line putting pressure on the opposing quarterback...
It's great, this is called teamwork. It's great when they're putting pressure on the quarterback and it's great when we're locking receivers down because it makes their job easier too.
Senior fullback Andrew Hawken
On the impact of being highly penalized on the first scoring drive...
Normally we preach on offense that when we don't beat ourselves, we have success moving the ball, even in past games. Having those penalties and overcoming them, it just shows a lot of character. We were ready to play, we came ready to play Saturday and we had a great week of practice. Hopefully we've learned that we can overcome situations like that, we want to stay out of them, but now we know we can sustain drives and overcome big penalties like that.
On how he would assess the performance of the running game at this point in the season...
I think they've run hard. I think we didn't have that many tailback carries against Wisconsin because we were playing from behind. For the first time playing for all of these guys, I think they've done a decent job. Protection, picking up blitzes and everything, I think they've done well.
On responding to success...
Coach talked about each season there's usually one game that can be a turning point in the season, and that needs to be our turning point in the season. We need to come out just as focused and bring all of that energy and have another great week of practice this week, just as we did for Michigan. We can't have that be a one-time thing. We definitely need to come out and do that again this week.
On the outlook for freshman tight end Dion Sims...
He's a monster. You look at him coming in as a freshman, I think during camp I don't know if he even dropped any balls. He catches everything you throw at him, he's smooth, runs well, catches the ball and drags defenders for 5-10 more yards. He's had an impact this year already and he'll continue to have one this year, and going forward he's going to be a great player.
Sophomore wide receiver B.J. Cunningham
On how his play has improved...
I probably had it in me this whole time, it's just confidence, that's all it is. You can catch the ball, use your hands, tuck it, bring it in, not let anybody knock it out or bat it down. It's just going and getting strong, using strong hands, not dropping the ball and holding on to the football, that's really all I've been doing.
On the increased confidence the quarterbacks have in using him as a go-to receiver...
In practice it shows, and in the game it shows. They trust in all of [the receivers] to catch the ball. As long as we can show them that during practice, then during the game it's all good. We've been doing it all week, so why not do it on Saturday.
On his consistency as a receiver so far this season...
That's all I've been trying to do, just show my coaches and my quarterbacks and my teammates that I'm consistent and that when they throw me the ball I can catch it and make something happen.
Junior cornerback Chris L. Rucker
On what it felt like after he intercepted Tate Forcier in the end zone during overtime...
Just excitement. I knew that was our chance to win the game, and I felt like that was going to be a big play and I felt like we had the game once we got that interception.
On if it is hard it is to put some poor plays from earlier in the season out of his mind...
Not really. As a DB you've got to forget the last play and you've just got to play for the next play. You can't let things stick around because if you let it be in the back of your head you will just think about it the whole game and it affects your play.
On how Coach Dantonio, a former DB himself, works with the secondary during practice...
He's very hands on, he knows everything, he knows what to do and tells us how to do it. It really helps us back there because he has that kind of experience. Every day of practice he's back there showing the back pedal, showing how to read things.
On what his performance against Michigan does for his confidence as a player...
I feel like that last game helped me a lot, it got my confidence up, it got the whole secondary's confidence up. It let us feel like we can play that way every game as long as we've got the mentality to do that every game.
