Practice Update: Coordinator Quotes

Aug. 31, 2011

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State football team continued its preparation for Friday's season opener by practicing under the lights Wednesday at both the grass fields behind the Duffy Daugherty Building and also Spartan Stadium.

In the afternoon, offensive coordinator Dan Roushar and defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi briefly met with reporters to discuss the matchup against Youngstown State and what they wanted to accomplish in the first game.

"I think as we've approached this like all openers, it's really about us," said Roushar. "It's about us going out and executing. We will deal with what they do differently and go from there. It's truly about us this week."

"I'm sure they will have some new things, and we will have some new things for them," Narduzzi said. "But preparation is going good. We're just getting our kids acclimated to what we do game-plan week."

The Spartans and Penguins will meet Friday, Sept. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in Spartan Stadium. A limited number of tickets are still available at msuspartans.com.

QUOTABLE:

Offensive Coordinator Dan Roushar

On the strides the offensive line is making...
"I think that certainly through practice that we have had an opportunity to work together on a more consistent basis. Through repetition, I think they start to find themselves communicating better and working together better in double-team situations and sliding together in protection. But there is no substitute for playing. I think going through the first game they are going to learn a lot about themselves and learn a lot about themselves as a group."

On having a rotation of players contribute on the offensive line...
"I think the biggest thing is we want the best five on the field. That is important. We recognize that it is a long season and you are going to need depth and you are going to need guys to get game-like experience. It will be very valuable later in the season or whenever they are called upon. In an ideal setting you have five guys who have played an awful lot together; there is a lot of cohesion there, a lot of experience to draw on. We are not in that setting right now. So I think there will be some guys coming in and out, much like we did a year ago to start the season."

On the play of senior offensive tackle Jared McGaha...
"He really has just been very solid every day in his approach to the way he has played. He has been very good from a standpoint of executing assignments and he has continued to improve. I feel like he has had a camp that is certainly worth his opportunity to go start as a senior."

On the battle at left tackle...
"It was actually quite close as the fall started. I think it has gone back and forth each and every day and I think right now we just feel like Jared has had some game-like experience. He played in most games last year and he just has a little edge so we are going to give him the opportunity to start. And certainly Dan France will have a lot of opportunities to go in there and play."

On the play of Fou Fonoti...
"I think right now we have got him working primarily on the right side. But you know in our situation you are a couple of injuries away from having to take a guy from the right side and moving him to the left. So he will be prepared that way, he has been prepared in the meeting room. He just hasn't had a lot of physical reps there yet, but we are working on that and we have been throughout this week."

On the home opener against Youngstown State...
"Like any opener you're really not certain what the opponent is going to bring. They've had changes this offseason; they've made coaching adjustments, and probably looked at what they did a year ago so there is some uncertainty that way. But knowing their defensive coordinator, having seen him work throughout the years, he is certainly going to try to stop the run, we feel like. Depending on the personnel groupings we have out there, I think we will see a football team, in terms of the defense that is going to stay consistent with what they did philosophically a year ago with all their newcomers, just do it better than they did a season ago."

On Youngstown State players that have stood out...
"Their mike linebacker, (John) Sasson number 53, he was their leading tackler and he returns. Got a couple of guys inside that have played a lot, number 44 (Andrew Johnson) is a product from Detroit, I believe he is from Southeastern and he was named captain, so he is a good interior player. And then a couple of others who have had some limited experience, but they don't have a lot of starters returning so it is really unchartered territory for us. We don't see them on film and we don't really know a whole lot about them."

On the offensive game plan...
"I think as we've approached this like all openers, it is really about us. It is about us going out and executing. We will deal with what they do differently and go from there. It is truly about us this week."

On the emotional factor...
"I think the important thing is we've experienced this a year ago with coach's illness. So we have had a little bit to draw from that way. I think that Pat (Narduzzi) has done a great job when called on to lead us. And our kids, our leadership has been pretty good. I think Monday, when we came back to practice, coach came back that afternoon and talked to the team and I thought that was an emotional day and we started a little bit slow but I thought we really picked it up and were more physical and intense yesterday. Hopefully we are getting more game-like ready."

On the play of Andrew Maxwell...
"(His) decision-making process has been much better, his accuracy continues to improve. I think he has moved around in the pocket really well. He just has a better command of the offense; he's got a good feel. We have been really pleased with the way he has played, he's made good progress."

On the center position...
"I think we will approach it that way right now and take each series as we go through there, just kind of evaluate where we're at. We think we have two guys that can go in there and get the job done and that will be our approach."

On Kirk Cousins...
"He is very much a coach on the field. For example, yesterday we were in two-minute had a certain play called, he recognized coverage, he recognized that the pressure was coming and he got us into a play that was outstanding and he executed it very well. He is a coach on the field, he is able to take the verbage and put it into the huddle and make it go into play. You just can't have enough of those guys, it's outstanding."

On where he will coach from...
"I think I'm going to start up in the box; I'm going to start there and see if I can do a good job from that position. We have great guys on the field and we're going to try to start like we did a year ago with Coach Treadwell in that setting. You can certainly see coverage; you can see the other side of the field. When you're on the field, just from experience as an offensive line coach, when the ball gets to the other hash, it's difficult to see what is happening on the backside, where you can do that from up top."

Defensive Coordinator Pat Narduzzi

On the preparation for the season opener...
"Preparation is going good; we're doing what they do. I'm sure they will have some new things, and we will have some new things for them. But preparation is going good. (We're) just getting our kids acclimated to what we do game-plan week. School starts today so we will have some scattered brains usually on the first day of school. We're looking forward to see what happens there. But preparation is going good."

On the play of Denzel Drone and Marcus Rush...
"We've got really five ends that could play for us. With Denzel and Rush we have two good pass rushers, two guys that can get to the quarterback, play with leverage. You've got Gholston, you have Tyler Hoover, Corey Freeman, so we have five guys that we can rotate in there and feel pretty good about."

On the depth chart...
"It's daily and it's what did you do for me lately. They are all going to play, I have told them that they are all pretty much starters; it's just who gets to have their name called out and who prepares better. That is where it sits today."

On Marcus Rush...
"Rush, not as of late, it has been about a week and a half that he has been steady in there, just doing good things and making plays. He has been the dark horse guy that you've said `Ok he will be the fourth or fifth wheel' and he is up there with the first team. That is why we tell our guys all of the time, it doesn't matter where you start off on the depth chart it matters where you finish. We're not going to play favorites, we're going to play the guys that get it done on the field, and that is what it comes down to at every position."

On the nerves to see how the team will come together...
"Oh yeah, you should feel my stomach right now. Want to get a win and that is all that matters. And there is nervousness any time you put a new guy out on the field, I don't care if it is a long snapper or a punter, it's a football game. We're in there talking depth chart and I said this is the Big Ten Championship game in my opinion. You guys can overlook them but we surely aren't."

On the emotional carry over...
"Our guys are good, it's just a little bump in the road and nothing dynamically changes. I think our kids feel bad Coach Dantonio like you would feel bad for everyone in here. You feel bad for anybody who has a situation like that. Nothing has changed dynamically, we do what we do and the program runs."

On the battle at Sam linebacker...
"There is a three-way battle. Chris Norman, Denicos (Allen), and Steve Gardiner will all get reps at that position, and again we're going to find out the next four weeks. You guys will be able to pick the depth when you watch the game. You can say, `wow that guy made plays or that guy missed a play.' It will probably be something that we see similar, and probably we'll see more things than you will see from the naked eye. It's not like we are going to say `ok, you're in this series.' It's going to be the best players out there. If a guy needs a blow, we're going to try to determine who they are."

On being anxious...
"You haven't played for a year. We've been at Spartan Stadium once (during camp). I'm anxious to see everybody play, you're anxious for a guy that has played for two years to see what he does his third year. You want to see Trenton Robinson play like an all-conference safety, you want to see a freshman go in there and do what he is supposed to do. There is nobody I'm especially interested in seeing more than another guy."

On Will Gholston...
"He's excited; he's been making more plays. It's going to be a big day for William. His technique has been getting better; he has just been steady. The important thing for William is getting in that game-plan week. Playing against our offense he knew what was going on, played with good technique. Now all of a sudden playing against a spread offense, and we put something else on his plate, you have to have discipline here for option football. And he has been able to do that the last couple of days."

On the excitement of the first game...
"I think more offensively you think about being under control. Our guys want to be reckless and attack defensively. I want them cranked up and I want them playing fast. I don't think that will be any affect at all."