Post-Game Quotes: No. 7/5 Oregon
9/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
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MSU Head Coach Mark Dantonio
COACH DANTONIO: Very exciting football game, and you know, I watched these Fast and Furious movies every now and again and that's what it reminded me of. It was up-and-down, a great battle out there.
Great environment, tremendous environment here at Spartan Stadium, and this is the place to be, there is no question. Ask our players, people ask me about the Rose Bowl and things of that nature, I've always said, it's a special place, special people at a special time and that's what this win was, too.
We talked about it coming into the game that this is a life moment and these are opportunities that you have to make good on and you just had to do your best. You just had to do your best. And if your best wasn't good enough, that's fine. Things happen out there. You're not making all the plays, but you have to do your best and you have to over-achieve, play with energy, play with character.
You know, I'm not sure, maybe we had two penalties -- two penalties. So played very well in that area, did a lot of really, really good things and have some things we need to do a little bit better. That's the nature of it.
In my mind, this is a stepping stone game. This is a game that pays dividends at the end of season, and this is a game that promotes this brand and this program and it's exciting for everybody involved. We need to continue on. We have Air Force next week.
But very exciting. We had balance on offense. Defensively, came up with a lot of fourth down stops, and went for it I think four times, maybe more -- six times, on fourth down. Got plays done at the end of the game. Come up with two big stops, one on the goal line and then one midfield and then, really three big fourth down stops and just kept playing.
But not a perfect game by any stretch, but we kept playing and give Oregon a lot of credit. They are an outstanding football team with outstanding skill. They give you so many multiple offense formations and create adjustments, and on the defensive side of the ball, they are strong up front.
Our two running backs ran very well. Could have played the other ones but just went with two, and I thought they played extremely well with big plays. Cook plays very well, (Aaron) Burbridge, (Macgarrett) Kings, RJ Shelton, all big plays at some point in time. So it was exciting to watch and be a part of. So I'll just take some questions.
Q. Do they all count one or is this more like one and a half?
COACH DANTONIO: No, I think they all count one, I really do. But for 24 hours, it's a little bit bigger.
And then maybe at the end of the season, it pays you dividends and moves you forward when people talk about strength of schedule and that nature. But doesn't do you any good if you are not winning and playing well after this fact, either.
Q. For those of us that were here and not watching by broadcast after the game, you had a message to recruits about coming to Michigan State. How big can this game and atmosphere play into all of that? Obviously you addressed it on a national stage?
COACH DANTONIO: I don't even know what I said -- excitable.
I just think this was the place to be in this state today. Very exciting atmosphere. Spartan Stadium was rocking and great crowd, great crowd, great football game, right down to the end, and very, very exciting.
So you know, I just think it was a great atmosphere, and we knew it would be. It had everything coming into the football game, game day, national TV audience, two good football teams that were ranked in the Top-10. It had it all, so it delivered. The game delivered in terms of its intensity, and as I said, it was fast and furious out there. Things were happening at a very fast rate.
Q. One of the things in this game that may go unnoticed were the substitutions. Can you just talk a little about who was responsible for coordinating that, and just how important and how huge that was for this game?
COACH DANTONIO: Well, we work on those things. It's not the first time we've played an up-tempo offense. We've got to work on those. We played nine defensive backs in the game. We played six linebackers. We played eight defensive linemen minimum, I think maybe nine defensive linemen.
But it was coordinated because we work on it in terms of, hey, when you've got -- I asked our players, hey, you've got to get lined up, your knees bent. You've got to adjust, okay, to the new formations and things of that nature on the fly. You've got to be able to move, and you've got to play hard. Got to play hard.
So that was our intentions to do those three things. So with that, you have to substitute, because you're going to get gassed out there as fast as they are moving.
Q. Every team has its own identity after two games of the season. What did you take away from this team's identity with the counter-punches and punches back?
COACH DANTONIO: Well, I just think we are going to play hard. We're going to battle you, and as I said before, we're going to stand in there and keep playing.
You talk about handling adversity, you talk about continuing to play through a moment when things are not going so well, we were able to do that tonight and that's got to become a trademark. I think it has become a trademark for this program. It's part of our culture and we have to continue to be able to do those things.
You know, after a big punt return to go down and score immediately following, that was huge, because when they were about to seize the momentum, we took it back. And those things are huge in a football game, because momentum swings both ways.
Q. On the fourth and sixth, wondering how much you debated on that play and how important was that to get the offensive going again?
COACH DANTONIO: I just thought it was a little long for a field goal and a little short for a punt. I got a lot of faith in Connor Cook and our passing game. I knew we would protect him and that he's going to throw the ball very effectively. And Burbridge in this case made it, but any of them could have made the catch.
But, you know, we knew we were going to have to take chances in this football game, calculated risk, and we were prepared to do that. We knew we had -- we want to win the football game, so you had to take chances to do that.
Q. Your running backs played well. Could you talk about that in-depth and will it be more of a two-man rushing attack going forward?
COACH DANTONIO: Well, we'll see how we go, how we practice, how we go. I think we are have four very good running backs but it's tough to get them all carries. And you want to get them moving, and we had about 192 yards rushing, some were on very big plays the consistency may be lacking a little bit at times but some very, very big plays, and I thought we ran through tackles.
I thought both those guys performed very, very well, and LJ Scott, two touchdowns tonight, and that was exciting for him as a true freshman. But we've been saying all along, we've got good players and they have got to find an identity. So it's exciting to see that. And again, we have others, as well.
Q. You've been waiting for this from Aaron Burbridge for a few years, probably since that freshman year. Can you assess what he's giving you right now?
COACH DANTONIO: Big play wide receiver. He's got great ability to catch the ball in traffic. He makes the 50/50 catches, as I said, that we always have to do, becoming a go-to guy. He's always had great talent. He's been limited a little big with a couple injuries along the way, but he's always had great talent. And we've had great wide receivers here in the past two years, so he's really picking up where we left off.
I think our punting game, we did have the one return but I thought Jake Hartbarger did an outstanding job punting the football. He put it through right placement and hung them up there. We out-kicked our coverage -- as did I -- where's my -- I didn't do that (Laughter). But I thought he did an outstanding job.
Q. The passing, it seemed to have an old-fashioned Spartan element to it, that George Provos would have loved, pounding the ball and the running backs wore them down a little bit, didn't they?
COACH DANTONIO: Yeah, I thought we did. I thought we ran through some tackles and got on the perimeter, made some things happen.
But you know, we need to be a balanced football team because I think that's what wins football games for you, when you become two one-sided one way or the other, you're going to struggle.
Right now, that's what we are offensively. And you know, Kodi Kieler went out, I thought Machado came in and did a nice job. I thought Benny McGowan did a nice job. Got Donovan Clark out there a little bit. So that was exciting to see. But the biggest thing, if you take away anything from this game, was the electricity on the sideline and in the stadium and just the attitude that we were going to get it done. I think that's as big as anything and things were coming fast out there, like I said.
Q. So much talk about all the big offensive play of the game, the last few years, defense has been your calling card. What does it say about this unit that at the end of the game, they come up with the big play?
COACH DANTONIO: Big play. I think we sacked Adams four times and got a way a number of other times. I thought played pretty well on third down, third and fourth down, combined there, because they went for it I think six times on fourth down.
You know, made plays, missed some tackles. I thought we made plays and I thought they were sound, we were sound in what we were doing. We played fast. And if you're playing fast out there, you sort of let the chips go where they fall. Good things happen. I can't really pick out a particular guy. I thought we got great play from our front four.
We got pressure on the quarterback with four, and we pretty much, you know, Freeman is an outstanding back. I think he had 192 yards. He got one out of there. He's a good football player. But we made it definitely to run the football.
Q. I asked you earlier in the week about progressions of your team as the season goes on, you always seem to peak towards the ends of the season. Connor Cook says he feels the progression is right where it needs to be; do you agree with that?
COACH DANTONIO: Yeah, I agree with that. We didn't play as well last week as we did today. We need to continue to get better. Played against a very high-quality team this week; not that we didn't last week. Just saying we took a step forward.
And we look to play our best football in November. I think that's what we've always tried to do. I think that's what wins championships for you, will put you in those opportunities. But we need to continue to progressively just play, and there's some great football teams left that we have to play, there's no question.
We have got ten games left, and as I said, Air Force will bring a whole new dynamic here next week. So it will be exciting and a challenge to prepare for them.
Q. What you did to prevent schematically the big plays, that was an issue last year. If you could talk about the prolific goal line stand, you don't see too many of those in college football.
COACH DANTONIO: No, you don't. Especially in this day and age where there's a lot of one-back sets and things of that nature. Just outstanding play by our football team in that regard, and great defensive call.
And then also, just as far as -- what was the first question? Oh, big play, we knew we had to eliminate the big play. They had robbed us in everything last year and created some different dynamics with that, picks and things of that nature.
So we worked extremely hard on that. They still had some big plays but it was a little bit tackling and their skill players and things of that nature. I thought we played hard. We made them line up and keep playing, and that was the thing we needed to do. And really, limited them from a points standpoint until that last one. That's a low point output for them.
Q. Can you comment on your offensive line and specific linemen?
COACH DANTONIO: I think our offensive line played well. Didn't give up a sack. Gave Cook enough time to throw. I thought we ran the ball effectively but we sort of stalled a little bit. We big plays in the running game.
But from a consistency standpoint, maybe we need to do a little bit better. Some of that is youth with the running backs. Other part is, hey, they have got good players, too. They have got very good players.
So it just goes back and forth but we split it and we had some very big plays running the football. I think if you look at the consistency of it, the last series before we stopped them on fourth down, five-yard loss and bounce and things of that nature. But you live and you learn, we keep moving forward. And bottom line is we won the football game, so that's very exciting for everybody.
Q. You said on the sideline there was an attitude you were going to get it done. Did you feel that same feeling last year when you were up at the half at Oregon, and what led to that confidence?
COACH DANTONIO: I think last year was new territory for us. We were going to Oregon. We were coming off the Rose Bowl. We were going to Oregon in our second game, long flight out there. Didn't really know the football team. Didn't really know their football team. Didn't really know the environment.
I think the experience of having played them and then playing in our home environment, you know, probably worth three points, which is what we won by. But it's a great football team. I have got a tremendous amount of respect for how they do their business; and I'm talking about how they go about their business and their skill level and what they do offensively and defensively and special teams. They are going to make you work for everything you get and they are going to keep playing, too.
Oregon Ducks head coach Mark Helfrich
On the momentum swings throughout the game...
Yes, that just goes back to the defense and the offense complimenting one another. You know you get a short field and you can't punch it in. There are so many momentum swings and the crowd is in it and when there is a punch you have to counterpunch. If you can't respond quickly than those swings can happen. There may be a loss of confidence, which I don't think we had that but it can be possible.
On whether the Spartans big passing plays were do to a young Oregon secondary or an experienced Michigan State quarterback...
Well, it's a little bit of everything. They are outstanding every level of this program and this team is very good. They've got a veteran front and veteran receivers and an exceptional quarterback. It's just a great system. So it's part our X's and part their O's. We have to coach them better in those situations.
On the play of senior quarterback Vernon Adams Jr...
Again, you have to give Michigan State credit for much of that. I thought Vernon played well. I know there will be a lot of things he thinks about tonight, tomorrow and moving forward. In this kind of game the way they play defense, there will be some big plays and some clunkers. We're obviously trying to minimize the clunkers to be no gains or one-yard gains or one-yard losses. Turnovers were big. I couldn't tell on the one but the other I thought he made a good throw and the guy just made a play. The thing I liked about our team was the look in their eye and the way they finished. They fought to the end against a very good team and you can build on that.
On the defensive pressure caused by the Michigan State front four...
I thought our physical condition helped us and we tried to temper them a little bit in the third quarter. But yes, they are really good defensively. They have not missed a beat. The thing about them is that they can put pressure on you with three, four, five or six guys depending on the number of rushers they want to bring. Most teams can't do that. There usually is one exceptional player on the team but they have the ability to change it up and they did a nice job of that.
On the two straight rushing attempts at the goal line that ended up in no points and a turnover on downs...
It's way too premature to say anything about that. I thought we had a couple plays to get it in there and I don't know whether he didn't hit the hole or not. Again you have to give their defense credit for providing that pressure up front.
On whether there were plays throughout the game that he was particularly concerned about...
There are a bunch of things. Anything that doesn't go perfectly in our program I'm concerned about. It's my responsibility. As far as individual plays, missed tackles are on us as a coaching staff as much as they are on our players. Again, we'll come back like heck to solve it.
On the similarities between this year's game and last year's game...
Well last year's game was a lot more fun at the end. But no really, I mean it was a physical game. It was a third quarter battle and it was really tight right down to the end.
Junior linebacker Riley Bullough
On the Michigan State defensive line...
I think it was just critical tonight to go out in each series and play with the same intensity. That's kind of what we talked about in practice this week because we didn't do that last week. It's critical against a team like Oregon that has so may weapons and is going to play fast. I think that's what we did. We came out with a passion, with a fire and, in the end, we just wore them down and we were able to hold them off as best we could. We were happy with it.
On Oregon at the quarterback position...
That guy was a player today. He was a great quarterback; he was tough to get down. [Marcus] Mariota, last year, he was special. This year, going into this game, we talked about getting tackles and getting guys. Not missing tackles, but wrapping the quarterback up. I think, for the most part, we did a pretty good job with that today. We're happy with that. We still have things we have to get better at, but we're content with the win.
On the mood during the last two drives...
As a defense, that's what we love. We love it being put on our shoulders at the end of the game. That's what we practice for year-round. I knew guys were going to step up and make plays in the end, and that's what they did. I knew our offense was going to give us enough firepower and points to win, and that's what happened. It was great.
On Chris Frey's fourth-quarter sack...
That was huge. I told him after the game, `That was your fourth quarter. You made that with that sack.' I just congratulated him. I think he played a great game. I feel like that sack was so important. There were a lot of things going on, and we needed to make a play. He came up big on the blitz. That was crucial.
On the offense answering after stops...
It feels good for us. We go against that offense enough that we know how good they are and how great they can be. It's not a surprise for us for our offense to play well and score touchdowns. That's what we expect out of them. We have confidence in them, and they went out and made some plays to put 31 points up and get the win.
Michigan State Co-Offensive Coordinator Dave Warner
On what he learned about his offense...
Well we were able to for the most part to run the ball pretty good. We had some big runs, couple explosive plays right off the bat with Madre London, and in the second half when we needed one with LJ Scott. Overall, I think we ran the ball pretty darn good. We had some chances in the second half to solidify and put things away, but we went three-and-out twice, which is disappointing for us. It's something to work with, and we're just happy to come out with a win.
On if they planned to rotate the running backs or ride whoever was hot...
Yeah, that's pretty much it. Gerald Holmes was supposed to get in, but we weren't able to get him in -- feel bad about that. Madre obviously started out hot and LJ got hot in the second half, so we were just able to stay with those guys.
On LJ Scott's touchdown run in the second half...
Fresh legs help because he broke through about two or three tackles. That was a great job on his part but obviously had a lot of help up front blocking though.
On if Oregon did anything different than planned...
No, not really. They may have blitzed a little bit more but for the most part they pretty much showed what we expected them to show.
On Connor Cook's performance...
That's typical Connor Cook. He's going to miss something, then he's going to come back and make a pinpoint throw to put us in great position. That's Connor, that's why we love him, and that's why he wins a lot of games for us. That's just him.
On Aaron Burbridge's play...
His confidence is very large right now. He wants the ball and we want to try and get him the ball because he's doing some good things with it. All of our receivers are doing a good job for us, but obviously Aaron's doing a great job.
Michigan State Co-Defensive Coordinator Mike Tressel
On if the MSU defense executed the game plan the way it wanted to...
Yeah, we did. We played a lot of base defense so our guys wouldn't have to think too much about how fast they run their offense. They do some formations to make things difficult. We probably blitzed a lot less than we did last week, and it allowed our guys to play technique and play physical.
On the fast pace of play...
Yeah, they played real fast and they never lost confidence. When I was sitting with them on the sidelines you could tell there wasn't any doubt, so that was real good to see.
On being effective against the Oregon running game...
We did a pretty good job against the run. And on the couple runs that they hit for decent yards, we knew exactly what we did wrong. The kids knew immediately what they did wrong, it's not something we had to make corrections for. You stop the run, you always feel like your chances are good.
On Oregon QB Vernon Adams, Jr...
He creates time. He forces the secondary to stay in coverage a lot longer than we want them to have to. You blitz and you lose contain, you're in trouble, because you don't have enough people in coverage. You only rush three, he buys extra time. The fact that he can elongate the plays is what he did well.
On the big plays, including multiple stops on fourth down...
Coming in to this game we talked to the guys about how they'll go for it on fourth down just about at any time, so you need to expect after a third down stop to play another play. We talked about how important it is to win those "money downs" so you can get off the field.
On rotating the defense to stay fresh late in the game...
We rotated a lot. The second guys were really starters as well, and we played real well. Early in the game they tried to sub too often, and we had to reign it in a little and try not to have eight guys running on the field at once, but we got a lot of guys experience.
On if the defensive subbing improved throughout the game...
It was real hectic early, but the guys did improve as the game went on so it went a little smoother. Bottom line, against Oregon, you need to be fresh at the end.
Michigan State Players: Connor Cook, Jack Allen and Shilique Calhoun
Q. For both the seniors, you weren't shy this week talking about how much last year's game stuck in your craw, so how much better does this feel now five minutes after the game?
JACK ALLEN: I'd say it's probably one of the best feelings in the world. I honestly was thinking about this on Thursday about what it would be like to walk off the field after this Saturday game with a win. Feels unbelievable.
Connor Cook: I'm right there with Jack. The loss last year sucked. You know, being able to have the half that we had last year, we went on an 18-0 run I think, and just laying an egg in the second half and that stuck with me during the whole year. It stuck with me during the season. It stuck with me watching them playing in the National Championship, and it was with me all through spring ball, through camp. It's one of the main reasons why we wanted to come back is to play Oregon again and beat them.
So I was thinking like Jack was during the week, just what it would feel like to walk off the field victorious, and I was dreaming about it last night. Being able to live it out, it's kind of indescribable.
Q. Always making it interesting it seems, but this team showed a lot of maturity with being able to handle the punches and counter-punches. When it got close to the end of the game, the defense seemed to be on their heels. How important was it for you guys to -- what was being said on the sideline to make sure they didn't slip?
Connor Cook: Obviously hold on to the ball. You don't want to give the ball up. We needed to get first downs, and I think the last couple of drives we had were unacceptable. We need to hold on to the ball longer.
Credit, obviously the O-line played exceptional, keeping me protected, making big holes for the running backs. But credit to the defense. I mean, Oregon's offense, they put up 60 points last week. They are no slouch. And the way our defense pressured, Vernon Adams, the way we stopped the run, credit to them at the end. They finished the game. Thank God for our defense.
Q. I wanted to ask you, with so much offense happening in this game and so many plays they were running what does it say about this defense that when it came down to it at the end, you were guys able to make the plays.
SHILIQUE CALHOUN: We just want to put up or shut up. The offense is doing just a great job this year, making sure that they are moving the ball and scoring. We try to take it upon ourselves to make sure that we are doing what we need to do, also.
We want to be great in all phases, including special teams, so they did a great job. It puts pressure on us because we are always in competition; always in competition with me and Connor Quinn, or whether it's me and Jack Allen, or Joel Heath and Jack Allen, we are always in competition to see who can out-perform the other. We are confident in competition.
I think we did a great job today. A lot of things we need to clean up, but I think we did a great job on a lot of phases of the game.
Q. Connor, you have won big games before, Rose Bowl and Cotton Bowl come to mind. What does it mean to win a big non-conference game and where does this rank compared to the biggest games for you in your career?
Connor Cook: It's huge. I think we haven't had like the best statistic, whatever it is, for Game Day. Usually whenever we play on Game Day, usually we lose.
So being able to win on Game Day was great and playing on a big stage last year in Oregon and coming up short was bad. It's so good for the school, so good for the program, recruiting, all that stuff.
But I'd say a win over Oregon at home with the home opener, it was Game Day here, so early in the season, it feels like back in 2013 when we won the Rose Bowl and we won the Big 10 Championship game. So I would rank it right up there with those games, for sure.
Q. How much did the previous big games help you guys
Connor Cook: It was tremendous. I talked to the guys last night, and I said, you know, our main goal was to seize the moment. We've played in big-time moments. We've had the Cotton Bowl -- us collectively as seniors: We've had the Cotton Bowl, we've had the Rose Bowl, we've had the Big 10 Championship Game. We went to Oregon last year and came up short.
But we've had that experience. We've played in big time games, and that experience honestly helps. You experience certain feelings you've felt in prior games, but the feeling is beginning to feel familiar and you know how to cope with them. It helps out a lot for sure.
Q. Shilique, four fourth down stops. Can you talk about the focus and what was the key to making those plays?
SHILIQUE CALHOUN: It was discipline. The biggest thing with Coach is discipline. We understand what we need to do. We understand what they are going to do. They put us in the right place at the right time, so just it's all about being disciplined and sticking to your technique.
That's a credit to the rest of the defense, they did a great job of coming out and being determined and understanding that we need to get stops. On the fourth down, even though it was third and out, three-and-out and that's a goal for us, we need to stop them. As long as they had the ball and they had they had the wrong end of possession, we had to do anything in our power to stop them and we did a great job today.
Q. For Connor and Jack, Dantonio went fourth and one, fourth and sixth, what about those decisions? Was there any lobbying that going on, and what does it say about him?
JACK ALLEN: I think it's just, I mean, Coach D, he likes to roll the dice. We wanted to run on fourth down -- in the Cotton Bowl, kind of had to. But you know, we are just thankful, because we didn't go for it on fourth down. Punter, kick or throw (ph) whatever, I mean, that's a huge game changer for us to convert on that fourth down. That was huge.
Just goes to show that Coach D likes to roll the dice and he likes to put the ball in his playmaker's hands. It's great that he has confidence in us to do that, because we have confidence in ourselves, and we feel like any time he calls my number or Burbridge's number, Josiah Price, whoever it is, we are going to come up big.
Connor Cook: For the fourth and one, I would say that was an obvious call because up front I felt like we were getting a big push every play. Our O-line is relentless and we weren't going to not get it.
Q. For any of you guys, the last couple years, you've dropped the early game and had to work yourself back into the picture. How does this set up the season different getting the big win at the beginning of the year?
Connor Cook: Just shows the progress that we've made as a team that we are not losing those big games at the beginning of the year anymore, and now this is the second stepping stone of the 12 games we've got to win this year. It's just showing the progress of this program and the steps that we are taking; that we are going in the right direction.
Q. Shilique, a lot of youth on your defense and you're seeing some of those young dogs growing up. Would you talk about the pride you have in some of those young players, please?
SHILIQUE CALHOUN: Guys like Malik McDowell, Demetrius Cooper, Craig Evans, just great guys. Guys that are definitely putting the work in in practice; and gaining our trust in practice, allowing us to understand that they are going to do what they need to do any time that their number is called.
But I mean, it's amazing to see them grow up. I even saw Cooper coaching one of the young guys and he was pretty pissed about him having an MA like in practice. I was like, man, it's crazy, I'm old now.
It's amazing to see how they progress, to see how they get older. And they take initiative. They go out on that field and they take a life-or-death situation in a sense. They want to make plays and they want to do whatever they can for the defense and provide for team. It's amazing to see them grow up and I look forward to a couple more games with those guys, a lot more memories, though.
Q. Jack or Connor, when you feel like it's kind of your game and yet they get the ball on the 48 with plenty of time left and you can't do a darned thing about it, it's out of your control; how gut-wrenching is that when you feel like it might be slipping away?
JACK ALLEN: It's a little nerve-wracking but at the same time, an offense we have confidence in our defense and we play them every day and we know what they have got. We believed in them the whole time and we knew that they would stop them and they did.
Connor Cook: Yeah, I say it just stinks being a quarterback, because I think right before we were in the situation, there was a wide open corner out that I missed; and if I hit that corner out, the drive keeps moving on, and our defense isn't out on the field. I'm just sitting on the sideline pissed at myself knowing that I could have kept the drive alive.
But like Jack said, we have all the confidence in the world in our defense to know that when it's crunch time, they are going to go through.
Q. You guys have been waiting for Aaron Burbridge to have these last two games for a couple seasons. Can you assess what he's giving you so far this year?
Connor Cook: Yeah, he pays attention to the little minor details and real run precise routes every time consistently. He's got great hands. And he'll go out and make a play, he'll make 50, 60 catches. He's fast, smart, knows how to run the right routes for certain types of coverage and certain types leverage with the DBs, and he just does what you ask.
Q. Talk about what Madre and LJ did, especially late, the touchdown, seems like it had had an extra burst to it. Connor Cook: Yeah, when I handed the ball to LJ and saw him break those tackles and kick into an extra gear, kind of reminded me of Le'Veon back when he was a freshman. I was at the Notre Dame game when they won in overtime, and just watching the runs that Le'Veon broke -- LJ reminded me of Le'Veon during that game.
Just having running backs like that, I know they are young, but they just continue to get better, that's the good thing. But when it gets to the lack of experience that him and Madre both have and the way they run, they are playing like veterans, especially on a big time stage like this. You're a true freshman, you're 18 years old and you're playing in front of 76,000 people, seventh-ranked team in the country on Game Day, second week of the season. So LJ is a great player and he's smart and I think he's just going to continue to get better.
Q. Shilique, all three of you probably had the best perspective, you've understood that your team progress throughout the 12-game season, you always seem to get better towards the end. With a win like this under your belt, you probably haven't thought about it yet, but you made some mistakes and whatnot. Do you see that and think about, wow, if we clean this up, we can be a much better team than we were tonight?
SHILIQUE CALHOUN: Definitely. We understand that there's going to be big plays in the game and sometimes that's uncontrollable, but we need to manage the easy plays, and just -- just weather the storm.
We know that things are not always going to go our way and sometimes our it's fault. Now more so we watch film and we'll get it corrected and I like how we started fast this year. We started a lot faster than we did years prior. Just shows we are going in the right direction and doing it at the right pace.
Now it's time to clean up things. Like I said, there's a lot of thing we still need to clean up. But like you said, once we get it all together, that train, it just keeps going. It was slow at first but once we get it going, it's going to be unstoppable.
Q. Last year's game, Mariota out of a few sacks -- how gratifying --
SHILIQUE CALHOUN: He's not Mariota, so it wasn't the same. But at the same time, it was special. I think our defense wants to get sacks, want to get TSLs (ph), get turnovers. So being able to create for the defense especially, especially when you can make a big play and change the outcome of games, like I said, everybody did a great job offensively, defensively, and we just need to keep going. We need to keep pushing forward and don't get too high and don't get too low at the same time.
Q. For the three of you, whether it was striping the stadium, getting there early or staying late or being wowed, can you comment on the incredible crowd?
SHILIQUE CALHOUN: I'll start. Spartan Nation is incredible. I love that they are out there in ten folds and they honestly bring us life. I know a lot of programs say that, but we look to them when it's tough times and we look to them when we're having a great time.
I think our fans make the program, also. They are part of this team, and they bring the height -- when we need that lift up and they raise their hands and they are cheering and they are loud, it just gets us pumped up in the sense that no one else can do; not something your parent or coach can do. They bring a different type of dynamic to the game having them cheering for you. So having them stay for the whole game was special and I just want to thank them.
Q. Connor, obviously some big moments. How much more can this offense do, when we look at you statistically, we've seen you have a lot bigger games. Where do you think the offense is at and how much is left as far as how much better it can get?
Connor Cook: We are right where we want to be, and I think we are running the ball effectively. Oregon did a good job of stopping the run mid-game; we kind of finished a little bit stronger later on.
But I think we are running the ball great and I think the O-line has done a great job opening up holes for the running backs and keeping me protected and receivers are catching the ball and making big time plays.
I think I can be a little more accurate at times and be better with my read progression. It's only week two and we are going to get better week-by-week and just continue to reach higher.
Michigan State redshirt freshman running back Madre London
On first touchdown run and what it did for the offense...
It did well. We emphasized that the whole week. Every time we came out at practice we always ran that same play. We knew if we ran hard and had good blocks it would be a big one, so I just give the credit to the line.
On first couple runs at the beginning of the game...
Trusting my O-lineman, trusting the holes that they were going to make for me. First instinct: hit the hole fast and try to make it hard for them to tackle me.
On importance of first run and countering their "first punch"...
It was big. We came out with a lot of energy, making that big run and obviously leading to a touchdown, putting us back in the game. It was good for the Spartan nation and it was good for the team.
On size of offensive line...
I just give the credit to the O-line, they played hard today. Obviously they made us win and we kept running the ball, which was good.
On energy in the stadium...
It was crazy. I've been here for about two years, and this was by far the craziest game since I've been here. Even when we played Ohio State and Nebraska, this was the craziest game. I want to give thanks to the fans.
Oregon junior wide receiver Bralon Addison
On moving forward from this loss...
Oh, definitely. It's early. Really early. Two teams that played in the National Championship last year both had one loss so you know it's long season. You know teams are going to fight still. Of course, we're not proud of this loss, but there are a lot of things that we can learn from this game.
On the expectation of winning...
Definitely. We expect to win every game and the reality of it is that I don't think any team in college football history is 100-0. We know losing is a part of football. It's a great game and there are wins and there are losses, but we definitely don't expect or accept to lose, so I think we can get in on film tomorrow and correct it.
On returning to action after missing last season...
I feel great, I just come out and compete and contribute any way I can.
Oregon sophomore wide receiver Charles Nelson
On fixing things in practice...
Offensively, I thought we came out great. A lot of things we can work on in practice. That's what practice is for, we're going to get back at it on Monday. I feel like we came out and did what we had to do, but a couple errors here and there, but we can fix that.
On missed opportunities...
I feel like there were a lot of plays that were left out on the field. A play here, a play there that could've changed the outcome of the game, but it happened.
Oregon senior quarterback Vernon Adams Jr.
On the fourth down play to Bralon Addison...
I just got flushed out a little bit and I gotta make that throw. That's a throw I should make and get it out there and have him make a play. He could've broke the tackle and scored. It would've been a for sure first down, but I just gotta make that throw.
On missing open receivers...
Wide open receivers, I gotta be better than that and make those throws and give us a chance to win the game and that could've changed everything if I would've put it right on him.
On Michigan State's defensive front...
They're really good. They're super good. Like I said, I gotta be better. I gotta take care of the ball, no interceptions, no fumbles, but that front four is really good.
On not making protection changes...
For the most part, they did everything we saw on film. I could've made a couple protection changes, but I didn't, and those are the ones I got sacked, but if I would've made the protection changes I would've been all good.
Oregon senior defensive lineman DeForest Buckner
On what he told the team after the game...
After the game, I just told everybody to keep their head up, we have a lot of season left, and hopefully we can see them in the playoffs. I was just proud of everyone and how we fought til the end.
On the type of game it was...
It was kind of like a heavyweight fight, just going back-and-forth. On the defensive side, we gotta come up with more turnovers.
Oregon sophomore running back Royce Freeman
On team execution...
I mean [Michigan State] did a great job of that and we as a team need to execute those plays and keep us in the game. We had a lot of missed opportunities. We have to have constructive work ethic. We have to see those missed plays and somehow try to make them positive plays for us offensively.
On the tough loss...
It's tough. It makes it a little bit harder because we were so close in the game. They're a great team and it's a great environment over here. Just the fact that we were in the game for so long we were losing our grasp and came up a little bit short.
On Vernon Adams Jr....
We gelled pretty well. There's only so much you can do. They disrupted a lot of stuff that we had planned and as the game goes along you just have to go off of what they give you - you have to create things out of nothing.
On the Michigan State defensive line...
I compare them a little bit to a team like Utah - very aggressive, very feisty and looking to go towards the quarterback. Protection was key tonight. We tried to protect Vernon [Adams Jr.] as much as possible but they made it kind of difficult with the big guys they had up front.
