Post-Game Quotes: Central Michigan
9/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Michigan State head football coach Mark Dantonio
Opening Statement
Well first of all, when you look at the football game, you want to congratulate Central. They played an outstanding football game. I thought Cooper Rush played very, very well. First half, we started fast then sort of went into a lull a little bit and possession kind of went their way. Two big, big plays in the first half were the two blocked kicks. In control of the football game, 17-7, we're not playing our best football at the half. Third quarter, we came out and offensively didn't play as well, but in the fourth quarter we finished. Those are the big things when you look at it - you finish in the fourth quarter, you get two touchdowns at the end, so all of the sudden you walk away 30-10 and you feel a little bit better. But, you take a bad day and you make it a good day by winning. And my thought process is it's very difficult to win, we say that every week. Everybody's got players. Cooper Rush did an outstanding job, I thought we ran the ball effectively, zero turnovers. There are a lot of good things that we did. We stopped the run. We've got to get off the field on third down, in the second half we did. Connor Cook becomes tied for the all-time winningest quarterback in Michigan State history, that's a big positive. I still feel like we have not played our best football game, and part of that is because when (everybody) comes to Spartan Stadium or they come to play Michigan State, we're going to get everybody's best shot. We understand that, but that's part of the deal. You want to be up there, you need to respect that and play through that. I thought we did in the fourth quarter.
On if he's surprised MSU struggled in the first three quarters...
No. We come to play. Credit them a little bit too. (CMU offensive coordinator) Morris Watts had a very good plan and they worked the plan, the quarterback worked the plan. We did knock the quarterback down and pressured, so there's going to be some holes. There's some other things that went on that got to be corrected. I'm never surprised. There are no easy games. Look around the country, the easy games very rarely exist, unless people get on a roll. But football teams stay in there, they start to build a little bit of belief that they can do it and they start to change the momentum of the football game, and credit our football team, we were able to swing it back our way and take control in the fourth quarter. But nothing surprises me in this game. There is absolutely nothing that surprises me in this game.
On Jack Conklin's injury...
We don't talk about injuries.
On if MSU is starting to build an identity...
I think the identity of a football team starts to take place around midseason. We're where we're at based on the people that we've played. I think we've played a very tough out-of-conference schedule, probably the toughest we've played since I've been here. Western (Michigan), Oregon, Air Force and Central, they've all (played in) bowl games, they've all won seven to 13 games in there, so there's a lot of wins. Thirty-eight different wins. They all have players and they all have established players coming back in their program. They're well-coached football teams. I don't know what our identity is; we just keep playing and that's the bottom line when we do these things. We're going to run the ball 50/50, be a little balanced like we were today, we'd like to be a little bit heavier in the statistics. But the bottom line is they only scored 10 points and we scored 30 and we won the game. As bad as we played on defense, they scored 10 points, which is the low for the season. We come away with two blocked kicks and a big turnover. They weren't able to run the ball effectively. Those are the positives. The negatives are that we've got to get off the field, and you should feel confident getting off the field on third-and-10. That's when everything's tilted our way. There's opportunities to get that fixed. We took the redshirt off Khari Willis today, so he played. It looked like he played pretty well. There are some other things we need to correct out there and there will be some other guys getting opportunities as we move forward.
On how important Riley Bullough's presence in the second half was...
We'll have to watch the film. I don't think Shane (Jones) played poorly. I thought he played pretty solidly in there and it's good he got more experience. It's good Andrew Dowell's played. We're getting more experience in the linebacker positions. When you get experience, you start wanting to make plays instead of going in there and hoping, `Oh I hope I don't mess up.' I expect Khari Willis to be in that situation as well. He reminds me a lot of Isaiah Lewis when he was a true freshman.
On if he's tired of people thinking MSU needs to blowout opponents because it is No. 2 in the country...
I just know that games are tough to win, and I have a great deal of respect for what's going on at the other side of the field. I also think that at times people start doubting you a bit and that gives you a little bit more sense of urgency too. There are no givens in this game. There is no given that you don't get hurt going through the game. There is no given that you don't give up a play or that you make a play. We've got to earn everything we've got. We'll continue to do that, but right now I know that we're 4-0 and we need to take stock of that and be able to move forward and do our job. I think we've got everybody's attention in terms of what went down, so I think the preparation will be there. It always has been. We don't go out there and play soft, we play hard. You've got to make plays and play smart.
On how much the coaching staff motivated the players heading into the fourth quarter...
The coaches are certainly trying, but internally I think it's your senior leadership and I think you get a sense of inner-motivation. When you're out there playing any position out there, you are out there on your own. It's easy for some coach to tell you to bear down, but you're out there on your own and you've got to make the plays and you've got to get yourself ready to go. That's what I've always believed. At the start of the fourth quarter, they kicked a field goal to make it 17-10 and I said, `Oh, here we go. It's going to be real interesting now.' We rallied up and we played through it and scored and came back and they fumbled and (we) scored again. Those were solid drives down the field, very methodical on the last two drives. Defensively, I think we got them off the field every time after the field goal.
On Shilique Calhoun's performance, including his ability to get pressure while only rushing three...
Great game, I think he had two and a half sacks and sort of took the game over a bit there. He also had a blocked kick. Very special. We've got to be able to get pressure with three when we do do that. We've got to be able to get pressure when we do bring three and when we bring the pressure we've got to deal with that. We also had more penalties than we've had probably this entire season, and I think those things were obviously a factor in the game.
On if there is value to guys having to make big plays near the of close games to build that experience...
Sure there is. I was on a football team in 2002 when we won eight games by less than a touchdown. We won a national championship. You just keep playing, and it gives you confidence when you can make plays down the stretch because at the end of the day there's pressure. You're playing under high pressure situations, especially when the expectation is for you to win. To be able to play in the highest pressure situations should give you the most confidence as you continue building your experience.
On CMU QB Cooper Rush's performance...
Cooper Rush came in completing 70 percent of his passes. Ninety passes out of 128 is what he was completing, so 30 a game. Our expectation was that he would go to the right player at the right time. A lot of underneath things and that's what happened. We saw him be extremely effective and they had a good game plan for it. At the end of the day, Central scored 10 points. Regardless of what the statistics say, at the end of the day they scored 10 points. We got them off the field - we had to block two field goals to do it - but a big play to open the game isn't exactly what you're looking for, but things happen and you've got to regroup.
On if he enjoys the pressure of playing in big games being ranked second in the country...
I don't care. I can't control those things. I just understand we need to line up and play and we need to respect our opponent, which I think we did, and then you need to play flawlessly. And when you get in this situation, you've got to take advantage of that situation. Could we have run the ball more effectively? Yes. Could we have thrown it more effectively? Yes. Could we have played better pass defense? Yes. But we did a lot of good things too. We won the football game going away and in the end, that's what happened. The fourth quarter went our way almost entirely.
Central Michigan Head Coach John Bonamego
On junior quarterback Cooper Rush's play, particularly in the first half...
Throwing for completions on third down was key. Cooper is a great football player. He's the leader of our offense. He's done a tremendous job and you can't say enough good things about him. We're very happy to have him.
On how tough it was to come up empty on field goals early...
It was very tough. We were scratching and clawing to get down there and to come up empty-handed was really discouraging.
On the play of junior wide receiver Anthony Rice...
He ran some good routes today and the big thing was that Cooper trusted him. He's one of the guys that Cooper trusts. He's a hard worker and a good football player. We're really happy to have him.
On whether playing against some of the top programs in the country will help them moving forward when they start MAC play...
Well in terms of players, we were going up against the very best. They're exciting players and it's always exciting to play in the Big Ten and at Michigan State - who's ranked second in the country. It's exciting; it's what college football is all about. Our kids were really juiced up, our staff was really juiced up, and all week we were fired up to play this football game. I think every day we are looking to get better and when you feel like you're hanging in with the big boys there's a lot of confidence that comes along with that. But we've still got some work to do.
On the run game...
It was hit and miss. It wasn't like we were ripping off five-yard runs every carry but I wouldn't say that we couldn't run the ball. They have an excellent front. I think you need to take Air Force out of the equation because they run the triple-option, but they have been consistently one of the top run-stopping teams in the country. I thought we had spots here and there.
On the Spartans senior defensive end Shilique Calhoun making plays to beat the Chippewa protection...
There were a couple times where he beat the tackle and put some pressure on Cooper. The guy is a great player and a freakish athlete. It comes down to players making plays.
On the positives and what the team needs to work on going into conference play...
We need to stop hurting ourselves. We need to stop hurting ourselves with penalties first of all. I thought we've done a better job of taking care of the football. We haven't really turned it over at an alarming rate or anything like that. I think moving forward we have to continue to take care of the football. I'm probably just most upset about the penalties. The holding penalties and the procedure penalties.
Co-offensive coordinator Dave Warner
On bringing Gerald Holmes in late in the game...
He's a good enough player to play for us. He played early in the year, and I'm always looking for opportunities to get him in. I wanted to get him in the first half; it didn't happen, but there wasn't necessarily a plan that we were going to get him in this situation. I just felt like we missed a couple cuts early on and in the first half, and I just wanted to give him an opportunity and he deserves it. He stood up and did a good job.
On the game plan once the offense has a big lead...
In the second half, yeah, we're trying to control the football, but no, we're trying to score. We had limited chances, obviously, this game. Third quarter, we sputtered a little bit, mostly because of penalties, I believe. Right off the bat, we had a couple penalties that drove us back which put us behind the chains a little bit. But, I tried to stay aggressive. We tried to stay aggressive with our attack offensively, just because I think that's important for us to do. Fortunately, it worked out in the fourth quarter. I'm not all that worried about yards and all that stuff, I'm worried about wins.
On the performance of Dennis Finley after losing Jack Conklin...
It's hard for me to say how Finley did. I think he did ok, and we ended up scoring two big fourth quarter touchdowns. It's obviously a major deal when you lose a guy like Conklin. Josiah Price, certainly, going down late is a concern as well, but credit to Coach Staten and our offensive linemen for stepping up. It happens every year. We always have guys that step in and rise to the challenge. I think that happened today. We'll have to find out for sure when we watch the film, but that's life in the offensive line. You have to have a guy that's going to be able to step in when guys get dinged up. Fortunately, we had some guys do a pretty good job today.
On LJ Scott getting dinged up...
Nope. We tried to roll guys in and stay with the high guy. He certainly didn't do anything wrong, we just felt that Gerald deserved an opportunity and Madre (London) got a little bit hot that one drive. I can't remember for sure.
Co-defensive coordinator Mike Tressel
On the third down situation...
In the first half, I think they were six for nine and a lot of third and 10+ conversions. We need pressure. We didn't get home fast enough. We probably spent too much time disguising and not enough time getting after it, trying to beat people one on one. He is good enough to find the holes. In the second half, we were a lot more successful. We dropped eight, tried to eliminate all those windows, guys like Shilique (Calhoun) would get home with the three-man rush and we're good enough to do that. We tried to eliminate the windows because he was good enough to find them. We were hitting him, but he could take the hit and deliver the ball, so we said, 'in the second half, let's drop it.'
On Arjen Colquhoun...
I think he did a good job. I really do. I think he got more and more comfortable as the game went on. I think our whole secondary did. I think there was a little lack of focus, a little lack of eye control with the back seven in the first half. All those guys got a little more attention to detail in the second half. Arjen did a good job and Darian Hicks came back in the second half, got a couple pass break ups and did a really good job. Just like Dave (Warner) was talking about with the offensive line, it's the game of football; when somebody goes out, you need other people to step in. That's how you become a great team. It's not about the 22 you start at the beginning of the year with. It's about 105 guys. Arjen did a good job, but in the second half, everybody got a chance to get in there and really stepped up.
On Andrew Dowell...
Andrew is an explosive playmaker, so we are trying to find ways to get him on the field. Like any young player, though, there are going to be some mistakes that are made, so putting him in positions where he can be explosive, where we can take advantage of those big plays, but limiting opportunities for mistakes to hurt us. He started the whole last game and did a good job. He's on all the special teams. He will make big plays in his career, so we're trying to make them happen sooner than later.
On Riley Bullough's impact coming in the second half...
He's an emotional leader. That's the bottom line. First of all, Shane Jones was excellent. He communicated, he ran the show and he made the checks. During our film meetings the last two days leading up to the game, he was making all the calls. I think everybody on the defense felt real comfortable with him and he did excellent. But, Riley is an emotional leader and a very good football player, so there's no doubt it makes a difference when he's in there.
Senior quarterback Connor Cook
On any concerns caused by Central Michigan...
Not really. We know what kind of players we have and the caliber of talent we have. We've been in situations like this before. We've played in big games, especially this senior class. We're all about finishing. That's the one thing that we haven't done well this year so far. I thought that was very encouraging by the way we handled our business in the fourth quarter, finished and were able to put some points up on the board.
On getting into a rhythm...
I wouldn't say that (it was difficult). It's on myself to get into a rhythm, no matter how many times we pass it. Whether it's 50 times or whatever, that's the quarterback's job. That's my job to get into a rhythm, but I thought we started out hot. When we were in the third and long situations, I threw it at LJ (Scott's) feet on one scramble. I threw it short to (Aaron Burbridge) on I think it was first and 10 or first and 15 into that backside curl. Those two throws are on me. I think if that doesn't occur, I throw completions, keep the rock rolling, keep the ball moving, it'd be a different outcome. I wouldn't say it's on the amount of passes you throw, it's definitely on the quarterback, on me, to get into a rhythm.
Senior wide receiver Macgarrett Kings Jr.
On the fourth quarter...
Coach D's biggest thing for this game was finishing. We haven't been finishing well as an offensive unit the last couple of weeks. Even though we came out with victories and we managed to pull of the victories, we still feel like we can go out and do just a little bit more to give ourselves that edge that we need. We prepare for it in practice. When it gets late in practice, around period 13 or 14, we come together as an offense and say, `alright, this is the fourth quarter.' We want to execute, we don't need any false starts or things of that nature. Coach D emphasized playing big in the fourth quarter and doing everything that we need to do to finish out games.
On the expectations put on the team by fans...
That is what is expected of us as a unit, we're the No. 2 team in the country and we should play like it. As long as we go out, execute, and get the W, that's all that matters. We're an elite program. We worked hard for this. Guys who came before us laid down a foundation and it's kind of funny how we're reaping the fruits of their labor. They laid the foundation and we're just following. We're here now. We're one of the top programs to compete for a national title.
On meeting expectations...
When you're the No. 2 team in the country, things are expected of you. I feel like no task is too big for our team. We have a bunch of resilient guys who go out and work hard everyday, including myself. We deserve it. We're not going to let anything pass us by. We're going to enjoy the moment, but we're going to continue to work hard and press on as Coach D always emphasizes.
Sophomore running back Gerald Holmes
On gaining momentum for the fourth quarter...
I go into the game ready for my name to be called. I'm always on my toes and ready. If you go into a game kind of down and not ready, when you're name is called it'll effect you.
On getting opportunities...
I'm human, so I've had ups and downs. At the end of the day, I just have to think positive. I'm a good athlete. I'm a good player. I've got faith in myself.
On the offensive blocking...
I give a lot of credit to the offensive linemen. That's when we play inside zone and trust the blocks. We've got guys like Jack [Conklin] and Trevon Pendleton coming around the corner, and we have to take pride in that.
Michigan State senior linebacker Darien Harris
On the play of Shane Jones in replacement of Riley Bullough, and on what it meant to get Bullough back in the second half
I thought Shane did a phenomenal job in the first half. The middle linebacker has to be the commander out there - guys rally around him and he has to run the show. And for his first start, especially as a sophomore, I thought he did a great job. But it's always good to get your defensive leader back out there. Riley came back with a lot of energy and a lot of intensity, and he got us going in the second half.
When asked if there is added pressure that comes along with the high national ranking
"I don't think so at all. We're #2 right now, and we want to be #1 by the end of the season. We've still got some things to work on, we have some ladders and mountains to climb. At the end of the day I don't think there's pressure on us at all. As long as we go out there and do what we do, take every game one game at a time like coach says, we'll be fine. We just have to go out there and execute."
Michigan State junior linebacker Riley Bullough
On sitting out the first half of today's game
"I was able to watch it on TV and kind of see what Central was doing. I had a lot of energy because I was resting all half, so I was trying to give some of that to the other guys who were working so hard in the first half. It was different because I was out there for warmups, got all ready to go, but then I had to hang back and just watch on TV. So I kind of had to cool down a little bit, but then hype myself back up before halftime, and it all seemed to work out fine." On the first half struggles
"We're ranked #2 in the nation, we have high expectations from the outside, but we also have those expectations for ourselves. We need to show that each Saturday. We can't come out and have a slow half, that just can't happen. I'm just happy I got in there in the second half and we played pretty well. There are still some things we need to clean up, but I'm happy with the outcome."
Senior defensive end Shilique Calhoun
On any concerns caused by Central Michigan...
I agree. You're always going to face adversity in the game but it's just about having faith in your team, your coaches and the coaching scheme they had planned for you guys. It's about going out there and getting the job done. We did that today. We respect their team completely, but we got faith in our team to be able to come back and win the game.
On putting pressure on himself to make big plays later in the game...
That's a big focal point in our room - to get turnovers, to get sacks and we put the blame on the defensive line to make plays ... We need to be able to get past and get into the quarterback before he makes the pass, make plays for our DBs. We trust in them, but we put in on ourselves to create those turnovers and create those sacks. We came in and made those adjustments and the adjustments that the coaches make. They had faith in us and we had faith in each other, so we went out and executed the game plan.
On the energy of the defense...
It was a little slow in the first. We came out a little slow. I think we played aggressively, but we didn't have the energy and excitement that we usually have. It's not on me for the energy level. It's on all of us. We all pick each other up, so I wouldn't say that was something that I looked to do. It's something that we all really collectively came in and made those evaluations. Having energy was one of those evaluations, having a spark. It's great to have Riley (Bullough) come back in too. He's a key part of our defense. He came in with excitement, so that just shows we feed off of each other.
On the two blocked field goals in the first half...
We practice staying low, just making sure we bring as much contact as we can. Execution, our coaches put us in a great position. They understand what offensive schemes are. We have some of the best offensive coaches in college football, so they're able to help the defensive coaches and from there, the defensive coaches are able to line us and put us in right position. Just effort, we came out there and understood that they came down, they drove the ball down, but we stopped them. We put them in field goal range, but then we shut that out also, so the guys came out with effort. I feel like all 11 guys on the field were trying to block that field goal, both of those. It just so happened that it went me and Cooper's way. We both got the block.
On the play of junior wide receiver Anthony Rice...
He ran some good routes today and the big thing was that Cooper trusted him. He's one of the guys that Cooper trusts. He's a hard worker and a good football player. We're really happy to have him.
On whether playing against some of the top programs in the country will help them moving forward when they start MAC play...
Well in terms of players, we were going up against the very best. They're exciting players and it's always exciting to play in the Big Ten and at Michigan State - who's ranked second in the country. It's exciting; it's what college football is all about. Our kids were really juiced up, our staff was really juiced up, and all week we were fired up to play this football game. I think every day we are looking to get better and when you feel like you're hanging in with the big boys there's a lot of confidence that comes along with that. But we've still got some work to do.
On the run game...
It was hit and miss. It wasn't like we were ripping off five-yard runs every carry but I wouldn't say that we couldn't run the ball. They have an excellent front. I think you need to take Air Force out of the equation because they run the triple-option, but they have been consistently one of the top run-stopping teams in the country. I thought we had spots here and there.
On the Spartans senior defensive end Shilique Calhoun making plays to beat the Chippewa protection...
There were a couple times where he beat the tackle and put some pressure on Cooper. The guy is a great player and a freakish athlete. It comes down to players making plays.
On the positives and what the team needs to work on going into conference play...
We need to stop hurting ourselves. We need to stop hurting ourselves with penalties first of all. I thought we've done a better job of taking care of the football. We haven't really turned it over at an alarming rate or anything like that. I think moving forward we have to continue to take care of the football. I'm probably just most upset about the penalties. The holding penalties and the procedure penalties.
Senior cornerback Arjen Colquhoun
On expectations of fans and media...
I don't think they expect too much out of us. We're a second ranked team in the nation, so they want to see perfect football. That's what the media expects and the fans expect. They come to the game and want to see excitement.
On the cause of the fumble...
Coach D just tells us to keep working and that it's never over. You have to finish the play. I think back to the Western game when I tipped it, and the receiver still caught it. So I said `I need to finish every play every time I'm out here.' Regardless if I'm trying to catch [the ball] or not, I'm just trying to finish."
Sophomore defensive lineman Malik McDowell
On facing various offensive styles...
We got a lot of different types of offense that we were playing. It's always good because you never know what you're going to see later on. It was good to play against the hurry-up offenses.
On his personal growth...
I just feel like I'm getting better every day. I'm trying to do work. Doing whatever I have to do to get better.
On what he can learn from Shilique Calhoun...
Trying to be right back there with him. I feel that we all get pressure and that makes us a really good D-line.
On Riley Bullough entering the game after the second quarter...
It got us a little more pumped. I'm pretty sure people know this, but Riley Bullough is probably the pump man of our team. Just having him back out there allows us to get that energy. Nobody on the team can bring that type of energy that Riley can because that's just Riley.
Sophomore linebacker Jon Reschke
On whether he thinks about his injury...
I'm not even thinking about it anymore. It's what can I do to be the best player for my team.
On injuries affecting him this season...
It was real tough to battle against injuries and thinking about them. I'm back and my injuries are done. I'm ready to play.
On depth MSU has at linebacker...
We have a ton of depth at linebacker. They're all young, too, that's the good thing. We're all smart. We know what to do and when to do it.
On issues with CMU getting the advantage on the outside...
We just had some problems in the back end. It was more technique stuff that we're going to get cleaned up. We're going to get the best out of every team we play. Those guys played us tough, and we got a win. A win is a win, and we have to move on to Big Ten season.
Central Michigan junior quarterback Cooper Rush
On pressure from MSU defense...
We were right there in the fourth quarter down seven. Our defense did a great job keeping us in that game with us not scoring. We were moving the ball for the most part, but kept shooting ourselves in the foot with long third downs.
On losing three games to Power Five conference teams ...
We're sick of it, so we're excited about this upcoming challenge we have this week against NIU, starting MAC play. We want to get rid of this taste of losing and get back on a winning track.
On seeing high school teammate and MSU junior wide receiver Matt Macksood ...
It was cool to see him. I haven't seen him in a while, and we'll have to catch up with him a little bit. A little different being on the field in different colors, but it was cool to see him.
On facing the No. 2 team in the country ...
We're sitting there in the fourth quarter, and we're all just looking at each like, man, it's right there for us. Not much else you can ask for than only down seven in the fourth against the No. 2 team in the country.
Central Michigan junior wide receiver Anthony Rice
On perfecting their routes as a receiving corps...
It's definitely something that (Cooper Rush) talks to us every day. Really pushing past people and getting into our routes and not letting other people dictate what we do. I think the receivers have really taken it upon ourselves to get the job done.
On working his way back from a shoulder surgery...
In the off-season, I was coming off a shoulder surgery and coming off that I think I realized I needed to earn my spot back, and Corey Willis is a great player and he's someone, really with any of our receivers we can interchange, and I just wanted to get back in the lineup and help the team.
Central Michigan redshirt freshman linebacker Malik Fountain
On playing three Power Five conference teams early in the season...
I feel like with the type of systems they run and all of the different things they do is making me a better player.
