Michigan State University Athletics
Player Quotes: Northwestern
10/25/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Several Michigan State players met with the media on Tuesday to preview this Saturday's game at Northwestern.
No. 16/18 MSU will look to start 5-0 in Big Ten play for just the second time under 11th-year head coach Mark Dantonio as the Spartans take on the Wildcats Saturday, Oct. 28 at 3:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on ESPN. The Spartans (6-1, 4-0 B1G) won their fourth straight game last Saturday at home over Indiana, 17-9, to remain in a three-way tie for first place in the Big Ten East Division standings, along with No. 2 Penn State and No. 6 Ohio State. The Wildcats (4-3, 2-2 B1G) are coming off back-to-back wins over Maryland and Iowa.
Sophomore linebacker Joe Bachie
On when his redshirt was burned last year…
Actually the week before, it might have been Northwestern, I'm not sure, but I was supposed to play that game. Riley (Bullough) at the end of the week said his shoulder was fine so we was going to start and he played. I was preparing weeks in advance and then the Maryland game came and I wasn't ready to play that many plays, but I was out there 45 or 50 plays, whatever it was. I was just ready weeks in advance.
On if he's shocked with how quickly things have progressed for him…
Yeah, you know changes, you've got to be able to run with it you know. It's something I took advantage of and I had a great mentor last year in Riley. He taught me a lot of things â€" how to watch film, how to prepare for games â€" and you know I thank him for that.
On if he has surprised himself with all of the honors he's received this season…
I know what kind of player I am, but those honors are very humbling to get. I am just excited for this whole team. The defense does a great job, you know, everybody. We've got a lot of unsung heroes I guess you could say who have been flying under the radar and doing a great job, so it's not just all me.
On if he thinks he'll keep getting better…
Yeah, you know everybody is going to grow. As a sophomore, I think we've got, sophomore/freshmen-wise I think that's a majority of our defense and so our whole defense has got a lot of time to grow together which is very exciting and fun to think about. Right now we're working on what's next and that's what we're thinking about.
On the selflessness of the defense…
You know it's great to have a bunch of selfless guys out there. You know they don't care about themselves, they care about the team. Also, in the last game â€" Minnesota â€" you know the tackles weren't up there, still did a great job, still happy after the game. You know the last game, my tackles were up there and it was still the same way, happy after the game. With Mike (Panasiuk) and Rae (Raequan Williams) in there and the rest of our interior guys in there it makes it easy for me, my job becomes easy.
Junior offensive guard David Beedle
On how the offensive line contributes to the run game…
It's huge. We're a run-oriented team and we've always been that way. We'll continue to be that way, that's what we pride ourselves on and the better we run the ball, the better we are as an offense.
On how he felt after his first game back from injury…
Good. I felt fine. My conditioning was fine. I wasn't overly sore or anything so I felt good.
Senior linebacker Chris Frey
On finishing games…
You know last year we didn't finish games very well. It's something we've really focused on through this offseason and through this season so far and I think when games get â€" for example Minnesota a couple of weeks ago â€" we're up a decent amount of points and I think as a defense we kind of were dominating them. Late in the game we kind of sat back and were relaxed and it ended up coming back to hurt us. They put some points up on the board, but we learned from that, definitely. Guys are just stepping up and making plays late in the game. We continue to talk on the sideline throughout the entire game about focusing up and staying in the moment, being ready for anything that can come our way.
On finishing October 5-0 in Big Ten play… That's huge for us. We're really excited to go into this game, go into Chicago and face a good team. We know that we're in the driver's seat of the car that is going to take us wherever we need to go. Everything is in front of us and we just need to focus on what we've got to do and we can win these games.
On the team's grittiness…
For our defense, I think honestly the past couple of weeks we've had opportunities where there have been sudden changes where the offense has turned over the ball and they're close to their touchdown, their end zone, and our defense has come out on the field and shown the grit that we have and forced field goals in those situations. I think that is a clear, that's clear grit there honestly. You know you go out there and they've got 10 yards to go and you make them force a field goal. That's huge for our team, that's huge for our defense. That just shows grit right there.
On Chase Gianacakos' play at the tight end position…
I think it definitely helps us get an extra blocker out there on the field that can go out there on the edge and make the blocks that we need. You've seen it in the past couple of weeks with the blocks we've had out there on the edge, you know he's doing really well for us. That spot has just helped our offense out tremendously in the way that he's been blocking out there on the edges.
Sophomore quarterback Brian Lewerke
On the upcoming game at Northwestern…
I am just working on my accuracy. I want, you know, 65-70 percent completion is my goal. I just need to complete the passes when given the opportunity.
On if it's difficult having 6-7 guys rotating in at receiver…
No, it's kind of funny sometimes, I won't even notice them rotate. We'll call a play and I'll look out and I see we've got like three different receivers than what I had the play before. It's fine with me. I trust all of them. They all know where they're supposed to get on the routes, we work on that in practice and I've got a good rhythm with anyone that goes out there.
On how Justin Layne's play has improved each week…
He pretty much shut down (Indiana's) Simmie Cobbs, yeah he essentially did. There was that one play where he got him early on the 50/50 ball, you know those things happen. I think he's done a fantastic job, he's got the height too which is good. Him and Josiah (Scott), they're perfect matches to each other because if there's a tall receiver, Justin can go over and Josiah can play the other one. I think they're both fantastic players.
Sophomore defensive tackle Mike Panasiuk
On watching the film from the Northwestern game last year…
I remember watching the film from last year and seeing how I put last year on, I was like what was I doing? The confidence level is up and I know what I'm doing, 100 percent and it's just really weird watching me from last year but I know every year I keep getting older and older it's going to be the same thing.
On the adjustments the younger guys have made this year…
They're kind of the ones that came up to me and were like, ‘woah you look different out there,' all of the young linebackers on the team were like, ‘we've been watching your film and you totally look different out there, you look a lot bigger,' and I was like, ‘yeah I weighed 315 last year and now I'm a good, solid 295.' So, just looking at the film from last year and this year it's just been different.
On the true freshmen making the transition to college football quickly…
Oh yeah, I was telling them too, you know you've just got to keep going week by week. Things are just going to keep flying and I know that from the beginning of the season to the end of the season, when I started, you could totally see the different progression and the confidence that I started to play with.
Sophomore defensive tackle Raequan Williams
On the different schemes the defensive line is playing this season…
They're letting us play a lot of different schemes, compared to last year there's a lot of different schemes. We've got so many of them now, so we don't know what to expect. I'm not saying last year they knew what to expect, but there weren't as many.
On the confidence knowing they will rotate people in on the defensive line in games…
We watched the film from last year's game and everybody was like what were we even doing? I don't know, we just looked bad. It was a whole different vibe. It feels good knowing that the guy coming in is going to give the maximum effort that I just gave. We know we're staying fresh so we don't have a choice but to go all out when you're in.
On what the main difference is from last year to this year…
We've got 11 guys doing their job. That's the thing, from last year's team, everybody trying to do another job because another guy's not doing their job. So people were trying to do their job and another guy's job and you can't play like that. Everybody is just doing their job this year.
Freshman wide receiver Cody White On how it is to be a true freshman and to be successful on the field…
Yeah, it's been good just to know that I'm helping out the offense in any way that I can and just returning punts and getting them the ball back.
On what the environment is like off the field with the true freshmen…
Me and Laress (Nelson) have been returning the whole year and it's just been a new experience for us. We've got some learning things to do and we just learn every week.
On the personnel changes with who takes the punts and kickoffs each week…
Like I said, it's more of a development thing with us learning every week and trying to get better with punt returning and kick returning. We do have Connor Heyward â€" a freshman too â€" as well doing kick return, so it's just a development thing for us.
On what changed for him between the last two games…
I guess, I wouldn't really say anything changed. I feel I just got different opportunities in different games. I feel our receiving group comes out every game the same way and it just happened to be my day that day.
On if he's created some separation between himself and the rest of the receiving group…
I wouldn't say so. I think we've got a tight group and we're just together right now for real.
Junior safety Khari Willis
On what he's seen from Justin Layne's play this year…
I feel like he's able to just focus in on his technique. I thought he played Simmie Cobbs, you know their big receiver, I felt like he played him pretty well last week. I've got a lot of confidence in him. I thought he had a great game tackling last week. I feel like he will continue to improve â€" just a sophomore â€" he's doing a great job.
On the upcoming Northwestern game…
Yeah, they did put 54 on us last year. We do take note of that and they like to run the ball. We do know that they're a capable team. They've got a quarterback with a good arm and he likes to spread it around a little bit. The receiving core is pretty much even as far as receptions. We just want to come in, we respect this team and know that they are tough, a tough team and we're just going to have to come out and make the most of it.
On if they look harder at teams who beat them last year…
Yeah absolutely. We were here last year so you know we felt that. It is something that we can't control now, but you know it was an opportunity that we let slip last year. This year you try to learn from your past mistakes and move forward. They have a different offense too, you know they don't have the Big Ten Receiver of the Year this year, at least right now. We'll see how it pans out.
