Michigan State University Athletics
Player Quotes: Penn State
11/1/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
EAST LANSING, Mich. â€" Several Michigan State players met with the media on Tuesday to preview this Saturday's game vs. No. 7 Penn State.
No. 24 MSU hosts the No. 7 Nittany Lions in a Big Ten East Division clash on Saturday, Nov. 4 at noon in Spartan Stadium. The game will be televised on FOX. The Spartans (6-2) had their four-game winning streak snapped in heartbreaking fashion last Saturday, falling at Northwestern in triple overtime, 39-31.
The Nittany Lions (7-1) suffered their first loss with a 39-38 setback at No. 6 Ohio State in a top-10 showdown at Ohio Stadium. MSU and PSU are both tied for second in the Big Ten East Division standings at 4-1.
Sophomore linebacker Joe Bachie
On what stands out about Penn State…
Obviously (Saquon) Barkely and their run game. They've got a great receiving tight end in number 88 (Mike Gesicki), number five (Daesean Hamilton) in the slots is a good receiver, so you know they're going to take shots down field. They're very dynamic, they like explosive plays, so our goal is going to be to contain that.
On if there is a silver lining in the loss to Northwestern…
Obviously it's tough to lose like that; you go into overtime, three overtimes, and you lose that game in that situation. We talked about it, you know, we've got to bow-up at the end. We've got to step up to that challenge. Northwestern did a great job, their coaches did a great job against us. They had a great scheme, a great plan going into the game. We had chances to stop them, we just couldn't execute.
On what the difference was in overtime for the defense…
One thing happened, I miscued on defense and it kind of snowballed. Someone has got to step up or someone's got to make that play to try and get the momentum back on our side. It kept rolling there through three overtimes.
On Penn State's offense…
Yeah, they're going to be a tough one. Every week is a challenge, but you know this team has got so many weapons. We've really got to focus in and do our job. It's something that we've got to bounce back on from last week.
On facing players who are in the race for the Heisman…
As a competitor you look to play against guys like that. They are a very explosive offense so you've got to try and limit that. Eighty-eight and number five are great receivers for them. Barkley, obviously, is a very dynamic player so if we can contain that then we'll be fine.
On how Penn State's throwing game compares to Northwestern's…
We'll watch film and we see missed tackles that we had against 21 (Northwestern's Justin Jackson), and you know what our problem was our leverage. Barkley is a shifty running back and he's got the opportunity to go the distance a lot, but we'll watch that film on Barkley and Jackson and that helps us out here doing drills to work on our leverage, because last week we weren't great on that.
Senior linebacker Chris Frey
On going into the Penn State game as the underdog…
I think it's just in our blood. It's something we just have in the back of our minds. It's something we don't really need to talk about, but we just know that everybody has doubted us forever. It's something that comes with our territory and it's who we are, and that's something we use as motivation going into games.
On if this game helps after a loss…
You never want to lose, but this definitely helps going into a game like this after a loss, knowing that we have to win if we want to go to the places that we want to.
Sophomore quarterback Brian Lewerke
On developing connections with his receivers…
Pretty well I think, it goes from off the field to on the field to in the film room, also.
On stopping the turnovers against Penn State…
Yeah, obviously we haven't been the greatest in our turnover margin, I'm not exactly sure what ours is right now, but it's definitely not in the top of the conference. It's something we've got to work on. We've got ball security drills every day during practice so we've got to be able to translate that into the games and try and limit those as much as we can.
On continual problem with turnovers…
Honestly I don't know. I feel like it's something that kind of builds on itself when teams see how many fumbles we have, they try and go after the ball maybe a little more than they might if it was a team that didn't fumble. That kind of builds on itself more and more until they finally get one. It's just something that we've got to focus on more is fumble and trying to eliminate those.
Freshman wide receiver Cody White
On his development and the connection with Brian Lewerke…
On what has elevated his game the last couple of weeks…
Just the preparation and being able to read defenses and run the routes based on the way the defense is set up, and just relaxing a little bit more. I'm learning and am stepping up every week, up to these upcoming weeks.
On his mentality going into a game…
You always dream big, I'm always a guy who dreams big, so just going into game thinking that you're going to make big plays and just hoping that they happen when they happen.
On what he expects from Penn State's defensive backs…
I expect them to be fast and a big-hitting group. It's going to be a tough task for our receiving group.
Sophomore defensive end Kenny Willekes
On the MSU pass rush against Penn State last year…
On the potency of the Penn State offense…
Different teams have different threats each and every week, but Penn State is a very explosive offense and we need to come to play in order to stop them.
On focusing on Penn State in practice to prevent the big plays…
It's a little hard to emulate in practice, but we've got good players on our scout team, we've got a couple â€" Andre Welch is super-fast and explosive â€" we've got a couple of young guys who are explosive and they work hard each and every day to give us a good look.
On drawing comparisons between Penn State and other teams…
We try to pride ourselves on defense and bringing the mentality each and every week, each and every game no matter who we're playing. Obviously playing Saquon Barkley and that explosive offense brings a little more excitement with it.
On Penn State's offensive line…
They are good. They protected (Trace) McSorley well, they opened up holes for Barkley and they're going to be a big challenge for us this week so we've got to bring it.
