Holiday Bowl Head Coaches Press Conference
12/13/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
HolidayBowl.com
Coach Dantonio Press Conference Transcript
Coach Dantonio Press Conference Video
MSU Ticket Office
Bowl Ticket Information
MSU Alumni Association Official Bowl Tour Information
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio and Washington State head coach Mike Leach took part in a press conference in San Diego on Wednesday previewing the 40th annual San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl on Thursday, Dec. 28 at 9 p.m. EST between No. 16 Michigan State (9-3) and No. 18 Washington State (9-3).
This marks the first-ever appearance for the Spartans in the Holiday Bowl. The game will be televised nationally on FS1.
The Spartans finished the regular season with a 9-3 overall record (7-2 Big Ten) and are in position to record their sixth double-digit win season in the last eight years with a victory in the Holiday Bowl. It marks the 10th bowl bid in 11 seasons under Mark Dantonio, who owns a 99-45 record at the helm of the Spartans and will be looking for his 100th win as head coach at Michigan State. Dantonio already owns school records for most bowl wins (four) and bowl appearances (10), including a school-record four-game bowl winning streak with victories in the 2011 Outback Bowl vs. No. 18 Georgia, 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl over TCU, 2014 Rose Bowl against No. 5 Stanford, and 2015 Cotton Bowl vs. No. 4 Baylor.
The Holiday Bowl marks the eighth meeting between Michigan State and Washington State. MSU leads the all-time series, 5-2, with the last meeting arriving in 1977. It will be the first meeting between the two teams in a bowl game.
The Spartans will be making their 27th all-time bowl appearance (11-15 record).
The following is a complete transcript from Wednesday's press conference:
RICK SCHLOSS: We welcome Mark Dantonio from Michigan State.
Mark Dantonio: Thank you. We're excited to be here at the Holiday Bowl. First time for us here in this bowl game. Came in today. I think they're getting seven to ten inches of snow back home, 17 degrees. Out here on the sunny West Coast is great for us.
Not much on opening statements, as well. I'll take questions and we'll go from there.
Q. Coach, like Coach Leach, how do you see this matchup playing out? Do you see more of a low-scoring game or high-scoring game?
Mark Dantonio: Two quality opponents, both top 20 type football teams, well-coached football teams. When you look at them, you see a team that understands what they're doing conceptually on both sides of the ball. They beat the two conference champions in the Pac-12.
How do I see it playing out? Who knows. I don't know. We sort of had the same types of scenarios. We've outscored some people and had some other games that have been a little bit tight. We've gone back and forth as well.
But we're going to find out.
Q. When you have a team that's been off for a month preparing for a bowl, does it take a little something to get going once the kickoff starts?
Mark Dantonio: No, our guys will be ready to play. I think we're focused on that. We had a tough year last year. Our thought process was to make it back and change things back to the way they had been.
We've always come ready to play. That's the one thing that I think we pride ourselves in, that we will come ready to play.
There's preparation with that. There's a mindset. We'll get ourselves going.
Q. Is there sometimes disappointment with where you end up when the team is on track for maybe a different bowl, coming here? Is that something that players had to deal with?
Mark Dantonio: I think everybody goes through that. I think that's part of it. That's sort of old news to me.
We've been focused on the Holiday Bowl since we've been invited. Our guys are very, very excited to come out here.
We've got a lot of guys that have never been to the West Coast. To come out here, see this part of the country, we have a large alumni base in Southern California, out in Arizona, as well. We'll represent that in great fashion. I think our guys are going to be excited.
I've heard nothing but outstanding things about the Holiday Bowl throughout my coaching career. I think Mark Hollis was assistant commissioner for the WAC, at some point came to six of these bowl games, had great things to say about it.
Q. What does Washington State's offense present that maybe you haven't seen before, or have you seen a similar offense?
Mark Dantonio: I think everybody takes something from somebody, so we've seen components of it. Seen the mesh route. I think they're the pioneers in that area, maybe the people that are the ones that do it the best certainly.
Playing no-huddle offenses, passing game they're going to spread you horizontally and vertically. Conceptually they're very well tied together. Very good players, players that play extremely well in space. We're going to have to play well in space on defense. Always how you affect the quarterback usually affects the football game.
They are a very good football team. Very well-coached. (Coach Leach) He's turned programs around, has done this other times. We played against Texas Tech in the Alamo Bowl back in I think it was 2009. We've at least had some experience versus that offense. It goes all the way back to 2002. I had my 2002 notes out the other day from when I was at Ohio State.
It's one of the things coaches do. You keep coaching. I think at the end of the day it's about execution, to be honest with you.
Q. Coach Leach mentioned his wife went to high school here. Do you have any San Diego ties we should know about?
Mark Dantonio: Not that you should know about (laughter).
RICK SCHLOSS: Coach Leach, if you could make some comments, then we will ask some questions.
MIKE LEACH: On behalf of Washington State, we're thrilled to be in the Holiday Bowl, maybe the greatest bowl I've ever been to.
Anyway, with that said, I'm not an opening statement guy, so with that said, do we have any questions?
Q. (No microphone.)
MIKE LEACH: I think they just rotate that. I don't know, though. I'm hardly the expert on that. I'm a go-where-they-tell-me kind of guy.
Q. Your thoughts on San Diego?
MIKE LEACH: I like San Diego a lot. I've been to San Diego quite a bit. My wife is from San Diego, went to Patrick Henry High School. Yeah, so I've been to San Diego quite a bit.
When we got married, I thought I was guaranteed a lot of trips to San Diego, then her parents moved to Utah. I got gypped out of that a little bit. But anyway, it's good to be back.
Q. (No microphone.)
MIKE LEACH: Yeah, it's kind of a next-man-up deal. It's a lot like practice or spring or camp: you just play the next guy.
We're confident in them.
Q. You mentioned how much you like the Holiday Bowl here, greatest bowl ever. Can you expand on that. Why do you really like it?
MIKE LEACH: I think the setting's fantastic. I think where the hotels are situated with regard to things to do within walking distance is excellent. I think that's one of the biggest keys to a bowl as far as the teams go. First of all, you got good hotels where everybody can have a lot of fun. You have plenty of space. Space is huge with regards to football teams. As a matter of fact, when we stay on the road, I don't worry about the quality of the hotel as much as the space. So you got plenty of space. It's a high-quality hotel.
The other thing that I think is important is walking distance. You don't have to mess with the logistics of cars or buses or all that. On their downtime, everything is right across the street or down the boardwalk.
Q. (No microphone.)
MIKE LEACH: Once we get here? We'll let them go out, have kind of a later curfew early in the week, then tighten is up as we get through the week.
We enforce it, but from my experience in the past, generally, with a few rare exceptions, pretty good luck as far as guys getting themselves in.
Q. The Holiday Bowl has a reputation for shootouts, fantastic finishes. How do you see this matchup finishing out?
MIKE LEACH: I think it will be a shootout and a fantastic finish (laughter).
You got kind of contrasts styles. They're big and strong and physical. We're trying to maneuver some stuff around. I think it's a good matchup. I think it will be fun to watch.
Q. (No microphone.)
MIKE LEACH: Hopefully higher scoring. I think, yeah, the best thing about our team this year is we're a pretty complete team. We had contributions pretty consistently throughout the season on all three sides of the ball: special teams, offense and defense.
Of the teams that I've coached, as far as all three sides of the ball contributing, not having a real weak spot, I felt like this was one of my more balanced teams.