Player Quotes: First Bowl Practice
12/9/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
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EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Several Michigan State players met with the media Friday evening after the Spartans' first bowl practice as No. 16 MSU began preparations to take on No. 18 Washington State (9-3) in the 40th annual San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl on Thursday, Dec. 28 at 9 p.m. EST.
Friday marked the first practice for the Spartans since they defeated Rutgers, 40-7, in the regular-season finale on Nov. 25. Michigan State finished No. 16 in the final College Football Playoff rankings released last Sunday, marking the third time in the four-year CFP era that the Spartans finished in the final rankings (No. 8 in 2014, No. 3 in 2015).
The Spartans lead the all-time series against the Cougars, 5-2, but the two programs haven't faced each other since 1977 and have never met in a bowl game.
Tickets for the San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl are available at msuspartans.com.
Below are quotes from the players that spoke to the media on Friday:
Sophomore quarterback Brian Lewerke:
On his family coming to the game from his hometown of Phoenix, Arizona…
Yeah I'll have a ton of people there since it's a west coast game, which is fun for me. I've got a lot of people coming out. It'll be a short drive and flight home after the game so I'm pretty excited about that.
On playing Washington State…
I think it's two very opposite end of the spectrum-type of offenses. Obviously they throw the ball a lot and we're kind of mixed. If they start putting a lot of points on the board â€" we have confidence in our defense to not let that happen â€" but if it does, we're ready to throw the ball.
Junior safety Khari Willis:
On going to a bowl game…
It's very exciting. We've got a young team, so even guys like Joe (Bachie), you know, he's never been to a bowl game. Justin Layne, never been to a bowl game. It was exciting just to get back out and finally get to play football. The longer you play, I feel like the happier we are as a team.
On the excitement level going into the bowl game…
The excitement level is way up. We're very excited to get out and see how we do. We're just looking to try and make plays on the ball, we're trying to get down what they do. I wouldn't be surprised if they add some new stuff in. Obviously the quarterback throws it around pretty well. The receivers, from what I've seen, look like they catch it pretty good, run good routes. So we're going to see, we're going to look forward to the match-up. We're going to try to scheme them up and see how we do.
Junior tight end Matt Sokol:
On what he feels he personally accomplished this season …
Looking back at the season, obviously there were a lot of things I was happy about, some things I wasn't so happy about. The mistakes that I made I know that I can learn from those and take that with me the rest of my football career in the future. Learn from those, keep those in the back of your head; all the things you didn't do well.
But also, looking back, that was my first season stepping into a starting position after not playing a whole lot my first couple of years here so I thought I did some things pretty well, some things for sure to learn from. Overall, I thought we did a solid job. Definitely, though a lot, all of us across the board, have a lot to learn from.
On what he'd like to improve on…
You know personally, just probably consistency. There were some things I did really well sometimes and some things I lacked. So probably just playing a full, consistent game, series, quarter, half.
On his best individual moment this season…
I had a ton of fun against Rutgers this year. I had a lot of fun on special teams against Penn State, playing at home that was a big game for me. Obviously having a comeback touchdown against Bowling Green after I missed the first one. Minnesota was also really fun for me.
Sophomore linebacker Joe Bachie:
On going to the bowl game…
I'm excited. My first plane ride was when I got here last year so I've never been anywhere, I've never traveled anywhere, so I'm excited to go out to California.
On starting practices for the bowl game…
Yeah having those two weeks off was weird, definitely. You know you come back out here today, get your feet wet again, run around and hit people. This bowl game for a lot of the young guys â€" the true sophomores, the redshirt freshmen, the freshmen â€" you know it's exciting to experience something like this especially in a great place like San Diego.
On (strength & conditioning head coach) Coach Mannie…
His attitude has always been the same. He's always been a hard-nosed guy. We're coming in and we're going to work. His mindset has always been the same since Rutgers, win 10. We've got to go get it, whoever it's going to be. When we were trying to figure out who we were going to play at first, and you know now, Washington State, that's all he talks about: 'We've got to go win 10.'
On having depth at the linebacker position…
Oh it's awesome. When you're deep in a position, your team can play that much faster, that much more confident, because you've got confidence in the next guy coming in. You can look at our money linebacker, our Mike, and our Star and it's not much of a downfall which is exciting. Everybody is going to go out there and they're going to play, they know what they're doing.
On getting back into the flow after having a couple of weeks off…
We had a couple of OTA's the past couple of weeks, so we've been running around. Nothing with pads or footballs, but to come out here today and make some contact, it was fun. I thought we had good tempo today so we're ready to roll into tomorrow.
On Washington State's passing offense…
There's not many tips, either. They do a great job of disguising things. It's going to be a challenge that we've got to accept. It's going to be a difficult one, but these couple of weeks of prep will get us into it. Like I said before, and like you just said, 10 plays, I think his script when you watch the game he doesn't have many plays on there.
On Antjuan Simmons…
He's a guy that it's hard to keep him off the field. You see his work ethic, you see him out here, he's a guy who gets the game of football mentally and physically. He's an exciting guy. I always mess with him, he's my roommate every week. He's a great guy to have on this team in the linebacker spot and we're excited to have that depth there.
On if he sees a lot of himself in Simmons…
Yeah, yeah definitely. He's a guy who asks questions, that's what you need from younger guys. If you don't want to learn, you're never going to be able to and he's a guy who wants to learn, he wants to gain knowledge, and that really excites me for him next year.
On how the feeling this year compares to last year at this time…
Yeah, you know it's a little different, obviously. This is a time where you look up to those seniors, those older guys who have been here in this bowl situation. I think half of our team hasn't even been to a bowl game. Having two weeks off after Rutgers, what do you do in that time? You take care of your body and just moving forward now we've just got to keep pushing, keep having fun with this whole thing and go try and win 10.
On his feelings with the bowl selection getting match-up with Washington State…
Yeah, you know they are a ranked team. They are a great challenge. They beat a couple of top teams. San Diego is a great place. A couple of our staff members went out there and checked out the hotel and everything so I am excited. I've never been anywhere, never went on vacation, my first time going on a plane was last year against Indiana. Going to Cali is going to be a fun time so I'm ready for it.
On if he was surprised with the bowl choice…
Yeah, you're always surprised whatever bowl game you're going to because we never knew, we never had it pinpointed, but Cali is going to be a great time.
On getting 10 wins…
Yeah, 10 wins is a great year for us this year. If we can get that, we can get the momentum going into next year and that's going to be a great accomplishment.
Sophomore safety David Dowell:
On having two weeks off…
Definitely some rest and relaxation. Just getting your legs back under you and if anybody had any injuries or anything like that, healing back up and getting ready to go for this last stretch.
On the feeling playing in his first bowl game…
It's definitely a blessing. When you go through, like you said, when we went to the Cotton Bowl, the college football playoff and then I've been through when we didn't even go to a bowl game, so it's a blessing to be back in a bowl game. Being able to, like you said, have an impact, a bigger impact on it and then just being able to help my team get the win.
Senior linebacker Chris Frey:
On if he's ever been to California…
I've been to California once for a few days but nothing like this. I saw a picture of the hotel that we're staying in â€" it's right there on the water and from what I've heard, it's beautiful. We're really excited to be out there.
On heading to San Diego…
Last year at this time we were sitting at home. Being able to go spend time in San Diego is a blessing.
On talking to Riley Bullough about taking advantage of this opportunity playing in a bowl game…
I talk to him (Riley Bullough) about football every once in a while, but I haven't really reached out to him about that. We're really good friends and we just have ridiculous conversations here and there and we just like to have fun. But, no I haven't reached out to him about that. I think we've learned enough from those guys and we don't really continue to keep bothering them about those questions, but over the years I've learned so much from all of those guys. I've learned enough to be able to take advantage of the information that I've learned from them and use it to the best of my ability.
On having depth at the linebacker position…
Two money linebackers, two Mikes. We have Byron (Bullough) and Tyriq (Thompson) who can step in and get plays when needed, and guys who make plays when they're out there. It's huge for our defense, especially in games like this. We're playing a fast-tempo offense, an offensive line that likes to throw the ball downfield and we're going to get run down. It happens to every team, especially against fast-tempo offenses. It's nice for us to be able to have depth and to have the guy behind us â€" for us, as starters â€" to be able to trust the guy behind us knowing that, you know if we need two to three plays off, they're going to come in and be fine. They're going to make plays and they know what they're doing. So it's huge for this defense, huge for this defense overall to be able to have extra linebackers, leaders on this defense that can come in and take control.
