Post-Game Quotes: Central Michigan

MICHIGAN STATE

Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio

Opening statement…
Well as I continue to say, nothing's ever easy. You get ahead a little bit, think things are going pretty well and then it gets interesting, but that's football for you. Across the board I thought we played tight in the first half, for the first quarter probably. Then played extremely well in the second quarter and then into the third sort of controlled the line of scrimmage certainly from a defensive standpoint and came up with some big turnovers. Then more difficult to move the ball along so everything was pretty lopsided in that regard. Then the fourth quarter came and it got a little bit interesting for us, but that's football for you. Ran the ball more effectively I thought with our tailbacks inside. Still gotta bust one – we still gotta bust a big one, I think, or two. Had a missed scoring opportunity in the first quarter but got back on track; Good two-minute drive at the end of the first half to take it to 17-3. Anyway, we'll keep playing. We were out some guys, as you guys probably know, we were out some guys offensively. I think we had four or five missing that usually play for us so opportunity for some of our younger players to play and pick up the game and run with it. I thought La'Darius (Jefferson) ran the ball pretty hard, pretty effectively, Connor (Heyward) in there and (Brian) Lewerke with two touchdowns. Defensively I thought we played extremely well… You know, roughing the passer, you can't…. And that was a good call but that gave them a first down they hit a double pass on us and all of a sudden it just gets interesting. I'll just take some questions but happy we're 3-1, got Northwestern next week. Three out of the next four are home games. Thought the crowd was outstanding and we're looking forward to the next challenges.

On what happened in the fourth quarter…
Well I think they did a nice job onside kicking. And blooping it up we almost lost another one and they took a shot deep there. Momentum started to change and momentum is a very powerful thing. I was impressed with their offensive controlling the clock the last six minutes. I think if you really look at the numbers of the game, I think what is it? 37 to 22 possessions and time. Couldn't run the football very effectively – they could not so it became a one-dimensional game and we did get after the quarterback. I think we sacked maybe three times but he got out, I think, how many times? Fifty. He got out way too often, probably six or seven and that makes it always dicey for you. But you've got to credit Central. They kept playing, they had a plan. We got our hands team in. We're telling everybody watch the kick, you know, I think figuring maybe that they'll onside kick it but there's 12-something to go in the game and I think we must've misaligned a little bit. That's why I challenged it, I thought it hit his foot, but it must've happened after 10. You guys love to ask complicated questions.

On the double pass…
Great call and great execution. Our corner lost the X. We expected him to pass off the option; they had not shown the option coming into the football game so we expected him to have a pass or some type of trick play off the option, so they did not disappoint. Again, it was just deflating, I guess you'd say. But credit Central and their play calling and what they tried to do. They stayed on it; You know, 31-3 and they stayed on it. Give them credit and they did a nice job with those kicks there at the end.

On if the referees should've called holding on the Central defense more…
No, I didn't see that. I'd have to watch the film to see that, but I did not see that. I'll just say they did a nice job and we'll go from there.

On preparing for trick plays and onside kicks…
Well we work and we work thirty trick plays. We work those, but we had not worked the double pass stuff. We've worked double passes but not off the option. It was just off the option, praying there's a quick pass out and he got it out; It was a backward pass. We've said all week long that they do throw the ball backward and we have to be alerted for a double pass. Tre Person played for Josh Butler, who was hampered a little bit, so we held him out. This was his first time playing so, you know, he learned a little bit, but you got to stay with your guys pretty much that simple.

On if there was concern about the focus…
No, I wasn't concerned about focus, I was concerned about Central, personally. I thought we had focus as evidence by going down the field offensively, had to make some plays offensively to run the clock out and we did. We played pretty well defensively, it's just, you know… They played very well. I mean they got 200-something yards of offense – 250 I think. I don't have my glasses on but you give them some credit. Their onside kick was well-executed; They popped it deep, put it on the ground and unfortunately we moved the ball on that one. We got out of there and we took it down the field.

On the team's penalties compared to the previous three games…
Well we had one offsides penalty when we jumped, we had a roughing penalty, and I think from a penalty standpoint, I don't think we had any holding penalties; I thought we did better. I thought we did better. Some of the things you can't make… You know, the one on Justin (Layne), I mean the guy is coming, we're… It's just football. You're making a split second decision because people are in awkward positions. Sometimes those things are going to happen. Again, I don't have my glasses on so I'm not sure how many penalties we had.

On the status of the injured players and the chemistry between Lewerke and the other receivers…
Yeah it's difficult, but I don't ever come in here and make excuses. Cody (White)… When guys are out I tell you, so he won't be playing. He has a broken hand so he'll be out for a little bit. We'll just have to… I think we'll get the other guys all back so we'll see when they get back and that kind of thing. They should be back relatively quickly, I believe; We'll see. It's a tough break, no pun intended. He's playing very well and has some big plays in the game for us and has all season, but he'll be back this season as well so things could be worse – always can be.

On what impresses him the most about La'Darius Jefferson...
La'Darius is a big back. He's only played tailback for a couple months. He's been a quarterback for all his life really, and has been a very successful quarterback running the football. He has good vision, keeps his shoulders square, and has a low center of gravity for a big guy. He's almost 230 pounds and he's a very positive guy. I think conceptually because he was a quarterback he understands things. He's not afraid to compete. I thought all three of our tailbacks did a nice job. It was good to see. Elijah Collins could have gotten in there too. He has that talent level as well.

On the offensive line combinations...
Coach Staten alternates those guys in there. I think, for the most part we were down a couple guys, but Cole (Chewins) played a little bit more I think.

On the things he likes about this team, and things he'd like to see improve...
I really like our attitude. I think in what we're doing, there aren't any excuses being made. I think we come out and practice really well, we get along really well, we're doing all the things we need to do from that standpoint. Tangibly what you see on the field, I think we eliminated some of the penalties, but I think we need to continue to do that. The unforced ones, the ones that we can. We need to be able to run the ball effectively, either between the tackles or around the edge when the tailback runs. I think our passing game has been pretty good, we've been down a couple receivers, but I Iook at it like, "did so-and-so get better today because he got an opportunity to play." C.J. Hayes played for the first time. Laress Nelson made a couple catches. You had Andre Welch in the game with a jet sweep run. So, we got some different guys playing in there. That's good for them. Every football team is always a work in progress. We'll come and we'll compete, and that's all I can ever ask our guys. We need to eliminate the mistakes and when we have opportunities we need to take advantage of them. Whether that's on defense, or on offense, or on special teams. We had a chance to put them away when it's 31-3 and we let them have a drive down the field. Everybody has scholarship players, and they have players and coaches. They did a nice job responding.

On the play of Brian Lewerke...
I think a couple of those interceptions have been very good plays by the defender on deep balls. You have to credit them on that. You're always going to want to have a couple back. We play these games one game at a time, and this was in the win column. I thought he did some things really well out there, had a couple touchdown runs, he moved in the pocket, and had some big plays from out of the pocket. He made some good decisions on blitzes to get the ball out hot. He had some RPOs that were very-well executed. There were a lot of good things he did, but you have to watch the film and listen to the quarterback coach to make sure everything is going accordingly. I don't worry about the interceptions as much as how we play every single game. You'd like to have the one back, but he may have been getting held on that play.

On the leap this team needs to make going into October, and the teeth of the schedule...
We said all along this was going to be the meat of the schedule. Our goal was to get through August camp and play through the first four. Then you hit that October deal and if you play well in October, you're competing for championships in November. That's our goal. Compete for the championship in November. Before we can do that, we have to play well in October. Northwestern comes in, and we always have great games with Northwestern. If you don't think games are tight around here, just look at the history. That's been the nature. I like to say we play with grit, that we somehow find a way. We've won a lot of close games here, and we'll come and we'll play. But, we have to play better in certain areas, there's no question about that. We need to roll up our sleeves and get to work on Monday.

On the play of the running backs...
I thought Max (Rosenthal) had a big block on the goal line, I know that. He was in there probably 10 plays or so. I thought he did some good things, so we'll watch the film and see. As far as LJ, you know, he's a tailback, so if you have a little bit of an ankle or something like that, it's tough to cut and everything. He'll be ready to go. He practiced this week. And when you look at it, you want to play the best player at the time. Sometimes the best player at the time is the guy who's not injured. He should be ready, and they all assured me they'll be ready next week. So we'll see what happens.

Co-Offensive Coordinator Dave Warner

On the running game today...
Obviously it has been a situation where in the first couple of weeks where we had nothing running as well as we needed to. It has been an emphasis and wanted to commit this game to running it and I think we did. I think we did a decent job. I think our guys up front got some movement. I think our backs ran with more purpose and I think that is something to build on. By no means are we there yet with the run game but it's a step in the right direction so we need to keep going that direction.

On Brian Lewerke's decision making...
I think that probably with the struggles we have had in the run game I think Brian was probably putting a little extra pressure on himself. To be quite honest with you our pass game has needed to carry us for the most part and he was probably trying to do a little too much, and force things a little too much. I think those are the results. It is something that we are very well aware of and need to correct because we can't go through the Big Ten season turning the ball over.

On the interception by Lewerke...
The pick today was top shelf there in the end zone and the corner under cut it. I don't think it was necessarily a bad decision but it probably could have just been put in a safer spot.

On Lewerke's mobility...
I am not sure there was a called quarterback run today. I am trying to think and I cannot remember one. He did a very good job on getting outside of the pocket, especially in the fourth quarter. That is something we have told him time and time again. When you are out there go ahead and throw it but if you see some green space go ahead and run it.

On the touchdown run by Lewerke...
The touchdown was not necessarily a called quarterback run but he made a good read and good run. He is doing a good job with it and obviously again we need to sort of pick and choose those situations where we want to do that.

On the penalties...
We just need to tighten it up I guess from a discipline standpoint or a focus standpoint. When you have been offsides or whatever it may be I think it just comes down to focus. Again, something we know that we have had issues with and it has been addressed. We just need to stress it and make sure the guys continue to grow and not shoot yourself in the foot.

On the challenges for the passing game...
I feel like when you have a starting quarterback and your top four or five receivers, those guys are very much on the same page. Not that the other guys don't know what you are doing, but anytime you start to dip into five, six, seven, eight, nine guys you might not be on the same page. It is an adjustment. We certainly have a lot of depth and talent at those positions so it is just a matter of them getting on the same page.

On Connor Heyward and La'Darius Jefferson...
I don't think that there is anything different that we gameplan or call without LJ Scott in the game.   As far as LJ, he is a day-to-day deal and we want to get him back as soon as we can. We feel good about our depth at running back and some of those guys I think stepped up today. I think the offensive line has a big part in that. I think they gave us some opportunities today while at the same time I think we did a good job when there were creases of getting vertical and running with power.

Defensive Coordinator Mike Tressel

On closing the game...
We trust the guys to go out there and seal it but I am definitely not happy with the fact that we gave up points in the fourth quarter I mean that shouldn't happen. This is what we actually talked about at half time, we need to play our best in the fourth quarter since we have not done that yet this year.

The defense potential...
The way they are playing against the rush is obviously special. Both yards count the same if they are running the ball or passing the ball. It comes down to total yards and more importantly, total pass. Really it is closing out the game. I don't know if the passing stats were great or anything like that, but we just need to close out the game.

On the secondary's aggressiveness...
I think they are talking amongst themselves. There is pride in that group and our defensive backfield and they don't think that they have played to their ceiling yet and they will continue to get better. It was mostly talk amongst themselves. They wanted to be more aggressive, they wanted to step up their game. You can see we played a number of different people in there as well, especially at corner so there are some different faces in there. They are continuing to get better, the linebackers are continuing to get better in pass coverage but that must continue to be a focus for us especially when it becomes a passing game and you know that is what is going to happen.

On the differences in the fourth quarter...
When you look at the fourth quarter, we had some opportunities to get off the field and made some mistakes like the roughing the passer call. A couple big plays that we gave up. We gave up an option pass where we are in deep thirds coverage and the things they have to do is do those tricks and take some shots so we made a couple mental mistakes. What I hope didn't happen was that we lost focus at the end of the game. That is what I hope didn't happen but we are going to address that and make sure the focus in the fourth has to be even more tuned up then at the beginning of the game.

Michigan State quarterback Brian Lewerke

On playing a little more on his legs…
Yeah, a little bit, I wanted to get that going. That was something I'm kind of working on. I hadn't got going yet this year, so I wanted to make sure I was kind of focused on making my plays with my legs. Just pulling the ball sometimes, trying to get as many yards as I can.

On what the play was supposed to be on his run…
It was just supposed to be inside going the other way and we called it the wrong way, but it didn't really make too much of a difference because I was still supposed to read the end so I just read him and he kind of crashed on the other side so I pulled and ran. It was a read to the D-end, he was just supposed to be on the other side.

On playing without Darrell Stewart…
They would have always dealt with a boundary receiver that was most of the time Felton in 3-by-1 so going into the game being with Cody still in there they were doing that, but without him in the second half we're just trying to get the ball to new guys. They've all been practicing. They all know the stuff so it's different not having the main guys out there, but I thought they all did a great job of stepping up.

On what he saw from his team offensively and defensively…
It's just disappointing for me. It's something that we are very aware of. I think the defense played great you know that trick play to score a touchdown obviously when it's a lesser opponent they're going to do that, but I think the defense played incredible today. Offensively we just kind of got stopped a little bit going into a little bit of the third and fourth quarter, probably should have put up more points but it just sucks that we can't finish out teams. I really want to be able to do that and hopefully we'll be able to do that at some point.

On what changed after the slow start…
We ran the ball well the entire game. I don't think there was a difference in anything like that, it just we knew our defense was going to get a stop, so we could always keep getting the ball back, it was also on our mind it's not too big of a deal if we don't score here, we're going to get it right back anyway, but that's something I guess we've got to change. In our mind just try to put as many points up early as we can.

Michigan State sophomore RB Connor Heyward

On if it feels like Brian Lewerke isn't running as much as last year...
I don't know honestly, I didn't pay attention till you asked. But Brian can run the ball. Today, they called a lot of different reads, reading the ends and different guys. He made the right reads on those plays and made the most of it.

On how valuable it is for the freshmen running backs to get reps...
It helps them a lot. It's gonna get them ready for next year and years to come. Practice reps help, but it's not 100% until it's a game. It's not live. In practice, we play against the same defense everyday, but they might try to do different things. You gotta learn on the fly. Each week is a new team so you must be able to lock in on your assignments. That will help them in years to come.

On how he can improve...
I think I can improve on everything. Whether it's me or any other running back. Running the ball or blocking. Protection is key you gotta block to be able to keep the ball. They preach that and carrying out fakes. Just seeing the different blitzes. Each game you can use that as a tool to learn more and more. When we watch film, it'll help you bring everything together.

On if there was a lack of focus in the fourth quarter...
I wouldn't say there was a lack of focus. We gotta pay more attention to detail. The little things matter, and we gotta find the inches like Coach D preaches each day. Whether it's the ones or the twos playing, everyone's gotta be ready to go We're trying to get some of the younger guys and some of the guys who don't get as many reps in the game so if it's their time, they're ready.

Michigan State linebacker Joe Bachie

On what he thinks happened for Central Michigan to come back in the fourth…
No not that, we had confidence in our twos, but they came out in that little bone set and they started running the option a little bit, we haven't practiced it. You know guys didn't know their job and they busted a couple times and all of a sudden, they bring the double pass. We brought a blitz that time, our safety bit up a little bit, our corner threw over the top of the touchdown. We're fine; we'll watch the film and we'll learn from it, but like you said we dominated for three quarters.

On stopping the Chippewa run game…
I think in the first half they had a running back draw, they had a QB run and then they run an RPO off a power set and that's all they did run wise. It was like if you're a linebacker and interior guy it kind of sucks, but no a lot of running to the ball. They were trying to get us on the edge a little bit which is fine. We had confidence in our guys outside like you saw we were getting three and outs in that first half.

On his defense and their performance…
We got hitters in the back end. You know Khari (Willis), David (Dowell), Mo (Matt Morrissey) those guys love to come down and bang which is a good thing. You saw X even on the alley one time today and make a play. We got guys back there who want to make plays which is a great thing to do, a great thing to have. In the past game, they would bait him in a couple routes on third down, making a big hit, stop, get off the field so they do their job very well and they brought the wood.

On if there was a loss of focus in the fourth and how to clean it up…
Definitely got to be sharper in the fourth quarter. Coach Tressel when we got to halftime said 30 more minutes of domination and we might have only had 15-20 minutes of domination and against a team that are in it a little more you know those are the lapse we can't have that's going to lead to a loss or something. We have to stay focused, that's on us, we'll work on it this week.

Michigan State junior defensive end Kenny Willekes

On how impressed he was with the whole unit today…
I thought we played well as a unit. We attacked well. We played well throughout the first three quarters, and then we let our foot off the breaks a little bit and let it get close. So we have to finish.

On leaving sacks on the field…
I felt personally I did; I'm sure other people feel the same. I thought the quarterback did a good job of getting rid of the ball, but I feel like we did leave some sacks on the field today.

On getting pressure on the CMU quarterback…
It's good just because you continue to see positive increases each week with more and more pressure. You've got a lot of guys stepping up in the passing game, so it's good to see that becoming a more consistent thing in our defense.

On the fourth quarter vs the first three quarters…
We just let our feet of the gas. We let them come back in the game; we have to finish.

On not seeing the options and double pass…
Obviously, we didn't practice for that. We didn't know it was coming, but you know you always got to be alert you always got to be looking for things like that to happen. You have to have discipline and eye control so things like that won't happen.

On mindset going into games being top 10 rushing defense…
We just talk about it before every game, stop the run! It's one of our goals day in and day out, in practice and in the off season to stop the run. So, we pride ourselves on that and continue to do it at a high level.

Michigan State junior safety David Dowell

On the way the defense played the first three quarters vs the fourth..
I think we just have to finish. That's a mentality, and that's what it starts with and just little technique things. You know eye discipline things that we can do in the defensive backfield. We can handle teams like that and be better off in the long run.

On the tackling technique and if it was something they focused on…
That's something we always focus on. We do tackle circuit every week and that continues to be a vocal point in our defense. You got to be able to tackle, especially in space as a defensive back, so we will just continue to get better at it each and every game.

How important is it to raise it a notch moving into the teeth of their schedule…
It's very important obviously you know not every team is going to be like Central Michigan. We're going into B1G play, that's physical football, and we really got to be able to close out games and when we get up on teams to keep them down.

On the two interceptions they had…
I think that was huge, you know for Justin (Layne) to get his first interception under his belt, and for me as well and also that spring boarded the offense like you said so that's big. Turnovers, we've been doing pretty well with turnovers, so we just got to continue to get better.

Michigan State junior cornerback Justin Layne

On his interception...
We were in cover 2, I read the quarterback's eyes and tried to make a play on the ball.

On if the defense let off the gas pedal in the fourth quarter...
I wouldn't say that we let off the gas; I think our focus drifted away towards the end of the game. That's just something we gotta build on.

On if the secondary made an effort to hit harder this game...
Coach mentioned in practice that we have to stop the pass more efficiently, so we try to bring up the level of intensity in the backfield. We played a lot of zone and tried to break on everything that we could.

On getting beat on the first play of the game (flea flicker)...
With a flea flicker, you can't really watch film on that. For me personally, it was a lack of focus. I looked inside, and he went away so I just had to grab him instead of giving up a touchdown.

On if it's disappointing when MSU builds a lead, then let's the opponent come back...
Yeah it is. It made me mad. It is what it is though. We just gotta keep playing.

CENTRAL MICHIGAN

Central Michigan University head coach John Bonamego

Opening Statement...
Obviously disappointed with the outcome. Thought we dug ourselves a hole early in the first half. Didn't come here to play a game, we came here to win a game and we didn't do that. However, I'm very proud of the fight in our football team and how they came out and played in the second half and made a game of it. Made some plays and made it an interesting game. Just didn't have enough, quite enough left at the end to pull it out. But I am very proud of the leadership on this team, I'm proud of our coaching staff and I'm proud of all our players for really believing and playing as hard as they could in that second half. It's a game of execution, it's a game of mistakes. We had too many penalties today, we had too many turnovers in the first half and you can't do that against a good football team like Michigan State and expect to win. So really proud of the effort. We will go back home and we'll look at this tomorrow, we'll improve off of it and we'll be a very good football team down the stretch here.

On the offense…
I think we did a good job in the second half of moving the ball. Had a few wrinkles in there. You play a defense like Michigan State it's going to be tough to move the ball, regardless of who you are, especially on the ground. They're ranked number one in the country for a reason. They're very good. So we knew this was going to be a tough, tough matchup. What we need to do is not commit penalties and turn the ball over.

On the two trick plays…
Yeah we talked about that during the week. And if you put the surprise onside kick in there, and there'd be three of them, you know we thought it was important to get a spark, make some plays and really roll the dice a little bit. I thought we did you know, thought we did a good job on all of those. We were three for three in those situations so it was good.

On time of possession…
Well, I mean it comes down to moving the chains and you know, keeping drives going and so when you end up three and out, you don't use up much time on the clock. So, yeah the two go hand in hand. I think our defense has played well all year and they'll continue to get even better. But I saw, I've seen progress, you guys may not see it, but I see progress and you're starting to see some young guys make some plays and assert themselves. I think Tommy was a lot more comfortable in the second half. I think it was in the first half he made better throws. Again, it's a game of execution. You can talk scheme all you want, you still have to block people, you still have to run and throw, you have to catch. On defense, you have to get off blocks, you have to make tackles. So, you know play calls, scheme, whatever, yeah it's important, but you have to execute the fundamentals.

On pass interference penalties…
I'm not going to comment on any penalties or how the game was called until I look at the film.

On the touchdown pass to Tony Poljan and how he wants to use him going forward…
All of the above. You know, I think you're seeing it. You're seeing him split out and you know some in the backfield. So we'll continue to build on the package.

On any changes to the game plan with three to four MSU wide receivers out of today's game…
No, not for us. You still have to defend who's out there with who you have. So, I mean obviously they affect who they want to throw the ball to.

Central Michigan junior quarterback Tommy Lazzaro

On Michigan State's defense…
I mean we knew they would be good against the run, so we knew we had to come out and throw it. First drive went good and after that I was getting a little antsy back there and kind of needed to settle down. Those first two picks are definitely on me. I got to play a lot better for the rest of the season. I'm definitely excited with the fight the guys showed, you know a lot of teams would have given up in that situation and our guys pressed on, kept grinding it out, made some really incredible plays in the second half, we just ran out of time.

Central Michigan senior linebacker Malik Fountain

On bringing confidence back for next week…
Just continue to build and play a 60-minute game. We got to put a whole game together and that's the ultimate goal next week. We got to start early and finish the game.

On what impressed you about Brian Lewerke…
He showed a lot of ability to throw on the run. I didn't really see it on film like that, so he did a good job on throwing on the run and making good reads.

Central Michigan senior defensive lineman Nathan Brisson-Fast

On what impressed you about Michigan State's running backs…
I think the running backs ran hard. They hit holes when they were there, even when you thought they might not be there they were still hitting it and just moving the pile. Just a good job of running their feet.

On moving forward…
Everything is still on the table for us. MAC championship is the end goal, so keep motivating the guys. We talk every time and everyday about finishing games and we got to start a little faster. Play a little longer and finish out a game.

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Players Mentioned

Joe Bachie

Josh Butler

Elijah Collins

C.J. Hayes

Justin Layne

Brian Lewerke

Matt Morrissey

Laress Nelson

Tre Person

LJ Scott

Andre Welch

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