Post-Game Quotes: Tulsa
8/31/2019 12:04:00 AM | Football
Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio
Opening statement...
1-0, so excited about that. Obviously, our defense did outstanding, -73 yards on rushing you know combined with sacks, etc. That's an all-time record. I think six sacks, a fumble recovery for a touchdown, an interception, another fumble recovery, blocked punt, but you know I'm proud. Our offense, we got down the field the first series and then stalled out after that, too many missed opportunities. We sort of beat ourselves with some penalties. Punt return game was very good but again we had two penalties which sets it back and it gets big plays.Things you got to clean up in the first game. You can't fair catch a ball on the 5-yard line or 4-yard line. We did a great job driving out of there all the way down and then we bust one for a touchdown and then we've got to call it back because of a holding call. Way too many penalties, we're trying to fix those and that's our intentions and we'll be ready to play Western next week, but happy we're productive and defensively I thought we played outstanding.
On errors and penalties…
We've tackled a lot in our camp you know we've gone 140 play scrimmages and things of that nature, so we've had two of those. I think we're ready to play. I was disappointed in the execution and I was disappointed in the unfortunate errors when you're jumping offsides and things of that nature and too many penalties. Penalties hurt you and put you behind things and put you behind the sticks a little bit and you've got to be able to overcome that.
On the offensive focus between Week 1 and 2…
We're going to be an up-tempo offense. We're going to move it and maybe that was the first time doing it in a game you know, and we did it a little early in the game. There's a lot of things and you know I keep saying there's no magic play. Everybody runs the outside and everybody runs the inside, everybody runs power, everybody runs counters, okay. It's execution, you have to get fast to the edge of the defense at times. You've got to outnumber them at times and sometimes they out number you. We knew Tulsa had a good defense coming into this, a little different type of defense. They had eight starters back and seven or eight of them started so we knew we had our work cut a little bit, but what I was disappointed in is we got the opportunities to run a short field, we got to make them, we got to make them. We got some dropped balls, I thought Lewerke was sharp. He kind of threw the ball with velocity and he scrambled out of there well. He made some plays and when your quarterbacks playing well great things can happen so we'll stay the course in that regard. I thought the play calling was pretty good, but you've got to execute. Again when it goes from third-and-2 to third-and-12 it becomes a problem sometimes.
On the learning curve of a new system and coaches…
No, there's no timeline. We have 12 games guaranteed so it's an ongoing process what we do. We just got to keep moving it and going to stay positive with our players and also hold them accountable and push it. We're going to hold our staff accountable and hold myself accountable and push it. That's what we'll do, you know, we're throwing the football down the 40-yard line and you've got to try and run it out of there, which we hit a big pass on I think on a third down play to get it out of there. We had some good drives. Matt Coghlin kicking four field goals was huge. Defense playing like it did was huge and then we stall out then we have a punt return and then we had a penalty. Things are going to happen especially in the first game,but I guess if you look at it the biggest disappointment was the unforced errors with jumping offsides and some other things.
On the effects of the crowd…
No, and I want to mention we had a great crowd. Our student section was tremendous. It was loud, but you know everybody's got to voice their approval or disapproval at times so hey I'm good. Let's just go, but I was impressed with our crowd and Spartan Spirit. They'll be there next week too so we'll have an opportunity to go 2-0 next week. That's all we can ask.
On the offensive struggle…
I think again, they play a three-man front, but it's a little bit different type of front because they've got their corners involved to run support. Their linebackers are big thumpers, I mean they're blitzing on, basically you get a down block and they blitz. They're full on gas so you've got to dig them out of their and sometimes it's leverage issues and sometimes it's not getting the job done. We'll look at the film and evaluate what went wrong and one thing that you have to do up front with the offense line is everyone's got to work together. You can't have one guy make a mistake and four other guys do it right okay, so things break down or if two do it wrong things break down. It's very cohesive, the tight ends are involved, the running backs are involved and a couple of times I felt that they could have cut back, you know, if they had run things the way they were supposed to. It's all a comprehensive type thing but again inside zone, outside zone, counter, take you pick. It's all there and all the formations are there. A lot of different formations and again I thought tempo was good and I thought Lewerke played well and we'll rise up again.
On the different offensive line combinations used tonight…
A.J. (Arcuri) was nicked up. He was able to practice but not to push off with enough; he was nicked up. We felt like the best lineup we had at this point in time was putting Matt Carrick at guard and Kevin Jarvis has worked at tackle a lot for the last two weeks and he's done a nice job. He's powerful, he's a good offensive lineman and he can be very good at that position. This was his first time playing it so like the first time you do anything in a game, I'm sure that there were some issues.
On the ability to do well defensively to cause negative rushing yards…
We're going to put more people at the point of attack and in a lot of ways, our linebackers are going to fit properly when our defensive linemen are dominant. I think they handled the line of scrimmage and we tackled well, which again goes back to I think we tackled well at fall camp and it showed tonight. I thought we tackled very, very well.
On the up-tempo offense impacting fourth down effectiveness…
I've always said 'it's that far' and you've got to make it. It's the difference between three points and seven points. You've got to take the opportunity at times in the game to try and put it on your guys, and we did. It worked one time, two other times it didn't. I felt like one of the times, we were there and again we didn't run it in the right place and we didn't get the guy blocking in the right place from the back; the back didn't block correctly. Live and learn, but I guess we could've kicked field goals there but I felt like we want to be aggressive.
On the emphasis on creating …
We work on ball disruption every single day in practice and we make a big point of that. Coach Bullough really brought that with him and that's a big point of emphasis in what we do. We're always talking about it, we're always doing drills for it. There even was a couple there where the guy didn't get it out, and you saw somebody scrapping for the ball and trying to dig it out. I think a couple more came out that we didn't get. It's been a point of emphasis and sometimes you get what you emphasize. That's got to be on the other side of the ball, special teams as well because there's some different things as well that's going on there so we've just got to keep working.
On Coach Salem overall in game one…
I thought Coach Salem did a tremendous job. I thought getting the plays in, in a rapid way. We didn't waste a lot of time, the play was in there. It went fast-paced a little bit. I'm not sure how many times but we did. Again, it's execution. People look at the plays, look at somebody running certain plays, well we want to do that too. Then there are certain things in the RPO game which takes you out of… Is it a run or is it a pass based on how many people they have in the box. The quarterback has to read those types of things. Those are the things that are going on all around the country and we put it in our running back's hands and we got to make plays, whether it's our blocking angles or the running back himself, there's just a lot of different things going on. Without seeing the film, you really can't say why something didn't work or how close it was to working. But I thought we played hard and I thought the tempo was good and we had aggressive play calling; I think there's a lot to be said for that.
On Coach Salem being on the sideline…
Well, the game is going so fast right now, that's what we decided because we changed tempos, the game is going so fast. You don't really have time to get from there to there to there when it's going quicker.
Michigan State senior defensive end Kenny Willekes
On dominate performance on defense…
I thought we played very confident on defense. You see a lot of young guys stepping up, a lot of guys getting pressure on the quarterback, and a lot of guys creating turnovers. Those are two big areas we emphasized on in the off season. You see a lot of guys improve in that area and take it personally.
On decision coming back after broken leg and putting the doubt about the leg behind him, and describe the first touchdown…
It was pretty cool to score my first touchdown, shout out my dog Raequan, he punched it out for me right into my arms. Thank you Raequan for my first touchdown. It speaks to our chemistry on defense and how much work we put in, in the offseason. You can see how dominate we are. When we play together, we all do our job. It was good to see and it felt good to be back out there.
Michigan State senior senior linebacker Joe Bachie
On dominate performance on defense…
The goal is always to be better; we trained ourselves to strive to be better. We knew their game plan inside and out from last year. It was kind of the exact same matchup with it. We were very confident out there, and we were calling out some plays. It helps you play faster. Once you get a couple big plays it starts to roll and that's what happened tonight.
On unacceptable amount of penalties and how the captains address them as a team…
I was sitting on the sideline and Kenny looked at me and asked me what was going on and I said we are way too sloppy tonight. Offensively, we were sloppy. Special teams I think we had two or three penalties; that'll kill your drive. Our offense was backed up to the 10-yard line a couple times late in the game. Obviously, Kenny knows, that late hit; we always talk about we can't shoot ourselves in the foot late in the game. Without that penalty, they don't go down and score. You look back at some games last year and that is what happened to us. We will learn from this and we will get better.
Michigan State senior quarterback Brian Lewerke
On your comfort level running the offense, trouble finishing drives, chemistry with Darrell Stewart..
Obviously there's a lot of stuff to clean up, a little sloppy on our part. We just got to be able to finish drives once we get down there, stay penalty free and get the ball in the end zone. Other than that we got to keep pushing and work on getting better.
On what changed after the first drive and how disruptive was it to keep having penalties every time you get a big play…
I think that was just the big thing, penalties. We were killing ourselves with them. We have to eliminate those. Probably a couple throws that I could have made that would have made a difference. We just have to figure those out.
On unacceptable amount of penalties and how the captains address them as a team…
I think that you can be okay with mistakes that happened on the field. You can be okay with mistakes like missing a block or slipping because it's the first game. We were trying to get in the groove. Even though it was the first game it is stuff we have been practicing and have been working on is not being penalized. We just have to get better at that and make sure it doesn't happen.
On hearing boos in the first game in your home stadium, for the offense and what would you tell fans…
My mindset is positive, I'm still pushing forward and trying to be the guy on the offense. The crowd reacts how they want and you can't really control that, it was right for them to do so the offense was slacking tonight. We just got to be better, stay positive and try and learn everything we can from this game.
Michigan State junior running back Connor Heyward
On takeaways from the first game…
The defense played really well, fix the little errors that they made. Offense it was just mental errors, jumping offsides, everybody being on the same page those are very fixable things.
On the touchdown run…
The pass I got from behind, I saw the linebacker coming with protection, it was basically empty but I was on the back field so I had a free release.
Michigan State sophomore wide receiver Jalen Nailor
On the new offense giving him more opportunities…
I try to get the ball in my hands and do something with it.
On the play at the five-yard line…
I kind of lost where I was at. I started off at the eight then moved to the back and didn't realize that someone else caught it. I should've just took it out because I honestly had a lot of room.
Michigan State junior linebacker Antjuan Simmons
On learning from Andrew Dowell at the linebacker position…
It prepared me really good. I got to play behind Andrew (Dowell); he was what third-team All- Big Ten his junior year and then second-team his senior year. He had his best season last year. Just being behind him, getting to learn from him. Playing behind Kenny (Willekes), Raequan (Williams), Naquan (Jones), Mike (Panasiuk), Jacob (Panasiuk) - and next to Joe (Bachie), Tyriq (Thompson), it just makes my job a lot easier. Having guys like that on the defense.
On starting the game with a big hit to get crowd going..
It was really good, it sets the tone. Big hits like that at the very beginning of the game just sets the tone like 'We're here and we aren't going to roll over'. We are going to be physical, so bring it.
On nerves going into the game begin his first start..
Just a little little bit. AD (Anthony Dowell) did a really good job, a really good job. Those were some big shoes to fill. That was my goal really, just to come out and play hard and let my teammates know they can trust me and I was going to be there for them.
Michigan State junior wide receiver Cody White
On the offense...
I feel like we have big potential this year with this offense, being able to push the tempo, spread guys out and get the ball out on the outside. Like I've been saying, we didn't execute like we have been and we know we can play better.
On the defense...
Man, they played outstanding - they were the reason we won this game. They were going crazy and we can't thank them enough for how good they played. You know we have to raise our standard to match them [the defense].
TULSA
Tulsa Head Coach Philip Montgomery
Opening Statement…
Hats off to them. I thought they are an outstanding football team, very well coached. Sloppy on both sides tonight, but they played an outstanding game. I thought their defense is just as advertised. I thought our defense played extremely well. Even when offense put them in some bad situations, but I thought our defense really responded. In the second half we had to get out of our game plan. I think we got a good football team. We got some work to do, and I think we got a chance to do some good things this year. This one game is not going to define who we are.
On expecting the defense to come through…
It's what we expected of them when we came into the season. Made great strides last year, and those were not satisfied and kept continuing to raise the bar. I thought tonight they did an outstanding job, whether it was verses the run or the pass. They were on the field a considerable amount of time, especially in the second half there. I'm very proud of what they did. I thought our d-line played exceptionally well; I thought our linebackers were flying. I thought it was a good, complete game defensively.
On Zach Smith's performance…
I thought Zach played fine today. Obviously, there were some mistakes and things we got to improve. We put ourselves in some poor situations. We've got a young offensive line a lot of those guys got their first action tonight. We are going to learn a lot from this tape. I think we got to do a better job of protecting him and if we can give him some time, I think he can make the throws that need to be made. I don't feel like it's on one thing.It's not on the quarterback; it wasn't on the receivers, or the running backs. It was us all together. This is an outstanding defense, just as advertised. They got eight guys back on defense, just like we got nine guys back on defense. They led the nation last year in rush defense. Obviously, it showed up again tonight, so he played fine in the situation that he was put in.
On how much the pass was needed…
Yeah, the second half we are already down. We know we got to do this to get back in the ball game and they know that we have to do it to get back in the ball game. Early in the third quarter, we tried a couple of different things on the run side of it and we weren't getting a lot of play out of it. For us to have an opportunity, we had to throw the football. I thought we had things open downfield, we had things open in the middle of the field, had opportunities to hit that and just needed a bit more time. They were bringing a lot of different looks at us, and we needed about a half a second longer and make those things happen. I don't put that on him, I put it on us, and the situation that we were in.
On the Offensive line…
I think we played well tonight. This may be the best defensive line we face as a whole since I've been here, and we've played some really good teams. This group that we faced tonight, everyone across the board is a Big Ten player and then you got 48 over there the Big Ten defensive player of the year. These guys are talented, linebackers are talented, and so those young guys learned a lot tonight and we will go back to work with those guys and give us an opportunity next week and show that we can be better.
On which defense was better against Baylor or Tulsa…
I was the offensive coordinator in that game against Baylor, but I took this job, so I did not coach that game. I was on the sidelines just watching, but two completely different offenses as far as where we were at and process of the program. We were coming off two Big 12 championships at that point, those guys were playing with a lot of confidence. This is a different venue right here. This one game will not define who we are as a unit, and I think we got an excellence chance to be a great football team, our defense is going to lead the way for us, and these young offensive guys are doing some good things, and now we just have to go out and prove it and get a chance to get back out on the practice field, and we will improve a lot from what we are going to watch when we get home, and get a chance to get in the film room with these young guys and get them coached up. Next week will be 100 percent better because that's the way our mindset is and the way we are built right now.
On our defense…
They got talented players on defense, but I'm going to tell you right now. I wouldn't trade anybody that we got on defense for anybody that they have on defense. I'm very proud of what our defensive guys did from top to bottom. Trevis (Gipson), I thought tonight was a beast. I thought Shemarr (Robinson)played extremely well. I thought all those guys up front, whether you are talking about Jackson or any of those in there. I thought our linebackers were flying around. Defensively, we made it a very physical football game. They set the tone early. I mean we made a mistake there on the first drive, where our motions got a little bit of the best of us. After that I thought we really settled in and this defense is going to be tough and be outstanding all year long.
Tulsa junior QB Zach Smith
On emotions going into game knowing he was going to start..
I was just excited to get back out there and play. It's been a long way for me. Really just excited to get out there and show what this team can do.
On preparation to play in a place like Michigan State…
I kind of knew what to expect coming in. It was going to be a big stadium, good football team. I just knew we had to come out there and execute and play like we've been.
On his performance...
It was a rough day. We have a lot to learn from. We're a good football team, and we got a lot to prove.
On Michigan State's defense…
They are a really good defense. We knew that coming in. We knew we couldn't take steps back and shoot ourselves in the foot, and that's exactly what we did. We shot ourselves in the foot too many times. When you let a good defense get up on you like that, they are going to pin their ears back and come after you. That's exactly what we let them do. We got a lot to learn from and a lot to prove coming into next week.
Tulsa senior defensive end Trevis Gipson
On coach's confidence in him…
It actually helps a lot because our guys are relentless. We love to learn; we love to play football. We chase the football - we push our offense just how our offense pushes our defense. When our coaches are involved with the confidence, it makes us 10 times greater. It puts a chip on our shoulder and makes us even more confident."
On holding Michigan State to one offensive touchdown…
Going into this game, we knew that we were going to have to put pressure on them. They love to run the ball, sometimes pass. When that pass opportunity comes, we have to pin our ears back. For the most part, I think we came in here with a lot of confidence, and we gave it our best shot. As far as giving up the one touchdown, it's not offense or defense. We are all a team. Regardless of how the points got on the board, they are still on the board at the end of the day. We are going to get back in the lab come Monday/Tuesday. Zach (Smith) is going to push his guys, I'm going to push my guys and we are going to keep working and make sure we have a good rest of the season."
