Post-Game Quotes: Indiana
9/28/2019 8:40:00 PM | Football
MICHIGAN STATE
Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio
Opening Statement…
We had a good football game. We had a chance when the score was 28 or whatever the score was, we were down; Brian Lewerke comes to the huddle and it's sort of tight - crunch time and he says, 'this is fun,' and I sort of just looked at him, but he played outstanding. He made all the plays that you need to make in a football game, really from the onset; two big drives and a two-minute situation, one at the end of the first half that made it 21 to 14, and then one at the end of the game to bring us down to an opportunity for the field goal. I thought Indiana – credit Indiana – did an outstanding job, especially on the offensive side of the ball. (Michael) Penix was on fire there and played extremely well. (Whop) Philyor had 14 catches for 142 yards. They were making plays and the ball was on the money and they were making catches. We'll rise up again. I am just so excited for our football team to handle adversity, come back in the fourth quarter and have to play a little bit from behind there, and didn't bat an eyelash. Huge sack I think by Raequan Williams and a big punt return by (Brandon) Sowards that puts the ball down there and I believe, I can't remember everything that happened but I believe set up a field goal – a touchdown to (Matt) Seybert.Â
I want to congratulate Lorenzo White again with his induction to the College Football Hall of Fame and his name being put up on the stadium ring of honor. He is a tremendous player and has been extremely supportive throughout his time here, and he is a great person. He's a strong, strong influence around this country. I'll just take some questions and we'll go from there.
On the offense stepping up…
They sort of out formationed us. I felt they did some formations that put us on the edge and maybe put us out; they did a lot of bubble passes. We're going to see those things, so we'll have to work on those things and missing tackles. They did a great job, as you said, the offense really bailed the defense out. I don't think we've had a game like that defensively in a while, but usually if they score less than 20, we win and if we score more than 30, we win. That statistic sort of hung in there and that's in 30 years. Cody White, Darrell Stewart, big catches. C.J. Hayes, big catches. (Matt) Seybert, big catches. Great performance by Lewerke and I thought number 24, Elijah Collins ran the ball well and busted out some big yardage; thought he was solid. We'll take it. We're 4-1 we'll move on to the next thing.
On agreeing with Lewerke if the game was fun…
Oh no, I looked at him and I didn't say a word. I thought he was feeling it, that's good. He had a hot hand. There is no question, he played outstanding. I mean the ball was coming out, the ball was on target. They defended some balls, they had a couple drops, but the ball was on target for I would say 95 percent. The only one I can think of really that wasn't is maybe the one that was a little high when we had Anthony Williams in the flat. Big kick by Matt Coghlin at the end of the game. Two big kicks by him, one for the win and the kick prior to that to put us up by seven – 44-yarder.
On the status of Brandon Bouyer-Randle, Connor Heyward and Weston Bridges…
You got a good eye. Brandon's gone into the portal. It's going to happen in this day and age, these things are going to happen. I'm just trying to be understanding with people and allow for them to make the decisions that they need to make. I'm not going to hold anyone hostage or anything like that. If people want to play a little bit more and they think they have an opportunity at another place, then sometimes they have to make those decisions. It is unfortunate they wanted to do that, but this is life in 2019. Connor missed the game for personal reasons. Then Weston has a team rules type thing; minor thing but had to be off the sideline – has to be consistent.
On La'Darius Jefferson's role…
La'Darius knows what to do with pass protection probably as well as anybody. He's firm, he's tough; he can also run the ball and catch the football. We're going to always play the hot back, I don't care who it is. It's tough to play three and four, but we're going to play the hot back. He'll have his opportunities. He wanted to play, so this wasn't the red shirt thing, all that kind of stuff because it's been four games, but talked to him numerous times and he decided that he wanted to play, so we'll continue to play him.
On Brian Lewerke making selfless plays…
I thought he was tackled, but we'll go with what he's saying; he's hot. I think that it was the right thing to do. We just wanted to kick the field goal at the end of the game. We didn't want to score and allow them any time on the clock; that's the way we were going to play it. Everything gets a little tight at the end there with one second on the clock you had to call timeout; didn't really think he'd run over - you run a quarterback sneak to get it a little bit closer and maybe try to score with five seconds to go. These are things that you have to go through sometimes to make sure that you're on top – that you're doing it exactly right. I thought we played it the right way in this situation.
On the seniors being consistent players this season…
Yeah, you really look across the board on our football team right now and I know we weren't… We were a little bit off on defense this game, but if you look at Kenny Willekes and look at (Joe) Bachie last week and you look at David Dowell, Brian Lewerke; what he's doing. Darrell Stewart, certainly what he's doing. They're having their best year as a senior. I think Tyler Higby may be in that boat as well. When those things start to happen, it gives you a chance and I think that's what has to happen from a leadership standpoint and also from a physical standpoint – you got a chance to make plays, you got to make the plays because you're in a position; you're in a starting position, where you should.
On Brian Lewerke's improvement in the two-minute situations this season…
Well we work on it a lot and I think experience does that. When you're a senior and you played in as many games as he has, he understands the situation of the game and he understands his players and he understands the concepts that he reviews. He's able to operate in that context and be successful. You've seen that; I think we've seen that over and over this year so far. We're going to need those types of things as we go. We have a tremendous challenge ahead of us next week, but hey we're 4-1 as we ride into Columbus, so that's exciting; 2-0 in the conference.
On the pass interference calls on the defense…
Well on the one I thought that it was an iffy call, but we'll watch the film and figure it out from there. I've learned one thing – I can get myself all upset on the sidelines for that call but there's never been one time the guy says, 'you know what coach, you're right, let me pick up that flag for you.' They've never done that. I just try to keep my composure and allow them to do their job to the best of their abilities and keep playing and keep trying to be positive; although I did come unglued on one. But it's tough out there, the ball is being thrown, you're playing with your back to the ball, you got to play the guy; your hands through the reception area and there's a timing issue at times; it's extremely difficult. The bottom line is you can't let people get on top of you, as far past you. It's a timing thing; sometimes we get it out, sometimes we don't and sometimes there's interference. You see that across the board in college football right now, I think. Admittedly by the officials, probably the toughest thing to call in college football right now – with consistency, is PI; with consistency. It's tough and I recognize that.Â
On Brian Lewerke's jump pass to Stewart at the end…
I don't think he does it too often. When did he do that? On the throwback to the tight end? I don't know, you know, things are going so fast. I'm just trying to just take… I'm a result-oriented person at this point today. We'll look at it like that and say, hey great play. I just thought he played outstanding and there's a lot of other people who played very well but it was a team win. All of a sudden in the fourth quarter, we sort of caught fire, I felt. That is, emotionally. I could tell them hey, they're coming for that brass spittoon, they're coming for it. You don't understand that, it's just a symbol, it's just a brass spittoon; it was the 60th year of it. It's just a symbol, but if they would've won that football game, you would've seen them flying over for it. Allow ourselves to take another step forward and that's what we always want. We're in that phase three; two games in, we're 2-0 – take another step forward. We've got a big one next week which will be exciting to get involved with that.
On the decision for Matt Coghlin to kick the field goal…
I just felt like we didn't really want to give them any time on the clock, the way that they've been throwing the ball downfield and the things that have been happening. You know, should be able to make the kick; the execution. I had complete faith in our snapper and in our holder and in him. I felt like that was probably a 98 percent chance deal. If we would've scored a touchdown, we would've lined up and played defense. As it was, I felt like that was the thing to do.Â
Thanks so much. I also want to publicly thank everybody for staying after the game and Coach Izzo, Bill Beekman and everybody who made that happen. Still humbled here to be the head coach at Michigan State. Thanks.
Senior Linebacker Joe Bachie
On Indiana's offense…
They just spread the ball out, they were figuring out when we were blitzing and they were checking the sidelines a bunch. When they saw it was a zone pressure, they were throwing the bubbles out there, they were throwing jailbreaks. They had some bubble-gos off us, they were making big plays and we couldn't really stop that momentum they had for most of the game. I would like to say in the fourth quarter we got those two three and outs and that was huge. We needed that and our offense picked us up the whole game.
On Indiana's quarterback Michael Penix Jr…
We knew we had a strong runner, we obviously saw that he would drop back and sling it and he was throwing the bubbles. He's got a bright future for sure, he passed for a ton of yards on us. They had good receivers making plays on the ball. Hopefully we can clean that stuff up and move on to next week.
On the performance by the offense…
It was huge, they had our back all night. We saw Brian (Lewerke) making plays with his feet and his arm, Darrell (Stewart) looked great out there. Just another great play by the offense, they were able to stay together and move through anything that happened. They were able to pick us up right away, and you need the ultimate team game. You need the offense, the defense, the special teams and tonight the offense helped us out."
On Indiana's strategy offensively and whether he was confused by the looks they gave him..
Nothing much, but they changed their game plan a little bit. We weren't expecting some of the stuff that they were running. Like I said before, they had a great game plan coming in they really had our number for most of the game. This isn't going to be a good one to look back on but hopefully we can learn some things from it. (Michael)Penix has got a great future ahead of him, he's got a big strong arm.
On whether the defense needed a reality check before the tough upcoming schedule..
I don't know about a reality check, but it was good to see us struggle a little bit I guess and our offense to pick us up. The defense will be on our stuff next week, we are going to get this stuff figured out. You know it was great to see our offense today, can't say enough about that they put up 34 points and they did a great job."
On whether he talked to (Matt) Coghlin after any of his field goal attempts today..
No, I actually didn't talk to him at all. Like I said he's a levelheaded guy. You don't want to get in someone's head when people come up to you and say stuff. We told him that we are all behind you and that we are confident in you and that he had done this before. He came out knocked in that big field goal at the end of the game, so a ton of credit to him for bouncing back from that.
On whether he had ever been in a game where he had 20 completed passes in a row thrown against him..
That happened against us? No, so credit to him, and like I said we got a lot of stuff to learn from this game.
Michigan State senior WR Darrell Stewart Jr.Â
On offense bailing out the defense this week… Â
It was an amazing thing. I wouldn't say so much of bailing them out; we just did our job. The offense played phenomenally; the O-line blocked fantastic, quarterback throwing great balls, running backs ran. It's a blessing to be able to do it and also a blessing to be able to do it under a fantastic coach. So it's been a great experience all together.
On the last call from Brian (Lewerke)…Â
He was just breaking the play down, which was a great thing, him just being an athlete and him being the dawg that he is. Thinking to myself just get open, run with speed, get past them and then before I knew the ball was in the air, so do what my job is, to go get the ball. It's a blessing that it happened. Some of these things aren't written up how they're supposed to be, but I mean that's football. Things going to happen but you gotta respond.
What was being said on being tied up at 31…
Let's go. We were made for times like this, this is adversity. I mean one thing you gotta understand about football is there's gonna be adversity. And if you think that it's not gonna be adversity, you're sadly mistaken. We be put in situations like this all the time. Coach D puts us in situations like this day in and day out, and we just responded to it in the correct way. That's how you gotta go about life.
Michigan State senior QB Brian LewerkeÂ
On the feeling of building up the defense this game…
It does, it feels good to be able to score when we need to and drive down there and then end and get points when the defense wasn't having their best day, which doesn't happen a lot, but I'm glad we played well today.
On the last drive, does he think he was going to try to run…
I was. I was thinking about running kinda at a guy, spying me a bit. I didn't see a guy deep, so I thought I had to take a chance on a 50-50 ball with Darrell.Â
On the run after that (next play)…
Yeah, I was thinking we still had about minute thirty left and was like should I score here? So that's my excuse for getting hacked down. I was slowing down cause I wasn't sure if I was supposed to score, but that was a big play and there weren't a lot of guys in the box, and that play was working for us all day.Â
Did you look up at the scoreboard thinking it may be advantageous to stop at the one one?
Yeah, I was aware of all the stuff. I was kinda thinking about whether I should score or not. It ended up working out well.
Junior Linebacker Antjuan Simmons
On Indiana using plays this defense has not seen before..
Just a few plays, not many, but that is always the expectations on playing teams. We have to come to the game ready and be ready for anything that comes our way.Â
On today's game…
Offensively, we found a rhythm and started to click. Defensively, we need to go back to the drawing board, find the mistakes we made, fix those and get ready to work"
On Dantonio ripping off his tie during pre-game..
At the end of the day, you have to take the tie off and play football. That's what he was preaching in pre-game. Its suits and ties, and its business, but its time for those ties to come off and play football.
On moving forward into tough stretch of games..
We had a lot of penalties and mistakes in crucial parts of the game, so we need to get those fixed before we move forward. We mad a few mistakes, and we will need to go look back at the film and get those cleaned up.
On adversity and defense..
When you hit that adversity, it's going to test you. You have to go back and look and figured out what you need to do to fix it. That is our whole thing is, every dog has its day and we had ours today, so we need to fix that and get ready to go.
Michigan State senior TE Matt Seybert
On his performance…
Honestly all God again, the weeks are flying by, it feels like just yesterday I was talking to y'all in Evanston. A great team win, I'm so happy we're 2-0 in the Big Ten. I wouldn't have it any other way, a close game makes your heart beat a little bit. But definitely a blessing, I'm proud of how our offense handled adversity.
On how his performance today boosts his confidence for the rest of the season…
Yeah it boosts my confidence, but I've got to give the credit to the tight end room and coach (Mark) Staten. That man has given me so much confidence over these past few months; it's unreal. He's giving me the opportunity to go out there and show what I can be.
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Senior Safety David Dowell
On being worried for Ohio States offense..
Nothing makes me worried, just as a football player its about mentality. They have elite players, pound-for-pound, its about being able to matchup and play our physical brand of football.
On Indiana's throws to the flat..
It's about tackling in space. We need to improve on that, we missed a lot of tackles today and gave them a lot of big runs and leveraging the football. When they are throwing it out in space like that, they are throwing it our guys who are in one on one matchups, so it takes a minute for the rest of the defense to get there. For us to be able to leverage the football, we need to make sure they aren't able to run it up the sideline and try to force it into the middle towards the meat of our defense.
On Indiana finding space in MSUs zone defense..
Their coaches and offensive coordinator did a great job of scheming us and preparing their guys for this week, but at the same time we left some plays out there in the defensive backfield and now we are just looking forward to correcting those things and getting ready for next week.
If closer win is still satisfying..
Absolutely. Every game is difficult no matter who you are playing against. You put in so much to get a win, and to win a football game, so when you do win regardless of who you are playing against its still satisfying. That little tribute to Coach Dantonio at the end of the game made it really special, and it's a trophy game for us so we were able to get the Brass Spittoon back. Overall, it was a great win for us.
On Indiana's receivers..
Yes, they had some good receivers for sure. I think the size of the receivers, they were kind of able to hold guys off. They were able to hold off our corners and safeties when we're going up for the ball, but you know our mentality is, every time the ball is in the air, we have to go make a play. They made some plays, we made some plays, but we came out victorious.
INDIANA
Indiana Head Coach Tom Allen
Opening Statement…
Tough way to lose. Proud of our team; I thought our kids fought. It's hard to face them in the locker room, knowing how hard they played. I looked at them in the eyes and saw a lot of tears, and there should be. When invest where our guys invest and you work the way our guys work, it ought to hurt, and it does. But, proud of this football team, we came on the road against a top 25 team and had our chances. So we just got to find a way to make one more play. But you start a true freshman at left tackle; probably the hardest position on offense to play in a hostile environment against a great defensive line. I thought Matthew Bedford did an outstanding job in his first start. Then we start a freshman quarterback in his first road game in conference play, and you saw how Michael Penix played. I thought Coach (Kalen) DeBoer had a great game plan in order to maximize the things we could do against them, and they were effective in that regard. Disappointing to not get that stop at the end of the half and the stop at the end of the game. To me, those were the two things that sealed our fate. But, a lot of positive things, and we'll continue to focus on those things which is what we need to do to keep growing as a football team. I love that football team in that locker room, period.Â
On if how well Michael Penix was able to play reaffirmed what Tom Allen is trying to do at IU…
No question. We're for real. We ain't going nowhere. We're young, the third-youngest team in the Big Ten, period. You just saw how we competed, we didn't just show up to compete, we came to win and we were one play away from winning. I'm proud of this team. Proud of how we've recruited, that won't stop. Proud of what we're building. Disappointing.
On his decision to start Michael Penix…
Yeah, you know the most important thing is the welfare of our players. We don't want to put a guy out there who's not ready to play. It was a very systematic process to decide if he was ready. He didn't practice every day, but he practiced enough to where we were comfortable playing and starting him. We didn't know if he'd be able to go the whole game, to be honest with you. We had Peyton (Ramsey) ready to go just in case. So you just go through with our medical staff, and they did a phenomenal job of rehabbing him and getting him to the point where he could play. We just kind of gauged it one day at a time and saw how he'd feel the next day. We got to Thursday and even as recently as yesterday to see where he was at. That was just the process to see where he was at, and he felt ready to go. To me, the biggest thing is being able to do what he did in this environment, with just a couple of games under his belt and nothing similar to this opponent. He played a little bit in the Penn State game, but nothing like this. I'm just impressed with the way he performed. We felt like he was ready. It was a team effort with everybody involved. We tried to communicate as best as we could with everybody and make the best decision for our team.
On if he wants his players to "wipe" away the bad plays and focus on next week…
Well, you always go back and evaluate. There are things and calls you make as a coach that you wish you had back. There are situations where you don't execute, but still, we got to continue to execute in those key moments at the end of the half and at the end of the game and just keep finding ways. The gaps getting smaller and smaller to being able to have those young guys. To me, it's about getting those one on one catches and defending the ball. We're getting better every week. We ran the football for 70 yards, but those were tough yards. Part of our game plan was the perimeter game. To me, those count as runs, but in the stats, they don't. Just getting the ball out to our receivers and having them block for each other. So I look at all of that stuff, but there's a lot to build off of. It's just so disappointing because we were so stinking close. But, we won't get discouraged. Disappointed but not discouraged.
Indiana QB Michael Penix Jr.
On getting ready to play this week…
It took a lot of trusting inmy rehab and everything and making sure that my body was good. I just had to protect myself. It took a lot of encouragement from my teammates as well. Both of those things played a big factor.
On the offensive line and getting into such a good rhythm…
We didn't get the win, but Matt Bedford he really had to step up. He is a true freshman, and he did real good. The offensive line they helped and they communicated with each other and the coaches put us in the right situation, to make sure that we were all in the right place in the right time. The coaches put us in the right situation with play calls. Catch and throw. Catch and throw. Playing our hearts out and protecting each other and making sure we were on the same page.
On getting prepared for the game despite not practicing…
I didn't practice every day, but pre-game I felt pretty good, so coach made the decision to let me play. I prepared by keeping my head in the game. I knew all the plays, knew all the reads. All the times I wasn't in practice I was mentally prepared, and I made sure I was always on top of the game.
On what the team showed despite the loss…
We showed a lot. Don't doubt us; we are pushing every single day. Make sure everybody knows what they are doing executing as a team. We never let ourselves get down, we always make sure that we keep each other up. Just make sure we stay positive throughout the process.
Indiana WR Donavan Hale
On the offensive performance today…
We had some explosive plays. We just need to continue doing that throughout the season.
On being part of many close games, but not being able to win…
There is no pressure. Obviously, we are disappointed, but not discouraged. It is all about finishing. Coach Allen has always been all about finishing. I think that we are getting close, we just have to close out.
What is key for you to building on a performance like today…
Like I said before, it is all about finishing. There are couple plays here and there that we have to make or a stop on the defensive end.
Indiana CB Tiawan Mullen
On playing his first Big Ten road game…
Coming here, I had great preparation, and I was ready to come out here and compete in my first road game.
On improving confidence after making big plays…
I am just doing whatever to help our team. They put us in the right spot to execute on the big plays. I want to show everyone that we can in here to compete. We aren't going to back down to nobody. Even though we lost, we are disappointed, but never discouraged. We are just going to go back to practice, get back into the play book and get back in the film room and be ready for the next game.
On feeling comfortable in this environment as a freshman…
Football is football. I never get nervous or scared; I just came here to play. They put on their pads, just like I put on my pads.
On disappointment on not getting the win…
They were disappointed but not discouraged; it meant a lot to those guys. It is my first year here, and I wanted to play for those guys. It meant more to them than me because they have been here for a few years.
Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio
Opening Statement…
We had a good football game. We had a chance when the score was 28 or whatever the score was, we were down; Brian Lewerke comes to the huddle and it's sort of tight - crunch time and he says, 'this is fun,' and I sort of just looked at him, but he played outstanding. He made all the plays that you need to make in a football game, really from the onset; two big drives and a two-minute situation, one at the end of the first half that made it 21 to 14, and then one at the end of the game to bring us down to an opportunity for the field goal. I thought Indiana – credit Indiana – did an outstanding job, especially on the offensive side of the ball. (Michael) Penix was on fire there and played extremely well. (Whop) Philyor had 14 catches for 142 yards. They were making plays and the ball was on the money and they were making catches. We'll rise up again. I am just so excited for our football team to handle adversity, come back in the fourth quarter and have to play a little bit from behind there, and didn't bat an eyelash. Huge sack I think by Raequan Williams and a big punt return by (Brandon) Sowards that puts the ball down there and I believe, I can't remember everything that happened but I believe set up a field goal – a touchdown to (Matt) Seybert.Â
I want to congratulate Lorenzo White again with his induction to the College Football Hall of Fame and his name being put up on the stadium ring of honor. He is a tremendous player and has been extremely supportive throughout his time here, and he is a great person. He's a strong, strong influence around this country. I'll just take some questions and we'll go from there.
On the offense stepping up…
They sort of out formationed us. I felt they did some formations that put us on the edge and maybe put us out; they did a lot of bubble passes. We're going to see those things, so we'll have to work on those things and missing tackles. They did a great job, as you said, the offense really bailed the defense out. I don't think we've had a game like that defensively in a while, but usually if they score less than 20, we win and if we score more than 30, we win. That statistic sort of hung in there and that's in 30 years. Cody White, Darrell Stewart, big catches. C.J. Hayes, big catches. (Matt) Seybert, big catches. Great performance by Lewerke and I thought number 24, Elijah Collins ran the ball well and busted out some big yardage; thought he was solid. We'll take it. We're 4-1 we'll move on to the next thing.
On agreeing with Lewerke if the game was fun…
Oh no, I looked at him and I didn't say a word. I thought he was feeling it, that's good. He had a hot hand. There is no question, he played outstanding. I mean the ball was coming out, the ball was on target. They defended some balls, they had a couple drops, but the ball was on target for I would say 95 percent. The only one I can think of really that wasn't is maybe the one that was a little high when we had Anthony Williams in the flat. Big kick by Matt Coghlin at the end of the game. Two big kicks by him, one for the win and the kick prior to that to put us up by seven – 44-yarder.
On the status of Brandon Bouyer-Randle, Connor Heyward and Weston Bridges…
You got a good eye. Brandon's gone into the portal. It's going to happen in this day and age, these things are going to happen. I'm just trying to be understanding with people and allow for them to make the decisions that they need to make. I'm not going to hold anyone hostage or anything like that. If people want to play a little bit more and they think they have an opportunity at another place, then sometimes they have to make those decisions. It is unfortunate they wanted to do that, but this is life in 2019. Connor missed the game for personal reasons. Then Weston has a team rules type thing; minor thing but had to be off the sideline – has to be consistent.
On La'Darius Jefferson's role…
La'Darius knows what to do with pass protection probably as well as anybody. He's firm, he's tough; he can also run the ball and catch the football. We're going to always play the hot back, I don't care who it is. It's tough to play three and four, but we're going to play the hot back. He'll have his opportunities. He wanted to play, so this wasn't the red shirt thing, all that kind of stuff because it's been four games, but talked to him numerous times and he decided that he wanted to play, so we'll continue to play him.
On Brian Lewerke making selfless plays…
I thought he was tackled, but we'll go with what he's saying; he's hot. I think that it was the right thing to do. We just wanted to kick the field goal at the end of the game. We didn't want to score and allow them any time on the clock; that's the way we were going to play it. Everything gets a little tight at the end there with one second on the clock you had to call timeout; didn't really think he'd run over - you run a quarterback sneak to get it a little bit closer and maybe try to score with five seconds to go. These are things that you have to go through sometimes to make sure that you're on top – that you're doing it exactly right. I thought we played it the right way in this situation.
On the seniors being consistent players this season…
Yeah, you really look across the board on our football team right now and I know we weren't… We were a little bit off on defense this game, but if you look at Kenny Willekes and look at (Joe) Bachie last week and you look at David Dowell, Brian Lewerke; what he's doing. Darrell Stewart, certainly what he's doing. They're having their best year as a senior. I think Tyler Higby may be in that boat as well. When those things start to happen, it gives you a chance and I think that's what has to happen from a leadership standpoint and also from a physical standpoint – you got a chance to make plays, you got to make the plays because you're in a position; you're in a starting position, where you should.
On Brian Lewerke's improvement in the two-minute situations this season…
Well we work on it a lot and I think experience does that. When you're a senior and you played in as many games as he has, he understands the situation of the game and he understands his players and he understands the concepts that he reviews. He's able to operate in that context and be successful. You've seen that; I think we've seen that over and over this year so far. We're going to need those types of things as we go. We have a tremendous challenge ahead of us next week, but hey we're 4-1 as we ride into Columbus, so that's exciting; 2-0 in the conference.
On the pass interference calls on the defense…
Well on the one I thought that it was an iffy call, but we'll watch the film and figure it out from there. I've learned one thing – I can get myself all upset on the sidelines for that call but there's never been one time the guy says, 'you know what coach, you're right, let me pick up that flag for you.' They've never done that. I just try to keep my composure and allow them to do their job to the best of their abilities and keep playing and keep trying to be positive; although I did come unglued on one. But it's tough out there, the ball is being thrown, you're playing with your back to the ball, you got to play the guy; your hands through the reception area and there's a timing issue at times; it's extremely difficult. The bottom line is you can't let people get on top of you, as far past you. It's a timing thing; sometimes we get it out, sometimes we don't and sometimes there's interference. You see that across the board in college football right now, I think. Admittedly by the officials, probably the toughest thing to call in college football right now – with consistency, is PI; with consistency. It's tough and I recognize that.Â
On Brian Lewerke's jump pass to Stewart at the end…
I don't think he does it too often. When did he do that? On the throwback to the tight end? I don't know, you know, things are going so fast. I'm just trying to just take… I'm a result-oriented person at this point today. We'll look at it like that and say, hey great play. I just thought he played outstanding and there's a lot of other people who played very well but it was a team win. All of a sudden in the fourth quarter, we sort of caught fire, I felt. That is, emotionally. I could tell them hey, they're coming for that brass spittoon, they're coming for it. You don't understand that, it's just a symbol, it's just a brass spittoon; it was the 60th year of it. It's just a symbol, but if they would've won that football game, you would've seen them flying over for it. Allow ourselves to take another step forward and that's what we always want. We're in that phase three; two games in, we're 2-0 – take another step forward. We've got a big one next week which will be exciting to get involved with that.
On the decision for Matt Coghlin to kick the field goal…
I just felt like we didn't really want to give them any time on the clock, the way that they've been throwing the ball downfield and the things that have been happening. You know, should be able to make the kick; the execution. I had complete faith in our snapper and in our holder and in him. I felt like that was probably a 98 percent chance deal. If we would've scored a touchdown, we would've lined up and played defense. As it was, I felt like that was the thing to do.Â
Thanks so much. I also want to publicly thank everybody for staying after the game and Coach Izzo, Bill Beekman and everybody who made that happen. Still humbled here to be the head coach at Michigan State. Thanks.
Senior Linebacker Joe Bachie
On Indiana's offense…
They just spread the ball out, they were figuring out when we were blitzing and they were checking the sidelines a bunch. When they saw it was a zone pressure, they were throwing the bubbles out there, they were throwing jailbreaks. They had some bubble-gos off us, they were making big plays and we couldn't really stop that momentum they had for most of the game. I would like to say in the fourth quarter we got those two three and outs and that was huge. We needed that and our offense picked us up the whole game.
On Indiana's quarterback Michael Penix Jr…
We knew we had a strong runner, we obviously saw that he would drop back and sling it and he was throwing the bubbles. He's got a bright future for sure, he passed for a ton of yards on us. They had good receivers making plays on the ball. Hopefully we can clean that stuff up and move on to next week.
On the performance by the offense…
It was huge, they had our back all night. We saw Brian (Lewerke) making plays with his feet and his arm, Darrell (Stewart) looked great out there. Just another great play by the offense, they were able to stay together and move through anything that happened. They were able to pick us up right away, and you need the ultimate team game. You need the offense, the defense, the special teams and tonight the offense helped us out."
On Indiana's strategy offensively and whether he was confused by the looks they gave him..
Nothing much, but they changed their game plan a little bit. We weren't expecting some of the stuff that they were running. Like I said before, they had a great game plan coming in they really had our number for most of the game. This isn't going to be a good one to look back on but hopefully we can learn some things from it. (Michael)Penix has got a great future ahead of him, he's got a big strong arm.
On whether the defense needed a reality check before the tough upcoming schedule..
I don't know about a reality check, but it was good to see us struggle a little bit I guess and our offense to pick us up. The defense will be on our stuff next week, we are going to get this stuff figured out. You know it was great to see our offense today, can't say enough about that they put up 34 points and they did a great job."
On whether he talked to (Matt) Coghlin after any of his field goal attempts today..
No, I actually didn't talk to him at all. Like I said he's a levelheaded guy. You don't want to get in someone's head when people come up to you and say stuff. We told him that we are all behind you and that we are confident in you and that he had done this before. He came out knocked in that big field goal at the end of the game, so a ton of credit to him for bouncing back from that.
On whether he had ever been in a game where he had 20 completed passes in a row thrown against him..
That happened against us? No, so credit to him, and like I said we got a lot of stuff to learn from this game.
Michigan State senior WR Darrell Stewart Jr.Â
On offense bailing out the defense this week… Â
It was an amazing thing. I wouldn't say so much of bailing them out; we just did our job. The offense played phenomenally; the O-line blocked fantastic, quarterback throwing great balls, running backs ran. It's a blessing to be able to do it and also a blessing to be able to do it under a fantastic coach. So it's been a great experience all together.
On the last call from Brian (Lewerke)…Â
He was just breaking the play down, which was a great thing, him just being an athlete and him being the dawg that he is. Thinking to myself just get open, run with speed, get past them and then before I knew the ball was in the air, so do what my job is, to go get the ball. It's a blessing that it happened. Some of these things aren't written up how they're supposed to be, but I mean that's football. Things going to happen but you gotta respond.
What was being said on being tied up at 31…
Let's go. We were made for times like this, this is adversity. I mean one thing you gotta understand about football is there's gonna be adversity. And if you think that it's not gonna be adversity, you're sadly mistaken. We be put in situations like this all the time. Coach D puts us in situations like this day in and day out, and we just responded to it in the correct way. That's how you gotta go about life.
Michigan State senior QB Brian LewerkeÂ
On the feeling of building up the defense this game…
It does, it feels good to be able to score when we need to and drive down there and then end and get points when the defense wasn't having their best day, which doesn't happen a lot, but I'm glad we played well today.
On the last drive, does he think he was going to try to run…
I was. I was thinking about running kinda at a guy, spying me a bit. I didn't see a guy deep, so I thought I had to take a chance on a 50-50 ball with Darrell.Â
On the run after that (next play)…
Yeah, I was thinking we still had about minute thirty left and was like should I score here? So that's my excuse for getting hacked down. I was slowing down cause I wasn't sure if I was supposed to score, but that was a big play and there weren't a lot of guys in the box, and that play was working for us all day.Â
Did you look up at the scoreboard thinking it may be advantageous to stop at the one one?
Yeah, I was aware of all the stuff. I was kinda thinking about whether I should score or not. It ended up working out well.
Junior Linebacker Antjuan Simmons
On Indiana using plays this defense has not seen before..
Just a few plays, not many, but that is always the expectations on playing teams. We have to come to the game ready and be ready for anything that comes our way.Â
On today's game…
Offensively, we found a rhythm and started to click. Defensively, we need to go back to the drawing board, find the mistakes we made, fix those and get ready to work"
On Dantonio ripping off his tie during pre-game..
At the end of the day, you have to take the tie off and play football. That's what he was preaching in pre-game. Its suits and ties, and its business, but its time for those ties to come off and play football.
On moving forward into tough stretch of games..
We had a lot of penalties and mistakes in crucial parts of the game, so we need to get those fixed before we move forward. We mad a few mistakes, and we will need to go look back at the film and get those cleaned up.
On adversity and defense..
When you hit that adversity, it's going to test you. You have to go back and look and figured out what you need to do to fix it. That is our whole thing is, every dog has its day and we had ours today, so we need to fix that and get ready to go.
Michigan State senior TE Matt Seybert
On his performance…
Honestly all God again, the weeks are flying by, it feels like just yesterday I was talking to y'all in Evanston. A great team win, I'm so happy we're 2-0 in the Big Ten. I wouldn't have it any other way, a close game makes your heart beat a little bit. But definitely a blessing, I'm proud of how our offense handled adversity.
On how his performance today boosts his confidence for the rest of the season…
Yeah it boosts my confidence, but I've got to give the credit to the tight end room and coach (Mark) Staten. That man has given me so much confidence over these past few months; it's unreal. He's giving me the opportunity to go out there and show what I can be.
Â
Senior Safety David Dowell
On being worried for Ohio States offense..
Nothing makes me worried, just as a football player its about mentality. They have elite players, pound-for-pound, its about being able to matchup and play our physical brand of football.
On Indiana's throws to the flat..
It's about tackling in space. We need to improve on that, we missed a lot of tackles today and gave them a lot of big runs and leveraging the football. When they are throwing it out in space like that, they are throwing it our guys who are in one on one matchups, so it takes a minute for the rest of the defense to get there. For us to be able to leverage the football, we need to make sure they aren't able to run it up the sideline and try to force it into the middle towards the meat of our defense.
On Indiana finding space in MSUs zone defense..
Their coaches and offensive coordinator did a great job of scheming us and preparing their guys for this week, but at the same time we left some plays out there in the defensive backfield and now we are just looking forward to correcting those things and getting ready for next week.
If closer win is still satisfying..
Absolutely. Every game is difficult no matter who you are playing against. You put in so much to get a win, and to win a football game, so when you do win regardless of who you are playing against its still satisfying. That little tribute to Coach Dantonio at the end of the game made it really special, and it's a trophy game for us so we were able to get the Brass Spittoon back. Overall, it was a great win for us.
On Indiana's receivers..
Yes, they had some good receivers for sure. I think the size of the receivers, they were kind of able to hold guys off. They were able to hold off our corners and safeties when we're going up for the ball, but you know our mentality is, every time the ball is in the air, we have to go make a play. They made some plays, we made some plays, but we came out victorious.
INDIANA
Indiana Head Coach Tom Allen
Opening Statement…
Tough way to lose. Proud of our team; I thought our kids fought. It's hard to face them in the locker room, knowing how hard they played. I looked at them in the eyes and saw a lot of tears, and there should be. When invest where our guys invest and you work the way our guys work, it ought to hurt, and it does. But, proud of this football team, we came on the road against a top 25 team and had our chances. So we just got to find a way to make one more play. But you start a true freshman at left tackle; probably the hardest position on offense to play in a hostile environment against a great defensive line. I thought Matthew Bedford did an outstanding job in his first start. Then we start a freshman quarterback in his first road game in conference play, and you saw how Michael Penix played. I thought Coach (Kalen) DeBoer had a great game plan in order to maximize the things we could do against them, and they were effective in that regard. Disappointing to not get that stop at the end of the half and the stop at the end of the game. To me, those were the two things that sealed our fate. But, a lot of positive things, and we'll continue to focus on those things which is what we need to do to keep growing as a football team. I love that football team in that locker room, period.Â
On if how well Michael Penix was able to play reaffirmed what Tom Allen is trying to do at IU…
No question. We're for real. We ain't going nowhere. We're young, the third-youngest team in the Big Ten, period. You just saw how we competed, we didn't just show up to compete, we came to win and we were one play away from winning. I'm proud of this team. Proud of how we've recruited, that won't stop. Proud of what we're building. Disappointing.
On his decision to start Michael Penix…
Yeah, you know the most important thing is the welfare of our players. We don't want to put a guy out there who's not ready to play. It was a very systematic process to decide if he was ready. He didn't practice every day, but he practiced enough to where we were comfortable playing and starting him. We didn't know if he'd be able to go the whole game, to be honest with you. We had Peyton (Ramsey) ready to go just in case. So you just go through with our medical staff, and they did a phenomenal job of rehabbing him and getting him to the point where he could play. We just kind of gauged it one day at a time and saw how he'd feel the next day. We got to Thursday and even as recently as yesterday to see where he was at. That was just the process to see where he was at, and he felt ready to go. To me, the biggest thing is being able to do what he did in this environment, with just a couple of games under his belt and nothing similar to this opponent. He played a little bit in the Penn State game, but nothing like this. I'm just impressed with the way he performed. We felt like he was ready. It was a team effort with everybody involved. We tried to communicate as best as we could with everybody and make the best decision for our team.
On if he wants his players to "wipe" away the bad plays and focus on next week…
Well, you always go back and evaluate. There are things and calls you make as a coach that you wish you had back. There are situations where you don't execute, but still, we got to continue to execute in those key moments at the end of the half and at the end of the game and just keep finding ways. The gaps getting smaller and smaller to being able to have those young guys. To me, it's about getting those one on one catches and defending the ball. We're getting better every week. We ran the football for 70 yards, but those were tough yards. Part of our game plan was the perimeter game. To me, those count as runs, but in the stats, they don't. Just getting the ball out to our receivers and having them block for each other. So I look at all of that stuff, but there's a lot to build off of. It's just so disappointing because we were so stinking close. But, we won't get discouraged. Disappointed but not discouraged.
Indiana QB Michael Penix Jr.
On getting ready to play this week…
It took a lot of trusting inmy rehab and everything and making sure that my body was good. I just had to protect myself. It took a lot of encouragement from my teammates as well. Both of those things played a big factor.
On the offensive line and getting into such a good rhythm…
We didn't get the win, but Matt Bedford he really had to step up. He is a true freshman, and he did real good. The offensive line they helped and they communicated with each other and the coaches put us in the right situation, to make sure that we were all in the right place in the right time. The coaches put us in the right situation with play calls. Catch and throw. Catch and throw. Playing our hearts out and protecting each other and making sure we were on the same page.
On getting prepared for the game despite not practicing…
I didn't practice every day, but pre-game I felt pretty good, so coach made the decision to let me play. I prepared by keeping my head in the game. I knew all the plays, knew all the reads. All the times I wasn't in practice I was mentally prepared, and I made sure I was always on top of the game.
On what the team showed despite the loss…
We showed a lot. Don't doubt us; we are pushing every single day. Make sure everybody knows what they are doing executing as a team. We never let ourselves get down, we always make sure that we keep each other up. Just make sure we stay positive throughout the process.
Indiana WR Donavan Hale
On the offensive performance today…
We had some explosive plays. We just need to continue doing that throughout the season.
On being part of many close games, but not being able to win…
There is no pressure. Obviously, we are disappointed, but not discouraged. It is all about finishing. Coach Allen has always been all about finishing. I think that we are getting close, we just have to close out.
What is key for you to building on a performance like today…
Like I said before, it is all about finishing. There are couple plays here and there that we have to make or a stop on the defensive end.
Indiana CB Tiawan Mullen
On playing his first Big Ten road game…
Coming here, I had great preparation, and I was ready to come out here and compete in my first road game.
On improving confidence after making big plays…
I am just doing whatever to help our team. They put us in the right spot to execute on the big plays. I want to show everyone that we can in here to compete. We aren't going to back down to nobody. Even though we lost, we are disappointed, but never discouraged. We are just going to go back to practice, get back into the play book and get back in the film room and be ready for the next game.
On feeling comfortable in this environment as a freshman…
Football is football. I never get nervous or scared; I just came here to play. They put on their pads, just like I put on my pads.
On disappointment on not getting the win…
They were disappointed but not discouraged; it meant a lot to those guys. It is my first year here, and I wanted to play for those guys. It meant more to them than me because they have been here for a few years.
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