Post-Game Quotes: Wisconsin
10/15/2022 9:26:00 PM | Football
Michigan State Head Coach Mel Tucker
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Opening statement…
Thanks everyone for coming out. We really appreciate it. Just really proud of our guys tonight, just the way they stuck with it. They stuck together, handled adversity, responded to adversity, and blocked out the noise. Very good intentional focus today as a football team, we just continued to play the next play, focused on playing one play at a time, six seconds a play and played with relentless effort, and just believing in each other and believing in what we're doing, and staying together. We played complementary football more often tonight and we executed more often tonight and so we got the results that we wanted. I'm just really proud of our guys and everyone in our organization for sticking together and pushing through adversity to be able to get the job done. I want to thank our fans, with Homecoming, this is an important weekend for Spartan Nation and our fans were a huge, huge factor in the game today. Our student section was loud. We really feed off of our fans, really feed off the energy of Spartan Nation and that was a factor for our players. I just want to thank our fans for hanging in there with us. I know it's been a tough stretch for all of us, but that's what we do as Spartans. We don't quit, we just keep chopping and keep going after it relentlessly until we get it right. We took a step in the right direction today and I'm really proud of everybody involved, all Spartans.
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On the team's win coming down to execution…
Yes, it is that simple. We talk about death by inches week after week and I think that's a lack of execution. We don't have a lot of margin for error on our football team. One guy's not doing his job, usually we don't have a positive play with us. So we had more guys executing more often together for 60 minutes and so we got a better result. Absolutely.
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On the performance of the Spartan receivers…
They played at a high level today. It's no secret that those guys can make plays, all those guys have made plays at some point throughout the season. We have to build on some of the positive things we did today. We can't get ahead of ourselves. The one thing we can do is not get seduced by success. We took a step in the right direction. I'm so proud of these players and the locker room was buzzing. The guys were extremely happy. We have a 24-hour rule. We have to dial it back in because it's all about what's next. We're going to evaluate it. We're going to watch the film like we always do. We're going to see some things there that we need to clean up and we're going to see some plays that were good and we can build upon, and we'll get ready for what's next. We all know what that is.
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On the penalties in tonight's game…
We'll evaluate them. We have two categories of penalties – dumb, stupid penalties – we have to eliminate those, more accountability, more pressure. We have to take guys out that can't be in there. We'll show them, we'll break them down, we teach off of them. We did make some dumb, foolish penalties. Those are choices that we made. We also have to have more poise and more discipline as football team. Every 100 yards is pretty much seven points, and it was pretty much that today. And then you have aggressive penalties. Aggressive plays are going to happen when you're playing football, when guys are playing full speed, hand-to-hand combat, trying to move guys against their will, you're going to get some of those. We clean those up with technique. Better technique usually solves those aggressive penalties. We evaluate the penalties. If we have a question, we write it up and turn it in and get feedback so we can teach off it and then move forward. Penalties, especially stupid penalties, will absolutely get you beat.
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On the significance of players returning from injury and the defense's improvement…
It does make a difference, because those guys like (Jacob) Slade and X (Xavier Henderson) are good football players. So, it does matter who you have out there. They have experience, they are leaders for us. Slade anchors our front seven, and X runs the show in the back end, not only from a leadership and production standpoint, but communication and making the calls as well. It was good to get those guys back, and they fought hard to get back. So, that was critically important. When you play defense, and you can stop people, you're able to take the ball away and get it back to the offense. That's our job. That's complementary football, and that helped us. We were able to hold them to lower numbers and stay in the game. That's what, when we've had success, that's what we've been able to do. We have been able to be super, ultra-competitive throughout the course of the entire game, and then find a way to win the game in the fourth quarter, OT or whatever it takes. That's what we have been able to do, and these past few weeks, we had been out of the game. That wasn't the case tonight, because we did play better defensively, and we were able to help our offense and play complimentary football. Scottie (Hazleton) and the defensive staff are working extremely hard to develop our players to get them to be more disciplined. We were more productive, with less negative production and more positive production. We were more consistent. We played team defense with everyone doing their job. It looked like a better brand of football out there. It looked better because we had better execution. So, Scottie and that defensive staff, my hat goes off to them. They have challenged those guys to continue to chop, and they have continued to chop on our players to get them where they need to be.
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On if Jalen Berger prepared any differently playing his former team in Wisconsin…
I hadn't had any conversations with him [about it]. So, no. I did not see anything different.
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On the trick play that led to MSU's score in the first overtime…
Well, if you watch us enough, you see that Payton (Thorne) makes a lot of calls at the line. He has been doing that. That's not something that's new. That's part of what he can do – get us in and out of plays – so, he did a nice job and we were able to execute. We work on plays in practice, and when we run plays, we try to run them under stress with some difficult situations. We knew that Payton, based upon the way they were playing us, that the play would have a chance. It was really good execution, a really good play call and it was a decision where we were playing to win, not playing not to lose.
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On Jayden Reed's throwing ability on MSU's score in the first overtime…
He looked like Randall Cunningham out there. That's my evaluation. Those six seconds of that play, that was it.
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On the team's botched field goal at the end of regulation…
We were looking to go down there and score a touchdown. You know, it didn't work out. So, we did a really good job of getting those guys out there – we were out of timeouts – and I'll really need to see the film on it. We had a snap and hold situation that wasn't good, so I'll have to take a look at that.
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On the performance of MSU's receivers and skill players…
You can see that those guys, both of those guys have made plays in the past. They can be touch matchups for people, because they are big guys that can run, they have really good ball skills and they are competitive. So, we saw that today. Along with Jayden, Tre Mosley, we've got guys and we've got backs, we've got Tyler Hunt, Germie Bernard, you see (Daniel) Barker. We've got some guys that can make some plays. We were able to execute. We caught the balls that were thrown to us today, which is big. Protection was important, and Payton made good decisions. It's just overall execution. Like I told our guys for the past few weeks, it's not like we don't have any players, we just needed better execution.
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On the team's approach to the coming bye week…
We'll see what it does for us when we show up to work. We'll see what it does. We cannot be seduced by success. So, like I've said, we have a 24-hour rule, then we will see how we show up for what's next. Then, we will be able to evaluate our level of confidence and our level of focus, our hunger level and our maturity. We will have to block out the noise as well, because we can't be up and down like a yo-yo, based on outside influences. We need to stick with the process. Let's go back to work. We have a lot of work to do. We won one game, and I'm so proud of our guys because it's hard to win games. That is a good football team over there (Wisconsin). You saw what they did last week, and so I'm really proud of everyone. But, we are literally, right now, just making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We are keeping it simple, slowing it down, taking it one play and one day at a time. We can't get ahead of ourselves. We're going to continue focusing on execution and teamwork, focusing on discipline and playing together. Learning. Coaching. Teaching. Motivating. That's what we're doing. All this other stuff here doesn't matter right now. We have to keep a very narrow focus on what we're doing, so we can continue to prepare to play good football.
Wisconsin Interim Head Coach Jim LeonhardÂ
Opening Statement...
Great battle tonight, obviously the way this one ended it hurts. But, would never question the effort of our guys tonight, they put it all out there. Unfortunately, we didn't execute as well as we needed to in the second half. Obviously, the second overtime as well. That's the difference in the game, give Michigan State credit, they came out and made plays. Their receivers played extremely well, and they created a turnover when they needed it in that second overtime.
About if the execution on both sides of the ball is where it is expected to be…
Not what you need to win, especially close games. You can get away with that at times, but in the game those little things change everything. And we started the second half kind of on our heels, got behind the sticks on multiple drives. And then defensively, too many coverage busts to create big plays for the offense, and just continue to move the ball or flip the field position at times. We have to play better in the second half to close out close games there's no question about it.
About how he can get this team to bounce back…
Number one is always emotions. How do you get guys to put their emotions aside to learn the lessons. You have one opportunity to respond within a game, during the game when the clock is running you can respond. And then once the game is over, day after, you have to learn the lessons on what it takes to win in big moments, what it takes to win in clutch situations. And that's what we have to do. We have to handle the emotions right now. We did not respond well enough within that game, and now we have to learn the lessons in order to ensure that that doesn't happen again this season.
About the decision to punt on the MSU 37-yard line with 4:54 left to go in the third quarter…
It's right on that fringe area of (it's) a little uncomfortable to punt, not quite in field goal range that we deem today, what that number was going to be. Was going to be aggressive and go for it and obviously we get the penalty and knock it back and thought it was correct to put it in our defense's hands, and we executed the punt inside the five and we gave up the first down. They made a play on a third down. And then (they) got aggressive on us, and we busted a coverage and we have to find a way to get that on the ground. I think Torch (John Torchio) had an opportunity to tackle it, and he tried to strip the ball. Have to get it on the ground and save some field position there and hopefully calm everyone down.
About if he was surprised that they didn't have more success passing the football…
Every week it's what is best for our team to win. As much as their pass coverage has struggled, their front is really good. So you got to keep them off balance, you have to slow them down up front, can't let them pin their ears back and get to Graham (Mertz). I felt like it was the correct plan offensively to still work through the run game, I thought we executed in the pass game, especially late. Graham did a great job late in the game. Some big plays in the pass game to get some touchdowns, so I think it was the right plan and we have to execute a little bit better. It always gets tough and mentioned early in the third quarter behind the sticks multiple series. It is just hard to get into a rhythm when you are constantly playing from behind.
Michigan State Redshirt Senior WR Jayden Reed
On his touchdown pass in overtime…
I've thrown the ball growing up and in practice we were able to execute the play multiple times. The funny thing is we weren't able to get the play to work in practice, but he (Coach Tucker) called it in the game so we had to make a play and that's what Keon (Coleman) does.Â
On the game winning touchdown…Â
We had a different play checked and we dissected the defense and checked it to a different play and after that you just had to go make a play.
On ending the losing streak…
Obviously, things have been tough for us this year, I think you guys can see that we're a team that actually cares. We try and fight our hardest to go out and make plays. Not everything goes your way all the time but we never lost confidence in each other and we stuck together as a group.
Michigan State Sophomore WR Keon ColemanÂ
On how he attacks jump balls…
I just imagine myself in an open facility, I play these plays out the night before in my head. When the ball is in the air I don't see anything, not the crowd, not the defender, I just see the ball and go and get it.Â
On working with Payton Thorne coming out of half time…
I don't think we weren't on the same page in the first half, just different things weren't working, but coming out of the half we wanted to get some catches in, the wind was going crazy, I mean half an inch would be the difference between a catch and a miss, so we just wanted to get some routine catches in.
Michigan State Redshirt Junior QB Payton Thorne
Yeah, you may think so, but you aren't just throwing it down there hoping for the best. We work on those things and based on where the DB is at the ball is going to be put in a different place. I try my best to put it where I want to based on what the DB does.
On how many times have you have thrown that touchdown pass to Keon…
Quite a few. I haven't had him catch it many times. People don't realize how hard it is to catch the ball like that. To come down, have a defender right in your face, probably smack your head on the ground and still hold onto the ball. That's good strong hands and a lot of work in the off season, grip strength and working on different drills to catch the ball.Â
On how it's been challenging the last 4 weeks, how does it feel now…
It feels good. It feels good to be back on the right side of things. The season's not over. And now how do we move forward and build on it. We have won games before, but when you go a month without winning a game, it feels really good and it means a little bit more, and the way we won too it was good to come out on the right side of things.
On what the outlook is for the bye week…
I will be getting right on, everyone else will be getting right on. The bye week, we still practice. We probably won't practice the same way we do during game prep week because obviously we have an extra week to get ready. We will do some different things, but we are gonna be focused on getting our bodies back to the best we can and make our mental game very sharp.
Michigan State Senior LB Jacoby Windmon
On what it's like as a defensive unit to have Jacob Slade back…
It's great, it was awesome to have those types of guys back. It gives you that will and confidence to know those guys are gonna do their job. At the same time, the way I look at it, whether it's a starter or second string, third string, they should be able to do exactly what the first string can do. I'm confident in the guys.
On what it's like to finally be in the leading position after a month…
It feels great. I know we were on a losing streak but it was one of the deals, being consistent on our performance, and getting better improvement on each phase of the game. We played good complimentary football. Offense helped defense, special teams helped offense. We all did what we had to do, it came together in the end so it feels great.
On what this week has been like preparing for his move back to linebacker…
It felt good to be back home. It was kind of natural for me since I played linebacker for a long time. It was just one of the deals at practice, I practiced it a lot. Just translate it from practice to the game field. I'm a firm believer that you practice how you play and I had a good week of practice, I feel like we had a good week of practice as defense. We came and did what we had to do.
Wisconsin Redshirt Junior quarterback Graham Mertz
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On if this game represented a missed opportunity for the team…
100 percent. Yeah, we stalled out in the third quarter and in the fourth quarter. We just have to do a better job of executing. Staying ahead of the sticks, shooting ourselves in the foot a little bit. But you know, proud of how the guys fought. That last drive was pretty special with how the guys came out there and just executed. So we just have to keep doing that, but yeah I would definitely say it was (a missed opportunity).
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On how his team planned to attack Michigan State's pass defense…
Yeah, 100 percent. I think that's every week. Like I said, a couple missed opportunities, we just have to execute more. We got a couple third and longs, and they had a good game plan as far as dropping out into the zones we were trying to attack. They kind of forced me to take underneath stuff, and when you are playing in 3rd and 12…3rd and 13, being forced to take that underneath stuff kind of makes it hard to play in that world. But yeah, we definitely have to watch that one and figure out what we have to clean up.
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On what happened on his throw in overtime, which appeared to be a miscommunication with his receiver, that almost resulted in an interception…
Yeah, I mean something we have been repping for a while now. Just a little bit of a miscue. He kind of broke out, and I was thinking of going over the top. In the end, I kind of forced that one…I did that one. But I thought he was going to go behind and we got bailed and had the chance to finish that one.
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On how he was able to rebound after that miscue and make the throw to tie the game in the first overtime…
I mean that's why you play the game, for moments like that. In overtime, that should get you excited, and our guys were excited. They went out there and had an edge to them to finish the game. But in the end, we have to finish better, and we didn't tonight.
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On how difficult it was to bring his offense out of a slump in which they were forced to punt six straight times…
I think you have to look at the facts of what's going on at that moment. How are we actually playing right now? And what position did we put ourselves in? What's working well and what's not. And for me, it's trying to keep everybody level-headed and look at the facts of the situation, try to keep emotions out of it, and to just keep moving that ball. I think on the sideline, it's more of what we can do next. It's not a situation where we feel like we are not going to be able to do anything, it's picking each other up, looking at the facts, and figuring out what we can do better.
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On he believes the team's talent level is better than their record…
Oh, 1000% percent. I think that's the most frustrating thing for a lot of the guys. I mean, we know the talent we have. We just have to put it together, and we haven't yet.
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