Post-Game Quotes: Western Michigan

Michigan State Head Coach Mel Tucker

Opening Statement…
Thank you all for coming out. I was proud of the effort from our football team tonight. Western, they're very well coached and they gave us everything we could handle, and I have a lot of respect for that football team. We've got a lot of work to do, but I like what I saw in the locker room after the game from our team and from our leaders. It's a hungry football team, and we know we need to get better, and it was just a very mature locker room after the game. So, it's all going to be about how we show up tomorrow, how we show up Sunday, and how we chop into the next week. I saw some good things on offense, saw some good things on defense, saw some good things on special teams. We left some plays on the field, obviously, and those are things we need to get cleaned up. I expect our best and most improvement between our first and second game. You know, that's what I expect.

The stadium was unbelievable. We love our fans. Our student section was off the charts, and I really appreciate that as a head football coach, I mean, we all do. The staff, all of our players. I mean, the Woodshed is a real thing. You know, it's real. Football is important, and you can feel that when you walk in there. It's a special opportunity when we get a chance to play in there and coach in there, so I want to thank our fans, thank our students for showing up and getting after it tonight. It's our job to give you something that you want to see, and so we're hellbent on getting that done.

On the statuses of Darius Snow and Xavier Henderson…
I can't give anything right now. I'll know a lot more tomorrow and maybe by Monday or so when I'm back with you, maybe I can give you more, maybe not, we'll just have to see.

On the play of Jacoby Windmon and the Spartans' defense…
He did a good job. I just talked to him a minute ago, and I mean, he's hungry, he just wants to get better. You just gotta love him. We identified him in camp and in the spring as well as one of our best pass rushers, maybe our best pass rusher. And pass rushers are hard to find, right? And so, you always have to be able to affect the quarterback. You have to be able to stop the run and affect the quarterback with rush and coverage. He's playing linebacker for us and we asked him if he would play defensive end a couple weeks ago, you know, anything for the team, and we thought he'd be able to get pressure on the quarterback. And he still plays linebacker as well, but it just goes to show what type of team guy he is. And obviously, he had a high-level production today in terms of sack production. And I don't care who we're playing, I think we had seven, maybe seven, I'm not sure, sacks tonight. So, it's a step in the right direction. We have to have our rush and our coach working together always in order for us to play the type of defense we play here.

On the performance of the Spartans' cornerbacks and safeties…
From what I could see from the field, which is limited from where I'm standing, I saw a strong effort. I saw a lot of contested balls. I saw a lot of catch tackle, you know, guys right there to make the immediate tackle. It's important not to get the ball thrown over your head, so that was a big point of emphasis for us all spring. You know, stay on top, make them go the long, hard way, and do an excellent job tackling. I saw a lot of that. We had one busted coverage early where we had a guy wide open in the middle of the field and that's how they got in position to go down and kick a field goal. And then they hit a seven route when we didn't play it properly on the left side. That's something we do every day and it's unacceptable. I have to watch the film, but from what I could see, I saw solid play for the most part.

On the team's depth and versatile playmakers…
We have some players, you know, at each position on our team. Offensively, we have a good quarterback, and we have some good receivers that can win one-on-one. We have some good backs; some tight ends that can win one on one, and a line with some experienced guys that will fight you in the run game and hold up in pass protection. We still need to get better, but we have weapons. The same thing on defense: we have guys on the defensive line, we've got some linebackers and some secondary guys with some experience that can make some plays and do some things. Special teams; we can flip the field. We have guys that can go down and stop people and do what they're supposed to do. So, we have some good players on the team. Jay (Johnson) does a good job offensively of having balance and getting the ball to players in situations where they can win one-on-one. We had some plays early where we just didn't hit, but we had guys open. They are out there. That's the good thing when you have multiple guys who can make plays. All of those guys want the ball, and they all want touches and targets, but it's a very unselfish football team. I believe these guys understand that they need to just do their job and play for the team. Play team ball, and good things will happen for you.

On the performances of Payton Thorne, Jalen Berger and Jarek Broussard…
I have to look at the film with Payton for his performance and then get with Jay (Johnson) before I say if I'm disappointed or not with him. And then with (Jalen) Berger, it's pretty much what we saw in practice. He runs hard, and he's got good vision. He usually falls forward on contact. He gets out, he can get out there and make some plays. He's good out of the backfield catching balls as well. You see (Jarek) Broussard hit it up in there as well.

On the decision to start freshman kicker Jack Stone…
Everything is always up for evaluation, but we had a competition in camp, and he won that competition. That was based upon what he did in practice compared to the other guys. Sometimes there's not that much difference, but you've got to put somebody out there. He got the nod, and I saw him; he's a competitor, and he wants to do well. His leg strength and things like that, he's got that. He has shown us that he can get the job done, that's why he's out there.

On how freshman kicker Jack Stone responded after his missed field goal attempt…
He seemed OK. He is a young player, and he hasn't been here that long. That was his first time in a game like that. We have to just take it one rep at a time with him, and continue to work with him. But, he seemed to be able to go to the next kick, so to speak, and focus on that. That was his first game as a freshman in The Woodshed at night, you know, guys are counting on him. I didn't see him shy away from the moment at all.

On the rotation of offensive linemen…
(Brandon) Baldwin has worked hard and gotten better. We decided that he would play. We knew that we were going to play seven or eight guys, and that's kind of how it turned out. He's still developing and learning. Coach Kap (assistant head coach Chris Kapilovic) does a great job with that group and developing players. I mean, we need all of those guys. As many of those guys that we can get ready to play, we will see how the film looks and go with that next week. We need as many guys to play as possible. The guys we put out there, we have confidence in them based on how they do in practice. That's how they get out there in the first place, it's what they do on practice.

On his trust in sophomore running back Jalen Berger in a fourth down situation on the goal line…
We needed to punch that one in, so we were able to get that done. We wouldn't go for it if we didn't believe that we could get it done. We're not just hoping, or wishing. We believe and we have faith that we can get our pads down, no matter what they (Western Michigan) have got in there, and push that thing in. How far did we need to go? Was it a full yard? We need to be able to get that in down there.

On the defense's communication in the absence of Darius Snow and Xavier Henderson…
I didn't see a huge drop-off in communication out there, but then again, I've got to watch the film and see some of the details of what's going on out there. I saw poise from the guys who were out there, and Scottie (Hazelton) was doing a good job of getting them the call early so they could get lined up. They were able to take in the information, so they did have time to communicate. We played the stuff that we had, I mean, he called the stuff that we had. It wasn't like we felt that we needed to line up in one thing because the guys couldn't function. Coach (Harlon) Barnett does a great job with the defensive backs. Scottie does a great job with the backers. You know, we are a communication defense. Everybody is talking. It's like that in practice, we talk in the meetings. The play comes up, and the guys are making the calls in the meetings. It's not just the starters; it's the two's and the three's. It's a next-man-up mentality. You don't know when you're number is going to be called, so you have to be ready to get in there and make those calls, and have the motion adjustments. If they line up off-balanced, we've got to check or whatever we can do, and those guys did that. That's a credit to them for being prepared. Also, to the staff, I talked to you guys (the media) about having everyone ready to go. We made sure to coach everyone hard, so that, when their number is called, they can go into the game and just keep playing football. That's important. We saw that a year ago with this team. When guys go down, other guys have to be ready to step up and be productive so we can continue to play winning football.

Michigan State Redshirt Junior QB Payton Thorne

On the play of the receivers…
It starts with Germie (Bernard), true freshman, first game in our stadium, comes out there, it might have been his first play actually, ran a good route and made a really nice catch. He's a really good player and we're excited about what he brings to the table. And DJ (Daniel Barker) you know, spectacular catch, ran a really good route. Right when the ball was snapped I knew I was going to have a good chance with that. I put it a little too much out there and he made a great catch, and Keon (Coleman) made a great adjustment to the ball, just tried to give the ball some air and let him adjust underneath it. When you have man coverage or trail technique that DB can't see the ball, you just let your receiver go make a play.

On his performance…
I was very disappointed with the first half. We scored 21 points and had three nice plays. I give all the credit to their defense and what they did. They did a lot of things we hadn't seen on film, they brought it all out against us and played hard. There's definitely a ton of room to improve.

On playing against his dad…
I saw him before the game when I was out there throwing pre-game with just the quarterbacks. He ran out there and I was able to say hi to him, it was only five seconds maybe, but I'll see him after.

Michigan State Redshirt Sophomore RB Jalen Berger

On his performance tonight…
Tonight I felt like I left a lot of yards on the field. I had a dropped screen, which I can't let happen, especially on third down, and one of the runs I tripped up and that's a drill we do every day, just put your hand down and get back up.

On his 50 yard run and subsequent touchdown…
Their defense was overflowing on the outside zones all game. I was trying to get backside and pop one and that's what I had been waiting for the whole game. Just to see the crowd erupt got me excited. It took me a while to get in the end zone. I should have got in the second play after, but I finally got in there.

On getting back on the field…
It took a while to get on the field after my season got cut short game four last season, so it's been a long time coming just to get those game jitters out and it felt good to get back on the field.

Michigan State Redshirt Sophomore LB Cal Haladay

On how he fed off the momentum from the offense…
Coach preaches complimentary football all the time, and says special teams, offense and defense have to play together as a whole and that's how the game goes. It helps when everyone is juiced up and ready to go out on the field after a big play from the offense. We just feed off each other.

On how the depth in the linebacker room helps the defensive unit....
It's terrific for us as it makes us versatile and it allows us to do a lot of different things on defense and be very effective out on the field and it helps with people getting on an off the field and being able to be fresh the whole thing, that helps a lot. And being able to run full speed every single play. And being able to catch your breath because you know the guy out there is going to be able to get the job done.

Michigan State Senior LB Jacoby Windmon

On what he did to have a good game…
I was just doing my job. We go through those situations at practice. I'm a firm believer that you practice how you play. We just go out there and execute.

On if this is the best game he's ever played…
Honestly I don't know, I just go out there and play, we watch the film the next day and go from there. I play my heart out and let the rest take care of itself.

On playing in Spartan Stadium…
It was a great opportunity to get out there…Going out there doing what we love and do best. I couldn't ask for a better atmosphere from the fans. It was exciting to go out there and get a dub (win) with my brothers and continue to stack these wins and play one game at a time, one week at a time.

On how he fed off the momentum from the offense…
For the most part, it's just us feeding off each other's energy.

On the significance of his four-sack night, and his role within the defense...
My role is whatever is best for the team. Coach made the adjustment for me to go and play defensive end and I was all for it. I just do whatever is best for the team and whatever it takes to win.

On his experience playing defensive end, and how that allowed him to make the move to there from linebacker during training camp...
It happened closer to the game, like a week out. It was something I had always been working for in fall camp, because I knew one of my roles when I got here was to be a third down guy, come off the edge. A few weeks before the game we just made the change for me to play d-end (defensive end) and I was all in for it. And had that mindset was just to go in there dominate, whatever the position I'm at on the field. That's pretty much it.

Western Michigan Head Coach Tim Lester

Opening Statement
I'm proud of them, I thought they fought hard. We didn't get the job done. Our number one thing coming into the game was to take care of the ball and I don't think we did a good job of that. Obviously, we turned the ball over twice in the red zone, two lost fumbles. We need to be better to beat a good team like that. Good game for Jack (Salopek), I thought numbers-wise, he had a decent day. He probably wouldn't agree, he thinks there were too many things he missed. He has a high expectation of himself, and he is going to get better. I was overall happy with the effort and happy with the fight, but we have got to be able to take care of the ball and have to make more plays.

About Jacoby Windman and front-seven…
He is a great player, we knew their front seven were going to be great. I was happy with the 141 yards rushing, I think if it was a closer game we could've rushed for more. 150 was the goal. They pushed us around early. It'll be interesting to see how many were on Jack (Salopek). The two things that come with a first-time quarterback is red zone inefficiencies, they are a little slow with the ball, and then taking too many sacks early on. It's a great way to learn when you get hit by a 300-pound-guy. Seven sacks in one game is way too many, we have got to be better up front and we have got to make sure he knows where his checkdowns are so he doesn't take too many hits.

About the defense and preventing the big plays…
You can't turn a guy loose. And I didn't feel like we turned a guy loose until the last one. They got us on a blitz our WILL (weak side linebacker) has to roll with that guy and he had space. The one-handed catch in the corner is a one-handed catch in the corner, you know. We were in his hip pocket. We knew we couldn't let him sit back there and throw it around, we had to get to him. And we did, he only took one sack because he is a great quarterback. But 12/24 for him is a pretty stout defensive day. But we got to be able to cover in man coverage. We had four corners play today. We had a pick, which is huge. Against this team, we knew we had to get to him, with that receiving corps and the tight end and the skill positions they had. We respected them a ton coming in on their skill positions. The plan was to go get him and make him uncomfortable, but you got to play great man coverage and know that in man coverage, they could be a big one. I'm happy with how they fought.

About what he said to Payton Thorne after the game…
It's just good to see him. I just said good luck. He said it was a great game and our guys played hard. I asked him if he was all right. And he said he was. Told him I love him and I'm going to be rooting for him. And it'll be fun to root for him now, because we weren't today. It was good to see him and Jayden (Reed) after the game as well. Jayden (Reed) is a great kid, he just said thank you for helping him get his start and helping him grow. I wish those guys the best from here on out.

Players Mentioned

Daniel Barker

Jalen Berger

Jarek Broussard

Cal Haladay

Xavier Henderson

Darius Snow

Jack Stone

Payton Thorne

Jacoby Windmon

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