Post-Game Quotes: Central Michigan

Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker

I want to start by saying, thank you so much for coming out, I know it's late so I will keep it brief. I'm happy for how our guys played with effort, obviously we have a lot to clean up on; I want to give Central Michigan a lot of credit, coach McElwain does a great job preparing his guys, he has a good staff and play hard, they're going to win some football games this year. We started off slow but we kept chopping being able to execute in all three phases and get the win. We're 1-0, we have a 24-hour rule and move on to Richmond.

On the slow start…
I think it was jitters, first game, first game for Noah, a new team, a new season, and we're at home. There was a lot of nervous energy. He (Noah) threw some good balls but there were some drops early on, if we executed a little better it would've been a different half. We must give Central credit; they got some good players who came out physical.

On the third-down pass to Jaron Glover in the second quarter…
It was an explosive play; you need to have explosive plays. When he (Glover) was getting recruited, we knew he had a real good skill set. He (Glover) had a good spring and fall camp; we expected him to make some plays. That was one of the questions we had going into the season, what receivers can make plays? He (Glover) came in and made some big plays. We're not surprised because he did that in practice quite a bit.

On staying composed throughout the game…
Tough, discipline, and selfless. If you're not discipline, you're not going to be very good. We talked about being poised, being confident, and doing our job. Being disciplined is doing your job, know what you're supposed to do, when you're supposed to, get it done, and move onto the next play. We did have some penalties that needed to be cleaned up and we needed to be more disciplined in some areas, we can't give yards away, yards equal points.

On Nathan Carter's debut as a Spartan…
He came out running hard, he showed good burst, explosive, that was exactly what he showed at practice and that's what he showed on film at UConn. He's a good player who runs hard, he's a good teammate who is unselfish and he does what we ask him to do. We just have to keep him healthy; he'll be a very good player for us.

On Noah Kim, and possibly making a change early at quarterback in the first half…
There was no thought of that. We decided to give him the start because he deserved it. We had no plans to do anything else. I thought he did a good job tonight; he has a lot of talent and you can see that.

On the first game...
Well you know, football's not a game of perfect, we talk as a staff, and we talk to the team about with this being a four quarter game and expecting this to go all the way down to the wire. And if it doesn't, it doesn't, but that was our expectation. And if you look at the film and you watch those guys play Penn State last year, I mean they were in there and they were getting after those guys, and it was a tough game. And so, we know that we need to get better, and we'll do that, we're going to watch the film. The players were happy after the game, it's always good to get a win, it's not easy to get a win, and so were the coaches. I told them that I was proud of them and also the coaching staff. But you know, now we gotta turn the page and get ready for the next one, it's just one game. I told them, this is not the end, this is just the beginning. It's a new season, new team, 1-and-O, good start, all right, now let's take the next step, let's build. And typically, you make the most improvement with a team like between the first and second game, so that's what we're going to look to do.

On Noah Kim earning the starting quarterback position...
I mean, it was close. Just consistency in performance, day in and day out, and we need our quarterback to run the offense and not try to do too much. Just get us in and out of the right plays, throw the ball to the open man, if it's not there check it down, run it, throw it away, you know make good decisions, be a leader, be a team-guy and play well around him. Throughout the course of time he won the job and obviously he's in his fourth season with us, so he knows us, we know him very well, and we feel like he can go in there and play winning football for us and he's a really talented young man, he throws a really nice ball, he's got a nice arm, he can run, he's smart and so I thought it was a good start for him.

Central Michigan Head Coach Jim McElwain

Opening Statement…
I felt like we gave ourselves an opportunity, they took advantage obviously of that turnover. Then in the second half we really never got it back. There were some things I thought we did really well and I told this football team, in the locker room, that I have a lot of trust in them and they are a group that care. They are a group that came out and fought real hard against some really big guys and you know I think we will take some things and they will be good to learn from. Overall, credit to Sparty and a great atmosphere and a great place. My wife and I and our family loved it here and it was great to be back.

On running out of gas late in the game…
You know, I think physically and offensively I felt that we did not give our defense a chance because we had some three and outs and short clocks and they took advantage of it. They got us on the big double move and got us down there on the check to the stab route and they made a great play. It's a SportsCenter highlight, whoever that guy was. But, you know Mel (Tucker) is a hell of a coach and he is really good for this program and he is going to do a good job with it.

On quarterback play…
It was okay, I didn't think it was too big for them. I think in space his athleticism showed against Big Ten people which bodes well for us. We obviously need to throw the ball with some consistency. Even on the interception, it is a quick series protection and you are supposed to go be aggressive and we didn't get the guy's hand down and we had a completion on it. But, for the most part we took care of the football. The three and outs obviously hurt, and down there in the first part of the game not getting points on that drive, I felt that would have been something that put pressure on them.

On Michigan State's Defense…
First and foremost, that has been a good defense for a long time here. Having Mel (Tucker) as a coach over there on defense, I mean, he has learned from the best and I was at one of those places with one of the best. They are going to give people problems in this conference defensively because they are sound, they do some things that keep you off balance, they are advanced in their cover schemes which I think is his NFL background as well as being with Kirby (Smart) and Nick (Saban). You know, there is a lot of similarities there when I was watching film and thinking about practices back in Tuscaloosa, so, this is a good defense and they are not going to give up a bunch of points and many yards all year long. You look at last year when they were down in the red zone against real teams, in their conference, and they were stopping them. So, they do a good job.

Michigan State Redshirt Junior Linebacker Cal Haladay

On the First quarter of the game not clicking for the offense, how did the defense discuss this…
We kinda just gotta focus on our job, I mean we want the offense to move the ball. But we can't let that affect the way we play. We just gotta go out and do our job and take care of business and then get the ball back to the offense.

On second half adjustments against the CMU quarterback…
We made some adjustments. We knew he's fast, he got outside, and we just need to keep him contained. So we tried to do that, making sure to go for his outside, outside leg, make him try to cut back, keep him in the field, give our guys a chance. And so don't let him get outside. He was a good runner, really good with speed, and it made him tough to stop."

On mental effect of teammates getting injured…
It's tough to say, you don't want to see your teammates go down. It's your brothers, you want them to stay healthy for every weekend. I mean it's part of the game though, injuries are part of the game they happen. They happen at practice and it's just things that happen and I think you just gotta hope that he's ok but then you got to get back to reality, we're still in the game we still gotta take care of business.

On the defensive efforts tonight…
In the first half we had a little bit of a slow start. I mean they're a great team, they came out and they played a really good game. We respect everything they do, cause they came out and they had a really good gameplan. I mean, effort wise everyone was flying to the ball and trying to do that. But it's the first game, and there's things that happen. It's a first game, so people getting back out there it's kinda, it's just different than practice, and so you gotta make it as similar to practice as possible. Like missing tackles, making sure communication goes through, I think in the second half picked up. We would just follow the plan, made some adjustments, but I think overall it was ok. We have got a lot of cleaning up to do, I would say, but second half we cleaned up a little bit.

Michigan State Redshirt Junior Quarterback Noah Kim

On first game jitters and what changed offensively to get going…
I wouldn't say it was the jitters, I think we just left some plays out on the field. I think that's just what happens. And you know that's football, it's the first game, mistakes are bound to happen. We have a long season and we're ready to get back to work on Monday, prepare for Richmond. But overall I say we made some great plays out there but we left a lot out there as well, so it's definitely fixable

On halftime locker room message…
Nothing outstanding, the main message was to do your job and that's what Coach Tuck tells us to do, and that's what we relay to our teammates as well. It's just do your job and you know if everyone does their jobs correctly the plays are gonna be made and we just did it better in the second half.

On finding out he was starting…
I think it was like a week, a week or so before this game. Like a week or two.

On gaining confidence in the second half…
I would say I never lost my confidence. I was confident going into the game, and I was confident when we had a three and out, was confident either way, because I know the plays are there, it's not like we were just throwing the ball. It's not like we were just making dumb mistakes like that, it was one guy here or there, me missing a pass, or whatever it was. It was just something little every single play. I knew everybody on the sideline was on the same page, where nobody was out going crazy like 'oh what are we doing, what are we doing'. We know we can make the plays, we've seen it. There's nothing to prove to anybody, we've proved it to ourselves in practice. Everyone was confident to go onto the next drive, and hopefully just make the play the next drive. And everyone was on that same page.

On catches made by Jaron Glover to end the first half…
I thinks he's a sophomore and I think it's his first start, so him making those big plays, gaining that confidence, is just gonna carry on to the next game and the next game and the next game, and it could be, it could be a really good thing for him.

On what Nathan Carter brings and the 1-2 duo of him and Jalen Berger…
Yeah I think that's big. I mean, I think all of our running backs run hard and that's one thing that we've been coaching our backs to do is just run hard. Cause the seams are gonna be there and Coach Tucker's been showing us videos, like as a running back you only need 18 inches of daylight and so just hit the hole, run it hard, and don't let one guy tackle you. I think all our running backs can do that and they will do that, and they'll show that throughout the season.

On if there was a specific play that got him going, sparked him…
I think it was just a gradual thing. A big part of it was probably watching our defense, how hard they played and getting all those stops. That was definitely adding fuel to the fire for not just me but everybody. You know, you see your teammates going out there and they're battling. And that definitely helps the offense get going.

On Jaron Glover…
Well one I was happy for Jaron, he made I think two big plays that drive. And we ended off running the ball in the end zone and that's what we wanna see from our team. We wanna run the ball in the end zone. And so, yeah that was definitely a key moment of some momentum.

On taking his first hit…
I haven't been hit in so long so getting hit again was a fun kinda thing you know. Just football, you're playing football again, you know, that's what you wanna do. It's a child's game so, at the end of the day we're going out there to have fun and so being hit again was, it was a good thing to feel I guess. I don't know, but yeah it was cool.

Michigan State Sophomore Defensive Back Jaden Mangham

On how it felt for the defense to start strong…
I felt great. You know the defense as a whole I feel we played great. We definitely have some things to keep improving on but as a first show case I feel that was good for us. We'll break down film, see what we can build on and just take it into our next game.

On shutting down CMU after fast start…
We just started doing our job. That was really our biggest problem. You know guys really weren't doing their job. So, we went to the sideline and made our adjustments and then just started doing what we needed to do.

On being back in Spartan Stadium…
It felt great. The whole atmosphere being able to just play out there with all my teammates and you know all that just felt amazing.

Michigan State Redshirt-Senior Wide Receiver Tre Mosley

On prepping for the game knowing knowing Kim would be QB…
You know nothing's changed. The guys are still getting reps in because you know you never want to change the way you practice because of who's back there. I had the utmost respect for all three quarterbacks and so whoever is back there, the guys on the perimeter will still do our job.

On the younger guys stepping up…
I definitely noticed that those guys are capable of being big time playmakers. They wouldn't have been recruited to come play here. They're just patiently waiting for their opportunity, and they got it tonight. They showcased why they're good enough players to be here at Michigan State football, and they're going to continue to grow as well. I look forward to seeing the whole team continue to elevate.

Do you need to have the bounce back mentality…
Oh, you have to, you know football games are long and everything doesn't go accordingly all the time, so just being able to keep a neutral mindset so that you can move on past plays that don't go as well and then when plays do go well you still got to be ready to go to the next play.

On how you relate to Kim…
We have a great relationship. We have confidence in each other, you know, I have extreme amount of confidence in him as a quarterback, and he has the same with me as a receiver. We continue to grow our relationship like we have over the last few years and he's a great player, as a leader he's very confident in himself and his skills and you guys are going to see that as he continues to grow and elevate each week.

On how much more is there to the receivers we've already seen…
We're just scratching the surface, you know its game one, and we're going to continue to get better every week. But we just have to get back to the drawing board and learn from our mistakes, so we don't make those again and continue to grow.

Central Michigan Redshirt-Freshman Quarterback Bert Emanuel Jr.

On what he learned tonight…
I learned a lot really. Coming out of this game, there was a lot of positive feel, really. There was slight explosives and sparks and I feel we'll be able to carry it out this season and make big plays, and just grow as an offense as we get there.

On if there was anything tonight that the team wouldn't have been able to do last year…
I feel as if the energy was there. I'm not saying we didn't have a lot of energy last year, we had energy last year. I just feel like this year the offense is there for the defense, defense is there for the offense, were communicating back and forth. It wasn't like, here's offense, here's defense, here's special teams. It was like, we're all together, we all bought in, we're all out there trying to figure it out. We had the same goal in mind. Whatever we needed to do to win, so I just felt like that was the biggest thing. Everyone being there for each other, everyone picking each other up.

On the speed of the game…
It took an adjustment. They're big, physical for a reason, you know. They are Big Ten for a reason. They have great coaching. Their coaching prepared them well. They made a lot of good plays. The speeds a bit different, but, it's something you gotta get used to. If we're trying to win the game, I have to make that adjustment quick. It's not something I can just wait out and get a feel for. I gotta be ready from the snap. I gotta watch film, prepare for the week knowing, alright they gonna make plays, I gotta be quicker with my stuff. As for their speed I just gotta get ready, I just gotta get going. I gotta get ready in pregame, matter of fact I gotta be ready in pre, pregame. Before pregame starts, ready before all of that.

Central Michigan Junior Linebacker Kyle Moretti

On if MSU wore them down a little bit as the game went on…
I just think it's all about execution, you know. Regardless of how much we're on the field we just need to execute.

On how tonight's game will prepare him for the rest of the season…
I think it just shows us where we're at. How we respond to adversity and certain situations. Definitely they are a good team, so, you know good players. We just gotta adapt and see where we're at. I think this will bring us closer, and we'll just use this as a foundation to keep going on in the year.

On going into half down three…
Coaches did a great job preparing us, you know, throughout fall ball. I was proud of the defense and the offense, special teams, the whole team really. We did a great job. It kinda shows us what we're capable of doing. Now it's just consistency. I was proud of our team, we just gotta keep stacking. Learn what we did right, learn what we did wrong, chalk it up and get after it next week.

Players Mentioned

Jalen Berger

Nate Carter

Jaron Glover

Cal Haladay

Noah Kim

Jaden Mangham

Tre Mosley