Photo by: Matthew Mitchell/MSU Athletic Communications
Post-Game Quotes: Michigan
10/26/2025 12:42:00 AM | Football
Michigan State Head Coach Jonathan Smith
Opening statement…
Obviously, it's not good enough. I thought these guys prepared throughout the week, energized for this one, and came down to sloppy play. I look at the first half - offensively, penalties, lack of execution. 
Defensively, bowing up, we give them the ball. First drive, bow up, holding them to the field goal. Defensively, I thought in the first half, they kept us in that one and then you get into the start of the second half, a couple tough drives in the third quarter. 
We finally get an answer offensively and we got opportunities twice on their side of the field, fourth down, don't get it done, and just where it's not good enough to overcome some of the penalties we inflicted on ourselves. 
A couple tough calls, not good enough tonight.
On not challenging a potential catch…
That's what they described to me on (Omari) Kelly's catch on the sideline. He didn't complete the catch. He said they're looking at it coach, they're looking at it coach, and I didn't feel confident on that one.Â
On an offsides penalty taking away a fumble recovery…
I was told he was offsides, and I've seen that call go either way. 
I'll put it that way.
On the penalties…
I think all of this rests with the head coach at the top in regards to everything that takes place in the program. I do think emotion, and it turns into your sole ability to concentrate and focus – it wasn't there, especially in the first half, I think offensively, because I think we had eight first half (penalties) and majority of that is on offense. And so we didn't want the extra penalties past the whistle, but didn't obviously execute well within the whistles on the penalty.
On attempting a two-point conversion…
Yeah, aggression a little, chasing points at that point, the analytics, where the score was at where regards to multiple scores, got to catch up to. Some of the early, you go for two earlier in the game than later, it kind of declares your strategy moving forward, all that went into it.
On fixing executional errors…
I think about offensively, the execution side, because playing catch, we got a guy open, we're not throwing an accurate ball, we got a couple of drops there. 
Do you think the protection was missed a little bit on edges there? I think about that offensively. And that executing in critical downs - those two fourth downs, we need it half a yard on a sneak. 
We can't get that done. The other one, we don't get that executed either on critical, critical plays. We got to keep working and looking at the situations we're putting them in to execute, and then obviously doing it so it shows up on Saturday.
On if sophomore WR Nick Marsh was the focus of the offense…Â
Early on, you got some things, you think (Nick) Marsh is going to have the high chance of seeing it. 
I do think they need to play catch, the two of them. I think earlier on we could have a slant that could get caught then we throw a hitch, not catchable. And again, this is not those two plays and those two players. 
This is an entire unit on offense contributing to them.Â
On not kicking a field goal to make it a one possession game in the fourth quarter…
It's fourth-and-3. We were going to need a touchdown at some point during the game, and where our distance was, that's not a guaranteed three points, all of that went into like, we're going to need a touchdown at some point, fourth-and-3, felt like the best call was to go get a touchdown on that drive.
On if he likes having defensive coordinator Joe Rossi on the sidelines…
We did. I thought it was good today. We talked about it through the week, creating a little bit. Just having his voice on the sideline, hadn't done it the whole year. We needed to obviously fix some things defensively. The effort defensively, those guys played with passion throughout the night.
Michigan Head Coach Sherrone Moore
On Justice's (Haynes) night…
It was great to have him back. Obviously, he is an explosive player, one that is one of the best running backs in the country in our eyes. It was awesome to have him back, he ran so hard and physical. He had 26 carries for 153 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 5.8 yards per carry. He continues to play at a high level. It was huge to have him back, but having Jordan (Marshall) as your two for 15 carries for 110 yards and a touchdown is pretty good too. We got a good running back tandem back there that plays physical, that will wear you down. I thought the offensive line played physical today and it is a young group we keep talking about. A redshirt freshman at left tackle and right guard and right tackle, but they played in sync today. To watch that run game today was something real exciting.
On Jimmy Rolder's play…
Jimmy played outstanding, 10 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, fumble recovery, and a sack. Just played really well. He played outstanding. I thought the defense overall, you know there are some plays that we let get out because we did not have contain and we got to close the gap and play physical. We can't jump around those blocks, but the defense in general played so hard and played so physical and they continue to do that. If we clean up those little things, it'll help us and make us the elite defense that we are.
On the four-game winning streak vs MSU and what it means for the program…
It means everything. We have talked ad nauseum about this game throughout the week. We talked about it after the game against Washington and on Tuesday we talked about the history of the rivalry, what it means to win this game for the state and for the city. The records. So it means everything for us to have won this game and have Paul back home again.
On the emphasis on the run game and why they leaned on it…
I think the biggest thing, it was not dictated before the game. Before the game, we wanted to be balanced, I think when you get into a game as it goes. As we were throwing the ball and we were completing the ball, part of the rushing attack was this guy to my right (Bryce Underwood), he makes it dangerous to do both. It was not really a selection, but as we got into the game and the defense started to mold them down, we just felt like we wanted to milk the clock and get the win. We felt like those direct runs at them were working. You got to have selfless people on your team to do that. You got to have "team over me" guys. That is what our quarterback is, that is what our receivers are, what our defense is. We will see what next game looks like as far as that. It was one of those games where we had to lean on those guys a bit and milk the clock out.
Â
Opening statement…
Obviously, it's not good enough. I thought these guys prepared throughout the week, energized for this one, and came down to sloppy play. I look at the first half - offensively, penalties, lack of execution. 
Defensively, bowing up, we give them the ball. First drive, bow up, holding them to the field goal. Defensively, I thought in the first half, they kept us in that one and then you get into the start of the second half, a couple tough drives in the third quarter. 
We finally get an answer offensively and we got opportunities twice on their side of the field, fourth down, don't get it done, and just where it's not good enough to overcome some of the penalties we inflicted on ourselves. 
A couple tough calls, not good enough tonight.
On not challenging a potential catch…
That's what they described to me on (Omari) Kelly's catch on the sideline. He didn't complete the catch. He said they're looking at it coach, they're looking at it coach, and I didn't feel confident on that one.Â
On an offsides penalty taking away a fumble recovery…
I was told he was offsides, and I've seen that call go either way. 
I'll put it that way.
On the penalties…
I think all of this rests with the head coach at the top in regards to everything that takes place in the program. I do think emotion, and it turns into your sole ability to concentrate and focus – it wasn't there, especially in the first half, I think offensively, because I think we had eight first half (penalties) and majority of that is on offense. And so we didn't want the extra penalties past the whistle, but didn't obviously execute well within the whistles on the penalty.
On attempting a two-point conversion…
Yeah, aggression a little, chasing points at that point, the analytics, where the score was at where regards to multiple scores, got to catch up to. Some of the early, you go for two earlier in the game than later, it kind of declares your strategy moving forward, all that went into it.
On fixing executional errors…
I think about offensively, the execution side, because playing catch, we got a guy open, we're not throwing an accurate ball, we got a couple of drops there. 
Do you think the protection was missed a little bit on edges there? I think about that offensively. And that executing in critical downs - those two fourth downs, we need it half a yard on a sneak. 
We can't get that done. The other one, we don't get that executed either on critical, critical plays. We got to keep working and looking at the situations we're putting them in to execute, and then obviously doing it so it shows up on Saturday.
On if sophomore WR Nick Marsh was the focus of the offense…Â
Early on, you got some things, you think (Nick) Marsh is going to have the high chance of seeing it. 
I do think they need to play catch, the two of them. I think earlier on we could have a slant that could get caught then we throw a hitch, not catchable. And again, this is not those two plays and those two players. 
This is an entire unit on offense contributing to them.Â
On not kicking a field goal to make it a one possession game in the fourth quarter…
It's fourth-and-3. We were going to need a touchdown at some point during the game, and where our distance was, that's not a guaranteed three points, all of that went into like, we're going to need a touchdown at some point, fourth-and-3, felt like the best call was to go get a touchdown on that drive.
On if he likes having defensive coordinator Joe Rossi on the sidelines…
We did. I thought it was good today. We talked about it through the week, creating a little bit. Just having his voice on the sideline, hadn't done it the whole year. We needed to obviously fix some things defensively. The effort defensively, those guys played with passion throughout the night.
Michigan Head Coach Sherrone Moore
On Justice's (Haynes) night…
It was great to have him back. Obviously, he is an explosive player, one that is one of the best running backs in the country in our eyes. It was awesome to have him back, he ran so hard and physical. He had 26 carries for 153 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 5.8 yards per carry. He continues to play at a high level. It was huge to have him back, but having Jordan (Marshall) as your two for 15 carries for 110 yards and a touchdown is pretty good too. We got a good running back tandem back there that plays physical, that will wear you down. I thought the offensive line played physical today and it is a young group we keep talking about. A redshirt freshman at left tackle and right guard and right tackle, but they played in sync today. To watch that run game today was something real exciting.
On Jimmy Rolder's play…
Jimmy played outstanding, 10 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, fumble recovery, and a sack. Just played really well. He played outstanding. I thought the defense overall, you know there are some plays that we let get out because we did not have contain and we got to close the gap and play physical. We can't jump around those blocks, but the defense in general played so hard and played so physical and they continue to do that. If we clean up those little things, it'll help us and make us the elite defense that we are.
On the four-game winning streak vs MSU and what it means for the program…
It means everything. We have talked ad nauseum about this game throughout the week. We talked about it after the game against Washington and on Tuesday we talked about the history of the rivalry, what it means to win this game for the state and for the city. The records. So it means everything for us to have won this game and have Paul back home again.
On the emphasis on the run game and why they leaned on it…
I think the biggest thing, it was not dictated before the game. Before the game, we wanted to be balanced, I think when you get into a game as it goes. As we were throwing the ball and we were completing the ball, part of the rushing attack was this guy to my right (Bryce Underwood), he makes it dangerous to do both. It was not really a selection, but as we got into the game and the defense started to mold them down, we just felt like we wanted to milk the clock and get the win. We felt like those direct runs at them were working. You got to have selfless people on your team to do that. You got to have "team over me" guys. That is what our quarterback is, that is what our receivers are, what our defense is. We will see what next game looks like as far as that. It was one of those games where we had to lean on those guys a bit and milk the clock out.
Â
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