University of Minnesota Athletics
Postgame Quotes
10/14/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 14, 2017
TCF Bank Stadium
Michigan State at Minnesota
P.J. Fleck, Minnesota Head Coach
On his general thoughts on the game…
"First and foremost, I have to give credit to Michigan State. They are a phenomenal football team and they are a ranked opponent. It was really a tale of two halves on both sides of the ball. Defensively, we played really well in the first half. Offensively, not so good. Second half was different. Defensively, we did not play well and offensively, we fought and continued to come back. Special teams, kickoffs we did not play very well. There were four big plays at the start of the game that I thought were critical. The first one, we get the ball inside the 5-yard line and first time we snap the ball, we drop it. All of a sudden, we have to settle for a field goal. We run a motion and you hand it off, we weren't supposed to hand it off. We took a knee on second and five. We went down to try and get a low snap, which put us in third and 12. You cannot do those things and expect to win a football game. Then we threw a pick. I am proud of their fight. We finished on the offensive side, did not finish on the defensive side. The word 'finish' is floating somewhere around there this week. We are making strides."
On Demry Croft's play…
"He showed me resiliency. I think he has come a long way. Failing is growth. I planned on possibly giving him reps today anyway. It just came to a point where I put him in and then talked about putting Conor [Rhoda] back in there. But then he started moving the team and I kept him in there. He continued to do that so I continued to give him opportunities. I will reevaluate things later this week and watch the film. I think the way moved the football, Demry did a tremendous job of creating. That is what he has been able to do all along. It is about doing all the right things in all areas of your life. I think he learned his lesson."
On what was working offensively…
"We were down another lineman so we were getting some pressure. They are really good up front and we were getting some pressure. I though Demry [Croft] did a great job of creating. He saw his first read or two reads and then he tucked it and went. That is what he gives you. He gives you that ability. We have to now look how we build around that as we keep going forward. I thought some guys played outstanding. Mark Williams, he is another freshman that is down on the list and is now the number one guy. I thought he really did a nice job. I thought Shannon [Brooks] and Rodney [Smith] did a really nice job. We got behind the eight-ball very quickly so it took us away from our game plan. There is a lot of great individual performances. I told the team it is a tale of six games. Three in the first half of the six, three in the second half. We are going to draw a line in the sand. We are going to learn from everything. We are going to start over. We are 0-0 tomorrow. Here we go."
Thomas Barber, Minnesota LB
On how they're going to improve before Illinois next week…
"We're just going to draw the line in the sand, and we're going to restart. We're going to respond to it and develop. We're going to respond to what we learned, get in the film tomorrow, and come back on Tuesday."
On his comfort level at this point in the season…
"I have gotten more comfortable throughout the season, and I feel like I finally get to read my keys now. I'm developing a little bit better and learning from Jon [Celestin]. We sit there and watch film. All the linebackers get together and go through film, and we keep each other up. It's a pick-me-up."
Jonathan Celestin, Minnesota LB
On his overall assessment of today's defensive performance…
"Defensively, we all didn't do our jobs together collectively. We need people to set the edge, people to pursue the ball, and as a unit, we didn't do that as well tonight."
On what the team needs to do to reset…
"We need to respond. We are going to draw a line: what happened, happened today. We can't do anything about it to change the outcome. We are going to put our oars in the water and keep rowing forward. I'm looking forward to next week."
Mark Dantonio, Michigan State Head Coach
"I thought we had the game in place right where we needed to be in the fourth quarter, then Minnesota does a great job coming back. We ran the ball effectively tonight, so that was a positive. The weather was a factor again. We had some penalties and obviously the turnovers. I thought our defense played very well until the end, and then all of a sudden we couldn't stop [Tyler Johnson] and we couldn't stop the quarterback scrambles. I'm happy for the win. We're 5-1."
On how dominant MSU's offensive line and run game was…
"I think they played well, but you take away our late holding call and the game's over. I thought LJ [Scott] ran very effectively and we ran the ball very well."
On how well MSU got ready following last week's game…
"I'd say 10 out of 10 in terms of our approach to this football game. We knew we would have some adversity, and that we'd have to play through it, and come in ready to play. We fumbled the first play, fumbled our first punt, but we responded. We came in and threw an interception but responded. There were a lot of positives tonight. You have to take these games like a prize fight and go round for round with these teams. There are some great teams in this conference, well coached teams in this conference, and they play extremely hard in this conference."
On Minnesota making a quarterback change mid-game…
"We thought maybe they'd play him. But I thought he came in and played very well. He made some things happen and we just made some plays, and he sort of got it going a little bit and got us on our heels a bit. But like I said we'll take the win."
On the weather delay before the game…
"Yeah I don't know if we've really ever had one of those. We've always sort of gone out, so it was a little different. But in the end, we just kept saying that we have to adjust. Football is a game of adjustments, assessing what we do, and then repeating things."
LJ Scott, Michigan State RB
On his career-high rushing game…
"It was great getting back out there with the guys after missing last week. I have to give the credit to the O-line for creating holes and making things happen out front."
On Minnesota's defense…
"They had a great defense, but they were flown to the ball and I think I was able to cut back and make some cutbacks on some of those tosses. The plus side of that is we got the yards that we wanted."
Brian Lewerke, Michigan State QB
On how the team managed the unruly weather conditions…
"I think last week going through all that with the rain definitely helped. Just kind of refocusing. After the first fumbled snap we had I just focused more on getting my hands up in there and making sure I wasn't pulling out too early. I think that's what happened on that one and I just pulled out too early. As the game went on it kind of stopped raining and was just kind of a drizzle so it wasn't too bad."
On where the team stands now being 5-1 on the season…
"Honestly, I expected to be 6-0. Our only loss was to Notre Dame, but we beat ourselves really. I expected to be undefeated at this point, but things happen. I think we've done a great job so far just focusing on being 1-0 every week and trying to get a win every time we go on the field."
Joe Bachie, Michigan State LB
On Minnesota's late comeback…
"It's not acceptable by our defense. We've got to learn how to finish. We are a young team so it is a learning experience for us. We came out 1-0 though this week so that is something to be happy about. But, like I said, we got to learn, and we have to finish games better."
