WMU at Michigan State - Post-Game Quotes
Western Michigan Head Coach Bill Cubit
Opening Statement...
I'm going to put it simply; they are better than us. Michigan State is
more physical and the two roughing the passer calls against use didn't
help either. I think we played a fantastic game, but our young players
just didn't handle the venue very well. The game got away from us early
and we never got into a good rhythm. I give our kids a lot of credit at
half time, because they came back out there and played hard.
On what he said during halftime...
At halftime I just
told them not to worry about the score and just go out there and play.
There is a time where it is up to the players to tell themselves that
they just have to play. There wasn't a lot of screaming in the locker
room, we just needed to understand what we all had to do. It is all
about preparation. The younger players think they are prepared for a
game like this, but they don't understand what college football is all
about, especially in this venue. We were taking our eyes off the ball
and we were running our routes slowly, so my players think they are
ready but they really aren't. If you have one or two freshmen, it
doesn't show as much, but when you have as many freshmen as we do, they
don't understand. However like I said before, we played much better in
the second half. I thought we were competitive and got the score back
up to 35-14, but then we let them run 70 yards and score another
touchdown. I think my players just need to understand that when there
is a ray of hope, we need to take advantage of it.
On being discouraged after the first half...
I am
never discouraged. I hoped the game would get better, but as a coach
you have to keep rooting your team on. You also have to keep working
and try and find that magic button. You have to remember that these
guys were playing in front of only one or two thousand people last week
and today they played in front of 70,000. I just think that we weren't
prepared to play in a Big Ten atmosphere.
On Michigan State's first 70 yard play...
We had a
blitz on the first play, but we got stuck. One of our players peeked
inside and MSU passed it outside, and we just lost it from there. If he
had stayed outside, Michigan State may have got the first down, but I
know they wouldn't have gotten the touchdown. That was just one of the
little things that we didn't do right today.
On preparing to play against a Big Ten team...
It is
hard because we don't have certain positions like MSU does, such as a
fullback. So it is hard to simulate playing against a team that used
different positions. But, it helped playing against Michigan and other
teams that incorporate fullbacks. We don't usually practice against
scout teams, we typically scrimmage first string against another first
string or maybe second string. At this time of the year everyone is
banged up and if you hit them hard all week at practice, you aren't
going to have healthy players for Saturday. But I guess that is a risk
you have to take.
On Brandon West's record-breaking kick return...
I
think Western has set a lot of records so far, but this one is really
exciting. I'm sure Brandon will be out there thanking a lot of his
teammates for helping him with this accomplishment. We are really proud
of him and our team.
Western Michigan Senior Quarterback Tim Hiller
On the first half...
I think they came out with a sense of urgency and we did not match that
and that cost us. We never could get into a rhythm offensively and that
really hurt us. But we didn't match their intensity and sense of
urgency .
On why the offense wasn't working against Michigan State...
I
wish I had an answer for you. It's hard, it takes all 11 guys on
offense and defense to all have that sense of urgency and we just
didn't have that.
On not seeming to be able to get in a rhythm with his receivers...
You
hit on it, that's all my fault. I didn't play very well today and I
take responsibility for that. We just have to get in a rhythm, sustain
drives, stay ahead of the sticks and convert on third downs.
On not running the ball in the first half and then getting the big rushing play to start the second half...
In
the second half we just wanted to find a rhythm and obviously we're
more successful if we can run the ball effectively. Early on they were
bringing an extra guy in the box, playing man coverage and daring us to
beat them but we couldn't take advantage of that.
On if Michigan State did anything that surprised them...
It's
about what we expected. I mean, this is a Big Ten football team -
they're really good, we knew that coming in. Defensively, their middle
linebacker (Greg Jones) is heckuva player. The secondary is very athletic. We knew that we had to play well and we weren't able to get it done.
On having trouble on converting on third downs...
I don't know what our percentage was, but it probably wasn't very good.
When you're in third-and-long situations it makes it a lot more
difficult than when you are in third and four or less, but that goes
back to getting yards on first downs and running the ball well.
On how this circumstance was different from their victories over Big Ten opponents Iowa and Illinois the past two seasons...
I
don't think the situation was any different. We had an opportunity to
go out, hold nothing back and let it all out there. We had nothing to
lose. In the past we all had that attitude and got it done and that
didn't happen today, but I think that we're going to get better. We
have two games left and I think we're going to finish strong.
Western Michigan Senior Running Back Brandon West
On not getting the ball in the first half...
Glenis Thompson
had a really good week of practice and I just started off practices bad
this whole week but I just stuck in there and waited my turn.
On if he said he wanted to ball more during halftime...
No.
I have confidence in Glenis. I know he can go out there and get the job
done just as well as I can. We have confidence in each other.
On whether what they saw from MSU was expected...
Yes it was. Going into it we knew they were a real good team. Like Tim said, their middle linebacker Greg Jones
is a pretty good linebacker and so is the rest of their defense. That's
a good team that came out physical and beat us physically and mentally.
On getting the NCAA kick return yardage record...
It's
good to get the record but I want to get the record with a win. Like I
said I just go out there and try to play hard. I don't really care
about records as of right now. It's a good compliment, but I care most
about getting wins.
On what the team will need to do in their last two games...
We
have to come out fighting and try to get these next two. This was a
down week but this game is done now. We have to come out stronger next
week.
Western Michigan Senior Linebacker Mitch Zajac
On being home (Zajac is from DeWitt)...
It was exciting - we
have a lot of guy who are from around here. We tried not to let it
bother us or get to our heads too much, but it was exciting because we
had a lot of friends and family here. As far as that goes, it was
pretty exciting.
On the late hits in the first half...
We had it. We
stopped them on third down and if we don't make those penalties we get
off the field and give our offense a chance to go and score. In my
situation, I was too late, that's all it was. We have to be smarter and
play with better fundamentals and not really shoot ourselves in the
foot, because we came out in the second half and did the exact same
thing but we didn't have the penalties and held them to some three and
outs.
On the Michigan State long touchdown run during the first defensive series...
We
let up some big plays on defense last week and we said "listen guys, if
we give up the big play and they score, we come back next time and stop
them that time". They're a good team and they're going to score so
whether they drive on us or score in one play we would move on.
On matching up with Michigan State's tight ends...Their
entire offense is very talented. Their offensive line is very big and
very athletic and their tight ends are just as big as their linemen and
even more athletic. We tried to get reroutes on them and banging them
up a little bit when they tired to release free. We just didn't get it
done.
