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MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 4, 2018

Mark Dantonio

East Lansing, Michigan

MARK DANTONIO: We start 1-0 right now. Looking forward to going to Tempe this weekend.

Look back at last week's game, obviously struggled in a couple parts of it, mainly the penalties. Takes points off the board really. I thought we played really well, possession time, we had a lot of third down and short conversions. Nine times we went third down and short, which is sort of uncommon in this day and age. Controlled the possession time, 37 minutes. Got some big plays, a lot of explosive plays, 10 explosive plays on the day as well offensively. Did some good things.

We set ourselves behind a little bit with some penalties, and we got to protect our quarterback better, run it up between the tackles a little bit more effectively.

Defensively only four big plays given up. They sort of controlled a number of occasions the drive with some plays creating some third-and-two situations themselves. But shut down the big play. I thought we stopped the run. Played pretty effectively. Got some big plays towards the end of the game obviously. A couple of changes as well. Found a way to win basically. Great play by Bachie tend, Felton Davis at the end.

Special teams pretty much I would say Cole Hahn kicks off in the end zone, but beyond that pretty standard. Turn our attention to Arizona State, which is going to be exciting to go down there in a venue that I think is going to be exciting. Been to the Fiesta Bowl a number of times. Should be a great Spartan group there. Honoring Darrell Rogers there, as well. Be exciting to be a part of that as well.

I'll take some questions.

Q. Preparation this week, not just on the field, but with the dry heat, the cramping that happened, what is your approach with nutrition, hydration, has that changed since you first arrived here?
MARK DANTONIO: Yeah, it's changed. Sally, our trainer, really handles that. There's a lot more than dehydration that causes cramps as you learn more about it. We're practicing hot and humid up here. 90 and humid here the next couple days. Hopefully that will get us a little bit indoctrinated.

When you play the first game of the season, it's different than practice. I don't think there's any question about that. You can work at it, but it is different than practice. We'll just have to see how it all shakes out down there. We'll be ready to go.

Q. A win is a win. You're also able to still keep a lot of things in the cupboard that you worked on this summer. Is that also another benefit of a first game, didn't have to show all your new stuff?
MARK DANTONIO: I think we're always changing every week. That's what we work 80 hours a week on. You're always changing, bringing new things forward from the playbook, things of that nature. I would say that's probably accurate.

Q. Tight end production was down last year, production last week was down. Is that a concern to you or a trend you see it going that way?
MARK DANTONIO: Production is play in, play out to me. It's how the block, catch the football, run your routes. You can't say, Hey, you got to throw the ball to this guy. You're going to take what's available in terms of your reads as a quarterback.

I don't think that production is down. I think we've got other guys we're throwing to, as well. Got a variety of targets out there. Everybody gets opportunities and looks.

Q. Does practice change in this week? Do you get more out of it because the players have something to see tangibly they need to improve on?
MARK DANTONIO: I think two things enter into that. One, you know what you need to improve on. Two, you see what the opposing team is really doing. It's not so much of a forecast. You have a tangible thing you can look at, this is what is going on, this is what they do. You do your best on opening games. Opening games are a challenge sometimes.

Utah State came in here prepared well, had an opportunity to win a football game. At the same time we should score 46 points and not give them a touchdown on a throw, which makes it a completely different game. It is what it is. They played well. They should be commended for that.

But I do believe that as you go through your season, you find out a little bit more about yourself and a little bit more about the people that you're going to play against, as well.

Q. There seems to be a lot of scrutiny, complaining about not winning by big enough. Does it bother you or is that a byproduct of success?
MARK DANTONIO: I just want to win a football game. We're 1-0. As far as I'm concerned, we're always getting pushed up the ladder. Went 10-3 last year, what are we going to do this year. All these guys back, all these kind of things. Everybody has to play, everybody has good football players, guys on scholarship, too. Everybody comes with an opportunity to win.

It's a struggle out there. It's challenging. I don't care who you play against, it's challenging. Look at the game last week that Arizona State played. 14-0 almost until the end of the first half, then they bust two in right before half. It's a football game. So there's challenges there, as well. Everybody is going through these things. Very exciting getting out 1-0. We'll always take a win. You want to pound somebody 50 to nothing, that's not happening too often. It certainly hasn't happened here in my time. We're just eking, just trying to find those inches.

Q. You mentioned I believe around camp that the spring game would be important because of the new coaching staff at Arizona State. With that and game one, you mentioned surprises from other teams, with the lack of general film on these guys under this staff, do you feel like you'll be enter the game at the same level of preparation as you will a normal team?
MARK DANTONIO: You're not going to know somebody like you know year in, year out, within your conference. At the same time we do our very best to try to gather as much information as we can on the players, what they do, where they come from. The coordinator, San Diego State coordinator comes to Arizona State. We're breaking down San Diego State film. That's the nature of it. They use these coverages, these fronts, different pressures, things of that nature. You have one game to go on. Certainly they don't know everything, as well.

A lot of it is preparation in terms of what you're going to do, making sure you're on task in terms of playing fast, playing aggressively, do what we do and do it well.

Q. Do you have an update on Cole as well?
MARK DANTONIO: I don't really talk about injuries. Cole is practicing, so we'll leave it at that.

Q. Have you heard anything from the Big Ten on Justin Layne at all? Video caught him throwing a punch. Anything come from that from the league?
MARK DANTONIO: No.

Q. Can you address how you thought Luke played when you got the review of the tape, the intricacies of moving Tyler in and out from center to the outside?
MARK DANTONIO: Well, you have an offensive line, and most people play five guys. We've taken the approach that sometimes we play seven or eight. In doing that, people need to play other positions. That's a natural thing. Rather than put -- we are always going to put our best players out there.

Luke blocked at left tackle. I thought he needs to play more on balance. A good athlete. Part of playing offensive line is having both feet on the ground. One foot off the ground, bad things happen. He had that happen to him a number of times. Utah State, No. 10a good player, transfer from TCU where he played as a redshirt or true freshman. He gave him some problems. There are going to be other people that give him problems. He's been playing more right tackle than left. Maybe that enters into it.

But he'll play better as time goes on. He's a competitor, got to get ready to play, just like all of our guys. I don't think we played our best football game by any stretch last Friday. But it's a starting point and sometimes you need a starting point to send you off, too.

Q. You mentioned in the postgame the run game is a product of receivers blocking. It's the whole thing. When you looked at it, how far away are you guys from getting it where you want to go?
MARK DANTONIO: Thought LJ ran well. We had nine times we were third-and-short. Gives you an indication that we're four yards, four yards, ran the ball 42 times I think. We ran the ball. We made a concerted effort to run the ball. We didn't have the breakout runs till the end of the game, which everybody wants to say, Run that play again, I like it when he runs for 20 yards. That just doesn't happen like that.

He'll break them. I thought LJ ran well, ran effectively, ran hard. There's going to be a little bit more creases in there at times. They're getting a lot of people down, too, in terms of defense. Consequently we were able to take shots down the field, which happened.

Q. Do you know Herm Edwards? What has impressed you making the transition after all that time in pro football and the broadcast booth?
MARK DANTONIO: I know Herm a little bit. I spent some time with him last year in Grand Rapids at a fundraiser, a charity golf thing, which I didn't golf, but anyway.

Yeah, I like Herm Edwards. Good guy. You could tell that. Got charisma. Says what he means. Those type of things. Following him from afar, I remember when I was at the University of Kansas, Herm was just getting into coaching and was a scout for the Chiefs, Schottenheimer's team. He was one of the guys they were bringing him along as a defensive assistant. Dungy was a secondary coach there. Unbelievable staff. Then went to Tampa Bay from there, onto the Jets. I followed him from afar.

I think he's done a great job. I think thus far from what I see, transitioning into the college game, he's one game in. It's a grind. A good man.

Q. Running game. When Connor got some of those opportunities the second half, he really looked to have that spark. Is that something where you can maybe get him some carries earlier or does it just seem like it's that much different because the line wasn't blocking earlier?
MARK DANTONIO: I thought we played better as the game progressed. Had too much pressure early in the game. I thought we did a better job protecting the quarterback, then running the football as the game progressed. I think Connor benefited from that. On that particular play, he slid outside, creased it. I think on the option, LJ, got brought back for some reason. Then we ran it again basically. Connor went in, same play.

Q. When you mentioned earlier you wanted to get better protection, you look at Arizona State getting nine sacks. What did you see from them that allowed them to get that?
MARK DANTONIO: Yeah, Arizona State, a lot of different looks, a lot of different pressures, a lot of different angles they come at you with. We got to be prepared for that. Got to protect our quarterback on different coverages. I think they're doing a nice job defensively. They're just into really one game into what they're going to do. But it comes from San Diego State's coordinator coming over there.

We're going to find out more about our football team and their football team on Saturday night. But we have to protect the quarterback. Nine sacks, as you said, numerous other quarterback hits.

Q. With someone like Connor, maybe the most of his five carries last weekend, what is the balancing act between maybe wanting to give a guy more touches and also wanting to maybe preserve the element of surprise in this game?
MARK DANTONIO: I think Connor is our number two tailback right now. He's not bracketed as the number one. He's a very good player. When he earns that opportunity, if he's bracketed, that will be something we discuss at that time. Right now LJ is our number one tailback. We'll ride that horse right now.

We've got not only him but Weston Bridges. I've basketball impressed with Elijah Collins, La'Darius Jefferson as well. Bring all five of those tailbacks to the game, see what happens. I'm going to play whoever is pulling the load basically.

When and if it comes time to play somebody different, we will do that. But I don't foresee that. I thought LJ played pretty well. Gives us another guy to go to, at times we have both of them in the game, which is a positive.

Q. They say the college football season is a marathon, not a sprint. After such kind of an emotional opening season win, how do you keep the team mellow, levelheaded going forward?
MARK DANTONIO: I think our football team has got a dose of reality in all honesty. I think they step back, they probably thought they were going to come in and play better than they did, thought maybe Utah State didn't have the football team maybe they did. A combination of one or the other. So I think our players have always understood what they need to do.

I don't think we're on a high right now that says we're not going to be prepared for this football game. We have our challenges with an away game, a long plane flight, the heat obviously, although I think when we played in a different type environment, 90 and humid. Drier heat down there. There's a lot of challenges waiting for us down there, I think that's good for our football team at this point in time. We'll look forward to the challenge.

Q. What the media and fan base say after a game can't be considered terribly relevant. How would the coaching staff's evaluation Friday night differ from outside critiques?
MARK DANTONIO: I think I tried to address that already. I think there's some good things. In every football game, there's good things you do, other things you got to do better. One inch yard line, I'm talking from me to this microphone. When you say, Don't jump off-sides, don't jump off-sides, and you jump off-sides, that's a problem. All of a sudden we take a stack, now we're kicking a field goal. That takes points off the board. Throw an interception for a touchdown, that's putting points on the board. Down on the one yard line, you get the wrong wristband call, you have a guy off the line, missed formation, takes a touchdown off, which should have been a top sweep to the left, that's a problem.

Those type of communication errors can't happen. But that's taking points off the board, making us kick field goals, that's eight points. You take that out of the picture, along with a third and two where we jumped off-sides, the complexion of the game changes dramatically. It's not a 40-0 shot, but it's probably somewhere 14, 17-point differential.

You look at those aspects, then you look on the defensive side of the ball, ask yourself, Could you have done this better or that better. Your answers are yes. We're not negating what Utah State did. They're to be commended. I think they have a good football team. Quarterback is the real deal. But at the same time we did some things that what I would call unforced errors, where we were our own worst enemy.

So on the one interception, the wide receiver slips on his turn. Might have got it anyway. But it is sort of what it is. So my perception is we can play better, we will play better. We've always had these type of games first game out of the box, it seems. Go back to 2013, you look at how our football team progressed, 2015, those are the things that you hope that are going to happen. There are no guarantees for that, but that's what you hope is going to happen.

Q. The defensive rotations. A lot of players played on the D-line, linebackers, not as much in the secondary. Is that younger guys behind them?
MARK DANTONIO: Really getting them on and off the field at that point in time. Hurry-up offense they were running at that time. We'll play other guys.

Q. Going west, I think since you've been here, just Oregon and Cal. What are the challenges of that when it's not a bowl game, you don't have a week?
MARK DANTONIO: We've gone to Oregon, went to Cal. Those are our two West Coast games we went to. We're always trying to figure it out. Oregon, we went a day early, played well in the first half, not so well the second half. Cal, thought we hung in there with them. We stayed on eastern time. I remember them wanting to go out, they want to go see what California looks like. It's 11:30 eastern time, we're going to bed. We tried it that way, too.

We'll have a plan. We have a plan in place on how to handle it. It's a 10:45 game. We scrimmaged one time this summer in the stadium, we got done at 11, 11:30. We scrimmaged at night. They seemed to be fine with it. We'll try and get ourselves ready to go, be on the clock, all that kind of stuff.

There are challenges, but there are challenges waiting for us every week. It's just one of those things. I don't make a big deal about it. We're going to go and play and play fast. That's my mentality.

Q. Homecoming for Brian, gets to go home. Obviously you have to coach some nerves sometimes when a guy has to go home in front of a big crowd, friends and family. What do you tell him? Late in the game is that just how he is?
MARK DANTONIO: He's going to be fine. He's had an opportunity to play in big games, big games here. Huge national games. So he'll have an opportunity to play in another one back home. I think he's excited about it. I think he brings a little bit of how you play down there, the mentality from a mindset, what you got to do to play in the heat a little bit. He brings that mentality with him. He'll bring that for all of us. He's a little bit of a source of information, too.

Q. Nine sacks for Arizona State. You had your own issues identifying blitzes coming at you from Utah State. Take us through what that approach is when Brian comes to the line of scrimmage? What needs to improve?
MARK DANTONIO: First of all, there's all different types of protections you use in college football, football in general. It's a matter of shoring up the protection relative to the concepts that you're going to use that particular plays. That could be anywhere from a variety of things.

So I think one of the most important things is deciding what we're going to do prior to the game, then transitioning to the game itself, implementing those things.

There's a variety of ways to do it. Some of it's man, some of it comes down to you got to block this guy, that's your guy, block him. Other times you're going to get help.

We need just to format it so we're in a best-case scenario. Sometimes it's the rhythm of the quarterback, that depends on what type of play you have, is it play-action, three step, RPO, five-step protection, all those types of things. There's a lot of variables that go along with that. I'm filibustering.

Thanks.

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