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MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 16, 2018Joe BachieBrian LewerkeKhari WillisEast Lansing, Michigan Q. The result of the impact you talked about in practice that week, how did that manifest itself on the field and when did you know you were locked in and playing the way you needed to play to win? JOE BACHIE: I'll go first. I just feel like throughout the week of practice, preparation, everything that was going on, you just felt something different, and that transcribed into a big game on Saturday, and big win and just how you're able to see on the sidelines and able to see in people's eyes. It's an exciting game and it's hard not to be excited when you play a team like Penn State. KHARI WILLIS: I think like Joe said, we prepared all week. Last week was a great week of practice, and I feel that our mind-set and our mentality, you know, was good going into the game, and I felt like, you know, we sustained throughout ups and downs of the game. We sustained the mentality and sustained the energy and we were able to play well and now we're looking for a good challenge this weekend. Q. Khari, you've been credited of coming up with the idea of the chip and bringing the poker chip and slamming it down on the table. What is the message you gave to the team for this rivalry week? KHARI WILLIS: Yeah, I think the chip on the shoulder thing, that's been part of the program since I got here. It's definitely a mentality we took last year and with the adversity we faced this year, we needed to get back to that type of mindset. We feel like the young players, we can't really tell them much about this rivalry. It's something that you'll experience when you step out on the field and I feel like they will be ready for it and they will embrace it. It's part of the reason why you come here. Q. For Joe and Brian, you guys are not from the State of Michigan. Joe, you understand a little bit being from Ohio, but when was your moment when the depth of this rivalry really hit you and what it means? JOE BACHIE: I think just for me, my freshman year, or even in 2016, just the pregame, like the week leading up to it, all the players talking about it, our video that we have before the game has past Spartan players talking about how big this game is and how much it means to them. So just kind of like the week leading up to it. Obviously game time and once you get out there and play for the first time and just experience it, you definitely get the feel of what that game means. BRIAN LEWERKE: Yeah, it's a rivalry game. You know it. You feel it throughout the week of practice, and you know, the guys from Michigan, it's a special game from them. If you're not from Michigan, Ohio really, you don't really understand it till you get around them. It's just a different feel. It's a different way of preparing, I guess, because you know how much this game means to everyone. Q. On the year's first start back in 2015, how special was that to get that game against Michigan and get the start in that game and then walk through that game up to the last punt and what that win meant for you and for the program at that point. KHARI WILLIS: I think we were both pretty highly ranked at the time. It was a marquis match up, tough game going back and forth from what I remember, and then I just -- I think we played pretty solid as a defense. It was going back and forth and we pulled it out with the punt at the end. That was a long time ago. Q. Khari and Joe, curious for both of you at your respective positions, what are some of the subtle differences you notice in Michigan this year versus offenses that they have had the last two or three? JOE BACHIE: Obviously they have got a highly-rated quarterback over there and I don't think they have had one past couple years since I've been here. There's big talk about him. You know, we are going to prepare for these guys with everything we've got. You've got to bring your best to this game. You have to prepare that way. Their offense is good. They are talking highly of their O-line. It's an exciting game, rivalry game. We'll be ready tore it. KHARI WILLIS: I think the same thing. I think they think real highly of their quarterback. One of the things he brings that maybe they didn't have in the past is ability to run and make plays with his legs. O-Line, like Joe said, they talk highly of those guys, as well. I feel like they still like to do some of the similar things and they will have some pieces out on the edge, as well. It's going to be a challenge but one that we're looking forward to definitely. Q. For any of you guys, all three if you want to comment on it. How much does this maybe intensify the rivalry a little bit or maybe just the game in general, or how much more excited are you for it knowing what's at stake a little bit? JOE BACHIE: My thing is if we were 6-0 or 0-6, we would still prepare the same way for these guys, this game. Really, a lot of guys who are alumni, fans, this game means more than anything. We understand that, but we're a 4-2 team and I think they are 5-1, whatever it is. They are a good team. It's an exciting game. It's why you come to Michigan State. Q. For any of the guys. How much of the past is preached talked about, in meetings, whether it be a Mike Hart thing or a dagger or anything that happened in the past; how much is thought about and talked about this week? KHARI WILLIS: I think it's definitely something that's mentioned. I mean, I was just given the history of the rivalry. Obviously every year you bring in a new batch of guys and you want to inform them of what's happened and where we are in the rivalry and how we stand. I feel like there's no need for extra motivation or anything like that. I feel like, you know, we are going to prepare. We have enough with the history of this rivalry. We have enough motivation there, and as far as what we want to accomplish this season, I feel like we're going to go out and we're going to play as such. Q. Long before you were here in 2007, Mark Dantonio was at this press conference and Michigan had beaten State like a drum for years and he said, "How long are we going to bow down to the University of Michigan?" And since then he's won 8 of 11. How has he emphasized this game to you guys? KHARI WILLIS: I think it's just who he is as a person, his demeanor. That's what he does and that's what he brings every week. I feel like we're up; we're geared up for this game. He tells us, you know what we need to do, how we need to prepare and how we need to prepare ourselves for the challenges that lie ahead. I feel like for him, not only our coaching staff this week, our leader, we're going to try to put ourselves in the best position, so when bullets start flying, eventually we can try to come out with another one. Q. Is it more meaningful, because it's your last one? KHARI WILLIS: I'm from Michigan, so they are all meaningful to me. This is the next one up; this is the most meaningful for me, simply because I'm from Michigan. Q. This could be for any of you guys. I know you talk about preparing the same way whether you're 6-0 or 0-6, considering the win you got last week, is it possible a rivalry like this comes at the right time in the schedule and maybe that momentum has returned and those positive feelings are back after the way you played last week? BRIAN LEWERKE: It always helps to come off a win, any game you're playing, to come off -- especially a big win like we had last week. The confidence is always high coming off a win like that. Any opponent we would be playing this week, obviously it's Michigan, but we'll be ready 100 percent for that next person. Q. Brian, when you're down to your fifth, sixth receivers, kind of running on fumes, that final drive and you throw that ball up for Felton. What can you take and build on for this week against Michigan? BRIAN LEWERKE: It was funny, I would be out there, and I wouldn't even know what group of receivers were coming out there. I just had to figure it out in the huddle. Definitely helped, my confidence in Felton is incredible. He's an incredible player. All you have to do is throw it up to him and he's going to make a play. Any time we need a play, I know that he's the guy to go to, and obviously there's younger guys that will step up, too, so I'm looking forward to seeing that this week. Q. For all three of you guys. You've been on both ends of this rivalry. Do you feel like one sticks with you longer, be it a win or a loss? JOE BACHIE: My thing to say is I hate losing more than I like winning, so if I were to lose this game it would mean a lot more to me. Last year, getting that win down there was very special to me, obviously. You know, it's a tough game. That rain, everything, just made it so special to be down there, coming out of a defensive game as a defensive guy. But you know, a loss would hurt obviously and we don't talk about losses around here. We're going to come out of this game and we're going to prepare with everything and we're going for it all. Q. Brian, if you would, please, talk about their defense, very disciplined, but when they have struggled a little bit, it's been the quarterbacks who can create and that certainly is your resumé? BRIAN LEWERKE: That they like to play a lot of cover one man stuff, like to blitz obviously. They are a very aggressive defense. You got a taste of that last year, for really the first time. It will take preparation, preparing for the blitzes, make sure you see them coming and make sure you know how to pick them up and change protection and stuff like that. Just get the ball out quickly. Q. Joe, you mentioned last year that game being pretty special. It could have went differently because you broke up that pass in the end zone. Could have went a different way if they had caught the ball? JOE BACHIE: Yeah, that last play, Coach told me before the play, he said, "If you don't have time to get in the pile, get in front," and I made sure to get in the pile. When that ball was up in the air, I felt like it was up in the air for a minute. Felt like a little kid again, when the ball is thrown up in the air, just go get it. Me and Matt Morrisey went up there, we batted it down and I made sure it got on the ground till it was in my hands for a second. I didn't want, you know, any option for the guy across from me to make that play, but you know, once that ball hit the ground, you saw the emotion that went on and it was very special. Q. Brian, I was curious how you guys -- you talk a lot about your offensive line this year and you shuffled people because of injuries and all sorts of reasons. In the game, sort of in those moments between plays or whatever, whether it's communication, execution, what benefits did you see from having the same guys in there from pretty much snap one to the finish? BRIAN LEWERKE: Helps being able to come into the huddle and look at the same guys every time up front. I think the more they play together, the more they just are -- it's easier to play together, I guess, just because you know them, how they play, their style of play. So I think this set of guys we have right now are very good and whether we have to rotator not, I think it just depends on the game I guess. I think they are obviously playing very well right now in my opinion. Q. How often do you hear from past players during a week like this and before a game like this? KHARI WILLIS: I think every once in a while, somebody hits you up with a text or something here and there. But past players, they understand the magnitude of this game and I feel like we do, as well. During a week like, this there's not really too much talking. I feel like they understand that and respect that but every once in a while, they will reach out. Q. For any of you guys. Michigan State has been beating Michigan for a long time now and seems like every year going into this game, the story lines, the narrative is very similar, the underdog versus the big program down the road. Do you keep it fresh or does it feel like Groundhog Day? JOE BACHIE: I was going to say, last week we brought the chip back and that's just something you can never lose, and same thing with the underdog thing and how they think of us. Never lose it. We understand what's at stake. It's a rivalry game. You know, people out in the media or whatever think of us maybe a little different than them, and that's fine with us. We've got that chip back, and you know, we're going to continue that this week. Q. Going off that, did that win last week maybe give you guys that identity, maybe that you needed to dig deeper and kind of help show you guys the path of, hey, we can be successful if we play a certain way? BRIAN LEWERKE: I think the loss the week before kind of showed that a little more. Just coming off the loss, there was a lot of stuff we needed to improve on. That loss honestly was one of the better things that could have happened to us, just to figure out what was wrong and figure out what we needed to fix. I think that kind of showed last week when we came out and got a big win on the road. Q. You guys had that win last week and you beat eighth-ranked Penn State. They got a win over 15th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers, but you've had that experience of winning those big games, whereas they haven't had a taste of that in a while. Does having that experience in your back pocket, is that going to play a factor on Saturday? KHARI WILLIS: I feel like it can, it can possibly play a factor because the more experienced you are, that's confidence and stuff like that. I feel like every game and every day presents new challenges of their own and I feel like today, we've got to go out and meet the challenge of getting to know them, getting ourselves familiar with them and getting ready for Saturday. I feel like that experience and all that stuff is good and cool, but we've got to come out and we've got to prepare. We've got to play this game, just like we would play any other game a little bit more. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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