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RUTGERS UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 23, 2019Nunzio CampanilePiscataway, New Jersey Michigan State 27, Rutgers 0 NUNZIO CAMPANILE: Obviously very disappointed in the result. I think our kids played really hard, just did not play nearly well enough on offense to have a chance to win the game. Combination of things: turnovers, penalties, ineffective throwing the football again obviously. I think they played with great effort the whole way. I understand our job is to win the games, not to play hard. Playing hard is supposed to be an expectation. But I am proud of their effort. I don't think you could fault them at all. I thought defensively we played extremely hard. I thought we played really well at times. We made some critical plays to keep ourselves in the game. We really could not do a whole lot on offense to give ourselves a chance to win the game, so... Q. What went wrong in the first half offensively? NUNZIO CAMPANILE: Everything. We missed a couple opportunities in the pass game that really killed us. They're a tough team to run the football on. They mixed up some pressures, some different coverages early in the first half. Teams tend to challenge us a little bit more because the way we've struggled to throw the football. They don't really give some of the free-access throws you're hoping to get. We missed some throws that we needed to make. The interception actually was kind of a tough break. The guy was uncovered, tried to get the ball out quick. The kid recovered, didn't see him. Thankfully the defense kind of held them there. Didn't hurt us too bad. We missed some opportunities that I thought could have flipped the field a little bit. Q. You didn't have a first down in the first half. Any thought of coming out with Cole or Art halftime? NUNZIO CAMPANILE: No. Q. A guy like Zach who stuck with it, positive attitude, what has he meant to the program? NUNZIO CAMPANILE: Everything. A lot of those guys, they've really just kept competing. They love Rutgers. They love coming to play football together. They work really hard together. He's a special kid. He's been just a great personality. Even his situation as a junior, didn't look like he had a chance to play. Ends up as captain of the team as a senior. Says a lot about his resilience, perseverance. I'm proud to coach those guys. Q. What did LeGrande mean giving that message to the team before the game, what does he mean to the program? NUNZIO CAMPANILE: Well, had a great message for the video this morning. It was just kind of telling the kids he was proud of how they played last week, this whole situation. To go out and compete, try to get a win today. I think he means everything. We talked to the kids a lot about his message, his amount of positivity, his attitude about his circumstances, tremendous. If we think we got it bad losing a couple football games, you look at the way Eric conducts himself. He's a credit to Rutgers, a credit to himself and his family. He's really a special guy. Q. 0 for 11 on third down. Do you think that was a big issue? NUNZIO CAMPANILE: Yes, that was an issue (smiling). I mean, struggled on first down. We needed to throw it on first down. We didn't compete them. When we ran it, we didn't really go anywhere. Yeah, I mean, for us, we don't want to be in a lot of third-and-longs. If we're in third-and-long, we struggle to complete them, protect them. There's a bunch of issues there. Q. Fourth-and-six on your 35, any thought to go for it? NUNZIO CAMPANILE: Not really. I think the worst call of the game was the fourth down call I made in the beginning of the third quarter. That was really a critical play. I called a terrible play. If there was a play where we needed to get it, that was it. But our defense was fighting really hard. We gave them enough short fields. Didn't need to give them another one. Q. Was White a mismatch for you guys? Second half he did a better job. NUNZIO CAMPANILE: Very good player. Damon didn't play a whole lot in the first half. Him coming back and playing in the game, dealt with some personal stuff this week, missed a little practice. Thought it was the right thing for him not to start. He was totally onboard with that. He was a real pro about it. He'll be back out there this week practicing. I was really proud of the way he conducted himself through the whole thing. He's a great kid. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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