	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 20, 2008

THE MODERATOR: We have John Thompson for questions.

Q. Can you talk about Ringer, the challenge that he presents Saturday.
JOHN THOMPSON: He's a great back. It's his senior year. He's playing well. They like to give him the ball a lot. It's going to be a big test for our defense against the run.
Going to have to get after it a little bit.

Q. Do you see many similarities between their offense and Wisconsin's? If you stop the running game, you have a good chance to beat the team.
JOHN THOMPSON: They're big on the run game. They're a big, punishing rushing team. Their dominant thing is to run the ball. Yeah, we like to get them in second-and-long, third-and-long, yeah.

Q. Growing up in Michigan, what do you remember from your childhood about the rivalry?
JOHN THOMPSON: It's always been a big rivalry because it's in-state bragging rights. Everybody just playing for the bragging rights of the state.

Q. Who did you root for when you were growing up?
JOHN THOMPSON: Always been a Michigan fan.

Q. Your three rivalries, Notre Dame, Michigan State, Ohio State, can you talk about how this is different.
JOHN THOMPSON: It's in-state. Notre Dame is Indiana. Ohio State is our big rival nationally. Michigan State is just for pride. Everybody going to come out there and give their hardest effort and play hard.

Q. Guys who played in it before said it's often the nastiest match up. Have you found that to be true?
JOHN THOMPSON: Yeah, it always goes down to the wire. Everybody's playing hard. Yeah, there's going to be a little bit of talking. You know, but that's every game. Just a little bit more against Michigan State.

Q. Coach Dantonio after last year's game, after the little brother comment, have you talked about that, what he said, use that as motivation?
JOHN THOMPSON: No, we haven't.

Q. What are your thoughts on Brandon?
JOHN THOMPSON: I know Brandon is going to play hard.

Q. How would you evaluate where your run defense is at right now?
JOHN THOMPSON: We're playing pretty well. We just got to get a little bit better, make more tackles, just run to the football.

Q. There were a lot of missed tackles on Saturday. Do you need to improve that?
JOHN THOMPSON: Yeah, just got to look forward to next week.

Q. Do you think it would help to hit more in practice during the week or are you doing enough?
JOHN THOMPSON: We're doing enough. We're practicing hard during the week.

Q. When you were growing up, was Michigan State something that was talked about among the high school guys? What was that week like as a high school player?
JOHN THOMPSON: Wasn't really much for us. My high school coach, he liked Michigan State. As far as me, I was a Michigan guy.

Q. Do you remember the last time Michigan State won in Michigan's stadium?
JOHN THOMPSON: No.

Q. (No microphone.)
JOHN THOMPSON: Yeah, but I don't think I was that much focused on football.
THE MODERATOR: We have fullback Mark Moundros.

Q. How has your job changed in this offense? What are you doing differently than you did last year?
MARK MOUNDROS: I'm playing a lot in short-yard situations, just waiting on the sideline whenever my number's called, just playing the role that's given to me.

Q. As a receiver, you got out there and caught a ball a couple weeks ago. What is that like? Do you expect your number to get called more?
MARK MOUNDROS: You know, not really that I'm going to expect it. Just execute the plays and whatever happens happens, so...

Q. Coming from Michigan, what does this rivalry mean to you?
MARK MOUNDROS: I think it's two schools that are very proud of themselves. They're going to compete very hard on game day.

Q. Obviously it's not personal because the coach just changed the entire offensive scheme. Do you almost feel kind of left out?
MARK MOUNDROS: No, not at all. Not at all. Everyone has an assignment on the team. You know, that's the role given to me. I'm going to work as hard as I can at it.

Q. (Question regarding the little brother comment.)
MARK MOUNDROS: You know, Mike was feeling pretty emotional out there at the time when he made that comment. Mike is gone now. Worrying about the guys that are here right now. Hopefully we can get that win on Saturday.

Q. Did you hear the comment?
MARK MOUNDROS: No, I didn't.

Q. What does Brandon Minor give you guys on offense that maybe has changed from the first couple games?
MARK MOUNDROS: I think Brandon's a very physical runner, and he works hard every day in practice. I think he inspires the guys around him when he's on the field.

Q. What's the mood among the team right now in terms of trying to pull it together from the start, push toward the end?
MARK MOUNDROS: Just execute and work hard every day to get better. We just need to get better every day. That's about it.

Q. How would you compare this rivalry to the Ohio State and Notre Dame rivalry?
MARK MOUNDROS: It's hard to compare all of them. They're all up there. They're all great teams. They're all great schools. They're all great rivalries, so...

Q. Coach Rodriguez said he showed the film to the whole offense. Why did he do that?
MARK MOUNDROS: I think he showed the whole offense so we could see everyone individually, how important each role is on a team. It's not always seen that you can see how well the offensive line played or the roles that they have and the assignments that they have. It's nice to see that everyone needs to work hard together and execute together in order for a play to be run well.

Q. Do you look at Saturday's game and say we don't have a good record, have had a subpar season, but if we beat Michigan State... Do you see it that way at all?
MARK MOUNDROS: I think we just need to come into this game working hard throughout the week. I think each game is important. Obviously it's a rivalry game, but each game is important.
THE MODERATOR: We have redshirt freshman quarterback Steven Threet.

Q. How is your arm?
STEVEN THREET: Better. It's better today than it was yesterday. You know, I think it's better this week than it was last week after it happened the first time. So it's getting better.

Q. Is there a more specific way to describe it than a bruise?
STEVEN THREET: Not really. I mean, it's just bruised in a location where it gets to the point, you know, it gets inflamed and I can't really bend it is kind of the way it goes. It's what happened against Toledo and then Penn State.

Q. Do you know how it happened against Toledo?
STEVEN THREET: Toledo, it was the play I got tackled out of bounds, their sideline. I landed like directly on it with a guy on top of me. And then Penn State, it was kind of the combination of the entire first half, then a couple hits there in the first drive in the third quarter.

Q. Coach was talking about a numbness you get in your hand.
STEVEN THREET: Yeah, basically from my, I don't know, about here down, kind of goes numb. My whole hand tingles. At that point it's not necessarily like pain, because you can play through pain and whatnot, but I can't grip a ball. It's more about being able to execute.

Q. What was done during the game to try to get the feeling back in?
STEVEN THREET: I mean, it takes a little bit of time, but just trying to move it around. The Toledo game, I got a shot for inflammation. Penn State game, got a shot, trying to take away some of the pain a little bit.
It was more of a numbness, not being able to grip the ball, move my arm, more than anything else, because of the bruise.

Q. Toledo game, you got the shot at halftime?
STEVEN THREET: Yes.

Q. Is that why you've been wearing a glove on your throwing hand?
STEVEN THREET: No. The glove is more just a better grip, something we experimented with. Obviously earlier in the year had a few problem just throwing the ball, dropping back, the ball slipping out. The glove was more for the grip reason.

Q. Have you ever had to take a shot to play before?
STEVEN THREET: No, that was the first one. I mean, it wasn't bad. They were just trying to find a way to get me back on the field.

Q. What do you think about needles?
STEVEN THREET: I'm terrified of needles actually. I can't look when they do it (laughter).

Q. How disappointing is it to have the offense go so early in the game, it sort the peters out, they come back like they did?
STEVEN THREET: I think it's disappointing. We work 'cause we want to play well all four quarters. I don't think we've seen that yet from us this entire year, you know, from the offense. We haven't driven the ball all four quarters. Got some drives going. I think that's something that we're starting to see a little bit more, we saw a little bit more against Penn State. In the third quarter, we got the whole first half and some into the third quarter. We obviously got some work to do.

Q. What does Brandon give you?
STEVEN THREET: Brandon and Sam, they're both great backs. Brandon, he runs very hard, as you could see against Penn State. He's been playing college ball for a little while now. He's seeing significant time, getting significant carries.
I think he did a great job on Saturday.

Q. How frustrating has it been for you, though, to have to miss basically the second half of the last two games?
STEVEN THREET: It's very frustrating, you know, because I want to be out there with the team. I want to be playing. It's disappointing when you have to stand on the sideline and watch because obviously everybody wants to play.
But, you know what, that's part of the deal. Just trying to work during the week to get healthy to the point where that doesn't have to happen any more.

Q. What do you remember about this rivalry growing up?
STEVEN THREET: It's kind of a big rivalry in my family. I have my mom and my aunt that went to Michigan, and two aunts went to Michigan State. They kind of jaw back and forth a little bit to each other about it.

Q. (No microphone.)
STEVEN THREET: I haven't got a chance yet to look. I will look at Michigan State. I've seen some of them. They're a talented group. They play hard. They play physical.
I think the more I'll look at them, the more I'll know. But, you know, so far from what I've seen...

Q. Will your whole family cheer for you?
STEVEN THREET: Yeah, they'll definitely cheer for me.

Q. What was treatment like during the week?
STEVEN THREET: Just a lot of time spent in the training room. Just ice. They do some stimulation, ultrasound type stuff. Early in the week, yesterday, today, it's more about getting full range of motion back, moving, trying to get all that. And then later in the week, you know, tomorrow, Wednesday, about being able to throw and being able to do everything normal.

Q. You were pretty effective running the ball early in that game. Is that a concern with the elbow?
STEVEN THREET: No, no, I don't think so. That's why I work during the week trying to get it healthy 'cause being able to run the ball obviously is a big part of the offense in the first half, even in previous games. I think that's something we need to use and we have used, which has worked out well for us. Coach has done a good job of getting us plays, giving us chances to be successful.

Q. Have you had any MRIs or other type stuff?
STEVEN THREET: Yeah, I got an x-ray last week. But, you know, it wasn't anything broken or chipped. It was just that, I guess a bruise in a bad location.

Q. Are you comfortable to play?
STEVEN THREET: Yeah, yeah.

Q. The offense has certainly struggled at times when you were on the field. The last two weeks, when you went out, there were long periods of time with nothing. Does that make it even more frustrating? Anything you can put your finger on as to what happens when you go out?
STEVEN THREET: No, not necessarily. But, yeah, I mean, it's very frustrating not being able to be on the field, fighting out there with the other 10 guys on offense. I think whether or not we're moving the ball, you still want to be out there. But we do the best we can every time and just go from there.

Q. The 2-5, what's the feeling about being able to get this thing turned around? How frustrated are guys at this point?
STEVEN THREET: You know, I think we're disappointed because I don't think we feel like we played our best football yet. We're seven games into the year. It's getting to that time where we need to put it together. I think we feel that ourselves, that the guys on the team personally, we want to make it happen. A lot of people talk about they need to get some breaks and whatnot.
But I really feel if we put it together, it's on us, so...

Q. How did you react to Michigan State getting crushed by Ohio State?
STEVEN THREET: Like I said I haven't seen the game. We were traveling back from Penn State. But I imagine Ohio State played a pretty flawless game, didn't make a whole lot of mistakes.
That's a game, you know, I expect them to bounce back from. For them, it's Michigan week. For us it's Michigan State week. It's a big game for both of us.

Q. Would you rather play Michigan State the way it is now or have them coming off a big win?
STEVEN THREET: You know, I'm not sure. I guess in this situation we're going to play them off the loss to Ohio State, so that's what we got to go with.

Q. They had a problem this weekend with turnovers. You have had that problem. Can you talk about the importance of turnovers.
STEVEN THREET: Yeah, you look at the games, and you don't turn the ball over, your chances to be successful on offense in the game as a whole is a lot greater. I think like if you don't turn the ball over, your chance to win the game is like 20, 30 percent higher than even if you turn it over once. Turnovers can be killer. We've seen that with ourselves in previous games. So it's something that we try and focus on. I think we're getting better at it.

Q. At the start of the Penn State game, did you have any discomfort in the elbow?
STEVEN THREET: I mean, it had felt better I guess you could say (laughter). But, I mean, kind of just throughout the game, it's football, so you take some hits running the ball and whatnot.
But I think it was really those two hits in the third quarter kind of set it off.

Q. The first hit, did you think, Oh, brother?
STEVEN THREET: I felt it starting to tingle a little bit I think it was on second down. I kind of tried to shake it a little bit and hope it came back. Then the next play, a guy hit it again, so...

Q. You carried the ball a lot more in that game. Was that something you had intended to do?
STEVEN THREET: I think the coaches just did a good job of identifying, you know, plays that were going to be available at the outset of the game. That first drive, you know, checking to the sideline, they changed it up, had me carrying the ball a few times. It showed that it worked against their defense, what they were trying to do against us.
We continued to go back to it.

Q. You talked about being able to put it together. How important is this game this week?
STEVEN THREET: It's important, not only 'cause it's a rivalry game but, you know, it's a Big-10 game. It's the next game on our schedule. Those three things make it a big game. So, you know, can't worry about what's happened previously. Obviously can't look ahead. You just got to be this week in practice worried about Michigan State and what we can do to get better so we can move out there and play them.

Q. You take the first quarter of Illinois and Penn State, you think this is what we are, what we can do. When it's not like that, is it more a matter of things you stop doing or adjustments the defense makes against you?
STEVEN THREET: I think it's more things we stop doing. It takes 11 guys on offense every time to make a play successful. Whether it's me or somebody else, you make a mistake, that can hurt the play as a whole.
I think it's just getting everybody on the same page, kind of starting to click, so to speak.
THE MODERATOR: We have Brandon Harrison.

Q. Brandon, you've been through a few of these Michigan/Michigan State games and seen the off-the-field talk. Do you use that as motivation or is that overblown?
BRANDON HARRISON: Of course, you use it as motivation. Whatever they say, they say around this time, we'll post the it up in the locker room and use it as motivation.

Q. What Coach Dantonio said last year, the little brother comment, do you remember that?
BRANDON HARRISON: We had it posted up in the locker room. We talked about it the whole week of practice. We went out there and took care of business.

Q. What are your thoughts on Brandon Graham guaranteeing a victory?
BRANDON HARRISON: I can't knock him for it. As long as he's been here he hasn't lost. I guess he wants to keep that up. We all have fun with it. We talked about it in the locker room. It's going to be a good game.

Q. What kind of challenges does the Michigan State offense bring to you guys? Ringer is a tremendous back. Hoyer can do things, as well.
BRANDON HARRISON: We just have to play assignment football, everybody do their keys, everyone plays their player, everybody stays in their gap, everybody fills where they're supposed to fill, we'll come away with a victory.

Q. On top of just wanting to win, period, any extra motivation?
BRANDON HARRISON: Besides the victory, we play for the Paul Bunyan trophy, too. We have that posted upstairs in front of the meeting room. I was talking to Big Johnny today when I came in. He was talking about how Paul Bunyan, this is his home, he belongs here. We also play for the Paul Bunyan trophy, too.

Q. Did he talk in the team meeting about what the rivalry means?
BRANDON HARRISON: Not as direct. When we were talking into the locker room, he'll pull you over, talk to you about it.

Q. Talk about the importance of this game as a group of seniors.
BRANDON HARRISON: Yeah, I mean, it's very important. I haven't lost to them since I've been here. I'm 3-0 against them right now. Want to be 4-0. Want to keep the Paul Bunyan trophy here. I want to graduate 4-0.

Q. Have you seen a back like Ringer yet?
BRANDON HARRISON: No. It's funny, though, because I went to high school with Ringer. We graduated the same year. Went to the same high school. I've seen him before in high school. I've seen him for the past three years. As long as we play our football...

Q. You graduated from high school with Ringer?
BRANDON HARRISON: Yes.

Q. Do you talk much?
BRANDON HARRISON: We talk a little bit. I haven't called him. He hasn't called me. Might have to wait till after the season. We talked early in the season. We said good luck with the season, coming up on our senior year.

Q. How has he progressed as a runningback since high school?
BRANDON HARRISON: He's a lot faster and stronger (laughter). But, no, I mean, college will make you into an all-around better football player. That's what he's become.

Q. Has his style changed much since high school or is he basically the same?
BRANDON HARRISON: The same. If you look at clips from high school, he runs basically the same. We used to go at it all the time in high school, so...

Q. Can you talk about him, what makes him so good as a runningback.
BRANDON HARRISON: Playing with him and playing against him, when we had our little scrimmages and stuff in high school, these past three years and stuff like that, he's always had like good vision, great balance. He's a strong kid. He's a good person.

Q. The last game, 17-7 lead, you're almost to halftime where you can hold them off. How disappointing was it that they turned around and scored the type of points they did?
BRANDON HARRISON: Well, you know, it was very disappointing. We had just technique-wise fell off a little bit. We had a lot of chance to capitalize on some plays and didn't.
THE MODERATOR: Next up we have Sean Griffin.

Q. I overheard you telling a story about Michigan State. Almost went to Michigan State, is that right?
SEAN GRIFFIN: Yeah, out of high school they recruited me. Went up for my visit. Coach Smith told me to bring all my transcripts and everything. They were going to apply me.
I went up there, had my visit and everything. The rest of my senior year went on, I hadn't really heard that much from them. I went to the spring game. They invited me out. I didn't really talk to the coaches much. I went to Schoolcraft Community College because I didn't know what was going to happen. I just wanted to play football. I started taking summer and spring classes at Schoolcraft. Three weeks before school started I went to my high school coach, Coach Tom Mack, asked him if he heard anything. He asked me if they called me. Apparently they called him a month or so before, said they weren't interested in me any more, so they never applied me.
So I just continued going, finishing one more semester at Schoolcraft, what would have been my first college semester at Schoolcraft. Had 30 credits after a semester and transferred here.

Q. Is this rivalry a little more important for you?
SEAN GRIFFIN: No. I mean, you know, this is where I always wanted to be. I always wanted to be at Michigan. I just wanted to play football. They provided an opportunity.
This game is always going to be big. It's a big rivalry. I guess that adds a little bit extra.

Q. How is this rivalry different than maybe the Ohio State or Notre Dame rivalry?
SEAN GRIFFIN: I know half the guys on their team. I played against them in high school, played with them. Like a home state battle. Most households around Michigan are all divided between Michigan and Michigan State. My family was, too. My dad was before I got here, my mom's side is all Michigan. Feel like everything is divided. Kind of adds a little extra to that.

Q. How was it growing up in a split household?
SEAN GRIFFIN: It was all right. My dad never really pressured me. I always loved Michigan. I loved Coach Carr and everything. He really supported me with whatever I wanted to do. He kind of wanted me to go to Michigan State.
THE MODERATOR: Next up we have Will Johnson.

Q. What would it mean to you to be able to go out here and beat Michigan State?
WILL JOHNSON: I mean, it's something I want to do. It would mean a lot to me. Going to take a lot, but we're going to prepare to win, so...

Q. Do you feel like they're coming in with a different approach because they've got the winning record now and you're where you're at?
WILL JOHNSON: I don't really know where they're coming from. Just came out of a loss. Probably coming to look for a bounce-back game. It's a good game to play. It's going to be a competitive game. I think there will be some hard hits. It will be exciting.

Q. Is this game a little more down and dirty, Michigan State, than others you've played this year?
WILL JOHNSON: Down and dirty? I mean, it's a physical game. You just want to win your in-state games. I think, yeah, it gets competitive.

Q. With the timing of this, the rivalry, is the timing right?
WILL JOHNSON: A rivalry game will get you going. Every game should get you going. You only have guaranteed 12 games a year. But, yeah, playing an in-state rivalry, it's going to be exciting. I'm excited to play this game, so...

Q. Is it difficult not to put too much stock into this game based on where you are right now?
WILL JOHNSON: What do you mean?

Q. As far as like this win could make your season.
WILL JOHNSON: I mean, we just want to win every game. We prepare to win every game. We lost a couple. I mean, we just got to keep going. I mean, it would mean a lot to me if we won, so...

Q. As a senior, what are you telling the guys? How do you keep things going forward and not get down?
WILL JOHNSON: I mean, it's tough. You just got to keep trucking along. I mean, 24 hours after the next game, after the last game, you're getting ready for the next game. You can't worry about the loss or worry about like, I messed up on this game, carry it over to the next game. Everyone has just got to keep going and keep everybody on the same track, not let everybody fall off and quit on the season. You just got to keep everybody together.

Q. Are you guys doing it? Three weeks in a row, three losses.
WILL JOHNSON: Yeah, I think so. I mean, it's tough when you get a lot of losses. People feel down and stuff. We're staying up. We're preparing to win each week. That's all you can do.

Q. Are there weeks that the 24-hour rule that Coach Rodriguez has, that it's harder to forget about a loss than others?
WILL JOHNSON: I mean, yeah. I mean, Toledo was tough just 'cause we never lost to a MAC team before. It was tough to lose that kind of game. Penn State, we played pretty much three quarters pretty well. That's tough.
Just got to keep trucking along.

Q. Consistency seems to be an issue. You've shown you can play with anyone in different quarters, but...
WILL JOHNSON: That's definitely frustrating. I mean, as a defense, you just got to keep going no matter what happens. I mean, they're competing to win, the offense. I don't play on the offense, so I don't know that much about it. They're doing everything. We're doing everything. It just hasn't clicked all at the same time.

Q. (Question about Brandon Graham.)
WILL JOHNSON: He's a competitive guy. He just wanted to get everybody motivated and ready to go. He's fun to be around. He just wants to win.

Q. Were you surprised or relieved at all that Michigan State got lost at home?
WILL JOHNSON: Was I relieved? We're going to play the game no matter what the same way. They're a good team. Ohio State is a good team, too. I haven't watched that game yet. We'll see.
Am I relieved? No. It's going to be a hard-hitting game. It's going to be competitive no matter what happened last week.

Q. (Question regarding Ringer.)
WILL JOHNSON: He's one of their main offensive threats. If you can contain him, make them throw and stuff, it would be a good thing. But, yeah, he's a great back. He's one of the best backs in the nation. Leading the Heisman campaign, whatever. But, yeah, I mean, they've got a good offensive line. Hoyer, he's good. He can make things happen. They have a good receiving corps. They're solid.

Q. (No microphone.)
WILL JOHNSON: No, give him a call later this week. I hope he's doing all right.

Q. Do you think Ringer is the difference maker in this game?
WILL JOHNSON: I mean, yeah, he's one of their main offensive threats. I mean, yeah, he's going to be wanting to win this game. He hasn't beat us yet. We've got to stop him to win, so...
THE MODERATOR: We have Obi Ezeh.

Q. Can you think back to high school, and the winner of this game, does that matter in recruiting?
OBI EZEH: In recruiting? I don't think it matters too much in recruiting just 'cause you've already kind of decided who you like, like when you're younger. You're just kind of rooting for your team. So when they win, you can talk it up to your teammates, all your other friends who prefer your rival.

Q. Talk about the challenges of Ringer, what he does well.
OBI EZEH: He's an exciting player to watch. He's one of their main offensive threats. I mean, I feel like if we can contain him, we can pretty much kind of contain the Michigan State offense.
They've got some talented wide receivers also. We don't want to sleep on them. I feel like for the most part Javon Ringer is pretty important to their team. If we can kind of contain him, we can kind of stop Michigan State.

Q. Talk about John Thompson's development throughout this year, what you've seen from him.
OBI EZEH: John Thompson, he's come along, same with Jonas Mouton. I feel like every game they're getting better. That's awesome to watch. Me and Jonas came in the same year. It's awesome to see him get better every week. I think he had 10 tackles last week. I mean, he's as physical as I've ever seen him.

Q. How would you evaluate how the run defense has been so far.
OBI EZEH: Run defense, aside from some big plays, I feel like our run defense is pretty solid. What we got to do is be more consistent. Those big plays are going to define us at the end of the season. You want to limit those big plays. Beginning of the game, Penn State, got loose, shot out for a touchdown. You limit those things and maybe the game turns out a bit differently.

Q. Ohio State was able to get take-aways from their offense this weekend. How important is that?
OBI EZEH: We've been preaching that for the past couple weeks. Illinois, Toledo, we had zero turnovers. We really wanted to get that going against Penn State. We had the one early in the game and a couple opportunities later that we kind of just threw away.
I mean, turnovers are really the key, especially towards the end of the game when the offense is struggling a little bit. You want to get the ball back in their hands to see if they can get some things going.

Q. Being from Michigan, what does this week mean to you?
OBI EZEH: It's a big deal. I like this rivalry just because I'm from Michigan, so I've been around this rivalry my whole life. Have a lot of family and friends who root for both sides. I got a lot of family and friends who say they're going to root for me every game but one this year. It's either Michigan State or it's Notre Dame. It just happens to be Michigan State this week, so I want to come out and beat them.

Q. Were you always a Michigan fan growing up?
OBI EZEH: Yeah.

Q. Is this one of those games where you look back and say our record may have been four but we beat the Spartans again?
OBI EZEH: It's still early in the season. I feel like if we can win this game, we can get some momentum and finish out the season the right way. Nobody wants to throw in the towel.

Q. Coach Rodriguez said this is just one game. As somebody that's been around, is it more than just one game?
OBI EZEH: Maybe he says that just 'cause we have a young team, so there's a lot of freshmen. You don't want to build the game up too much so it overwhelms them.
For us who have been around, we know it's bigger than that. It's up there with like the Ohio State rivalry. In-state bragging rights.

Q. You need to win four of your last five to qualify for a bowl. Is that a goal that's still talked about?
OBI EZEH: Definitely. We feel like we can win every game we play. I mean, that's how you got to go into it. That's why they play the game. Anything can happen.
I mean, we feel like if we can finish out the season right away, we can close out the way we wanted to. Like I said earlier, nobody wants to throw in the towel. We're like a little bit over halfway through the season, so there's no reason why we should be quitting right now. Season hasn't really turned out how anybody expected, but you still got to play hard every game.

Q. (Question regarding tackling.)
OBI EZEH: Penn State has a lot of great offensive firepower. They're good in space. They'll spread you out. I think when you're playing against a spread offense like that, tackling's going to be a problem.
Tackling was poor. I mean, has a lot to do with us not putting ourselves in position to make tackles, probably bad angles and whatnot. You look back on that and you can only just go back to practice and kind of just practice it, get it into your head that you got to be great at tackling to stop anybody.

Q. Do you have any ties to Michigan State, family, friends?
OBI EZEH: A lot of my classmates go there. They don't play athletics. But I have a lot of people from my school that go to Michigan State. I mean, that's where my ties are.

Q. Growing up, were there any games in the rivalry that you remember?
OBI EZEH: I remember one where Chris Perry had about 40 carries and we won that game. That's probably the one that stands out. Played runningback when I was in high school. That was kind of like I wanted to be that.

Q. Did you get a chance to talk to Brandon at all?
OBI EZEH: He got on the bus right after the game, told me he said it. I guess I've been kind of preparing that all week, the past couple days. Something is going to be said. You kind of got used to it. Last year he had the whole little brother thing. It's all in good fun, you know. It's a rivalry. You know the game's going to be exciting no matter what. Both teams are going to be pumped up no matter what.
People might say that statement is going to add fuel to Michigan State's fire. I feel like they're going to come in just as pumped up as they would have whether you said it or not. We're going to play just as hard as we want to, whether he said it or not?

Q. Do you wish he hadn't said it or do you feel it helps?
OBI EZEH: I mean, if he didn't say it, parents probably would have said it (laughter). I don't know, I guess it doesn't really matter. You just deal with it. You kind of roll with the punches. I probably would have handled it at differently.

Q. (No microphone.)
OBI EZEH: Not really worried about what's going on over in East Lansing. Just have got to take care of what we need to do here, so...
THE MODERATOR: We have Terrance Taylor.

Q. What does this game mean to you?
TERRANCE TAYLOR: It means a lot. This game is my state championship game. I know a lot of guys on the team, played with some of the guys. A lot of things go into this game. There's a rivalry. It's Michigan State. It's for the Paul Bunyan trophy. It means a lot.

Q. As a senior, how have you kept everyone positive going forward?
TERRANCE TAYLOR: Just being positive about ourselves, knowing we do have a good team. We're shooting ourselves in the foot every game. If we can put together four quarters, it's going to be a different outcome.
We make a good second-half come back, a good first half, but what we need to do is put a good four quarters together, knowing what we can do, knowing that we're the ones that are shooting ourselves in the foot, keeping our heads up. I'm not going to say it's easy, but we can do it.

Q. Is this even more important considering where you are and the fact it is Michigan State, does that just make it even bigger than usual?
TERRANCE TAYLOR: Yeah, it does. I mean, like I said, it's kind of foreign here to be losing. But things happen. It shows what kind of man you are when things are down. You can be the bravest guy out there when everything is going right and you're winning, you're undefeated. But when you're losing, who are you? Where you going to be at? Just showing your heart out there.
This game is going to show a lot of people who has heart, who is going to be down on theirselves. Michigan State is coming off a loss to Ohio State. So we'll see.

Q. How big of a momentum shift could it be if you win on Saturday?
TERRANCE TAYLOR: It could be real good. It should because, you know, getting another win and putting together -- the most important thing for us is to put together four quarters of good football because we put together a half or a quarter. To put together four quarters and win the game, it proves to ourselves that we can play four quarters of good football without any mistakes or missed assignments could do things that could push us through the rest of the season. That's one of the things we want to do. Just keep the Paul Bunyan trophy here.

Q. (No microphone.)
TERRANCE TAYLOR: Like I say, the Wisconsin game, it's nice. One of the things I came here for. But times are changing. Michigan State loves to run the ball. They've been doing that since I got here. I expect this will be a physical game, just like Wisconsin was. Running the ball, double-teams, kick-out, stuff like that. So it should be a fun game.

Q. What will it take to stop one of the best runningbacks in football?
TERRANCE TAYLOR: Good D-line play, controlling the line of scrimmage, having our linebackers flow, playing with heart. We know what they're going to do. Their whole offense is based on running the ball. Once they establish that, they can do anything they want after that: play-action pass, screens, draws, because they established the run. If you can't run the ball, then you got to do something else. That's one of the things we want to make them do. He's probably the best back we faced this year so it should be a challenge, one that we accept.

Q. The fact you had some success against Wisconsin, does that give you confidence you can do the same against Michigan State?
TERRANCE TAYLOR: Yeah. Like against Penn State, for that long run, I smashed not into my gap, he ran, bounced, ran through my gap. Big plays can happen off of that. On our line, we pride ourselves on (indiscernible). Against Michigan State, that's one of the things we're going to pride ourselves on. We're going to control the line of scrimmage, we're going to play hard, control the backfield, get in the quarterback's face. That's what we're going to do. They can try to stop us, so...

Q. Been a lot of talk about Mike Hart's little brother comment last year. Do you remember Coach Dantonio's comments about that? Did you hear what he said on Monday after that?
TERRANCE TAYLOR: Who?

Q. Coach Dantonio.
TERRANCE TAYLOR: No. I didn't hear the little brother comment till we got there. People say things, how they feel. BT said his comment. That's how he felt. He has a lot of pride. We're going to back him up on it. Going to back him up on it. We'll go into practice tomorrow, go hard, practice hard, work on things we need to work on, go in that game and play our hearts out.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297