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MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 29, 2009Rocco CironiQ. Assuming you guys get Foreman back, do you feel like if Nitchman moves back to center that you guys would be able to take it up to another level of play? Do you think that the injuries have severely hampered the line's performance so far? ROCCO CIRONI: The way Nitchman played against Wisconsin, I felt like he came back from a knee injury and he played well against Wisconsin, which we needed him to do, since Foreman was out. Within us six, counting Joel Nitchman and Foreman, I think having those six guys in the rotation, we play fine together. Q. As a fifth-year senior, are you able to go because you do have such a young team and talk and explain to these guys about this rivalry and the depth and what you guys have been through personally? ROCCO CIRONI: Yeah, I think the guys from Michigan understand what it's like, and I think the help from the media and you guys boosting it up makes them realize how important it is in the state of Michigan and to our team. It's a big rivalry. This can make or break either team's season. So it's a big deal. Q. You've raised your profile quite a bit in the last couple years on this team, and we've talked to you a lot. Is it weird in Michigan Week that you're talking at the podium? ROCCO CIRONI: No. I mean, hell, I've been here for five years now. I kind of consider myself part of the state, even though I'm from Ohio. This is where my heart is. I love Michigan State. I'm going to play for them. So whoever we play, I'm going to give everything I've got, and since it is Michigan Week, you've got to go out there and play a little harder no matter where you're from. Q. I'm not in the circle but I can imagine this is a pretty angry football team right now, angry over the way you've played, angry over the criticism, angry over the people hopping off the bandwagon. Is anger a good thing this week or do you have to control that? ROCCO CIRONI: Yeah, I think it is. I think we're in a situation where our backs are kind of against the wall, and we have to come out fighting, so the more anger the better. Obviously this season isn't going the way we wanted it to. Being a senior, it's not the way I wanted to finish. But, you know, we still have a lot of -- we still have, what, nine games left, so there's still a lot of time and we can turn this thing around. Q. The team's rushing numbers still aren't good when you compare them to the Big Ten. When you guys are still rotating backs back there, what do you think this running game is still capable of doing with more than half a season left? ROCCO CIRONI: I think we can still make drastic improvements. Seeing as how our running backs are fairly young, I think they have a lot of skills, a lot of experience still to build. We just have to keep giving them running room and let them make their decision on what they want to do with the ball. There's nothing we can do about it. It's up to them. We just have to do our jobs up front and give them room to run. Q. You mentioned the media. Obviously this game is important in terms of -- this rivalry in terms of perception, recruiting. Momentum has been very positive for Michigan State in the last couple years. Do you look at this game as a big-picture game in terms of maybe restoring some of that momentum or do you feel like any of it has been lost with this three-game losing streak? ROCCO CIRONI: I don't think any momentum has been lost. We go out every game, and the effort is there. Guys are battling. Right now I think being Michigan Week, I think guys are going to give everything they have this week in practice and in the game on Saturday. So I think the momentum part of it is just -- it's going to keep on rolling all the way throughout the season. Nobody is giving up on anything yet. Q. Being from Ohio, did you have a hatred for Michigan growing up before you came here? ROCCO CIRONI: Yeah, I think everybody has a hatred for Michigan. Q. You played a big role in that game last year, where especially late there were key downs where you guys imposed your physical will as on offensive line, but you had Javon. Does that experience help you in a game like this, despite the fact that the running game isn't where you want it to be and with the injuries and all that? ROCCO CIRONI: I mean, Javon was a great back. He didn't need much room to run at all. You just gave the guy the ball, and he just took off. But the running game is going to be a big factor. I read somewhere the other day that the team with the most rushing yards won I think the last 36 out of 39 games or something like that. So the running game in this game is a big factor. Who can control the clock and keep the ball the longest historically has won the game. So that's very important for both teams to do. End of FastScripts |
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