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MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 11, 2011

Joel Foreman

Q. Is this game emotional for you and can you tell us why?
JOEL FOREMAN: Obviously, this game is very emotional for us. It's a game that we look forward to every year it's a game that we talk about day of the year when we're going through our workouts in the summer and the spring, and spring ball and everything like that. It's something we point to, and it's really important around here.

Q. What has this time off done for offensive line? Do you work on cohesion? Do you build more with a week like this?
JOEL FOREMAN: I think it was a great opportunity for us to take a step back and refocus a little bit. It's kind of like a mid-season break. Some of the young guys were able to get more practice time in, and you can see that benefited them greatly.
It's something that I think we can capitalize off of and use to gain some momentum going into the second half of the season.

Q. You were saying the other day that every day in practice you're thinking about this game. Can you just talk about how does it come up in summer? How does Michigan week come up in summer practice?
JOEL FOREMAN: Well, this is obviously one of the greatest rivalries in college football, and it's something that we point to every day. We're always thinking about the school down the road and it's something that we're always working to get better at. It's just what we point to. It's very important to us. It's very important to this team and this program to go out there and be successful.

Q. What do you see different on tape about Michigan's defense compared to recent seasons?
JOEL FOREMAN: You can see that they've greatly improved. They're a team that's playing great football right now. Their defensive line, they play a lot lower. They play with their hands. They use their hands a lot better, and they're making improvements, and you can see that.
It's going to be a good game. It's going to be a game that's won in the trenches just like any other football game. We know we have a tough job on Saturday, and we know that we've got to be able to go out there and compete and win that line of scrimmage, and I think we're ready for that.

Q. You have the pro combat shoes on. Are you wishing the game was this afternoon?
JOEL FOREMAN: I'm always wishing the Michigan game was this afternoon.

Q. What have you seen from their front seven with guys like Mike Martin up front? What kind of a challenge do they present for your run game?
JOEL FOREMAN: They're great players. They have a couple of returning guys, Mike Martin and Ryan Van Bergen. Those are two guys that you can tell lead their defense and lead their defensive line, especially. They're great football players, they play with great technique. Like I mentioned earlier, they've improved even more than they were last year.
So you know, it's going to be a great challenge to us. They're a great tandem of defensive linemen that can play very well, and we've got to be able to go out there and compete and go out there and win that line of scrimmage.

Q. Is this game anymore physical than any other? Is it the hardest hitting game on the schedule?
JOEL FOREMAN: Absolutely. Any time you have Michigan-Michigan State game, it's going to be one of the most physical games you have. It's a rivalry game. There is a little bit more at stake, so it's always going to be a more physical game. It's going to be a game that you give a little bit more to throughout the week.

Q. Van Bergen was saying in Michigan yesterday that he was getting joke that's he looks like Paul Bunyan on the trophy. Are you getting that too?
JOEL FOREMAN: I've had my fair share of it.

Q. Hoke also said he talked to his players about being careful this week and really encouraged them to choose their words carefully on Monday. Did Dantonio talk to you at all this week about this or Twit ter or anything like that?
JOEL FOREMAN: Well, in any week we want to be able to go out there. Michigan's a team that we respect. We respect everyone on our schedule. So, you know, you play the game on Saturday, and so we look forward to playing the game, and that's how we're going to make our statement.

Q. Against Ohio State, the running numbers weren't eye popping, but they were solid. You ran well early in the game. You didn't allow any sacks. Was that really the first real big step this offensive line has made towards becoming a good unit?
JOEL FOREMAN: I think it was the first step, yeah. It was good to go down there in a venue like Ohio State in that kind of game, a 3:30 ABC game, to get that kind of play. It was good for our young guys to be able to go down there and get that experience.
So I think it was a great thing we could build off of. It was great to get a bye week so we could come to the bye week on a good note and kind of build off of that.
Like I said, we've got young guys getting work in there a little bit last week. So it's always good to have a play -- have your offensive line play like that to be able to build off that going into the second half of the season.

Q. How much are you thinking about going 4-0 against them in your career? How much is that on your mind this week?
JOEL FOREMAN: Well, it's something that you always look at. I mean, it's something when I came here the Michigan game was something that was always special to me. Being able to play in it for three years now is something that's made it very, very important to me. Any year you go out there, you want to be successful against them.
We didn't have success in the past against them, and since Coach "D" came here kind of changing the culture a little bit, we've been able to be successful. It's a rivalry game. You want to be successful against your rivals, and that is how you kind of measure yourself.

Q. The last three years when you beat them, they had some tumultuous years under Rodriguez. Does it make it anymore special to be playing an undefeated, top-ranked team?
JOEL FOREMAN: They were undefeated last year. Obviously, like I said, they're playing good football right now. We knew that every year we're going to get their best no matter what their record is, and no matter what our record is, they're going to get our best. It adds even more stakes to the game. It adds even higher stakes to the game, if it could get any higher.
Obviously we want to go out there and they're going to get our best shot, and we know that we're going to get their best shot.

Q. Do you recall your reaction the first time you saw Worthy's Michigan State tattoo and how much talk that gets weeks and months later?
JOEL FOREMAN: I'm not going to comment on that. That is not something that I need to talk about to be honest with you.

Q. How much do you think this senior class has done in making this game more important to Michigan too?
JOEL FOREMAN: Well, when I first got here in '07, we had a senior class that had never beaten Michigan. I don't know if many of you remember that game, but it was really close to the end. We almost came away with it. I can see how much it meant to them and how much it hurt them not being able to beat Michigan. It's something that kind of stuck with me.
Like I said, we've kind of changed the culture, and every year's special, and it gets even more special as you go on. There is nothing like Michigan week.

Q. (Inaudible)?
JOEL FOREMAN: Yeah, I was red shirted. I was dress on the sidelines, but didn't play.

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