|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCEDecember 3, 2013Darqueze DennardQ.  As you watch Ohio State now, especially Miller and Hyde, how different are they from the team you played last year? DARQUEZE DENNARD: Different in a lot of ways. You can see Braxton has grown as a quarterback, as well, throughout this year, and from the last time we played him, grown as a quarterback, as well. But just seeing him go through his reads, seeing him being there being patient in the pocket and delivering a couple passes he couldn't throw last year, he's been doing a great job of that, and Hyde has been running the ball as good as anybody in the nation right now. He's a bigger back. He is physical, and offensively he shows a little burst of speed, and he's got shiftiness back there, as well. Those guys have grown tremendously since the last time we played them. Q. What was your reaction to your awards that you won and the rest of the defenders, the first‑team all‑Big 10 selections and defensive back of the year for you, and for guys that played in that last Big 10 championship game in 2011, what do you recall of the feeling afterwards and how much has that loss given you to want to get back there? DARQUEZE DENNARD: It's a blessing just to be even mentioned with those guys, other guys in the Big 10, and then being the one nominated to be the best defensive back in the Big 10 is an honor, is a privilege, but I give the honor to God. And I was watching it yesterday, a lot of guys I was watching at the training table, everybody was pretty excited. I think a couple guys got a little left off, should have been in some different spots, but that's how the ball rolls sometimes. But I think everybody is excited and was glad to be mentioned as part of the elite group of the Big 10. Also coming from two years ago, from when we lost, it was hard for all of us. We really wanted to‑‑ it really came down to the last drive of one play you could say to lose the game, and it really drove us throughout this off‑season and the year before, just knowing that it really motivated everybody to get back to Indy. It drove us this year, it drove us last year, as well, but this year was special because I know for me and the rest of the seniors, this is our last opportunity to go back to Indianapolis and play in that game. I think that loss really motivated us in the last two years. Q. Each time you get up here in any press conference and talk about being honored to be considered the best defensive back or the best defensive player in the country with the Nagurski, is there a part of you that can't believe this is happening? If you reflect back to when you came to Michigan State, what were your goals at that time? How did you see your career playing out versus how it's actually playing out? DARQUEZE DENNARD: When I first got here I didn't really expect to be the player I am today. I really was hoping and dreaming that I could one day be one of the top players in the nation and one of the top players in the Big 10, of course, and hoping to go on and play in the NFL. But when I first got here I was really trying to focus on trying to be the best backup or be the best special teams contributor I could be at the time. It's just an honor and just a blessing and really shows that hard work and prayer and belief actually works. Q. When you look around you at other players on the Michigan State football team, how many other guys are kind of like you? Michigan State doesn't always get the best players out of the surrounding states. It seems like there's a lot of guys like you that maybe never were really expected to do a whole lot, and do you think that's something that this team feeds off of and has fueled you guys? DARQUEZE DENNARD: I definitely do. All the guys on the team, we probably wasn't the highest recruited person out of the country, we wasn't the top this person or that person, but about this team and about the coaches and what they do with the coaching they do and grooming us as men as well as players, they do a great job of that. Everybody when they come here usually there's a story behind them. Like Coach D always says, everybody has their own story. I think every player here has their own story and every player here has a chip on their shoulder, and that's what makes us better than anybody around us and that's what makes us play harder than anybody. So I think just being low‑balled you could say, under‑recruited throughout the process and not getting recognition, it all drives us to be better. Q. After the Irish loss in which you guys were subjected to a couple questionable pass interference calls, it seemed like the officiating allowed your corners, the corners here, to play more physical and aggressive. Is there a concern that that might change coming into this game because it's Ohio State with the stakes involved, for them more so than you guys? DARQUEZE DENNARD: I really don't think Trae and I will change our way of playing. I think we can't go in there with that mindset. We've got to go in there with the mindset to just play our style of football, which is physical, and the Big 10 has obviously been letting us play, and it's been great for us as a defense, as well. I think Trae and I both will come in with the same mindset like we've been playing for the last couple of weeks after the Notre Dame game, and we're just going to have to see how the officiating goes and go off of that. Q. But you think you should still be allowed to play as physical as you've been allowed to play over the last couple games? DARQUEZE DENNARD: Yeah, I definitely do. I don't think we should change. Q. A little bit about Isaiah Lewis and the contributions he's made in the secondary. DARQUEZE DENNARD: After the championship game Isaiah was hurt. I'm a great friend of Isaiah. We always hang around with each other, and talking to him after that game, he was like, this is never going to happen again. Throughout these past two years he's been busting his tail and doing everything he was asked to do, doing anything coach has been telling him to do, and also he's been stepping up as a leader, as well. He basically monitors and tutors all the young guys below him and helps the guys throughout the team, just talking to them and basically being a big brother and also being you could say a captain, as well. He's grown since that game, been mature. He handles stuff way better. I also think he's a better player, as well. He improved a lot since then. Q. I noticed the song you guys play, the artist is from Atlanta, so I suspect you had something to do with that. Do you take credit for that, or who is the one that decided that would be the song? DARQUEZE DENNARD: I think the team decided. I kind of pushed it towards the team probably this summer, telling guys to listen to him. But I can't take credit for that. I think the team just made the choice about the song and everybody just rolled with it. Q. Did it just kind of evolve into what it's become, or was that the plan right from the beginning, that you guys would get a coach to dance with the team after victories? DARQUEZE DENNARD: I think it just evolved. At first it just started everybody just being excited and celebrating after a victory, and then a couple games down the road, you see coaches involved, you see all types of players involved. You can find kids, some kids come in and dance, as well. It's just a fun experience. It's just a celebration after a win, which we all know wins are hard to come by. Q. Are you the best dancer? DARQUEZE DENNARD: I don't think so. I think‑‑ there's a lot of guys that can dance. I think Travis has got me by a long shot. I think he's the best dancer on the team. He's got a lot of rhythm. Q. With all the talk about Ohio State and their unbeaten streak and national title possibilities, Braxton Miller, do you guys going into this game feeling a little bit overlooked or unloved? DARQUEZE DENNARD: It doesn't matter to us. Me personally, I love being the underdog. Count me out. It just makes me play even harder. I think the team feels the same way. You ain't got to show us no love, but at the end of the day we've got to play our game. We're going to play our game, we're going to play our style of football, and we're going to see who's the best team. It really don't matter all the love they give throughout the week. It doesn't matter. Just come out, and whoever plays the best game on Saturday. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|