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MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCEDecember 3, 2013Denicos AllenQ. You've said the last couple years I've talked to you at least that I've always been a fly‑under‑the‑radar guy, but I've got to wonder when you see the All‑Big 10 teams come out and you're second‑team, even with all the tackles and plays you've made, is there a little part of you that hurts or that bothers you, or is it just par for the course? DENICOS ALLEN: I mean, it kind of bothered me when I first seen it, but they made their decision. I can't do anything regarding keep playing the game I've been playing, play the way I've been playing. I'm just going to go out Saturday and play my game. That's all I can do. Q. You said it kind of bugged you. It seems like this team feeds off of things that bug them, which is good, like Ohio State is the touted team coming into the game, undefeated, BCS. Do you ever feel overlooked or unloved in the whole grand scheme of things? DENICOS ALLEN: Do I feel as if Ohio State is overlooked? Q. No, that you guys get overlooked. DENICOS ALLEN: I mean, kind of, but you know, we've been getting no respect lately. People have been talking about how tough our defense is, and they've been noticing how better our offense is getting. They really feel that we can compete with Ohio State. I hear people out there saying that we could win the Big 10 championship. I think we're like a 6‑point underdog. It's a lot of respect coming from last year, the underdog we were going into that game last year, and with us having the same team and them having the same team. You can see the more respect we have this year. I don't feel like we're underdogs. I don't feel like we're overlooked. We're in the Big 10 championship. There's no way you can overlook a team playing in the Big 10 championship. Q. Through your whole growth here at the program and to end it, two unbeaten teams, kid from Ohio, playing Ohio State, could you have scripted a final Big 10 challenge any better for yourself? DENICOS ALLEN: No, this is the best challenge I could ever ask for. Like you said, being an Ohio kid and not being accepted by Ohio State, you know, it was kind of tough because that's where all my family wanted me to go, my friends, everybody I grew up with wanted me to go to Ohio State. To tell them that they didn't want me kind of hurt them, kind of upset them. So it's personal to me. It's always been personal ever since 2010. You know, I'm just going to go into this game and for another year show them why Michigan State got a better player. Q. A lot of questions today about Ohio State last year versus this year. If you can think back to two years ago in Columbus, you of course made the play jumping over Jordan Hall. When you think about Braxton Miller and the offense as a whole, how different is it from two years ago when you guys played down there? DENICOS ALLEN: I would say they're a lot more stable this year. Two years ago Braxton Miller wasn't really‑‑ I would say a true quarterback. He was a good player but wasn't a true quarterback. Now he's more of a true quarterback. He can pass. He can also run still. But his decision making is better. As a team they're more stable at each position. The running back position is pretty stable. As a team they're just a lot better, a lot mature with a lot more experience than two years ago. Q. Two years ago can you think back to the aftermath of that loss, how you handled it, what you did that night and the next morning as you guys tried to recover from the loss to Wisconsin? DENICOS ALLEN: Two years ago against Wisconsin, it was rough, seeing the looks on the seniors' faces and seeing how hurt they were and how close we were to coming out with a Rose Bowl berth. It was just all those things runs through my mind this year. I'm pretty sure it runs through every other senior's mind, too. Coming off the season last year, all the seniors promised ourselves that we weren't going to go through that feeling again. Going into this game we promised ourselves that we're not going to go through that feeling again. I'm pretty sure everybody is all jacked up and pretty confident going into this game. We talked to the underclassmen about what it's like to come up short and to lose a game like that, and I'm pretty sure they know the seriousness of this game and all the consequences if we win or lose. So there's good and bad consequences, and I'm pretty sure they're aware of them. Just going to go out and perform our best. Q. You said you saw people crying you never thought you would see. Can you tell us who? DENICOS ALLEN: I don't want to name no names. I don't want to make them look soft. If they didn't tell you, then I'm not going to tell you. Q. I know you guys have seen a lot of dual‑threat quarterbacks. As far as Ohio State's scheme, the run and Braxton, what teams would they be most comparable to? Are they pretty simple? Are they complex with what they do? And who would you compare them to from a scheme standpoint? DENICOS ALLEN:  As far as a scheme standpoint I would have to compare them to maybe like a Nebraska team with a dominant running back and a quarterback that can make plays, as well. They have a lot of threats on their offense, so we can't just worry about the running game. I think that's what makes them so good. What makes us so good is that we're able to stop the running game while stopping the passes because we have dominant corners like Darqueze Dennard and Trae Waynes and they can play man all game, and we can just let it loose, the front seven, and that's what makes us so dominant. That's why I think this match‑up is perfect. Q. Just to follow up on that, part of the reason Nebraska had a lot of success running the ball was Abdullah's ability to cut back. Hyde is a different type of runner and yet in some ways he's more dangerous, right? DENICOS ALLEN: I mean, we kind of like downhill runners, which I feel like Hyde is. Abdullah, he was a quick guy. He was a good running back and he had great eye control. He seen a hole on the backside and he would cut it back just like that. We'll see. We'll see what it's like. We've played a lot of downhill runners, so we're kind of used to it. Q. Can you put into words what the Rose Bowl means to you? DENICOS ALLEN: I can't put it into words, but it means a lot. It's bigger than anything or anybody in this program. It's a part of history. If we go, we'll be a part of school history forever, not being there in forever. You know, to do it in this season with all the accomplishments we had this season, it'd be the perfect ending. It would be the perfect ending for a historical team. Q. (No microphone.) DENICOS ALLEN: I mean, we're pretty good at handling anger. We're a pretty well‑disciplined team. Coach Dantonio, he doesn't tolerate that at all. Once you get out of line, he'll be quick to pull you out, and we all know that. There's going to be a lot of emotions flying with a bunch of Ohio guys being on Michigan State, but we're just going to take it under our pads, do it by hitting, making big plays and things like that. That's what we've been doing since I've been here. That's what we've done. That's what Coach Dantonio installs in you as a player. Q. You mentioned earlier not being accepted by Ohio State, and forgive me, I wasn't here when you first came in and probably talked about that process, but how hard did you try to get them to recruit you? To what extent did it go, and did it even come close? Were there recruiting letters? Were there visits? DENICOS ALLEN: Yeah, there were some visits. I talked to the coaches every now and then. I went to a camp there once, and we kept in contact. I talked to the tight end coach was my recruit, and he told me the process of how they did their recruiting, and they would pass your highlight to every coach and they would keep passing it if they wanted the player or just throw the highlight away if they didn't. He said my highlight made it to Tressel's desk and that was it. After I heard that, I kind of took my focus off Ohio State and looked for other options. Q. Even then, was this a program that you'd grown up thinking you were going to play at? Did you have it set in your mind because you're a pretty goal‑oriented guy who seems to achieve everything you want. How big of a deal was that in your life? DENICOS ALLEN: Growing up it was a big deal, because like I said, being an Ohio kid, all my family and friends are Ohio State fans and would love if I went there. But as I got older in high school, I knew there were other options. I knew that my size would stop me from going certain places. I was a realist, too, so I knew that my chances of going somewhere huge was like slim. But as my years went on in high school, I figured those chances were getting higher, and I figured Ohio State would kind of be more interested. But things work out for a reason, and I ended up here, and I don't regret making this decision at all. I kind of figured God didn't want me at Ohio State, he put me here for a reason. So here I am. Q. Do you guys ever talk about that? Darqueze is another guy, Shilique wasn't very‑‑ I wonder how much of a factor that is for this Michigan State team. It's almost like most guys here, this wasn't necessarily their first choice or they were passed over by many bigger schools in their own state. Does it ever get talked about? DENICOS ALLEN: Rarely. If we're in the locker room just hanging out or we're talking, we'll bring it up like how a lot of players on this team weren't big recruits, big five‑star, four‑star recruits, and we all came here, and we all play together and we play well together, and we're doing good together. We're playing like we're four‑ or five‑star recruits out here, so that just speaks for the quality of players Coach D brings in, and him being able to see the athleticism, him not being afraid of taking risks. If he sees a player making plays no matter what size they are, he's going to take his chances with you. Credit to Coach Dantonio for being a great guy and a great coach. Q. You talked about being put here for a reason. What was that reason? Why were you meant to be here? DENICOS ALLEN: To make a difference, man. To be a part of something legendary. I feel like if I went to Ohio State, I wouldn't have had the opportunities that I have here. It's just a lot. Being here taught me a lot about life, about becoming a man and more. I really think that was all a part of his plan. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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