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BUFFALO WILD WINGS BOWL: MICHIGAN STATE v TCUDecember 27, 2012Andrew MaxwellTEMPE, ARIZONA Q. TCU showing areas like Wisconsin? ANDREW MAXWELL: Well, they're two different styles of defense, mainly because we play in two different conferences. In the Big Ten you get power run defenses. I tell you, the similarities that you do see between a TCU and a Big Ten team is the toughness is there, the intensity, the style of play is there. We really respect and admire about them. Q. Is there a team that reminds you of someone you played this year? ANDREW MAXWELL: In TCU? Q. Yes. ANDREW MAXWELL: I'll tell you, when I first turned on the film, they kind of reminded me a little bit of Boise State. They're pretty multiple in their looks. They do a lot of variations of things. They're one of those teams where you turn on the film the first time, you have to run things back and rewind it a few more times than you usually do because it is a little more complicated. Just the feeling we're getting about Boise State, and TCU, the more you watch the film, the more comfortable you get, the more recognizable it becomes to you. Q. What do you think about Kirk Cousins, what he's doing? ANDREW MAXWELL: I'm proud of him, so happy to see what he's doing. Couldn't have happened to a better guy. He's worked for everything he's gotten in his entire life. Not being very highly recruited, coming out of high school, then the career he had in college, getting looked over by some teams that we didn't think he would get looked over by. Just the way he continues to work and be persistent, that was really awesome to see. I'm really happy for him. Q. What was the depth chart with you and him? It took him a while before he got his shot, like it took you a while, because you were behind him for a while? ANDREW MAXWELL: When I came in in 2009, Kirk was a redshirt sophomore. That was his first year starting. He was in competition with Keith Nichol that year, who transferred from Oklahoma. They kind of battled it out. That was Kirk's third year in the program, so he started in 2009. I was number three then. So he played 2009, though '10, 2011, and I was third, second string, second string 2010, 2011. Q. What would you say you learned, not only from him, but all that time as an understudy guy? ANDREW MAXWELL: The first thing was probably just the preparation, how much work he put in outside of actually being on the field. That's something that people don't see. That's something you really don't notice unless you under‑prepare, then people will notice it. When it's Wednesday night, everybody had left the building, Kirk was still in there watching film, that translated into success on the field. As a young guy, I went through the process, that's something I took note of and how I would get ready for games. Q. One point this year where your confidence was shaken? ANDREW MAXWELL: I wouldn't say my confidence was shaken. Certainly there's some frustrations when the offense isn't producing how we think we can, how we know we can. But I wouldn't say my confidence was shaken. I don't think our confidence as a team was shaken. It was a matter of playing through those rough spots, riding them out. I think the Wisconsin game was a great example of that. We were so close at Michigan, lost. It would have been so easy for us to pack it in, have a huge letdown the next week. But the way we battled back in that game, ended up winning in overtime was a good barometer, we may have been frustrated, but our confidence wasn't shaken. We stuck to the task. Q. When you lose two critical offensive linemen, can you describe what that does to a quarterback, losing guys you trust, what that does? Does that become part of your consciousness that you don't have those guys? ANDREW MAXWELL: Losing those guys, not only did it hurt with their experience, with how they play on the field, but just with their leadership, with the emotional presence they bring, not only to the offensive linemen, but the whole team. That kind of hurt everybody. I was extremely confident in the guys we had step in. Skyler was a guy, coming out of high school, he could have gone anywhere he wanted in the country, all the physical tools in the world. For him to be coming off that injury when he was, kind of funny how that happened, he was coming back. Then having a couple of capable guys going in at center, obviously disappointed to lose who we lost, but I was confident in the guys we had to replace him. Q. What gives you confidence in this program moving forward? ANDREW MAXWELL: First of all it's our resiliency, never say die, never quit attitude. We're a bunch of guys who are tough, never going to lay down. Second of all, if you pair that with the physicality we have, the play‑making ability we have... All the frustrations we've had are correctable things that we can clean up. I know that guys are working hard every day to do those things. You put all those things together, that gives you reason to believe we can still be the productive offense we have been. Q. Is your approach at all different? Are you wiser to certain things? Talk about approaching that with this group. ANDREW MAXWELL: I certainly think it will be different than it was last year. Last year, it's the gray area where you're the starter now, but you haven't played a whole lot. You don't really know how much leeway you have. But now that I have a year under my belt, you can look back and take a whole overview of the season, see where things have gone better, what are some things we can change in every aspect of how we played or prepared. When we go to lifts, having that year of starting under my belt, I feel I'm more comfortable stepping out and taking that role. Q. Were you part of the wing‑eating thing last night? ANDREW MAXWELL: Counting my contribution, it was very modest. Q. What was your take? ANDREW MAXWELL: Maybe seven or eight. If we didn't have a game in three days, I might have been a little more enticed to go to town. Q. What was the most anybody ate? ANDREW MAXWELL: I think Shawn Kamm, I think he ate as much as 65. That's Shawn. He looked at it as a challenge. That was exciting. Q. Le'Veon, all those guys have decisions based on their own situations. What would you tell them is a reason to stay, foregoing the other side of things? What would you tell them a reason to be part of the offense is next year? ANDREW MAXWELL: You have to look at the nucleus of our offense and team is young. We have an opportunity to come back and do special things. I think as competitors, those guys can look at that and say, We didn't accomplish all the goals we set for ourselves this year. The good news is that doesn't have to be the end. Obviously we have this bowl game, but we still have next year to really get back to work, really reevaluate our goals. I don't think we have to lower our goals we had this year. We do have the people and the ability to attain those. I think if those guys look at that, which they will, they'll consider that, they can look at that and see that as a pretty attractive reason to come back to school. Q. (Question regarding where you are at the end of the year.) ANDREW MAXWELL: Certainly not where we thought we would be. We had to battle to get those six wins and get to the bowl game. Certainly never going to complain about getting the extra game to play, extra opportunities, getting to come on a trip like this as a team. We look forward to the opportunity. Q. Is the value mostly in student‑athlete experience? What is the value in a week like this? ANDREW MAXWELL: Well, there's a lot of things. Certainly the experience. You get to come to a place where a lot of people never have been before. You get the extra practice time, time to improve. You get to put the Michigan State brand on a national stage, because when it's a bowl game, everybody tunes in. It's the only game in town. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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