Arizona State Head Coach Herm Edwards
Overall thoughts on the game:
“Our resolve, you know coming in at halftime, guys were a little bit questioning the fact that this was a defensive game. I think when you have a bonded offense like we do and in the first game you score all those points, they feel a little dejected when they don’t score points. But it was a defensive game. I’ve been to a lot of football games. After the second quarter I said 'last man standing is going to win. There’s not going to be many touchdowns.' You could just tell the way the game was played, they were playing outstanding defense. We gave them some plays on third downs, some penalties hurt us a couple of times on offense. I just told the players at half-time 'If you would have told us we would be in this position going into halftime we would take it.' I said 'Now just go finish it off.' I said 'We’re going to win this game.' I said 'We might win it in the fourth quarter, we just got to keep playing guys.' And they did. I’m happy for the players and the coaches.”
On Michigan State's coaches:
“Talking to coach [Mark Dantonio] before the game and really congratulating him on all the success and what his program has meant to college football, it’s one of those programs that you would love to emulate. I saw Coach [Tom Izzo]. Coach Izzo called me and said 'Coach I’m coming to the game.' I said 'Okay Coach. I’ll see you.' It was fun to see him, we’re good friends. It was quite a night for our football team and fans.”
On players making big plays down the stretch:
“Well there was always a few but Number 1 [N’Keal Harry] came up with the big play when we needed it. You can’t go to him enough. When he’s covered he’s not covered. He was a little bit down early because we couldn’t get him the ball and they have a good defense. The first game everyone thought 'well they’re not very good,' but they’re a good defense, so let’s not kid ourselves. It was hard sledding the whole game. This reminds me of the days when I was with the Buccaneers. We won a bunch of games 10-3, 10-7, 9-3. When you’re playing those games you don’t panic, you just keep playing. The score was immaterial to me. I said 'As long as we keep it within a one-score game we got a chance to win this thing, and our big players and going to have to make a play down the stretch.' And that’s what happened for us.”
On what won the game for the team:
“I think what helped us too is we changed our strategy a little bit in the first half. We wanted to run him with those screens out on the perimeter, but they did a really good job. I thought our stamina was what really won this game for us, especially in the fourth quarter. Those guys were tired. I knew they were tired in before the half when they were taking a knee and then they called a time-out. They called a timeout so they could rest a little longer before they went in for halftime. That’s why they called a timeout with two seconds left.”
On the game-winning kick:
“I never watch the kicks. I never watch game-winners. I look at the crowd and if the crowd's hollering then we did good, and if the crowd says 'no' then oh boy it’s not good. I didn’t watch it.”
On Michael Sleep-Dalton:
“It was critical that the punting game was on point. This was one of those games when you got past the 40 yards were hard to get. We were pretty good coming out, we were backed up all night. We never had pretty good field position to start, we seemed like we were always inside the 20, so you knew it was going to be a punting game. [Michael Sleep-Dalton] did a fantastic job of creating some field position for us.”
On the last two minutes of the game:
“I thought what we did in the last two minutes were good. The players understood exactly what we were trying to do. We go over scenarios all the time in games and that was one of those deals when we made the critical first down we just felt like all we have to do is take some knees and take the clock down and kick it with four seconds left to win the game.”
On their return game:
“We got to get our return game going though. Our return game is not very good right now, it is destitute. We got to get that fixed.”
On being a balanced team:
“You have to be balanced. I think that helps you become a complete football team on offense. We were concerned with them running the football as well, and we held them under 100 yards. We talked about time of possession on Thursday and we got it back manageable. They had a little bit more time than us. They had 32 minutes and we had 27, almost 28. That got away from us a little bit, but plays were similar. Our third-downs weren’t very good, especially on defense and at times on offense as well.”
On winning in a pressure situation:
“It’s important to win games like that. It comes down to the wire where there’s pressure on you where people have to make plays. You can’t have a minus play when you get down in that situation and we did not. Our guys kept their poise and we were able to finish the game off.”
Arizona State QB #5 Manny Wilkins
Opening Statement:
"It feels great, honestly it does. All the mistakes that we made, all the throws that I missed, the interception - we came in at halftime, we made the adjustments that we needed to make and we won the game so that's all that matters at the end of the day. We're 2-0 now. That was a very good opponent that we faced. They were very well coached, very disciplined. They played a hell of a game as well. It was a low scoring game, I thought it was going to be high scoring. Defense on both sides played really well but our defense, I'm really proud of them and how they played. It was a hell of an effort on their part and without them we would not [have won] this game. I need to clean up the little things - we hit a couple of those shots early in the game, this was a different ball game, but we didn't hit those but at the end of the day we made up for it."
On what it took to get going offensively:
"All it takes is for one of those [deep passes] to hit. All it takes is for you to get a touchdown, for you to get a little bit of momentum. We ended up getting some momentum there late in the game - the third down call, I think it was third and 10 and we knew they were going to play man, so we knew that if we lined up Eno [Benjamin] on the boundary and we had three-by-one to the field that that linebacker was going to have to run with him and go through all those guys so we made the perfect play call. Coach Likens called the perfect play. Rep for Eno, we put him in the flats and that was the difference there at the end of the game was that big long catch by Eno."
On the toll the heat took on Michigan State:
"It was kind of similar to last week. We knew it was going to be hot, and we knew that they're not in as hot of a situation as we are here so our goal was to - and we weren't really that successful honestly - to go sideline-to-sideline those first two quarters and then the third and fourth quarter we wanted to get down field. At the end of the first half, the thing that they pulled, I know everyone was booing but them taking a knee, waiting, then calling a timeout, that was their coach making a smart situation call to give his guys some more rest time because halftime is not that long and you could tell they needed it. It was a pro and a con for them because it told us that they were tired and so that second half we knew we wanted to get down field and we started hitting some bigger shots down the field and then it paid off."
On the offensive mindset after the interception in the end zone:
"Gotta go get points. Any time the defense gets a takeaway, we have to go out job and go get seven. That's what we have to do. The defense did a hell of a job, holding that opponent to 13 points is very impressive. I'm just really excited and really honored to play alongside these guys and the guys in the locker room."
On the fourth quarter play where Manny scrambled to the sideline:
“It was a simple zone read. It’s funny because that situation two years ago, it’s a completely different situation in my head. But playing this game so much and being around the field and talking with Coach Edwards so much I knew the situation. The [defensive] end crashed. We called base which means that the guys on the outside are going to block, pulled the zone read because the D end came down field, got up field and did my best to just slide close to the sideline so the clock continues to run and that’s coaching, that’s situational football and the coaches coaching us to do that type of stuff so it was a great play call and we just went out there and executed the Xs and Os part.”
On the hype and preparation before the game:
“We prepared the same as we would for any other opponent. Like we just talked about in the locker room, we can’t be too riled up, because honestly we expect it. We practice so hard, we put so much time in the offseason for games like this, for games to be won in the fourth quarter. That comes down to Coach Joe [Connolly] and what we do in our strength and conditioning program, so that’s just a testament to our will and our want to win, you guys could see it. We expected to win and when the adversity struck, we didn’t back down from it. We came back out there and did what we had to do to win the football game.”
On work that needs to be done toward sustainable drives:
“Staying disciplined, the things that we’re coached to do. There were a couple of situations where me and a couple of the receivers weren’t on the same page and that is unheard of because we work too hard to miscommunicate on the field in certain situations. We’ll get it cleaned up. At the end of the day, we won the football game. You don’t see [those mistakes] on the stat line. You don’t see a missed call, you see a W. I’m not worried about it, we’ll correct those little things and on to San Diego State now.”
On misses on deep balls and then going back to those passes late in the game:
“My mindset is that I can make any throw in the field. Coach Likens, Coach Edwards, they reassure me [about] the confidence they have in me to lead this football team and touch the football every single time we’re on offense. I went to [Terrell Chatman], I went to Frank [Darby], I went to [N’Keal Harry], the stutter – I overthrew him by this much, the post that Frank had in the back of the end zone, it was maybe less than a yard – so those are things that personally I’m very disappointed. I don’t think I played nearly as good as I could have played tonight but that’s just because I’m hard on myself and I expect to do great things because I worked hard to get where I am today.”
On Michigan State’s timeout after ASU came out with four wide receivers in the second half:
“I don’t want to disrespect their coaches, but I just don’t think they were prepared for it. They weren’t prepared to see quads into the field because we hadn’t done that. That’s something that we knew. We had a simple play call but in their heads they were like 'Oh my goodness, I don’t know what’s about to happen so we have to call the timeout because our defense isn’t set up to stop any deep pass threat.'”
On the productivity of ten-personnel looks:
“What they were doing was they were playing a lot of cover-four when we went in those two-by-two split wide and when we put [N’Keal Harry] in the slot they really were trying to focus on him. The outside cornerback, it was almost that he was trying to overlap if he ran an inside fade which is why we did that. We ran a hitch on the outside. It’s a simple smash concept, just a different way to look at it, and they had no flat defender so throw the ball to the outside. Those are 8-yard pops, 10-yard pops. You miss a tackle, it could be a big play. We were just taking what the defense gave us.”
Arizona State K #1 Brandon Ruiz
On nerves in pressure situation for the last kick:
"I didn't actually feel that much pressure honestly. Eno [Benjamin] came and said ‘I love you no matter what,’ and I usually get nervous sometimes, I feel my leg shaking, but nothing this time."
Arizona State WR #1 N’Keal Harry
On nerves in pressure situation for the last kick:
“I didn’t really see too much on that play, I just knew it was a big point in the game and it was really just an effort play. I knew I had to maintain my block and I did my best to do that.”
On the contribution from a lot of guys on offense:
“That’s something I’ve been stressing since preseason. I feel like if they really want to take me away, if they really want to double me or do whatever they do, we have so many other weapons. We had so many guys step up tonight and make plays and it ended up being key at the end of the game.”
On the defense’s performance the first two games (holding opponents to 20 points):
“I think it’s from the practice. Our defense has been practicing extremely hard. Every time the ball is in the air, they all swarm the ball and you can really see that translate to the game. It’s really a practice thing and they’ve done a great job of that.”
On the touchdown late in the game:
“That touchdown was just me and Manny being on the same page. He trusted me to come down with the ball and he put the ball in the perfect spot, the spot where the defender really didn’t have much chance of getting to it. That’s all the extra work we’ve done after practice throughout the past couple years and it showed.”
Arizona State S #43 Jalen Harvey
On the execution of the defensive game plan and filling against Michigan State’s runs:
“It was watching game film, it was being prepared. The coaches teaching us throughout the week. Coach [Danny Gonzalez] always gives us credit for us getting to the ball which I understand, but his game plan is something else. The platform of it throughout these two weeks that he’s done for us is crazy. So it’s just watching film, watching more film and asking questions.”
On the defense’s performance the first two games (holding opponents to 20 points):
“It’s just going out there and not thinking. Communicating – that’s been one of the things in practice that we might mess up here and there but when game time comes around we have to be on our p’s and q’s, and Coach Gonzalez made a good statement about that during walkthrough so that was pretty much it.”
On Michigan State’s frustration in the running game:
“It’s applying pressure. Everybody’s swarming to the ball. Our defense was swarming.”
Michigan State Head Coach Mark Dantonio
Opening statement:
"Well, what a difference a few inches could make. Difference between happiness and unhappiness I guess you could say, so you look at the football game. Our inability to score in the red zone creeps up on us again. Third one not getting it or whatever it is got to kick a field goal, a pick in the red zone, got to play better against the pass. They made some plays down the field, but we were in a tough situation on the third down penalty at the end of the game, a crucial penalty. You got to look at that, but our guys played hard. On a positive note, they played extremely hard, competed. Congratulate Arizona State. They played hard as well they made some plays. I was very impressed with their quarterback and their wide receiver, Number one N'Keal Harry. Both those guys played extremely well."
On red zone issues:
"They're short-yardage situations. Obviously, I think on the interception we had a guy open, a guy tipped it and made a play. They're always concerning. You want to score touchdowns, no questions about that. For me to say what was the problem without watching the film, I don't think would be appropriate, really. You got to score touchdowns. Tough to win a game with 13 points, its tough to win a game with 16 points. You're always in the game, one play can flip the game. Last week, it was different. We need to play better. I thought they threw the ball very well. They had us on our heels. We got some pressure on the quarterback. He got out of some sacks, they had some sacks, usually that's a direct result of winning and losing. Red zone is concerning. It's disappointing how we lost it because I thought they had two third down conversions: one was a penalty and the other we lost in the back flat in man coverage. They forced us to get on them and play man coverage which I thought we played the deep ball very well with the exception of one play. One play can do it sometimes when it's a close game. We stopped the run. They got 20 yards of rushing or whatever, 25 yards rushing. They had some plays down the field which they're going to. You got to give them credit again. You got to go back to their quarterback. Did he create? Yes. Did he make big plays? Yes. Did he stretch the field? Yes. You got to look at how we played things. Usually it comes down to some technique things and I think lack of pressure, probably. They got out on us at times and our zone pressures. They had answers for that."
Michigan State QB #14 Brian Lewerke
On the pressure of returning and playing back in Arizona:
“It was fun being home. I met with my family and all that yesterday and saw them. It was a good experience in that sense, but didn’t get a win.”
On the upcoming bye week
"It’ll be good to get some rest. I hope that this bye week will be like a new beginning of the season. Kind of start off how we wanted to."
Michigan State LB #35 Joe Bachie
On ASU’s last two drives:
“They just made some plays. Our cornerbacks played very good. They competed, they got players. Like you guys can see, they’re on scholarship too. We’ll watch the film. There are no pointing fingers on this team. It’s a team effort and we’ll get back to work on Monday.”
On why it was so hard to bring down Manny Wilkins:
“He’s a good guy. A good quarterback. If there are any step-up lanes, he’s going to take it. We noticed that. He feels comfortable when he steps up, escapes the pocket. A couple of times he will step up in the pocket and make some plays with his feet. Their tailback was releasing a lot. We lost a little leverage on them, he made some good plays. He’s a good quarterback. A good offense.”
Michigan State S #27 Khari Willis
On ASU’s wide receivers:
“I think they just made some plays. I think a lot of times we were in a position to make some plays, but they came up with some catches. They did what they had to do.”
On the effect of one loss:
“One loss doesn’t mean the end of everything. It’s a non-conference loss, but it’s not supposed to feel good. I don’t think we’ll try to numb anything there. I think we just have to go out and do what we do. It’s going to start with this bye week we got coming up in preparation for Indiana. We have got to be better, a lot better as a team.”
Overall thoughts on the game:
“Our resolve, you know coming in at halftime, guys were a little bit questioning the fact that this was a defensive game. I think when you have a bonded offense like we do and in the first game you score all those points, they feel a little dejected when they don’t score points. But it was a defensive game. I’ve been to a lot of football games. After the second quarter I said 'last man standing is going to win. There’s not going to be many touchdowns.' You could just tell the way the game was played, they were playing outstanding defense. We gave them some plays on third downs, some penalties hurt us a couple of times on offense. I just told the players at half-time 'If you would have told us we would be in this position going into halftime we would take it.' I said 'Now just go finish it off.' I said 'We’re going to win this game.' I said 'We might win it in the fourth quarter, we just got to keep playing guys.' And they did. I’m happy for the players and the coaches.”
On Michigan State's coaches:
“Talking to coach [Mark Dantonio] before the game and really congratulating him on all the success and what his program has meant to college football, it’s one of those programs that you would love to emulate. I saw Coach [Tom Izzo]. Coach Izzo called me and said 'Coach I’m coming to the game.' I said 'Okay Coach. I’ll see you.' It was fun to see him, we’re good friends. It was quite a night for our football team and fans.”
On players making big plays down the stretch:
“Well there was always a few but Number 1 [N’Keal Harry] came up with the big play when we needed it. You can’t go to him enough. When he’s covered he’s not covered. He was a little bit down early because we couldn’t get him the ball and they have a good defense. The first game everyone thought 'well they’re not very good,' but they’re a good defense, so let’s not kid ourselves. It was hard sledding the whole game. This reminds me of the days when I was with the Buccaneers. We won a bunch of games 10-3, 10-7, 9-3. When you’re playing those games you don’t panic, you just keep playing. The score was immaterial to me. I said 'As long as we keep it within a one-score game we got a chance to win this thing, and our big players and going to have to make a play down the stretch.' And that’s what happened for us.”
On what won the game for the team:
“I think what helped us too is we changed our strategy a little bit in the first half. We wanted to run him with those screens out on the perimeter, but they did a really good job. I thought our stamina was what really won this game for us, especially in the fourth quarter. Those guys were tired. I knew they were tired in before the half when they were taking a knee and then they called a time-out. They called a timeout so they could rest a little longer before they went in for halftime. That’s why they called a timeout with two seconds left.”
On the game-winning kick:
“I never watch the kicks. I never watch game-winners. I look at the crowd and if the crowd's hollering then we did good, and if the crowd says 'no' then oh boy it’s not good. I didn’t watch it.”
On Michael Sleep-Dalton:
“It was critical that the punting game was on point. This was one of those games when you got past the 40 yards were hard to get. We were pretty good coming out, we were backed up all night. We never had pretty good field position to start, we seemed like we were always inside the 20, so you knew it was going to be a punting game. [Michael Sleep-Dalton] did a fantastic job of creating some field position for us.”
On the last two minutes of the game:
“I thought what we did in the last two minutes were good. The players understood exactly what we were trying to do. We go over scenarios all the time in games and that was one of those deals when we made the critical first down we just felt like all we have to do is take some knees and take the clock down and kick it with four seconds left to win the game.”
On their return game:
“We got to get our return game going though. Our return game is not very good right now, it is destitute. We got to get that fixed.”
On being a balanced team:
“You have to be balanced. I think that helps you become a complete football team on offense. We were concerned with them running the football as well, and we held them under 100 yards. We talked about time of possession on Thursday and we got it back manageable. They had a little bit more time than us. They had 32 minutes and we had 27, almost 28. That got away from us a little bit, but plays were similar. Our third-downs weren’t very good, especially on defense and at times on offense as well.”
On winning in a pressure situation:
“It’s important to win games like that. It comes down to the wire where there’s pressure on you where people have to make plays. You can’t have a minus play when you get down in that situation and we did not. Our guys kept their poise and we were able to finish the game off.”
Arizona State QB #5 Manny Wilkins
Opening Statement:
"It feels great, honestly it does. All the mistakes that we made, all the throws that I missed, the interception - we came in at halftime, we made the adjustments that we needed to make and we won the game so that's all that matters at the end of the day. We're 2-0 now. That was a very good opponent that we faced. They were very well coached, very disciplined. They played a hell of a game as well. It was a low scoring game, I thought it was going to be high scoring. Defense on both sides played really well but our defense, I'm really proud of them and how they played. It was a hell of an effort on their part and without them we would not [have won] this game. I need to clean up the little things - we hit a couple of those shots early in the game, this was a different ball game, but we didn't hit those but at the end of the day we made up for it."
On what it took to get going offensively:
"All it takes is for one of those [deep passes] to hit. All it takes is for you to get a touchdown, for you to get a little bit of momentum. We ended up getting some momentum there late in the game - the third down call, I think it was third and 10 and we knew they were going to play man, so we knew that if we lined up Eno [Benjamin] on the boundary and we had three-by-one to the field that that linebacker was going to have to run with him and go through all those guys so we made the perfect play call. Coach Likens called the perfect play. Rep for Eno, we put him in the flats and that was the difference there at the end of the game was that big long catch by Eno."
On the toll the heat took on Michigan State:
"It was kind of similar to last week. We knew it was going to be hot, and we knew that they're not in as hot of a situation as we are here so our goal was to - and we weren't really that successful honestly - to go sideline-to-sideline those first two quarters and then the third and fourth quarter we wanted to get down field. At the end of the first half, the thing that they pulled, I know everyone was booing but them taking a knee, waiting, then calling a timeout, that was their coach making a smart situation call to give his guys some more rest time because halftime is not that long and you could tell they needed it. It was a pro and a con for them because it told us that they were tired and so that second half we knew we wanted to get down field and we started hitting some bigger shots down the field and then it paid off."
On the offensive mindset after the interception in the end zone:
"Gotta go get points. Any time the defense gets a takeaway, we have to go out job and go get seven. That's what we have to do. The defense did a hell of a job, holding that opponent to 13 points is very impressive. I'm just really excited and really honored to play alongside these guys and the guys in the locker room."
On the fourth quarter play where Manny scrambled to the sideline:
“It was a simple zone read. It’s funny because that situation two years ago, it’s a completely different situation in my head. But playing this game so much and being around the field and talking with Coach Edwards so much I knew the situation. The [defensive] end crashed. We called base which means that the guys on the outside are going to block, pulled the zone read because the D end came down field, got up field and did my best to just slide close to the sideline so the clock continues to run and that’s coaching, that’s situational football and the coaches coaching us to do that type of stuff so it was a great play call and we just went out there and executed the Xs and Os part.”
On the hype and preparation before the game:
“We prepared the same as we would for any other opponent. Like we just talked about in the locker room, we can’t be too riled up, because honestly we expect it. We practice so hard, we put so much time in the offseason for games like this, for games to be won in the fourth quarter. That comes down to Coach Joe [Connolly] and what we do in our strength and conditioning program, so that’s just a testament to our will and our want to win, you guys could see it. We expected to win and when the adversity struck, we didn’t back down from it. We came back out there and did what we had to do to win the football game.”
On work that needs to be done toward sustainable drives:
“Staying disciplined, the things that we’re coached to do. There were a couple of situations where me and a couple of the receivers weren’t on the same page and that is unheard of because we work too hard to miscommunicate on the field in certain situations. We’ll get it cleaned up. At the end of the day, we won the football game. You don’t see [those mistakes] on the stat line. You don’t see a missed call, you see a W. I’m not worried about it, we’ll correct those little things and on to San Diego State now.”
On misses on deep balls and then going back to those passes late in the game:
“My mindset is that I can make any throw in the field. Coach Likens, Coach Edwards, they reassure me [about] the confidence they have in me to lead this football team and touch the football every single time we’re on offense. I went to [Terrell Chatman], I went to Frank [Darby], I went to [N’Keal Harry], the stutter – I overthrew him by this much, the post that Frank had in the back of the end zone, it was maybe less than a yard – so those are things that personally I’m very disappointed. I don’t think I played nearly as good as I could have played tonight but that’s just because I’m hard on myself and I expect to do great things because I worked hard to get where I am today.”
On Michigan State’s timeout after ASU came out with four wide receivers in the second half:
“I don’t want to disrespect their coaches, but I just don’t think they were prepared for it. They weren’t prepared to see quads into the field because we hadn’t done that. That’s something that we knew. We had a simple play call but in their heads they were like 'Oh my goodness, I don’t know what’s about to happen so we have to call the timeout because our defense isn’t set up to stop any deep pass threat.'”
On the productivity of ten-personnel looks:
“What they were doing was they were playing a lot of cover-four when we went in those two-by-two split wide and when we put [N’Keal Harry] in the slot they really were trying to focus on him. The outside cornerback, it was almost that he was trying to overlap if he ran an inside fade which is why we did that. We ran a hitch on the outside. It’s a simple smash concept, just a different way to look at it, and they had no flat defender so throw the ball to the outside. Those are 8-yard pops, 10-yard pops. You miss a tackle, it could be a big play. We were just taking what the defense gave us.”
Arizona State K #1 Brandon Ruiz
On nerves in pressure situation for the last kick:
"I didn't actually feel that much pressure honestly. Eno [Benjamin] came and said ‘I love you no matter what,’ and I usually get nervous sometimes, I feel my leg shaking, but nothing this time."
Arizona State WR #1 N’Keal Harry
On nerves in pressure situation for the last kick:
“I didn’t really see too much on that play, I just knew it was a big point in the game and it was really just an effort play. I knew I had to maintain my block and I did my best to do that.”
On the contribution from a lot of guys on offense:
“That’s something I’ve been stressing since preseason. I feel like if they really want to take me away, if they really want to double me or do whatever they do, we have so many other weapons. We had so many guys step up tonight and make plays and it ended up being key at the end of the game.”
On the defense’s performance the first two games (holding opponents to 20 points):
“I think it’s from the practice. Our defense has been practicing extremely hard. Every time the ball is in the air, they all swarm the ball and you can really see that translate to the game. It’s really a practice thing and they’ve done a great job of that.”
On the touchdown late in the game:
“That touchdown was just me and Manny being on the same page. He trusted me to come down with the ball and he put the ball in the perfect spot, the spot where the defender really didn’t have much chance of getting to it. That’s all the extra work we’ve done after practice throughout the past couple years and it showed.”
Arizona State S #43 Jalen Harvey
On the execution of the defensive game plan and filling against Michigan State’s runs:
“It was watching game film, it was being prepared. The coaches teaching us throughout the week. Coach [Danny Gonzalez] always gives us credit for us getting to the ball which I understand, but his game plan is something else. The platform of it throughout these two weeks that he’s done for us is crazy. So it’s just watching film, watching more film and asking questions.”
On the defense’s performance the first two games (holding opponents to 20 points):
“It’s just going out there and not thinking. Communicating – that’s been one of the things in practice that we might mess up here and there but when game time comes around we have to be on our p’s and q’s, and Coach Gonzalez made a good statement about that during walkthrough so that was pretty much it.”
On Michigan State’s frustration in the running game:
“It’s applying pressure. Everybody’s swarming to the ball. Our defense was swarming.”
Michigan State Head Coach Mark Dantonio
Opening statement:
"Well, what a difference a few inches could make. Difference between happiness and unhappiness I guess you could say, so you look at the football game. Our inability to score in the red zone creeps up on us again. Third one not getting it or whatever it is got to kick a field goal, a pick in the red zone, got to play better against the pass. They made some plays down the field, but we were in a tough situation on the third down penalty at the end of the game, a crucial penalty. You got to look at that, but our guys played hard. On a positive note, they played extremely hard, competed. Congratulate Arizona State. They played hard as well they made some plays. I was very impressed with their quarterback and their wide receiver, Number one N'Keal Harry. Both those guys played extremely well."
On red zone issues:
"They're short-yardage situations. Obviously, I think on the interception we had a guy open, a guy tipped it and made a play. They're always concerning. You want to score touchdowns, no questions about that. For me to say what was the problem without watching the film, I don't think would be appropriate, really. You got to score touchdowns. Tough to win a game with 13 points, its tough to win a game with 16 points. You're always in the game, one play can flip the game. Last week, it was different. We need to play better. I thought they threw the ball very well. They had us on our heels. We got some pressure on the quarterback. He got out of some sacks, they had some sacks, usually that's a direct result of winning and losing. Red zone is concerning. It's disappointing how we lost it because I thought they had two third down conversions: one was a penalty and the other we lost in the back flat in man coverage. They forced us to get on them and play man coverage which I thought we played the deep ball very well with the exception of one play. One play can do it sometimes when it's a close game. We stopped the run. They got 20 yards of rushing or whatever, 25 yards rushing. They had some plays down the field which they're going to. You got to give them credit again. You got to go back to their quarterback. Did he create? Yes. Did he make big plays? Yes. Did he stretch the field? Yes. You got to look at how we played things. Usually it comes down to some technique things and I think lack of pressure, probably. They got out on us at times and our zone pressures. They had answers for that."
Michigan State QB #14 Brian Lewerke
On the pressure of returning and playing back in Arizona:
“It was fun being home. I met with my family and all that yesterday and saw them. It was a good experience in that sense, but didn’t get a win.”
On the upcoming bye week
"It’ll be good to get some rest. I hope that this bye week will be like a new beginning of the season. Kind of start off how we wanted to."
Michigan State LB #35 Joe Bachie
On ASU’s last two drives:
“They just made some plays. Our cornerbacks played very good. They competed, they got players. Like you guys can see, they’re on scholarship too. We’ll watch the film. There are no pointing fingers on this team. It’s a team effort and we’ll get back to work on Monday.”
On why it was so hard to bring down Manny Wilkins:
“He’s a good guy. A good quarterback. If there are any step-up lanes, he’s going to take it. We noticed that. He feels comfortable when he steps up, escapes the pocket. A couple of times he will step up in the pocket and make some plays with his feet. Their tailback was releasing a lot. We lost a little leverage on them, he made some good plays. He’s a good quarterback. A good offense.”
Michigan State S #27 Khari Willis
On ASU’s wide receivers:
“I think they just made some plays. I think a lot of times we were in a position to make some plays, but they came up with some catches. They did what they had to do.”
On the effect of one loss:
“One loss doesn’t mean the end of everything. It’s a non-conference loss, but it’s not supposed to feel good. I don’t think we’ll try to numb anything there. I think we just have to go out and do what we do. It’s going to start with this bye week we got coming up in preparation for Indiana. We have got to be better, a lot better as a team.”