Post-Game Quotes: Penn State
12/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio:
Opening Statement...
It was a disappointing outcome to a disappointing season. I thought that we played very well in the first half. The first quarter we came out and established ourselves early on; we drove down the field four times but each time had to settle for field goals. We played very well defensively. Midway through the third quarter things turned around and it was all Penn State in the second half. We decided to start Damion Terry and I thought that he did a very nice job. At the end of the day there were too many big plays at the end of the game and the inability on offense for our team to establish themselves really hurt us. It was a disappointing end but we will rally back.
What do you think the difference was in the end zone at the angle to not get in there?
This is tough to answer without watching the film, but their pressure stopped our runs which put us in third-and-long situations in the tight red zone and we couldn't hit the passes. I think we had a shot on the last opportunity, when we went for the fourth down, but I can't even remember what plays were called in what order without watching the film. You have to score touchdowns in this football game, there is no question about that, and we were short on that end. If we scored four touchdowns in the first half, having 28 points, maybe it would have been a different type of game.
Why did you start Damion Terry and how did his injury change the momentum in the game?
We wanted to start Damion Terry for a number of reasons; he is a younger player and we wanted to give him the chance to be the starter in the game. It was a tough decision but I think that it was warranted based on our season and based on his progress. I thought that he played very well until he got hurt on the fourth drive I believe. He drove us down the field four times but we just have to work on getting into the end zone. Damion got knocked out with a concussion on our fourth drive down the field, but I think before that he was very positive. We also lost LJ Scott in the first half but he was able to come back to some degree.
Why was Penn State able to have so much success with the deep ball in the second half?
I think that they were able to because their quarterback does a nice job of creating plays, especially when the score was 24-12 and they went downtown basically on a deep crossing route. The coverage was underneath the corner route for 40 yards, so that takes time, but Trace McSorley does a nice job of doing that. We knew coming into the game that we needed to stop him from creating plays and to capture him instead of just trying to go after him. ‘Capture not kill' is what we would say. I thought that we did a decent job in the first half while doing that but with that particular play he created and broke out. He broke, contained, came to the line of scrimmage and took the deep shot.
When Trace McSorley approached the line of scrimmage do you think the corner came up to time the run?
No, the corner was 40 yards deep on a deep crossing route. We call it a rattler, it's a post with an underneath corner route. The post was underneath the corner route of Mike Gesicki.
Q: Can you talk about the defense and how they played in the first half of the game?
We played well in the first half. We shut down the run, and I think they only had 60 yards running, maybe more if you count at the end of the game. Their RPO's (run pass options) hurt us a little bit but not too much. They did score one touchdown in the first half, but in the second half they just had big plays creating more and more touchdowns. You got to make the play on the ball from the start and schematically you have to be in the right positions as well.
When you think big plays, does that get back to knowing that you're not getting much pressure on the quarterback?
It's tough to say without watching the film. I thought we got pressure initially in the game, and then not as much as the game went on; but again, McSorley creates. We knew that coming in. He's done a nice job quarterbacking their football team and that's the difference really in Penn State's team this year compared to last year. The quarterback is making plays and in the football game they scrambled 11 times on third and long and that's running the football. He also created about another eight to 10 times out of those 33. We knew he was going to do that but we needed to be able to control him. As I said, cover downfield and make lock on coverage. When the quarterback scrambles it becomes a little bit more man coverage type situation down the field and we have to be able to lock on. Obviously, there were a couple of times were we either didn't have the right call on structurally, or we didn't make the right play from an execution stand point. I know for a fact that when the points went to 30 he created that.
You said last week that the off season started Monday. What's your first order of business on Monday?
Seven o'clock a.m. meeting with our players that are coming back.
You're a fixer. It's what you do, it's your gift. At some point when you know that there's not going to be a bowl or anything is there a sense of relief that this season is over?
I don't like to say that there's a sense of relief because they want to keep competing; but, what I think that we need to do is take this opportunity. What I've always tried to do was that whatever situation was thrown at us, I've tried to see the positive in that situation and try to deal with that situation. Regardless if it's a schedule, or playing in this bowl game as opposed to that bowl game or whatever it's been.
In this case, the positive is that we start early. We start discovering who we are, what we need to fix, who we're recruiting, who's coming in, and what we have to do. That all starts at an earlier time now. So we're not going to take a month to figure out who we're going to play or prepare for somebody that we're going to play in January. I wish we could; but, this time will be spent reevaluating ourselves and looking at what we have to do to make things better and correct some issues. We've had a lot of injuries this year and I think this conversation is probably better talked about after the season; but, we've had a lot of situations. We've played younger players, had guys get hurt, and we've just had a lot of different things.
As someone from outside of Happy Valley, if you had talked to anybody here they would tell you that they would've never expected this Penn State team, at least back in August to be where it's at now. How do you get your team ready to take on someone like Penn State?
Our guys are competitors and we talked about being convicted. I can't coach toughness. It's hard to coach toughness, it's hard to coach effort, it's hard to coach enthusiasm. That has to come from within every single player on our football team. I believe that any coach can coach it over a period of time, but you can't coach it in one day. So, everybody has to come convicted. I think our football team has done that and we believe that we've done that. We've come to compete. There are times were we don't win; obviously, especially this year. That's the sad part of it, but I think our guys came to play. They played a good Penn State football team that has won 10 games now and that has been a bench mark for our program throughout these years.
I guess the thing I've told our players all the time is try to fall forward. One of our senior players' fathers has always told him, if you're going to fall, fall forward. That's what we're going to try to do. We'll take our best step and put it forward. I'm proud of our football team and how they compete. We have three offensive linemen playing defensive tackle. We've got some issues through the course of injury and everything else. We probably lost our five best defensive players throughout the course of the year. We're not the same team that we were in August; but, that's not an excuse. We need to rally back
Good game two weeks ago, strong game last week, and good first half today. Are you concerned that some of that momentum was lost in the second half or did they shake them down?
I think it's a combination of them making plays. I think we were still in the game. When it was 23-12, we're still in the game. We drove back down to the 40-yrd line so I'm not concerned. The fumble cost us. The fumble, then the big play, and the sack hurt us. Those things hurt you. I think you keep playing but you have to play well. It's not good enough to keep playing, you have to play well too. If we're a 4-8 team I'm going to be feeling the same way. I definitely would've felt better (with the win). There would've been a lot more celebrating in that locker room. It's hard to take your uniform off the last time, especially when you lose. I know we need to fix some things
I know you said player evaluation will happen pretty quickly. In a season like this do you do that same evaluation with your staff?
No, we'll look at what we do as a staff but I'm not even considering letting any of our staff go if that's the question.
Malik McDowell and Demetrious Cox didn't dress, any update on those guys?
They didn't dress. It was injury related for Malik. Demetrious didn't dress due to a team violation of rules.
Any issue with Penn State continuing to take deep shots at the end of the game?
You know what they say about pay back. It was 55-16 last year. I guess they felt it. We have to make the play to stop them. We sent the blitz on the last one and they got loose.
