Post-Game Quotes: Youngstown State

Michigan State Head Coach Jonathan Smith

Opening statement…
Well, 3-0, we'll obviously take that. It's kind of what I told the team, though: we got more to us. Credit to Youngstown State. I thought some schematics gave us a couple of issues, especially on defense. We're not even kind of lined up correctly and increases the chance of the big hit. Then schematically, in the run game offensively. We got we got more to it, so we've got to get something going there and make it a little bit easier on the quarterback to get us some better down and distances. The first half went quick on us. You know, we had four total possessions offensively. You go into halftime thinking we just wanted to get the ball going and then come out of the second half. That punt turn was huge because we didn't do anything offensively. Defense steps up, gets a three-and-out. Punt return by Omari (Kelly) was huge. We had a one turnover tonight, tipped ball, play action pass. The defense bowed it up. I thought that was really big. Look at the second half and everything. You turn the thing over and get in pretty good field position for them. Defense goes up and gets a stop. I think they missed a field goal on that possession, so that was big.

So, again, we're going to go back to work, similar to what we're doing each week. Digest this tape and look at some things. We know what's coming in regard to this conference, starting conference play next week. The road trip, the team we're playing, all of that's coming, and we want to take tomorrow for sure to make sure we're looking at our tape and getting better. I think it may get asked, I might just fire just a couple updates on a couple of guys. Alante Brown got hurt during pregame warm ups. We'll get a final diagnosis on Monday, we think. Nick Marsh is really the same way. Halftime, took a look at him. Kinda inconclusive. Just wasn't ready to go for the second half. We need to take a longer look at them, and I'll definitely let you know where that goes, if we know by Monday.

On the injury updates and how this game tested the team depth…
Yeah, it's like the test of depth because you mentioned those three guys coming out for a small amount of time…We watch the tape, and it's not like we're going to just point the finger at the player the whole time you think about it as a coach, our preparation. I will tell you; we went pretty good on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Good on good. Some of the emphasis we want to make off last week, and I thought in the back of my mind too, we got some guys that came out for plays. And so, the work we're putting in, these guys went to work this week. This was nothing casual. So, I think about that too as I'm preparing this team and that all three of those guys. But right now, we're not anticipating anything long term on Makhi (Fraizer). Luka (Vincic) we'll see on that one. That one might be more serious. Again, I don't want to finalize anything until we know the final verdict.

On emphasizing the 'next man up' mentality…
It's a physical game and you need guys to get in. And I think for three weeks, we have gotten a bunch of guys in and they know the importance. Maybe they were just getting in the game because that was part of the rotation. Now a guy goes down, you need the next guy to go in, and that's the expectation. Kind of the culture of the locker room is that, yeah, if you aren't the starter and you go in the game, you can still perform and execute like you are a starter. Without deeply studying the tape, they're playing some high safety looks, but those guys were fitting in a hurry. As an o-line, you're not identifying a high safety in your scheme because those guys are showing up in a hurry, especially on anything going sideways. That's kind of my initial thought without deeply studying it.

On his thought process of the final drive before halftime…
We want to be able to execute a clock to start with and not go backwards. So, either way, we're going to have a play from the 1. Some of the logic, I mean, getting things spiked. If you run a quarterback sneak, there's a chance it's going to be less than that. If you hold on to the time out, you could get two plays. Either way, the way it played out for sure, I love to bang the time out and run a play from the 1. We were getting the ball back, so we were pleased to get a score, I will say, at the end of that.

On managing expectations externally and internally…
I think we emphasize that kind of expectation. We use the word standards and things. It's more internal. We set our standards. Do we play to our standard in all facets? That's how we focus externally. Look, we want a passionate fan base, we want people interested in what's taking place, all of that, but I will just tell you, it's all internal when it comes to our standards and what we're focused on.

On the contributions by redshirt senior DB Armorion Smith…

Yeah, it's great. I am really happy for him. I think he saw it from his teammates.  When he's out there and making plays like that, the contribution he continues to overcome. He's a guy to be celebrated on this team and our guys do celebrate when he has success.

Youngstown State Head Coach Doug Phillips

On costly mistakes and growth in the loss…
We came into the game knowing it's about our execution, and you can't make mistakes that can help them. You're playing a beautiful team, can't make those mistakes. One really big one was right before half. We got the ball, we're moving, and we throw an interception right there. Defense answered, held them to three points, but those sort of things come back and hurt you in the long run. In the second half, you had that punt return, but there are no moral victories. I'm proud of our kids because they kept fighting back, no matter the lead built. We fell back, and I think we've seen a lot of growth of this team in week three. We're going to look at the film, evaluate it, and we're going to see a lot of areas we can get better as we get closer to league play.

On effort, resilience, and lessons for league play…
We haven't had tremendous success on the road, so I thought our kids were focused, they were locked in. I think they're disappointed. They're probably going to look back and say, we could have made this tackle, or we had them here or had them there. There's no regrets because you don't get those back, but the effort and attitude I thought was there, and that's probably what I'm most proud of. Getting onto buses, traveling here, this is all getting us ready for what we want to achieve in league play. We got to go to tough venues. We got to go to three indoor arenas that are loud just because it's indoors. For us, I think we learned a lot, and we got to take from the film and be better Saturday.'

On missed chances to change momentum…
Last week, we were able to really take advantage when the defense got a three and out and those are situations we didn't. Right before half, when we got the ball back, we didn't take advantage of that after the interception. That's where you got to strike. If you want to get back in a football game, you got to strike there, and we didn't. It starts right with the first play and it was a negative play. When we talk about complementary football, those are the things that we learn from. Our defense fed off our offense, offense fed off our defense and special teams. The one thing I did see on the sidelines, our guys were supporting, 'Hey, we got you. We got you here.' That's probably from last year the biggest growth that I've seen in this team.

On Beau Brungard's leadership and potential…
(Junior quarterback Beau Brungard) does so much. He changes protections, he can make checks, he's looking at the clock, making sure it doesn't get down to zero, then sits in the pocket. A lot of people probably get on him about running a lot and having a lot of rushing yards, but he can throw the football. For us to be a great offense, we got a lot of new receivers and we're trying to get them all involved, and I think we're making that adjustment each week. We got running backs that can catch the ball in the backfield. We play with one football and we feel we have different guys. We got to get their hands on the football, and that starts with our quarterback being able to spread the ball around. I thought he did that today. On the one interception, that's our first turnover of the year. But guess what, you don't want any turnovers? Just hand the ball off and don't throw the ball downfield. Our defense understands when those mistakes happen, they have to rise up, because we're going to be aggressive, we're going to attack. For us, we have to keep pressing and I think he's learning a lot, but I'm proud of him. I think his ceiling, he hasn't even touched yet.

Michigan State junior quarterback Aidan Chiles

On coming in with confidence and managing emotions to the final minute of the game…
The momentum from last week just came in and we played football how we play football and went out and scored. I don't think there was much to it, it was just we got out there and competed.

On how much easier does it make it for the offense when Jack Velling is healthy…
It is what it is. He went out there and played as hard as he can, no matter how he feels. He's going out there and playing, no matter what you got to do, he's doing his job, so it just makes life a lot easier.

On having guys get hurt and trying to keep the offense on track…
It's next man up. When you have to have that mentality you know, there should be no fall off from hoping starters come back, it is what it is. Things are going to happen in the game of football. Injuries happen, people get banged up, and it's always going to be next man up.

That's really what it is, we have to have the same mentality every week and if you're coming out to play, you just play your hardest and go out there and compete.

On attempting hurdling over a defensive player…
So we watch film, you know, we see things and the guy that I jumped over, he usually tackles low and I expected a low tackle, he did not go low.

On how he scales this performance with an FCS team against others…
I mean we don't treat anybody different. We talk about it all the time you know, respect all, fear none. Everybody's a nameless, faceless opponent. That's what it is. We come out and we play football against whoever's in front of us that day. We see everybody as an obstacle to achieving our bigger goal and they were an obstacle and we got through it today.

Michigan State senior tight end Jack Velling

On his connection with Aidan Chiles…
You know, me and Aidan were on the same page today, and hopefully, we will continue that in the future. O-line protection was great, all the receivers ran great routes, whether it is to take safety or to get another guy open. And then just next man up kind of theme.

On seeing guys leave with injuries…
Just react, we got the guys, we have got the depth to do it, so when that unfortunately happens, we don't think about it, we just go in and execute.

On Aidan's attempt to hurdle a defender…
We told him not to do that.

Michigan State junior linebacker Jordan Hall

On his performance…
I think that they're a great team. They did a lot of things schematically that kind of took us some time to get used to. I think overall there's a lot of room for improvement on the defensive side of the ball. The thing is that we're gonna need to improve looking on to conference playing a week before going over to USC.

On what happened on the big plays from Youngstown State…
I think communication lacked today, especially on some of those big plays. Which again is something that has to, and will be, cleaned up going into next week.

On how substitution patterns can benefit the team in the long term…
It keeps those starters fresh throughout the course of the game. Looking long-term into the season, when people get injured, having those guys be able to get reps early on into the season allow them to be ready to step up and feel comfortable being out there.

Players Mentioned

Alante Brown

Aidan Chiles

Jordan Hall

Nick Marsh

Armorion Smith

Jack Velling

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