Here are some quotes from Michigan coach Brady Hoke and MSU coach Mark Dantonio during Tuesday's Big Ten Coaches Teleconference.
Brady Hoke
On the players
confidence following the
We had a great practice last night. I think we had a good
mentality. I thought we had a good tempo as far as how we like to practice. I
think our guys are mature enough to understand that that is one of 12
guaranteed opportunities we have and now we have 11 left.
How much falls on him
and how much falls on the players to move on from the game
I think it is a combination of both (the coaches and the
team leaders). Our seniors, who have been through seasons, know you have to get
ready every week. I think they will do a great job.
On what went wrong
against Alabama
(Alabama )
is a great team. There is no question about it. They do a nice job and are well
coached, but I think at the same time, there were things that we did that
probably didn’t help us as much as we’d like to.
What has impressed
you most about Denard Robinson in your time with him
First and foremost is him as a person. Then, when you go a
little further into it, the athleticism that he has. He can start and stop on a
dime. His acceleration is something I haven’t seen…a guy that can get to a top
speed so quickly.
Does your history in
the Mountain West help you for this week’s game
I think Troy
(Calhoun) and his staff do such a good job. There are different wrinkles from
when we were there two years ago that you see in the offense from when we were
there at San Diego
State
Jeremy Gallon’s
performance
Jeremy is a guy…he’s not the biggest guy in the world, but
he plays hard. He blocks the perimeter about as well as anybody for a guy who
is not real big. He runs good routes and he is a guy that makes plays and has
made plays for us. I think he continues to improve and you will see us use him
a lot and in a lot of different situations.
Did you take any time
during fall camp to prepare for the option
We did a little bit. Not as much as maybe we have in the
past. Some of that is, you get your fair amount of option with what Air Force
does, but Troy still, with some of his NFL
background, you are still going to get some traditional pro plays. We did some
of it but maybe not as much as did in the past at other places.
Mark Dantonio
On heading to
I think it is going to be a historic event up there. We are
looking forward to that opportunity. As far as them getting ready to play us
and us getting ready to play them, there is a history here. They beat us in ’09
so there is a history here of us having to play and play well to come away with
a win. I am sure (CMU) is going to be very excited and I am sure they are going
to play very well and play very excitedly. We need to be able to match that
enthusiasm and execute as well.
His overall thoughts
on traveling to places like CMU, WMU and EMU as part of this in-state series
agreement
To me, we wanted to do something for the commerce of the
state of Michigan
by doing this series. I thought it was a positive thing for us to do to be able
to reach out to other programs in the state and other communities in this
state. That is why we did it. The other factor, to me, that came into this was
I knew we’d have a new starting quarterback. If we are going to play an away
game at some point, I would rather it be 60 miles up the road in this state, in
terms of being our first away game. We will learn from these things.
On Andrew Maxwell’s
performance Friday
He was calm and collected and he showed great leadership
skills. He had to handle some adversity, which is always key, and how you respond
after that. I thought he threw the ball pretty decisively. He had some drops
out on the field and there were a couple tipped passes that went away and were
picked off. But, I thought he played well, especially for his first time out in
a major media event or a nationally televised game, and also with Boise State
On how the defense
was able to react to different situations in Friday’s game
I think the situations we are talking about here is the
ability to play after an interception, play in the red zone and be able to
limit (Boise State
On margin of victory
and what it means in college football today
I guess the only thing I would say there is they all count
one, as coach Perles would say when he was here. They all count one. We feel fortunate
to have won and the way we won the other night. That is what is important to
me, in terms of how we perform and we move ahead. I am not really looking
around the country and saying “wow, this is going on or that is going on.” Everybody
takes care of their own program.
On what he sees in
Dan Enos as a head coach and what he is doing with the CMU program
I know Coach Enos. Obviously he was in our program here and
he also played here, so he knows the core of our players and he knows what Michigan State
How is Le’Veon Bell
He is feeling great. He is dressing today. There is no more
bumps and bruises than he would normally have. If anything, it creates some
excitement for him that he was able to do that. It builds even more confidence
for him. We are always going to ride the hot back here. Whoever is hot, whoever
is making the yards, that is who we are going to ride. That is what we’ve
always done here. We need to be effective and just sort of go with the flow in
that situation. It’s not like we don’t have other running backs. We have a
number of other guys that can make plays as well. It just depends on how
everyone is performing in the game.
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