Michigan State Players Postgame Quotes
Nebraska vs. Michigan State
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)
Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018
Joe Bachie
Junior, Linebacker
On focusing
“We are here for a reason, all of us players, and it is because we can make those plays. You look at the game and you could point fingers at anyone but you just point the thumb at yourself for not making the play. Maybe in the defense, you bust your coverage, that is not on the coaches. Offensively, if you drop a ball that’s not on the coaches. You make those plays that we have all done before, we have all made them before so there is no pointing fingers here. Own up to it.”
On the defense
“At the beginning of the year we talked about it and we wanted to be a great team, a great defense, we have to be clutch. You will see us out there in those situations and we will just kind of raise our fists and that just means that we are together, we are one unit and let’s get this stop.”
Rocky Lombardi
Redshirt Freshman, Quarterback
On the weather
“The wind wasn’t horrible. It was windy out there but it didn’t effect me too much. Maybe a few deep balls sailed on me but the wind wasn’t really too bad.”
On the dropped passes
“I don’t know. The weather was tough today. It was snowing and like I said the atmosphere was rocking today. It was snowy and windy in one of the loudest atmospheres in the country. All those factors are going to play into the game.”
Connor Heyward
Sophomore, Running Back
On the defense giving up 9 points
“It is very frustrating because we are driving the ball. I think we executed well in this game, except for when we're in the red zone. You have to be able to put points on the board and that penalty kind of hurt us, with (Sophomore Tight End Matt) Dotson. We just have to score in the red zone and I think we worked hard all week and prepared well. We had our chances so we just have to make the most out of our opportunities.”
Khari Willis
Senior, Safety
On the frustration of the game
"I think you've just got to look to improve next week. We have to look at the things we did well. We had some opportunities where maybe we could've scored some points or had a few more turnovers, so you look at those opportunities and you go from there."
On the team's frustration
"I think our frustration is more so just frustrated because we want to win. It's not any personal frustration or any drama back and forth or anything like that. It's definitely frustrating because we want to win, it's a close game and we feel like we're playing well."
On the key to slowing down Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez
"I thought our front seven did an excellent job. One of their top receivers (JD Spielman) is out, so that helped us. But, I think our front seven did an excellent job knowing when he was going to pull it, knowing when he was going to try to run it. He scrambled on us a couple times."
On the quick changes
"I think we emphasize sudden change and red zone. We don't want to give up a touchdown. If we're put in the red zone, the team should come out and force three points, and that's if we don't block the kick, that's our mindset. We always want to get the ball back to our offense and get it to them on the other side of the field. Field position plays a big role, and we understand sudden change is part of that."