Michigan State
Post-Game Quotes
Michigan State vs. Alabama
Thursday, December 31, 2015
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
COACH DANTONIO: First of all, congratulate the University of Alabama. Played a great
game. Wish them the best in the championship game.
Unfortunately on our end disappointing. Want to congratulate our seniors on their careers.
Connor Cook is 34-5 as a football player at Michigan State and their senior class. Won more
football games than any other football team in the history of Michigan State. So want to
congratulate them.
Tough when you end your career in a loss and a disappointing one at such a high level. But you
transition. You move to the next phase of your life.
As far as the football game, inability to run the football consistently obviously hurt us. First time
all year that that's happened to us. When that happens, you get behind the chains, you're forced to
throw. They pressure you. We're four out of 16 on third down. So bad things start to happen
when those things -- when things tilt that way.
I had an opportunity to get some points at the end of the first half and maybe take the 10 to seven
or 10 to three. That didn't happen. Defensively we played very well, I thought, against the run.
Gave up big plays to [Calvin] Ridley. Catches eight balls for 138 yards, I believe. Two
touchdowns or two near touchdowns. And bad things are going to happen when that happens.
So compliment him and the game he had.
I thought [Jake] Coker played very well.
And then the punt return in the third quarter obviously sort of had us reeling a little bit. But still
very, very proud of our football team. This is the first time in a while we've had this happen to
us. So you got to pick up the pieces and more forward.
Q. Connor, you worked so hard over the last four weeks to get back healthy with the shoulder.
Can you divulge for us right now how close you were to 100%? And is there a procedure you
need to have done that you needed to wait until the end of the season to have?
QB CONNOR COOK: I was 100%. Shoulder felt the best it's felt. There's no procedure that
needs to get done. There's no surgery needed. There's nothing. Back when I got the MRI, there
was no structural damage. It was just a sprain. We're not going to lie to the media and stuff like
that. I'm not going to be out there playing on a shoulder that needed to be operated on. So, yeah,
I'm fine.
Michigan State
Post-Game Quotes
Michigan State vs. Alabama
Thursday, December 31, 2015
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
Q. Coach Dantonio, what does Connor mean to you as a player? You mentioned his record,
but for what he's accomplished for this program and not just him but maybe this entire senior
class?
COACH DANTONIO: First of all, Connor Cook is a guy that can flip a game around. I've seen
him do amazing things as a quarterback, pinpoint passing, throwing the ball in tight windows.
Not a guy who's thrown a lot of interceptions. Doesn't turn the ball over. He's creative, and he's
played very, very well in huge games.
So what's he mean to our football program? He's our quarterback that we've hung our hat on here
for three years. And in those three years -- in that three-year period, we probably won more
games than any three-year period for a long period of time, 50 years.
As far as our seniors, same thing. The fact that Shilique [Calhoun] and Connor [Cook] decided to
come back last year when they could have went out, it's a testament to the program and to their
class, their senior class, and to their peers and to this program. And I honestly don't think we'd be
where we were at without them coming back. So I want to thank them personally for that, and
they've done a great job.
Q. Connor, I wanted to ask you, there was a point, I think, in the third quarter where the
scoreboard feed of the game showed you saying after a screen pass, I believe it was, "they're
F'ing everywhere." Is that the way it, felt everywhere you turned you saw a crimson jersey?
QB CONNOR COOK: Yeah, credit goes to Alabama. Like I said before, leading up to the
game, you watch the film and the way their defensive line played, the way their linebackers filled
the gaps, the way their secondary made plays in the pass game in the backend, everyone was
aware how good of a defense they were.
So, yeah, I mean, it felt like they were playing some good defense out there. The pass rush was
there. Everything we saw on film was out there. But, obviously, we've got to go out
there -- there's no excuse for that. We've got to go out. We got to execute. It's on us to go out
there and get open. It's on me to go out there and make a pass that's pinpoint accurate.
I've got to convert on third down. A lot of that rides on me. Credit goes to Alabama. They're a
great defense.
Q. Mark, congratulations on a great year, first of all. Secondly, when you looked at film, you
knew they would be attacking with No. 3 deep, Ridley. He's got an opening and some really
good defenses. You knew it was going to happen. Just a matter of time.
Michigan State
Post-Game Quotes
Michigan State vs. Alabama
Thursday, December 31, 2015
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
What can you do as a program going forward or even today, what could you have done
differently to protect against him getting behind? I know it's easier said than done. But how
difficult is it to cover a guy like that?
COACH DANTONIO: It's a catch 22 situation. They've got the Heisman Trophy winner in the
back running the football, a 245-pound guy they give the ball to him 40 times a game. You've
got run-pass conflicts. If they're going to drag the ball to him and then play action it, the No. 2
receiver is going to not get rerouted sometimes. He's going to come up the field. He ran a double
route on two occasions on No. 7. And if you want to play three deep or if you want to factor in
and play him and double him up and all the different things, you're going to allow them to run
the football as well.
It's a little bit of a catch 22-type situation. I thought we played well. I think it was zeros at the
end of the first quarter. And we gave up one play. And he was covered pretty well on that one,
but he made a great throw and a great catch. So that's one for the bad guys in that case. And you
live with it.
Q. Shilique, the Heisman Trophy winner had 75 yards and 3.8 per carry. If someone told you
that that was going to be what happened in the game, could you have imagined what the score
was?
And, Connor, can you take us through what happened on the interception just before the half?
DE SHILIQUE CALHOUN: I think they have a versatile offense where they're not only able
to score with their back but they do a great job of getting their receivers out and putting them in
situations where they can make plays.
So, no, I wouldn't have guessed the game to be in this situation where they win by what they did
with his yardage. But at the same time, like Connor said, credit the Alabama football team. They
did a great job today of finding weak spots and capitalizing on those moments. So I commend
them. And good job to those guys. But there's a lot of things we didn't do well also.
QB CONNOR COOK: Interception was completely my fault. They clouded to the boundary
and a safety over the top. Either touchdown or incomplete. I just let it slide. Threw it short
obviously. Bad ball. Completely my fault.
Q. Connor, what do Damion [Terry] and Tyler [O'Conner] take from this season, all the big
games they've played in going into next year?
Michigan State
Post-Game Quotes
Michigan State vs. Alabama
Thursday, December 31, 2015
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
QB CONNOR COOK: Obviously, they have the experience from playing in the Ohio State
game. Playing on the road at Shoe place that's hard to win at, and they won there. They can take
that game away.
And they've had plenty of reps in practice. They know the offense just as good as me. So they're
experienced guys. Tyler is going to be a senior next year. Damion is going to be a junior. So
those guys what they're going to take with them going into next year is just the experience and
knowledge of the offense and just the familiarity and comfort that they have.
Q. Connor, you've been behind in bowl games before. I think you guys have been behind in
double digits in the last four. You had the interception against Stanford and bounced right
back and the play against Baylor here last year.
Did this one feel different and that opportunity to go down in the half 10-0? Did it feel like
things were moredire? Or based on those situations, did it feel like you'd have another
opportunity and have that second chance?
QB CONNOR COOK: Yeah, most definitely. We've been in -- like you said, we were down at
the half, or whatever, against TCU in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. We were down against
Stanford. We were down 20 points against Baylor, so we've felt this situation before. We felt
similar feelings.
And everyone was so optimistic in the locker room at halftime. Everyone was positive. We've
been in the situation before, and we felt like we were going to go out there and get things rolling.
And that wasn't the case.
Q. Shilique, I just wanted to ask you: Were you shocked at how well Alabama's passing game
worked?
DE SHILIQUE CALHOUN: Not at all. I think they have a very good team. Very good wide
receivers as we've seen on film. They do a good job of getting open and, of course, you expect
for us to be able to make plays on the defense.
But, like I said earlier, I commend them. They also have a great football team, and they have
players that want to win also. It's not surprising to see that they came out and really tried to
throw the ball. And they did a great job of it.
COACH DANTONIO: From my point of view, I would say they hit a couple big plays. I think
they were softening us up on the edge with a lot of quick now routes outside and some screens.
Probably eight out of the first 17 plays of that sort.
Michigan State
Post-Game Quotes
Michigan State vs. Alabama
Thursday, December 31, 2015
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
And then they went downtown to [Calvin] Ridley. And then they hit [O.J.] Howard, the tight
end, 88 on one when we sort of misplayed the coverage. And that led to the field goal.
Other than that, in the first half, I thought we played very well. Came back the second half and
hit a couple again. But I thought that Coker kept the play alive a number of times he created. We
had him sacked back there. We ended up with -- I'm not sure how many sacks. One? Or maybe
none.
But I think that always plays a part in this. And you got to credit them. And, again, you go back
to their defense. I mean, they play extremely well on the defensive side of the ball. They stay
fresh. They have good guys covering, good technique, et cetera.
Linebackers are downhill. So it was difficult to run the football. And when you become one
dimensional -- and I see that we ran the ball here for 19 -- whatever it is. Not very much,
26 yards or so. It's very difficult to win a football game like that.
Q. Connor, you were on this stage a year ago with a pretty good feeling after an exhilarating
rally. Can you describe the range of emotions last year versus now and sort of the journey in
between when you talked last year about wanting to get to this point?
QB CONNOR COOK: There's no comparison the feeling that I had last year to this year. You
can't compare the two at all. So, obviously, last year was -- everyone was so happy. Everyone
was on cloud nine, a 20-point comeback in the fourth quarter. That was something for the ages.
So everyone was stoked about that.
And, I mean, right now me and Shilique were talking about being optimistic on the go-kart ride
over here. Looking back, we've been so fortunate to play in so many big-time games, to win so
many games, to win two Big Ten titles. Win a Rose Bowl. Win a Cotton Bowl.
It's just been so fun. The ride has been so fun. And the last thing I want to do is look at the
downside and say, "Our last game as Spartans we lost." We want to be positive people. We want
to look at the bright side. We're just so lucky to play for Coach D and all the other coaches.
That's the only thing I'm trying to focus on right now, is the positives and how much fun we've
had and the whole journey. Walking in as a freshman, I would have never experienced or never
expected to have an experience like this.
I saw Kirk Cousins and I thought would be lucky to play one season. So to be able to play in all
the games we've been able to play in, you just got to look at the bright side and all the positives.
Michigan State
Post-Game Quotes
Michigan State vs. Alabama
Thursday, December 31, 2015
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
Q. Everyone's going to try to get their arms around a score differential as wide as this thing
was. You anticipated that the team was going to play a more competitive game compared with
what it had been able to give Alabama five years ago.
In considering the way the team had played by your own admission pretty well in the first half,
is this anything other than a testament to how good Alabama is, what happened here tonight?
COACH DANTONIO: Well, as I said, I think they have a good football team, first of all. But it
was a closer game than that one, certainly, from my perspective anyway. They were able to run
the ball much more effectively that time.
But any way you cut it, at the end of the day if we were sitting in here and we lost by five points,
people might be saying nice things about you a little bit more but we wouldn't feel any better. So
in the end, you take the loss. You deal with it. And I guess, like I've always said, you take some
bad things with the good things that have happened to you before, too.
So we didn't get it done collectively. That's as coaches. That's as players. That's as a program.
But you remain focused on being positive, and you take the next step in life. And I think that's
what you have to do.
So had a great season. We'll dwell on that. Our guys will get back ready to start 2016. And guys
like this will go on and transition to the next phase of their life which will be very, very exciting
for them and they'll be very successful.
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