Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU vs. MSU Postgame Quotes
September 08, 2007 | Football
Sept. 8, 2007
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Bowling Green Head Coach Gregg Brandon
Opening comments...
There is no consolation in losing, but our kids played their guts out. We thought we had a chance against them, but turnovers got us today. We had trouble in the second half, that was a big physical back, make no mistake about that. They are the prettiest looking guys I have ever seen, in 30-years of coaching. I mean Number 80 [Kellen Davis] should go to the league right now. Out guys played with a ton of heart, and they kept hitting, and sticking, and guys jumping on the ball until the very end. [Ervin Baldwin] was a good player, he would rush the passer, and he would run, and [Devin Thomas] is freakish. We played with a great heart, but that just wasn't enough today, when you are playing against people like this you have matchup problems. What we can take away from this game and last weeks game is that we can slug it out with the Big Ten, but we don't play the Big Ten. So, we need to get ready for MAC play now, and we had some injuries today, unfortunately. We have to see where that is on Monday. Thankfully we have a bye next week.
On what he learned about his team today...
I learned a lot about them. They have great heart, great commitment, they were fighting until the very end just like last week. I think we have some guys that grew up in a hurry.
On the coverage in the second half...
I think in the second half they caught us a little bit, they were fast, we really had to work to get open. We couldn't just run routes and by guys, we had to work in order to get anyone open. We had success in the three-step stuff, but they started sitting on that stuff. Then you have to run by them, and we struggled to run by them. We missed [ wide receiver Corey] Partridge today.
On the MSU passing attack
I think there were two plays, [by Devin Thomas]. He made a freak catch down at one end, and then another one down at that end. You take those two plays out, and it is a whole different deal. That kid ran by us, he out-jumped us, and he made great plays. I don't think that this was anything that they executed offensively, except for those two big plays. They got to run the ball a little bit on us late. But we still had our chance.
Tyler Sheehan On the difference between the two halves.....
They started bringing a little more pressure. They started re-routing our receivers a little better. We made it through the first half. We tried to involve different people in different places.
On the MSU defense ...
They had pretty good coverage. They knew where we were going the second half, and then we tried to make adjustments. I hung on to the ball a couple times, and sometimes they got through. But that kind of stuff happens, we just have to get through.
On being disappointed with the loss ....
There's no doubt losing's hard. I don't care who we're playing, I think we should win. We could play the Indianapolis Colts and I think we'd have a shot to win. But we just have to look forward to Temple, with what happened last year. We just have to have the motivation.
On what the team has learned about each other in the first two games.....
I think we've gone through a lot already in the first two games. Last weekend against Minnesota, we started out down and came back. This week we went down, we came back, we were up and down, we had some turnovers, we reacted pretty well, we just have to execute.
On what it was like going into halftime tied with Michigan State...
It was a little surprising, I think we have a good enough team to beat them but we just went in there and it was a different ballgame in the second half. It always is, but there's nothing we could do. It's just what happens.
On confidence in Derek Brighton...
I've always had confidence in him. He's actually my roommate, so I know him real well. He dropped a few passes last week but I knew he would respond the right way to it.
On sending a message to the MAC..... I think we'll do a real good job with the MAC. I think teams are going to look at us more than they would have last year even after these first two games.
Bowling Green Tight End Sean O'Drobinak
On being tied 14-14 at halftime...
We knew we weren't going to come in here and start to blow this team out. It was going to be a fistfight all the way to the end. I think when we were sitting there at haltime and it was 14-14, that's exactly where we thought we were going to be, that's where we were and that's where we wanted to be. We said that we were going to give ourselves a chance to win this game in the fourth quarter. We were right there. We just had some bumps in the road and didn't get it done.
On being worn down in the fourth quarter...
I don't think they wore us down. They are a Big Ten football team. They strive on power run. That was our main goal was to stop them. I don't think we got worn down. When we needed a play and something to happen we just didn't get it done.
What have you learned about this team?
I learned that we have a pretty good football team. We got a lot of guys that care and have passion, and that's exactly what you need. Sometimes you have to have talent, but if you have eleven guys with heart and soul and desire, I'm going to take those eleven guys over standout players any day.
