Cox and Caulcrick talk Irish
Sometimes it’s interesting to see what the coaches and players have to say without editorial changes. We’ve always been fans of watching press conferences and being able to see a coach’s reaction to a question.
Linebackers coach Mike Cox and Jehuu Caulcrick answered questions about the win over Pitt and previewed the upcoming matchup with Notre Dame in this MSU press release.
Mike Cox
On what the defense needs to do against Notre Dame to take control…
“Well, they do so many things. They run the ball and they have a good running back in Darius Walker. And their quarterback, Brady Quinn, enough said there. They have two great wide outs and their tight end, John Carlson, is very athletic. He’s kind of a silent guy, but the tight end makes a lot of plays for them. They have so many weapons and do a lot of things. They’re not one-dimensional. They have the ability to throw it and run it. Last week Michigan scored early and changed the complexion of the game a little bit. That’s maybe why they started to lean away from the running game, but they run it well. They just do a good job. They’re a tough offense.”
Jehuu Caulcrick
On Notre Dame this week… Of course every football team we have a general dislike for, but they’re a big rival for us. We’re really excited to play them; we’re looking forward to it. We’re just going out there and giving it to each other, we’re pounding each other, we’re getting ready. They’re going to be a physical team.On early season success…
The big thing we have to learn is how to handle success. We can’t just go out there and be like ‘oh yeah, we’re 4-0, we’re ranked’ and just let it go down from there. We have to keep our poise. That’s what championship teams do, they learn how to handle success and that’s what we’re doing right now. We’re not really living off the victories that we have. We enjoy it for that one day, and the next day we’re out here getting ready for the next team.On playing a prime-time game…
In high school in New York we played on Saturdays and we played big games under the lights, so you’re all hyped up for that. Coach Stoutland is always joking with me, because he thinks I play my best when it’s prime time, under the lights. I can’t prove him wrong - every big game like that, we’ve had a good game.