MSU Coach Jonathan Smith Reflects on Week 5 Loss, Looks Ahead to Oregon
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State is going to have to rebound quickly as it goes on the road this week to face another one of the better teams in the Big Ten -- No. 6 Oregon.
Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith is quite familiar with the Ducks, having been part of the Oregon State-Oregon rivalry thoughout his six years as the Beavers' head coach.
Smith addressed the media on Monday, recapping the loss to Ohio State while looking ahead to Oregon.
You can watch his entire press conference below:
Below is a partial transcript from Smith's postgame press conference from Saturday:
Below is a partial transcript from Smith's postgame presser:
Opening Statement: "Credit to Ohio State, that's a good football team. Thought they played hard. Very talented as we expected. I do think in the first half we did not help ourselves with some self-inflicted things like turning the ball over a couple times. We turned it over twice in our red zone going in again, that was painful. We had an opportunity to get a stop in the red zone on defense, we dropped an interception, even they scored late to make it 24 to 7 at the half on a punt that we gotta be better on. They went down and separated the thing. Some missed opportunities in the first half and then third quarter we didn't get anything done. I did tell our team, I didn't feel that there were a bunch of snaps out there that we were just overwhelmed. I was trying to encourage our guys that we can go toe to toe if we can finish on some things and get back to some details on ball security and getting off the field on third down. I appreciate the crowd and wanted to say it again, recognizing Mark Dantonio was special. The class act he is, running into him before walking over here, what a big-time person and coach. It was awesome to recognize him this weekend."
Q: What was the halftime message after missed opportunities?
Smith: "We didn't dwell on that. We talked about tightening up on our ball security. Talked about winning the third quarter. If we could win the third quarter by a point total, it would be in reach for the fourth quarter, but we did not get that done."
Q: What was behind the decison to go for it on fourth-and-1 on the first possession?
Smith: "Going into the game, it felt like field goals against this team was not going to give us the best chance to win. Honestly, on fourth and one, I'm going to be overly aggressive. These guys know that we need to go get that done."
Q: What is the reason for scoring being limited in the second half in recent games?
Smith: "We got to look at that. Whether it's tendencies or adjustments we are making, both those point totals are not where we want to be. We got a short week here and we'll take a look at this film and see where we can improve. We have got to score more than that."
Q: What did you think of Aidan Chiles' performance?
Smith: "I thought he was throwing the ball really well in the first half. The protection was there even though we were missing a guy or two in the second half. I thought guys were making some plays while running after the catch. I thought [Jack] Velling's route where he's running an option route was a perfect throw. Good by Ohio State, defender from behind puts it down. Overall, we were pleased with Aidan's play."
Q: Do you leave thinking we're not that far away from competing with the best in the country?
Smith: "I think 38 to 7, we are far away. It's in the details and it's in these turnovers. We are going to continue to work, credit to those guys. At the end of the day 38 to 7 is not close because it's about the scoreboard. There will be plenty of snaps that we'll watch from this game that we are right there with them. I thought defensively they had some good athletes out there and we tried to go toe to toe. All in all, was encouraged by that."
Q: What is your biggest positive from the game?
Smith: "I thought the effort was there, but the execution wasn't. Biggest thing is if these guys can go back to work because we got a short week and being able to learn from this and continuing to move forward is the biggest positive for me."
Q: What do you tell your defensive backs after giving up tough catches?
Smith: "This is big-time college football against a big-time opponent. They are going to make some plays or two. You look at some snaps where we could've executed on some other plays to not give them one-on-one with some of these guys. They're going to make their fair share of plays."
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