College Football Notes & Quotes: Week 6

Spartan Nation talked to various Coaches around the Big Ten on Tuesday, as well as Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Denard Robinson (QB Michigan).Â

Spartan Nation talked to various Coaches around the Big Ten on Tuesday, as well as Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Denard Robinson (QB Michigan). Here’s some highlights and insight from around the league to get you ready for the Conference’s second weekend of 2010.

Mark Dantonio

On the importance of tackling this week, and taking the proper angles to cut a game breaker like Michigan’s Denard Robinson off before he gets loose for a big play:

“Michigan is an extremely well coached football team. They have outstanding skill, not just at the Quarterback position, and he (Robinson) is certainly special. We have not come across a player like him in a long, long time, as a Defensive Coach. The rest of their skill is also exciting to watch, so tackling is extremely important. You’ve gotta have to have the right angle, you’ve gotta have, as people are saying right now, population to the ball. But you’ve gotta have people inside-out, outside-in, and you’ve gotta point the football as well. Difficult to do because schematically, the things that they do…create a number of problems. But, you see it when you watch film…I’ve watched all their games already, you can have it defended, but he (Robinson) makes a guy miss and he can go the distance.”

On how much some of the past losses to Michigan (ex. 1998, 2000, 2007) still stick with him today and still provide motivation to beat Michigan:

“When you look at any rivalry, you have a tendency to remember what happened in those games…You remember the Muhsin Muhammad catch in the end zone in ’95, you remember in ’99 when they came here and Tom Brady was their Quarterback, and we ended up winning 34-31. You also remember the losses. So it goes both ways, but that’s what makes College Football so exciting, and what makes these rivalries so great.”

On whether MSU’s gotten more out of the running game (The BBC) at this point than was honestly expected coming into the season:

“(We) anticipated getting this type of result. Last year, we did not have experience at the Running Back position…and ended up with two Freshmen, Baker and Caper, as the two feature guys. They’re a year older. They’re better, and they understand the dynamics more of what we do, and the small things that make you a better player. And they’re playing more on instinct.

Le’Veon Bell is another guy that’s come in. He was here for a semester, and had a great spring and a great summer camp. So we knew we had a good football player in him. So they all (The BBC) add to each other, and they all give a different dimension, and that’s been a positive thing for us.”

On whether it’s important to have a clear cut #1 Wide Receiver when talking about such a position of depth:

“I don’t think it’s as important as people might make it out to be. Cousins does a great job of spreading the ball around. There’s no specific guy that we’re going to say, “hey we’ve gotta get the ball to…” We want to distribute the football. Our Tight Ends are a weapon as well. Our Running Backs certainly can do some different things. When you have enough weapons, it makes you tougher to defend…We’ll continue to look for players to get involved in our system.”

Jim Tressel

On how important it is to get game experience for a backup Quarterback  when trying to build a solid program long term:

“We’ve always had the mentality that you may have to win a game or two without your starting Quarterback. Now, it hasn’t always happened that way, but we prepare as if that may be the case. We don’t really look at the program, I guess, from a long term standpoint. Our focus is on 2010, and only on 2010, and every decision we make will be with 2010 in mind. Obviously, if you can have some experience at the Quarterback position returning each and every year, that would be wonderful. But that’s not going to happen…We just stay focused on the moment.”

On whether he ever took a close look at an NFL opportunity, and when looking back at it now, if there was something specific that told him that he was meant for College Football:

“I think the fact that I look at myself first and foremost as a teacher and developer of young people, that’s really where my passion lies…As I’ve daydreamed like everyone else has about, “what is the right path for me to take,” I guess I’ve always viewed the NFL as a little bit different than that, and therefore it really never was something I was that passionate enough about to seek.”

Rich Rodriguez

On his impressions of the Spartan Defense, and how they might differ from what Michigan has faced thus far:

“They’re very athletic. They’ve got experience at every position. They’re playing extremely well right now. Very rarely do you see them out of position. They’re making plays, and I’ve been very impressed. There as good if not better than anybody we’ve faced so far, and probably the most experienced we’ve faced thus far.”

On how he handles big time rivalries games like this week:

“You don’t have to do a lot of building up, because our guys hear about it (playing MSU) all the time throughout the year. Certainly, we’re never going to understate it (Michigan v. Michigan St.) at all…It’s not just a big game, because all the Big Ten games are big games, this game is a huge game. And because both teams have started off well, the more you win the more that’s at stake, so it’s made it even bigger. And our guys understand the rivalry, they know how important it is, and it’ll be very intense for both teams.”

On Kirk Cousins:

“I think he’s outstanding. I thought he was very good last year, and he’s doing the same things this year….We’re in a league with a lot of great Quarterbacks, and Cousins is certainly one of them.”

Denard Robinson

On whether he’s looking forward to proving himself against a better Defense than they’ve played so far:

“I can’t answer that question.”

On the individual matchup upcoming with Sr. All-American LB Greg Jones:

“That’s one of the top players in the nation…I want to be one of the top players just like he is, and try to accomplish some things that he has accomplished. It’s going to be a great matchup, it’s going to be a big game, in a great rivalry.”

On whether he’ll be looking over the line of scrimmage for Jones before each snap:

“Every snap on the field, you can’t just watch one guy, you’ve gotta watch everybody. As a Quarterback, you’ve gotta look at everybody on the Defense…They have other playmakers on their Defense too. “

P.A.T. (Perhaps Another Thought…)

1. Michigan’s Denard Robinson is the closest thing we’ve seen to Michael Vick since he left Virginia Tech nearly 10 years ago. Robinson’s clearly superior running ability from the Quarterback position, and Vick like physical stature, make the comparison natural. Whether or not Robinson becomes a completely dominant College Football player like Vick can only be truly evaluated after a couple complete seasons. But Robinson has shown dramatic improvement in a short period of time as both a runner and a passer. If he plays 10 or more games this year at the pace he’s already set, there’s no reason to even bring a couple other College players to New York for the overhyped statue ceremony.
2. Credit the NCAA, for a change, for taking some of overly narcissistic behavior out of the College game. Their decision to eliminate personal writing from the “eye black” area (think area codes, zip codes, biblical passages, ATM codes, inside jokes, etc.) and clearly over the top end zone celebrations have actually helped College Football. Might a few of their early rulings have gone overboard? Yes, but as time has gone on, Officials have managed things better. Enough fun has been left in the game, and a better dose of humility has been applied to a sport that was starting to encroach on the irritating behavior too often seen in the NFL.

*Interact with Jonathan on Twitter @JPSpartan or inside the Phalanx Forum