MSU's Joe Rossi Talks Move to Sideline, Previews Penn State's Offense

EAST LANSING, Mich. --- Michigan State defensive coordinator Joe Rossi spoke on Wednesday about the pros and cons of being in the press box compared to the sideline, and also spoke about the different things Penn State can do offensively.

MSU's defense has been playing better lately, but the Spartans are still on an active six-game losing streak. Both Michigan State and the Nittany Lions will enter Saturday 3-6 overall and 0-6 in the Big Ten. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:40 p.m. ET on CBS.

Spartan Nation was there to capture Rossi's press conference. A complete video of everything he said can be viewed below.

Watch Joe Rossi here:

Additionally, a partial transcript of Rossi's presser can be read below. This is just a small portion of everything that was said, so watching the full video is recommended.

Transcript

Q: So, when you look back at Minnesota and the progress that you're making, what did you think about that day, and what you've worked on since then?

ROSSI: Yeah, so, you get to the last drive of the game, we're up and we didn't close out the game, so that's kind of what I take from that game. We had a chance to finish and we didn't.

I think we started off with a penalty, kicking it out of bounds, and we get two penalties within the drive. I don't think they were for lack of discipline, but they were for lack of detail, to give people 45 yards and make it hard on yourself.

That being said, I think there were some positives in the game. I thought the guys played hard. I thought there were some moments that they created some three-and-outs and got the ball back, so those were all positives.

Nov 1, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Michigan State Spartans defensive back Malcolm Bell (14) commits a pass interference penalty against Minnesota Golden Gophers wide receiver Lemeke Brockington (0) during overtime at Huntington Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

But we're in the business of winning, so we didn't come away with a W.

You go in, you look at the first bye week, we had, really, four games, and then after the second bye week, you have five. So we looked at those five and looked at things, we were doing well, things we weren't doing well, areas we improved, areas we need to improve.

And then you kind of go into the bye week, and then you obviously get a little bit of bonus time on the team that you're playing, which we're happy to take and have. Now we're in game week.

So that was kind of how it was for us. I thought the guys did a good job.

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