Oct. 8, 2008
Order MSU Game on Pay-Per-View | Gameday Central
Sylvester Croom’s Press Conference Quotes
Opening Comments:
“The off-week has served us well because we got some guys back healthy now. We had three very good practices last week. We are practicing faster and that is something we need to continue to improve on and play faster in the game. I think our healthy is considerably well for this time of year compared to the past. Marcus Green is doing a little bit of work but is not back at full speed quite yet. Jessie Bowman has a sore back and Lamarcus Williams is similar with some tightening in the lumbar region but they are expected to practice this week and if we continue to stay healthy I believe we will improve. I am looking forward to playing Vanderbilt this week. They are ranked 13th this week and are playing very good football. They are not ranked very high in a lot of statistical categories in the conference, but they are doing what it takes to win. That is basically playing smart disciplined football, they are not beating themselves. They are not turning the football over or making dumb penalties. They are leading the conference right now in turnover margin and fewest penalties. They are playing very good as a team even though they are not starting games well, they are finishing very well. This is one of those games we are going to have to play very smart disciplined football; it is going to be a physical game that will go down to the last minute. It should be a very interesting game and a great challenge for us to get better and get us on the right track as we get ready for the second half of the season.”
On Brandon McRae’s success…
“I knew the potential was there and he is getting better. The reason for that is he is practicing at game speed every day. He is done that since we have started and is making plays. He is smart and knows all the plays and is committed to getting better. Right now I would have to say he is our biggest playmaker. He is a guy that we try and get the football because he makes plays. He has really stepped up for us and I think he is going to have an even bigger second half of the season because of the way he is practicing. This off week came at a perfect time for us because he and Tyson (Lee) have had the chance to get more reps in and get a better feel for one another. I am not worried about Brandon’s averages as much as I am concerned about getting him in the end zone to help us get points and win games. I will tell him a way to increase his average yards per catch are to run further after he catches the football.”
On Vanderbilt compared to MSU a year ago…
“You are absolutely right; they (Vanderbilt) are exactly like we were last year. They are very opportunistic and make things happen when they need to make things happen. A lot of it comes from confidence because when things start happening well for you your confidence increases. But, a lot of it is concentrating on the little things, such as not beating yourself with penalties and not turning the ball over and it starts with everyone working together every day and every play in practice, when you do that good things start to happen for you. We got away from that in the offseason and that is what I meant about us not handling the success very well. We had some key guys that we thought would give us some explosion are not here because they got injured so we need to start playing a lot more like Vanderbilt has played this year.”
The talent in Vanderbilt’s secondary…
“Their corners are playing very well. They do a good job defending the pass and they do that by keeping the ball in front of them. They do not get up in your face. I will be surprised if that does not change this week, I think they will challenge our receivers a little more. It is going to be very interesting how they utilize their secondary, which is probably the strength of their defense. They play a lot of three-deep coverage. They tackle well and cover well and are playing very well.”
On Tyson Lee’s play at LSU…
“He played well and the thing that I was very pleased with was that he did not turn the ball over. His passes were not as crisp as you would like them to be but he made good decisions and created positive plays which are something I had not thought he had been doing well. He found a way to take a negative situation and turn it into a positive for us, whether it is tuck the ball and scramble for positive yardage or throw the ball safely away from their defenders. When a play doesn’t work and the timing is not quite right I look for that as an opportunity to gain yards on a scramble situation and not force a play, possibly creating a turnover. That is key for us as we go into the second half of the season. We have to eliminate penalties and turnovers for us to be successful.”
On the goals of the second-half of the season…
“The realistic goal for the second half is to first beat Vanderbilt. Once we get on that one game role that is how we will take it. We are not looking beyond that game. That is another area we have to get back to, `One Play, This Play’ `One Game, This Game’, and we are not going to let anyone talk about anything else at this point. That is it, Vanderbilt is it. I want everyone on my team, coaches included to do nothing but be committed to thinking about Vanderbilt and we are currently getting prepared for the first play of the game this Saturday against Vandy.”