Michigan State Head Coach Jonathan Smith Speaks on the Spartans’ Upcoming Matchup with Indiana

Written by: Nate Comp (@NathanComp1)

There is no rest for Michigan State after a dramatic defeat to their in-state rival Michigan last weekend as they now welcome our 13th ranked Hoosiers to town for another trophy game. Much of the press conference was centered around the scuffle that broke out between the Spartans and Wolverines as time was expiring Saturday, but Jonathan Smith was able to touch on Indiana a bit. Quotes that detail Indiana specifically are below.

Q: Opening statement, after recapping the game against Michigan.

“We have to move on to a big-time opponent, one of the hottest teams in the country. Doing it in all three phases. You look at Indiana, offensively they’re doing some things and can score points in bunches. Defensively, got some good players running around a solid scheme. You don’t win every game by accident. One of the hottest teams in the country, so we’re going to have to reload and regroup. Excited to get back to Spartan Stadium for a big-time environment and another opportunity moving forward.”

Q: Does having an unbeaten team coming in for another trophy game actually help in refocusing the guys?

“Yeah, I think so. I’m pretty confident in this group. We will not forget Saturday night; I promise you that. But moving forward, yeah you’ve got a big time team coming in and back at home – I think these guys will be excited to play on Saturday.”

Q: You have a former Indiana staffer (Chad Wilt) on your staff. What in the world have they done there to turn things around so quickly?

“Credit to them. They’ve got a lot of new players in their first year. Obviously, schematically Cignetti knows what he’s doing. Putting things together, he’s had success other places. And I do think they’re playing with a lot of confidence. You just watch them, from the start of games and being able to finish games, these guys are playing with a lot of confidence and they’ve had some real success.”

Q: Sack numbers have been down the past few games…

“Thinking back about the last couple weeks, we haven’t been playing prolific passing games, so your sack count is probably going to be down when you’re playing teams like that. But these guys [Indiana] can throw it. They do a nice job in the RPO game and they’re going to have the balanced mix of run and pass. But we want to affect the passer, especially against a good quarterback.”

Q: What has Indiana done to put up these big offensive numbers?

“Schematically, they do a nice job. I think they’ve got weapons in the backfield and at receiver. The O-line looks like they’re on the same page and know that scheme and play at a high level. Talk about the quarterback thing, I didn’t’ see a lot of difference in their efficiency or operations. So, preparing for who you’re going to see, both of them operate that offense pretty well. We’re going to have to be prepared for them.”