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00:00 How about just your first game here a little bit different than UConn?
00:03 Yeah, yeah, it was breathtaking.
00:04 You know, I will say that.
00:05 Definitely got emotional running out there in that tunnel and seeing 75,000 people there.
00:10 You know, it was just, it was a blessing, you know, to come from a school like UConn,
00:14 an independent school, and then go from the B10 and B into the P-10 the way that I did.
00:18 I'm talking about God.
00:19 I'm so grateful, I'm so blessed, and I just want to continue to keep going, continue to
00:23 keep executing performance, and continue to keep getting wins.
00:26 Is that the biggest challenge for you as a class?
00:28 Yeah, I played the team down real fast.
00:32 Thanks man.
00:35 You know, one of the things that we talked about was how we need to kind of process move
00:41 on and keep that level together.
00:44 How much would you guys need, not just for him to do that tonight, but for him to do
00:49 it for himself and how he is playing?
00:51 Yeah, no doubt.
00:52 Like you said, he's a leader.
00:53 He's a leader of all kids.
00:54 And when we look towards him, one thing is going wrong.
00:58 And like I said, we were executing the way that we should.
01:01 He's coming back, stylizing, picking us up, picking us up, motivating us, encouraging
01:04 us, having us, everything.
01:05 He's got the motivation, he's encouraging us.
01:07 You never see Noah's head down.
01:08 You never see him get discouraged.
01:10 You know, he's always picking himself up.
01:12 And that's not the leader that you need for this team.
01:14 That's not the leader that he is.
01:15 He's a very smart player.
01:16 So making those quick decisions on the field, being able to read defenses, that's something
01:20 that he can do.
01:21 And it helps us to be a better football team.
01:23 What do you think changed for him in terms of his passes?
01:26 Because there were some that you only see, like Coach talked about with Jeter, you kind
01:30 of just saw him go high, got him to go low, and then there was a switch for him at some
01:34 point.
01:35 Yeah, like I said, he's just a very confident player.
01:37 And like I said, in the game of football, everyone's going to make mistakes, everyone's
01:40 going to miss reads, miss calls, miss runs, miss tackles, things like that.
01:43 So you just got to never get too high, never get too low, keep the mindset.
01:46 And that's what Noah did.
01:48 He knew what he could do.
01:49 We all know what Noah can do.
01:50 And that's why he's our quarterback right now.
01:52 He's been doing a great job all camp of just helping us and really he was a big proponent
01:57 to a lot of the success for this game being in the offense.
02:00 So he's just a great leader, a great man, and it's fun to be able to run right alongside
02:06 him.
02:07 Was there a point where you felt like the run game operation was clicking?
02:09 Like it wasn't just like big runs by you or whatever, but where everyone was working
02:12 together?
02:13 Can you comment on that?
02:14 Yeah, especially in the second half.
02:16 Not everyone's going to be a home run touchdown.
02:18 You got to break one.
02:19 You got to get the dirty fours, the dirty fives, the big threes.
02:22 And that's when the big ones are going to run.
02:23 That's when the big ones are going to break.
02:24 So you see it throughout the second half, how we were grinding out those tough yards.
02:28 And our receivers did a great job blocking the outside.
02:31 Like I said, the whole line did a great job blocking as well, which allowed us as running
02:34 backs to be able to do our job.
02:35 And once we continue to grind out those tough yards, now we're able to open up everything
02:38 else like a passing game and make those explosive plays that we need.
02:42 You said you were emotional coming into the tunnel?
02:44 Yeah.
02:45 Can you take me through that?
02:46 Man, just taking it all in, I should say.
02:50 Taking it all in, being blessed to be here.
02:53 Like I said, this life is short and you don't play this game forever.
02:56 And I want to take advantage of me being here in Michigan State for what we're playing,
03:00 playing the way Chanel had me say that.
03:03 So me and this running out of the tunnel, I was just taking it all in.
03:07 Just really truly understanding how big of a blessing I am to be here right now.
03:12 Even to be here standing and talking with you guys.
03:14 It's a huge blessing.
03:15 I don't want to take that for granted.
03:16 When you broke that first run, did you think for a minute this could go all the way?
03:21 Or did you know where the defenses were?
03:24 I mean, that was my mindset.
03:26 Yeah, it's going all the way.
03:28 But once I felt the two defenders come off, I was like, okay, I got to protect the ball
03:32 and make sure that they don't try to shoot me from behind.
03:34 But like I said, it was a great way to start the game.
03:37 With a rush like that, it was great.
03:40 It was a great feeling.
03:41 You got to continue to do that, continue to execute, continue to finish the end zone.
03:45 Yeah, in the short yardage stuff, obviously you had the end zone to touch on.
03:47 We had a couple of big, big goals.
03:49 I'm wondering what happened on those plays.
03:50 Do you kind of remember?
03:51 Yeah, I take responsibility for that.
03:53 Definitely as a running back, we got to be able to score from one,
03:57 fourth down short and third down short plays.
03:59 We got to be able to go and get those things.
04:02 And like I said, I have to be able to continue to trust off his line
04:05 and put y'all's last adjustment in my draft.
04:07 So it's an all collective effort of executing.
04:09 And I got to work on getting those tough yards and getting those first downs
04:13 by any means necessary.
04:14 That's what we pride ourselves in as running backs.
04:16 No matter what happens, when it's fourth to short, when it's third to short,
04:19 we got to get those yards.
04:20 How much is this game going out for us, but possibly the opposite?
04:23 I mean, obviously, you know we're making this first start.
04:25 I mean, you're a debut at Tennessee, and you guys are going to be going on.
04:30 So, like, you're the receivers, you're going to get the ball.
04:33 How much is this kind of, as you were playing the game,
04:36 you're kind of figuring things out?
04:38 Yeah, like I said, all of our offense were working so hard to be able to execute
04:43 and be able to come out here and perform.
04:44 And like I said, we have a lot of guys that have played football in this capacity,
04:48 but we also have a lot of great players, and I believe you guys saw that tonight
04:51 of how many players on not just the team, but wide receivers making plays,
04:55 tight ends making plays, and quarterbacks making plays.
04:58 So we have a lot of great players offensively,
05:01 and we got to continue to improve every day.
05:04 And like I said, we're going to practice on Monday and watch the film,
05:07 and we get back to the dry board and continue to work.
05:09 We see the best offense, and that's our goal each and every week
05:11 to get better and better and better the day before.
05:13 How valuable was it to see success on that second to five-millimeter drive
05:17 the first half, and then score the first half?
05:19 I mean, just to kind of punch it in and get a little more--
05:23 Yeah, it was great.
05:24 You know, we had two huge catches that really set us up for that, like I said.
05:28 And then I was able to finish it off, and the whole line did a great job blocking.
05:31 And it was a collective effort, especially end-and-a-half, two-minute mode.
05:36 You know, we got to make points for you, you got to get yards quick.
05:38 And we have players that made plays, which is what we need.
05:40 So it's a testament to how great our offense is
05:43 and how we're going to continue to improve each and every day.
05:45 Obviously, just score, was there a sense of urgency in that moment?
05:49 Yeah, most definitely.
05:50 Yeah, most definitely.
05:51 Like I said, you can tell that the moment--
05:53 I'm going to shift a little bit.
05:54 We knew as an offense, hey, we got to pick it up.
05:56 We got to get this done.
05:57 Like I said, we were in two-minute mode.
05:58 We had to score quick.
05:59 We knew how to score quick, and we did a great job executing.
06:02 The coaches did a great job of providing the right players
06:04 in the right situations.
06:05 And when that happens, we're successful.
06:07 We got ball in.
06:08 Sometimes when you're playing fast and loose in these situations,
06:11 sometimes it's the moment that flow starts out in the offense.
06:14 Did you get the sense that just because of the situation
06:17 you had to kind of press the tempo, that things kind of took care of themselves?
06:22 I mean, we've practiced these games to where you can practice at a small camp.
06:25 Coach Tuck and all the other coaches did a great job of putting us in these situations.
06:29 So when we came here, it wasn't like he was new to us.
06:32 It was because we did it a thousand, thousand, thousand times again in practice,
06:35 which is why I practice so hard for it so that the game is easy.
06:37 So when we come out here and execute, we know what we can do.
06:40 We knew we could put supports on the ball.
06:41 We knew we could move the ball down the field fast because we practiced that so many times.
06:45 Did you ever hear a touchdown?
06:46 How good was it to see it blocked up like that with a tight end
06:48 and a wide receiver getting blocked on the other side?
06:50 Yeah, it was great.
06:51 It was great.
06:52 It makes this great feeling to know that when everyone else does their job,
06:55 when everyone else executes, and I'm able to do my job,
06:57 I'm able to play my game and play my game.
06:59 That's what we're proud of.
07:01 Being able to do our job.
07:03 Once we do that, we're going to be pretty successful in what we do.
07:06 Tripp Drew was talking about being able to fight through adversity
07:10 and feeling bad about experiencing adversity in this game.
07:13 Can you talk about how valuable that was for the team
07:17 to be able to experience it before it's come out?
07:20 Yeah, most definitely.
07:21 Throughout this entire season, we're going to face adversity.
07:24 Throughout this entire season, we're going to be close games,
07:26 and there will be games that work down when we've got to pick the points up.
07:30 Adversity is inevitable.
07:32 We're going to have adversity, but the way that we fought, just like you said,
07:34 fought back, we came back, clicked ourselves in the second half.
07:37 No one was pointing fingers.
07:38 We all knew what we could do.
07:39 We were all encouraging each other in the locker room,
07:41 and then we went out and we executed.
07:43 That's a testament to our mental toughness
07:45 and how Coach Tucker's really led us to really build into that.
07:48 We've got to continue to carry that forward because adversity is going to come,
07:51 but the way we handle it is what really matters.