Photo by: Garrett Becker
BOBCAT QUOTEBOOK: Week Three vs. Western Illinois
9/12/2019 1:29:00 PM | Football
A look at this week's game through the eyes of MSU coaches and players
A look at Montana State football through the thoughts of Bobcat coaches and players….
Head Coach Jeff Choate
On playing at Western Illinois: "This is the first opportunity they have to (play) at home. We'll have to be our best. It's their home opener so those guys have been on the road for two weeks and school's in session, I think it'll be a good environment. (WIU fans) will be excited to come out and support their team. The community is centered around the university, it's a college town. We've played in all different kinds of environments. We always have to bring our own energy, but being a home opener I anticipate there will be a good crowd."
On the Cats: "I think we've been a very business-like outfit for a while. Our fall camp was very much like that. We had an experience last year where we played a ranked team that was a playoff team the year before, had an emotional win at home, then we played extremely poorly the next week on the road at South Dakota State. That's one of the things we talked about yesterday, and I think it's definitely in our guys' minds. We've got to be on a different mission. We get nothing this week for what happened on Saturday night. Nothing. We play a really good opponent that's going to be challenging to compete against, and we need our best."
DE Bryce Sterk
On Western Illinois: "They're a similar offensive scheme as last year, they've got some familiar faces up front, the return a lot of their offensive linemen. They're a good team. They got off to a rough start (this season) but they're a Missouri Valley Football Conference team, which is a great conference, and we're going to be in there place. It's going to be a good game."
On playing a less mobile quarterback: "It makes it easier to get to him, without (the quarterback) being a scrambler, worrying about QB draw. That being said, (WIU's Connor Sampson is) really accurate, really good with his throws. I think he's better in that regard compared to their last QB. There's pros and cons to both guys. We'll have our hands full with (Sampson)."
On MSU's pass rush success last week: "We definitely honed in on their tells in the o-line. We knew if it was run or pass so we could anticipate what the protection would beand if they wre coming down on us for a run or backing up for a pass… We definitely have to attack (WIU) with the same mentality we had (against Southeast Missouri)."
On the difference between 2018, when he transferred from Washington, and 2019: "I'm feel a lot more comfortable. Last year was really my first year playing a lot in college football. You can watch film and practice and all that stuff, but real-life game reps you can't replicate on the sideline. So I think with that year under my belt it helps me feel more comfortable."
OG Lewis Kidd
On the difference between the first and second halves vs. Southeast Missouri: "I think our mentality changed. I think we got into that lull you can sometimes hit in a game. We came out hot, and that's been our biggest thing we've practiced this week, starting strong and finishing strong. We did not put a full game together last week. That was obvious. We showed some sparks of good football, but honestly a lot of mental mistakes, a lot of errors we can control, shooting ourselves in the foot, was a big thing. I'd say limiting those mistakes are big for us."
On finding motivation this week: "Like we've been saying all week, it doesn't really matter, the atmosphere. If you need to be motivated you're probably not in the right room, not doing the right thing. I think we're all capable, we're a mature enough team to bring our own energy and feed off the energy of each other. It doesn't matter if we're playing in front of 50,000 people or a thousand. We should be playing at a high level no matter what."
Head Coach Jeff Choate
On playing at Western Illinois: "This is the first opportunity they have to (play) at home. We'll have to be our best. It's their home opener so those guys have been on the road for two weeks and school's in session, I think it'll be a good environment. (WIU fans) will be excited to come out and support their team. The community is centered around the university, it's a college town. We've played in all different kinds of environments. We always have to bring our own energy, but being a home opener I anticipate there will be a good crowd."
On the Cats: "I think we've been a very business-like outfit for a while. Our fall camp was very much like that. We had an experience last year where we played a ranked team that was a playoff team the year before, had an emotional win at home, then we played extremely poorly the next week on the road at South Dakota State. That's one of the things we talked about yesterday, and I think it's definitely in our guys' minds. We've got to be on a different mission. We get nothing this week for what happened on Saturday night. Nothing. We play a really good opponent that's going to be challenging to compete against, and we need our best."
DE Bryce Sterk
On Western Illinois: "They're a similar offensive scheme as last year, they've got some familiar faces up front, the return a lot of their offensive linemen. They're a good team. They got off to a rough start (this season) but they're a Missouri Valley Football Conference team, which is a great conference, and we're going to be in there place. It's going to be a good game."
On playing a less mobile quarterback: "It makes it easier to get to him, without (the quarterback) being a scrambler, worrying about QB draw. That being said, (WIU's Connor Sampson is) really accurate, really good with his throws. I think he's better in that regard compared to their last QB. There's pros and cons to both guys. We'll have our hands full with (Sampson)."
On MSU's pass rush success last week: "We definitely honed in on their tells in the o-line. We knew if it was run or pass so we could anticipate what the protection would beand if they wre coming down on us for a run or backing up for a pass… We definitely have to attack (WIU) with the same mentality we had (against Southeast Missouri)."
On the difference between 2018, when he transferred from Washington, and 2019: "I'm feel a lot more comfortable. Last year was really my first year playing a lot in college football. You can watch film and practice and all that stuff, but real-life game reps you can't replicate on the sideline. So I think with that year under my belt it helps me feel more comfortable."
OG Lewis Kidd
On the difference between the first and second halves vs. Southeast Missouri: "I think our mentality changed. I think we got into that lull you can sometimes hit in a game. We came out hot, and that's been our biggest thing we've practiced this week, starting strong and finishing strong. We did not put a full game together last week. That was obvious. We showed some sparks of good football, but honestly a lot of mental mistakes, a lot of errors we can control, shooting ourselves in the foot, was a big thing. I'd say limiting those mistakes are big for us."
On finding motivation this week: "Like we've been saying all week, it doesn't really matter, the atmosphere. If you need to be motivated you're probably not in the right room, not doing the right thing. I think we're all capable, we're a mature enough team to bring our own energy and feed off the energy of each other. It doesn't matter if we're playing in front of 50,000 people or a thousand. We should be playing at a high level no matter what."
Players Mentioned
OL
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DE
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