Rutgers head coach Kyle Flood

Opening statement...

We were disappointed in the outcome, but proud of the effort. The players came out in the second half with energy. We couldn't really find a rhythm offensively in the first half. Michigan State certainly got into a rhythm on offense and were able to get up on us. Not a lot of things went right for us in that first half, but I am pleased with the effort level that we came out with second half.

On lack of competitiveness against Big Ten competition...

We play the games and coach the games to win. That's the standard that we use every week when we do the game plan. (Every game) is an individual season. I don't know that any of these teams are identical, so, for us, we're going to start over again this week. We've got an opportunity one more time in the regular season to be 1-0 and we're going to do everything we can in terms of preparation that we put ourselves in the best position to do it. We coach the games to win, we don't close the games to be close. Every week when we do the game plan, it's to try to put the players in the best positions to win one-on-ones and use the match-ups to be 1-0. We'll do the same thing this week.

On effort being an issue...

No, I didn't think effort was an issue. Unfortunately when you get down like that, weaker minded teams and less mature teams may not come out and give that kind of effort, so I was pleased with the effort they came out with in the second half. It gives us something we can build on.

On senior quarterback Gary Nova...

If you're asking me if he's 100 percent, then no he's not 100 percent. I don't know how many football players at this point in the season are at 100 percent. Gary is a competitor and if we didn't feel like he gave us the best chance to win to start the game, then we wouldn't have put him out there.

On concern of not making a bowl game...

When was the last time that a six-win Big Ten football team didn't make a bowl game? I'm not that concerned.

On message to the team after the game...

We need to play better. Everybody has to look at their performance and speak to their own performance. That's what I think is important in these situations. Next week it'll be a new team, different match-ups, different schemes, different personnel, and the challenge again of going on the road and trying to be 1-0 in someone else's stadium.

On playing on the road against Big Ten competition...

I think the challenge is always going on the road into an environment that's going to be hostile and playing against good football teams that have good players and good coaches.

On frustration with tackling...

I don't live in a world of frustration. I don't ever allow that to enter who I am. For me, we'll look at the film. We've got players that want to play better. They're playing with tremendous effort. I'm really excited about that when it comes to this football team. This result today does not change how I feel about this football team. I've said all along that I thought this was a special football team. The way they play for each other as a program is really exciting for me. Do we need to tackle better? Sure. We need to tackle better and we're going to work all week to try to do that.

On Michigan State's trick plays...

I don't concern myself above and beyond defending the plays. It's their (MSU's) job to call the plays that they want to call.

On play calling...

Every play that gets called is designed to be executed. We'll look at the film and if we feel like there's a better way to do it next time, then we will certainly do it a better way next time. In the first half, execution overall wasn't very good.

Rutgers senior defensive end David Milewski
On the result of the game...

It's definitely discouraging. I thought we played better in the second half. Obviously giving up that many yards and that many points isn't something we wanted to do.

On losing to the top four teams in the conference...

At this point you try to look at the film and get better. I felt like we finished strong. Barring a penalty in the second half, I thought we did a good job. We just need to get better from the film, come ready on Sunday and get ready for our last game of the (regular) season.

On missing the sack on Connor Cook...

He showed me the ball a little bit, so I thought it was an opportunity to sack-fumble. I just made the mistake of not securing the sack first and going for the ball. That's on me, and I apologize for the guys. I try to make sure I always play with a high level of effort; sometimes when you make high-speed decisions they don't always go your way.

Rutgers senior quarterback Gary Nova

On if any positives can be taken from the game today...

We gotta see when we look at the film. But right now, I didn't play well enough today. I take responsibility for how we performed on offense.

On the MSU secondary...

They're good, but every team is vulnerable. They had some vulnerable areas, and I missed a lot of throws to take advantage of it. I think we made them look a lot better than they were, but credit to them; they did a good job.