Michigan State football will once again look to get back on the winning side of things in a tough home matchup against Northwestern. That's Northwestern, who Spartans head coach Pat Fitzgerald is very familiar with.
Fitzgerald will be facing his old school (both as a player and longtime coach) for the first time this week. While that is a talking point for the media and fans, Fitzgerald isn't focused on that element of this matchup. During his weekly press conference Fitzgerald downplayed that element of this week's against Northwestern.
Along with commenting on playing his old school, Fitzgerald talked about last week's narrow overtime defeat and previewed what to expect from the Wildcats this week. Let's take a look at the notable comments from his weekly
press conference this week below:
Notable comments from press conference
Listed below are some of the notable comments made by Fitzgerald ahead of this week's matchup against Northwestern:
- Fitzgerald felt his team played "great character" and "great fight" in Saturday's near comeback win against Illinois
- Fitzgerald added that while he was happy about their fight, being close enough to winning isn't good enough
- Fitzgerald named running back Jaz Patterson as the offensive player of the week, offensive lineman Trent Fraley as the lineman of the week, defensive lineman Ben Roberts for defensive player of the week, and Liam Boyd and Samson Gash for special teams players of the week
- Fitzgerald spoke highly of former Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles, noting he's having a great year so far with the Wildcats
- Fitzgerald noted there was no long term injuries for him to comment on out of Saturday's loss against Illinois
- Fitzgerald downplayed this week's game being against his alma mater and the school he previously coached at; went on to say this is about the players and not him
- Fitzgerald said he apologized to his team for the middle finger incident during Saturday's loss against Illinois
- Fitzgerald commented on the personnel department preparing for the upcoming transfer portal season but also made it clear the coaching staff is focused on the current players and this season
Full press conference video
Included below is the full press conference video for Fitzgerald -- courtesy of SpartanMag:
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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Fitzgerald talks facing old school, previews matchup vs. Northwestern
