July 31, 2015
Connor Cook hits check downs at B1G Media Days
Brian Hedger
Special to SpartanMag.com
Talk about it in The Underground Bunker
CHICAGO - The danger was all around Connor Cook during Michigan State's day at Big Ten Media Days.
It turned out to be a great opportunity for the senior quarterback to work on his read progression, which he said is the area of his game that he worked on most in the off-season with MSU quarterbacks coach Brad Salem.
The "field" this time was a giant hotel ballroom at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place and the danger was not from onrushing behemoths wearing different uniforms than his, but reporters lobbing some loaded questions at him with lit fuses.
"You guys feel like you're right up there with Ohio State?"
"What do you think about all the hype Michigan is getting because they hired Jim Harbaugh?"
"Everybody has Ohio State winning the league again, unanimously, so do you guys feel like you're being overlooked?"
Paul Konyndyk
Connor Cook was cool under pressure at B1G Media Days.
It was an afternoon that provided Cook a perfect opportunity to work on his decision-making under pressure, which he hopes will make him a better quarterback and lift the Spartans to even higher heights than the Rose Bowl and Cotton Bowl victories he led them to the past two seasons.
As Cook learned by going through an off-season of film study with Salem, sometimes the check down is the best option - literally, in the case of throwing the ball to his running backs more often, and figuratively. Just as he's learning on the field, Cook is also finding out there are situations to take a few chances with the words he speaks to reporters as well.
Finding that balance defined his final appearance at Big Ten Media Days and it started with the first question he was asked - about being a potential Heisman Trophy candidate and having to deal with distractions because of it.
Bravado or check down? This time, Cook hit his running back in stride when everything else was covered.
"I wouldn't say it's really a distraction, but it's a great honor to be in the talk for an award like that," he said. "(It's) amazing. It's what you grow up watching. It's what you dream about, obviously, is stuff like that. Winning a national championship, winning a Heisman Trophy, that's the greatest award you can (win) besides a national championship. It's one of the greatest awards you can achieve or win playing college football … but that's the last thing I'm thinking about heading into the season. If you win, everything else will take care of itself, like I've said before, but it's just nice being in the conversation for an award like that."
Not long afterward, he was asked about watching the inaugural college football playoffs championship game between Ohio State and Oregon, knowing those were MSU's only two losses last season. Cook could've gently placed some blame on the Spartans' defense for being unable to get enough stops against the Ducks and Buckeyes to win those high-scoring games, but opted instead to eat it himself and take the sack.
"Obviously, playing on a big stage at Oregon, we came up short and a lot of that falls on me not being able to finish in the fourth quarter," Cook said. "I think we had that game. I wouldn't say we had it in the bag, but we were sitting pretty comfortably. But we really didn't finish in the fourth quarter, and same thing with Ohio State. We could've scored more points to keep that game a little closer and give us an opportunity to win, but we didn't finish in the fourth quarter. Looking back and having the two teams we lost to in the championship, you feel a little upset just because you were so close in both of those games, but that's why you come back. That's why you play the game and you come back for another season, to try and avenge those losses."
He didn't have to wait long to be asked a similar question, and once again Cook put the heat on himself for those losses. Asked what lessons the Spartans had learned from last season, Cook started his answer with one word.
"Finish," he said. "There comes a time in every single game when you've just got to put your foot on the gas and play mistake free football. Don't make mistakes. Don't throw an interception at the end of the game, like (at) Oregon, and just be locked in the entire game and just … finish. Being in a situation like that, on a big stage, you want to walk away victorious and the only way we can do that is if …"
He paused for a second.
"A lot of it falls back on me," Cook said, "because it's just not making the plays that need to be made."
There were also some live grenade questions thrown at him about that school down the road in Ann Arbor and the big-named coach Michigan hired to replace Brady Hoke. Cook, Shilique Calhoun and Jack Allen, the Spartans' three player representatives in Chicago, all knew those questions would come their way eventually. They also knew people would hang on every word.
Each handled them in their own ways, and Cook again chose the check down.
The first couple times he was asked, he clammed up and declined to answer in depth. The final time he was asked, during the roundtable portion of the day, he just complemented Harbaugh on his impressive feats leading Stanford and the San Francisco 49ers, and said he'd probably do well at Michigan.
Cook's biggest check down read of the day, however, happened with cameras trained on him and a Big Ten microphone sitting two inches away from his mouth. It was an interesting exchange.
Cook was first asked by a reporter about his thoughts on Michigan getting so much pre-season hype because of Harbaugh. The Spartans' fifth-year senior hunched his shoulders, shook his head and furrowed his lower lip a little before answering.
His thoughts?
"Nothing," Cook said. "I don't know. I mean, I'm not reading all the articles. I'm not on the web sites. I don't know what's going on outside of Michigan State's circle, but I mean … I really have nothing to say about that."
The reporter quickly pulled the pin out of a second Big Blue related question and lobbed it Cook's direction.
You think Michigan and Michigan State can both be good at the same time?
Once again, Cook opted for a checkdown.
"Uh … I don't know," he said, pausing. "I'm not going to say."
That phrase, "I'm not going to say," was a useful tool for Cook during the marathon media session, which lasted nearly an hour. He used various forms of that answer several times to deftly avoid some pressure in the pocket.
Another instance it came in handy was when he was asked, point blank, whether he'd win the starting quarterback job at Ohio State. There was no hesitation with his retort to that one.
"I'm not going to answer that," Cook said flatly.
Still, it wasn't all check downs and dump offs to the backs out of the backfield. Cook also picked his spots to go downfield with some riskier comments. You be the judge as to whether they were completions or not.
The first one that stands out was in response to a question about what Cook has left to prove. He didn't hesitate, stepped into his throw and answered bluntly.
"To win another championship, to continue to win and to continue to show that I'm a winner," he said. "I think the main goal for everyone, including me, is to win our conference, and I want to prove that I can be a champion again. And that means getting back to Indianapolis, winning that and then being able to play in the college football playoff."
That question was followed by one about a subject that clearly bothers him. Cook was asked about being left off the Big Ten's first team designations and laid out an argument for why that should change this season.
Does being named second team gnaw at him personally?
"Most definitely," Cook said, looking the reporter in the eye. "As you said, the team stuff is all fine and dandy and that's the main goal. Winning takes care of itself. But being on that first team All-Big Ten list would be great and I believe I should be on that, and I think with hard work and a great season, as long as we continue to win, there should be no doubt that I should be on the list."
The reporter quickly followed up by asking if Cook thinks he's the best quarterback in the conference.
No need for a check down on that one. Cook spotted his target way down field, running behind the defense wide open.
"I believe so," he said. "Yes."
Connor Cook hits check downs at B1G Media Days
Brian Hedger
Special to SpartanMag.com
Talk about it in The Underground Bunker
CHICAGO - The danger was all around Connor Cook during Michigan State's day at Big Ten Media Days.
It turned out to be a great opportunity for the senior quarterback to work on his read progression, which he said is the area of his game that he worked on most in the off-season with MSU quarterbacks coach Brad Salem.
The "field" this time was a giant hotel ballroom at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place and the danger was not from onrushing behemoths wearing different uniforms than his, but reporters lobbing some loaded questions at him with lit fuses.
"You guys feel like you're right up there with Ohio State?"
"What do you think about all the hype Michigan is getting because they hired Jim Harbaugh?"
"Everybody has Ohio State winning the league again, unanimously, so do you guys feel like you're being overlooked?"
Paul Konyndyk
Connor Cook was cool under pressure at B1G Media Days.
It was an afternoon that provided Cook a perfect opportunity to work on his decision-making under pressure, which he hopes will make him a better quarterback and lift the Spartans to even higher heights than the Rose Bowl and Cotton Bowl victories he led them to the past two seasons.
As Cook learned by going through an off-season of film study with Salem, sometimes the check down is the best option - literally, in the case of throwing the ball to his running backs more often, and figuratively. Just as he's learning on the field, Cook is also finding out there are situations to take a few chances with the words he speaks to reporters as well.
Finding that balance defined his final appearance at Big Ten Media Days and it started with the first question he was asked - about being a potential Heisman Trophy candidate and having to deal with distractions because of it.
Bravado or check down? This time, Cook hit his running back in stride when everything else was covered.
"I wouldn't say it's really a distraction, but it's a great honor to be in the talk for an award like that," he said. "(It's) amazing. It's what you grow up watching. It's what you dream about, obviously, is stuff like that. Winning a national championship, winning a Heisman Trophy, that's the greatest award you can (win) besides a national championship. It's one of the greatest awards you can achieve or win playing college football … but that's the last thing I'm thinking about heading into the season. If you win, everything else will take care of itself, like I've said before, but it's just nice being in the conversation for an award like that."
Not long afterward, he was asked about watching the inaugural college football playoffs championship game between Ohio State and Oregon, knowing those were MSU's only two losses last season. Cook could've gently placed some blame on the Spartans' defense for being unable to get enough stops against the Ducks and Buckeyes to win those high-scoring games, but opted instead to eat it himself and take the sack.
"Obviously, playing on a big stage at Oregon, we came up short and a lot of that falls on me not being able to finish in the fourth quarter," Cook said. "I think we had that game. I wouldn't say we had it in the bag, but we were sitting pretty comfortably. But we really didn't finish in the fourth quarter, and same thing with Ohio State. We could've scored more points to keep that game a little closer and give us an opportunity to win, but we didn't finish in the fourth quarter. Looking back and having the two teams we lost to in the championship, you feel a little upset just because you were so close in both of those games, but that's why you come back. That's why you play the game and you come back for another season, to try and avenge those losses."
He didn't have to wait long to be asked a similar question, and once again Cook put the heat on himself for those losses. Asked what lessons the Spartans had learned from last season, Cook started his answer with one word.
"Finish," he said. "There comes a time in every single game when you've just got to put your foot on the gas and play mistake free football. Don't make mistakes. Don't throw an interception at the end of the game, like (at) Oregon, and just be locked in the entire game and just … finish. Being in a situation like that, on a big stage, you want to walk away victorious and the only way we can do that is if …"
He paused for a second.
"A lot of it falls back on me," Cook said, "because it's just not making the plays that need to be made."
There were also some live grenade questions thrown at him about that school down the road in Ann Arbor and the big-named coach Michigan hired to replace Brady Hoke. Cook, Shilique Calhoun and Jack Allen, the Spartans' three player representatives in Chicago, all knew those questions would come their way eventually. They also knew people would hang on every word.
Each handled them in their own ways, and Cook again chose the check down.
The first couple times he was asked, he clammed up and declined to answer in depth. The final time he was asked, during the roundtable portion of the day, he just complemented Harbaugh on his impressive feats leading Stanford and the San Francisco 49ers, and said he'd probably do well at Michigan.
Cook's biggest check down read of the day, however, happened with cameras trained on him and a Big Ten microphone sitting two inches away from his mouth. It was an interesting exchange.
Cook was first asked by a reporter about his thoughts on Michigan getting so much pre-season hype because of Harbaugh. The Spartans' fifth-year senior hunched his shoulders, shook his head and furrowed his lower lip a little before answering.
His thoughts?
"Nothing," Cook said. "I don't know. I mean, I'm not reading all the articles. I'm not on the web sites. I don't know what's going on outside of Michigan State's circle, but I mean … I really have nothing to say about that."
The reporter quickly pulled the pin out of a second Big Blue related question and lobbed it Cook's direction.
You think Michigan and Michigan State can both be good at the same time?
Once again, Cook opted for a checkdown.
"Uh … I don't know," he said, pausing. "I'm not going to say."
That phrase, "I'm not going to say," was a useful tool for Cook during the marathon media session, which lasted nearly an hour. He used various forms of that answer several times to deftly avoid some pressure in the pocket.
Another instance it came in handy was when he was asked, point blank, whether he'd win the starting quarterback job at Ohio State. There was no hesitation with his retort to that one.
"I'm not going to answer that," Cook said flatly.
Still, it wasn't all check downs and dump offs to the backs out of the backfield. Cook also picked his spots to go downfield with some riskier comments. You be the judge as to whether they were completions or not.
The first one that stands out was in response to a question about what Cook has left to prove. He didn't hesitate, stepped into his throw and answered bluntly.
"To win another championship, to continue to win and to continue to show that I'm a winner," he said. "I think the main goal for everyone, including me, is to win our conference, and I want to prove that I can be a champion again. And that means getting back to Indianapolis, winning that and then being able to play in the college football playoff."
That question was followed by one about a subject that clearly bothers him. Cook was asked about being left off the Big Ten's first team designations and laid out an argument for why that should change this season.
Does being named second team gnaw at him personally?
"Most definitely," Cook said, looking the reporter in the eye. "As you said, the team stuff is all fine and dandy and that's the main goal. Winning takes care of itself. But being on that first team All-Big Ten list would be great and I believe I should be on that, and I think with hard work and a great season, as long as we continue to win, there should be no doubt that I should be on the list."
The reporter quickly followed up by asking if Cook thinks he's the best quarterback in the conference.
No need for a check down on that one. Cook spotted his target way down field, running behind the defense wide open.
"I believe so," he said. "Yes."
