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Michigan Football: Notre Dame Week
Michigan Head Coach Brady Hoke
Opening
statement ... "I was pleased that we won the game. At the same time, I
think there were a lot of things that we've talked about as a football
team and as a staff that we can do better. There's a lot of work [to
do]. There's no excuse for some of the penalties we had, from a
coaching standpoint and a playing standpoint. We had a couple nice
returns that Dennis [Norfleet] did a nice job on that were canceled
out. We can't have three turnovers. We lost five games last year, and
we had 18 turnovers in those five games. From a defensive perspective,
we got two turnovers, but we need to get more. There were a lot of good
things, but for us to be a championship football team, we have to do a
much better job at how we play. I thought the tempo in the first half
-- and a little bit in the second quarter from an offensive point of
view -- wasn't really what we needed. I think they got a rhythm, and
they started to do some very good things. Obviously, Devin [Gardner]
has a great ability with running with the football and throwing the
football, and I think he helped us a ton at times. We settled down a
little bit and got into the run game pretty well. I thought the defense
stood up well in sudden-change situations. We got to play a lot of
guys. I think there were 11 true freshmen and 14 redshirt freshmen who
played in the football game, so that was good because they need the
experience.
"As you know and I know, this is a different week.
It's a great rivalry game. It's been played starting in 1887. It's
always a lot of fun. The atmosphere here... if you were here for the
first night game, the second one should be just as fun."
On
freshman running back Derrick Green moving to second on the depth chart
... "He ran the ball pretty well. Don't put too much stock into the
depth charts all the time. There are going to be a lot of guys who are
going to handle the football. But I thought and Fred [Jackson] thought
and Al [Borges] thought that he did a nice job on the carries he had.
He missed a read in there one time that we would have liked to have had
a little better. We also had Fitz [Toussaint]. It was good to get him
back out on the field. He made some really good cuts and did a good job
in protection. We had De'Veon Smith, who did a nice job. [Thomas] Rawls
had a good run in there. There are a lot of guys now that we're
counting on."
On the play of the interior line ... "For the most
part, and not entirely obviously, they did a pretty good job. They're a
pretty stout group, especially the two guards. So, for their first time
out there with live bullets, I think they did a good job."
On the historic rivalry with Notre Dame ... "It is for us. Everybody looks at things differently."
On
the Wolverines' nickel package with Channing Stribling ... "When you
have a guy who's athletic like Blake [Countess] that can cover slot
receivers, I think that's part of it. The other part is Strib and
Jourdan Lewis both have had pretty good fall camps, and they both
battle and are competitive. Strib is 6-2, he's long, he's got long arms
and a lot of leverage. I would think that we think he's a pretty good
football player."
On what makes the Notre Dame rivalry special
... "I think it's great for college football. ESPN Gameday has been
here six times for this football game. That's pretty significant if
they're coming to this campus or to the campus in South Bend. So, it
must have some sort of national appeal. Coaching in a lot of places,
and maybe it's just me, but I know that whenever Michigan and Notre
Dame was on TV, I was going to be watching it. I know people in
Corvallis, Ore., were going to be watching it -- for one reason or
another."
On how to prepare a young team for a big game ...
"Does it make you a little nervous when you have a young football team
playing in this environment? I think the best thing we do is try to
educate them as to what it's going to be like. We started that last
night. They're off today, but on Tuesday, we'll talk more about the
atmosphere and have some of the older kids talk about what it's going
to be like. That's part of it. With technology today, you can show them
it. We also talk about not being distracted. That's taking care of your
job and being accountable to your teammates."
On improvements he
wants to see this week ... "From a defensive standpoint, Central
[Michigan] had a drive in there where they ran the ball. In our
opinion, they ran it too well. There are some things when you look at
how to fit a defense -- who's taking care of double teams or
combination blocks so the linebacker can get over top? It's those kinds
of fundamental things. We also gave up a 3rd-and-17 and a 3rd-and-20
for first downs, because coverage was not exactly where it should have
been or we didn't break on the ball or multiple other reasons. That
bothers you. Offensively, we need to start a little faster. We need to
do a better job running the ball this week. Their front seven are going
to be bigger guys -- guys that we had some trouble with a year ago --
so we need to be much better in blocking the line of scrimmage."
On
the Wolverines' pass rush ... "I would say at times we were pretty
good. I'm really thinking through some of the different calls that we
made. We messed up a couple inside games. We need to do a better job
with executing -- getting a guy's hat in the crease and all those kind
of things. But it was okay."
On the play of Brennen Beyer and
Cameron Gordon in the SAM linebacker position ... "They played multiple
roles. They played on the line of scrimmage with their hand down, they
played up over a tight end. Personally, I think a lot of it you've got
to give credit to them, because of how hard they've worked and what
they've done from a physical standpoint. I would also say that Roy
Manning has done a really good job with those guys. Roy, being a former
outside linebacker, speaks the same language and has been there before.
I think that's helped."
U-M Senior Offensive Tackle Taylor Lewan
On
his perspective of the Notre Dame rivalry ... "It's a national rivalry.
We have three big rivalries: Michigan State, Ohio and Notre Dame so
it's unfortunate it's coming to an end and it's the last time we play
them at home, but I'm excited for it. I'm excited for this game."
On
what he remembers from the Under the Lights game two years ago ... "We
won. It was exciting, so it was a good game, and it came down to the
wire. You never want it to come down to the wire, but at the end of the
day we won, so it was good. Last year playing at Notre Dame, we had six
turnovers and didn't play well. None of us [played well]. That's
unfortunate, but hopefully we won't have that this year."
On
what he will miss about the ND series when he's gone ... "It's a huge
national rivalry. To be around that team and play that team... the idea
of a rivalry and being there on Saturday, it's a phenomenal feeling.
There are three big rivals, now it's coming down to two. I'm fortunate
to be playing them my senior year, so that's huge. It's unfortunate
[that it's ending], but I'm going to get over it."
On his
impressions of the offensive line in their first week ... "We did okay.
We can always do a lot better. We had some yards -- a lot of yards --
so that was good, but you have to improve each week. You can't be a
championship team if you don't improve each week."
U-M Senior/Junior Quarterback Devin Gardner
On
his excitement to be a part of this rivalry ... "I'm really excited.
It's a big game on the biggest stage in college football. I'm pretty
sure there are going to be close to 115,000 people there. It's an 8
p.m. game, College GameDay in town. It's what every quarterback dreams
of -- being on the big stage and being able to perform like this. I
remember when I was a recruit coming to watch this game. It's always a
good, close, hard-fought game. Each team is going to give it their all."
On
the coaches' trust in the players ... "Desmond [Howard] talked to us a
year ago about how over the summer, they see everything we do and how
hard we work. That's how you build the trust during the season. All the
hard work we did over the winter into the summer is what helped the
coaches being able to trust us going for it on fourth down to convert."
On
the preparation for the upcoming game ... "This week, I'm all Notre
Dame. It's going to be a lot different for me. I'll be able to prepare
a lot. It was amazing last year. GameDay was there too. Although I
didn't get the chance to participate in it, it was amazing to be around
the atmosphere. I feel like we're ready for it."
Junior/Sophomore Defensive Back Blake Countess
On
playing at the Big House at night ... "It's something special. If you
were around for the last night game, that was also pretty special. The
Notre Dame game by itself is great, but playing it at night makes it
that much more special, because it's only happened once before."
On
what he remembers from the first game at Michigan Stadium under the
lights ... "It was crazy. You can't really put it into words,
especially because I was a true freshman at the time. It was definitely
an exciting experience, and it's one that I won't forget."
On
how he felt playing Saturday after missing last year due to injury ...
"It felt great just being back out there and getting the jitters out.
It was nice being able to hit somebody not on my team. It felt great. I
was more antsy than nervous. It wasn't really nerves, more emotion. I
had to get my emotions under control. That was the biggest thing for
me."
U-M Junior Linebacker Brennen Beyer
On how it felt to
see production from the SAM linebacker position ... "It was great.
We've been pushing each other a lot in practice, really working on our
technique. It was fun to see it all come together on game day. We've
really been working on pass rush and getting to the quarterback and me
and Cam [Gordon] were really ready to do that, so it was good to see us
be rewarded on game day."
On what he's seen from Notre Dame on
tape so far ... "Obviously they're a good team. They have a good
offensive line with good players, some good wide receivers, and their
quarterback is good, so they have a good offense from what I've seen so
far."
On how players feel about bulletin board material ...
"Obviously we hear it, but right now I'm a lot more focused on who I'm
going to play against. As a kid growing up, I've seen this rivalry my
whole life. I love watching that game. It's been one of my favorites
growing up watching as a Michigan fan."
On what he remembers
from the night game two years ago ... "I just remember coming out of
the tunnel to the lights and hearing all the fans; that's never going
to leave me. That's something I'm going to remember for the rest of my
life."
On his first sack and if it sunk in right away ... "Not
right away. I was just so excited and happy, but right after I got to
the sideline it was like 'That's my first sack; that's really cool.'
I've put in a lot of work so it was cool to see it pay off."
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