Player Comments from Weekly U-M Football Media Luncheon
9/16/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Junior/Sophomore Punter/Placekicker Adam Finley
On the team's mood ... "We are really looking forward to Utah. It was a tough loss. We are focusing on bouncing back and going up against Utah."
On if he saw anything on film that he did not see on Saturday ... "There were plays in there where we did not execute really well. We have to learn from them and put it behind us right now."
On his punting ... "You can always do a little bit better. I am somewhat pleased with the way I have been punting but you an always improve on yourself. It is easy with the way we have been blocking and snapping. Everything is flowing well right now."
On Michigan's roughing-the-punter penalty ... "I could not tell if he embellished the play a little. It is a tough call. You are vulnerable up there on one leg and you are suspended in air at that point of the kick. It is tough to not take a hit but I think he made sure the ref knew."
On if punters plan on faking a penalty ... "It is more of a game situation. You have to watch out for it now because there is a rule against trying to get the call. If you get that you are going to be hearing from the coaches, but at the same time you want to make sure the refs see them hit you. I have not heard of a punter getting called for faking it yet. You do not see too many roughing calls either but at the same time I have not seen faking the kick."
On kicking field goals ... "I hit some in practice last week and I hit some before the game. I have been keeping it fresh because it is something that you do not want to lose. You always have to keep up your skills."
On if he wants to punt and kick ... "Coming in I was a really big fan of doing both. In the last year or so I have really concentrated on punting. The coaches and I decided that would be best for the team. I put kicking on the back burner for a while. You want to keep up your skills. It is kind of like riding a bike. It comes back to you pretty quick. But like anything else, you have to practice a lot to prepare for game situations."
On his longest career field goal ... "I think in high school I hit one from 51 or 52 yards."
On the decision to be a backup kicker ..."It was a mutual decision to make sure of the backup situation. You always have to be ready. It was a coaching decision. We talked and wanted to make sure that I was okay because it is higher stress on my knees. I've been practicing every day. They just wanted to get me into more live situations."
On the chances of kicking in game ... "You always have to be ready. If I would've gone in then I wouldn't have felt that my stroke was there. But you just have to be ready because you never know when you will get the call."
On the difference in technique between kicking and punting ... "I think that kicking and punting are two different strokes. It's like being a good golfer and a good baseball hitter. If you really focus in on one it helps that one but you lose a little in the other. It takes a lot of discipline and concentration to keep it straight."
On the difficulties of onside kicks ... "Last year and this year I have done the onside kicks. It is just one thing of who can get the hops and who cannot. There is not too much arc to it. It is one of those things where you have to hit it the same way and hope that it works out for you. There are really no guarantees though."
On being ready to come in and kick ... "I was just talking with Coach (Jim) Boccher. It is one of those things to make sure that you are ready if they need me to step in. I think that Phil (Brabbs) and Troy (Nienberg) are going to come around. They both are really hitting the ball real well in practice. It is almost perfect there. I think it is going to turn around. Phil hit one last week and they did a good job on Troy's. Hopefully it will turn around for us."
Fifth-Year Senior Tight End Bennie Joppru
On talking to the team as a captain more after a game like this ... "I think anyone who sees that game, whether you are a captain or not, is going to say something, and many of the guys already have. We have to change some things and come back ready for Saturday."
On what kind of changes need to be made ... "The regular stuff, because I can't be too specific about it."
On what the team is feeling two days after the Notre Dame loss ... "We need to get over this loss, and we are going to. We have a big game on Saturday, and we all know that. We've seen what happens to past teams coming back after a tough loss, and they do the same things the next weekend, and we can't do that because it ruins your season. We all understand that and realize that we have to prepare really hard this week."
On the team's offensive struggles in the first half ... "We ran 23 plays in the first half and you can't expect too much when you run 23 plays."
On if the loss has really left him angry ... "Yeah."
On why this game makes him angry more than any other ... "I am pretty competitive, and we haven't lost that many games here. This is my last day of being upset about this loss and then we will have this week to prepare for Utah."
On what he says to the team heading into a game an unfamiliar opponent like Utah ... "We know plenty about them. We know that they beat USC last year, and they have nine guys back from that defense. You can't take them lightly because they are a good team. Their defense is probably going to be just as good, if not better than Notre Dame's. We all understand that we can't take them lightly, and we really realized that watching film yesterday."
On how different Utah's defensive scheme is with bringing all kinds of pressure ... "I think they are a fast defense with a lot of fast guys. They get after the ball and play with nothing to lose, so they are a good defense."
On if his role will change after having a big receiving week ... "I don't really know. It is up to the coaches on whatever they decide to do as far as their scheme for the game. I don't know that yet, so I don't have a clue. You can try a lot of different things as far as attacking them with the run or the pass."
On the things the offense can do to help take care of the football better ... "We always emphasize it. Last week before the game we knew that they were going to go after the ball, and they did. They have been making big plays all year, and they made them against us and that is why they won the game. There were other plays throughout the game that affected the outcome, so everyone had a hand in that loss because I am not putting it all on the people that turned the ball over for us. It was a team loss, and we all understand that. We all had a part in that loss."
On the keys to hanging on to the ball ... "I am not fumbling the ball, and I tell myself that every time. I have I put the ball on the ground before, and it's a terrible feeling that I don't want to do. I don't think that the guys who fumbled were thinking that because they didn't want to do that. Teams are going to make plays and you have to understand that. They happened to make three good plays. It's terrible that it happened, but it did and that's why they won the game."
On the team beating itself with turnovers rather than getting dominated by the other team ... "A loss is never a good thing. There is no bright side to this game. I can't think of anything bright about this game."
On being a much bigger part of the offense on Saturday ... "Their defense played a lot of man coverage, and I knew that I would have some opportunities to make some plays after watching film on Monday. I knew that I could catch a lot of balls, but it just leaves a bad taste in your mouth after the loss."
On being in a program that bounces back after a defeat ... "I can sense that already. I mean, I am kind of being a baby or whatever, but I am not going to be upset about this loss after today. It is done after this. Tomorrow when we go practice, we aren't thinking about this game anymore because we have to focus on Utah. It is hard to forget about, but we are going to because we have to."
On the negative feelings helping the players as they prepare for this week ... "Absolutely, I think that we have a point to prove because that team you saw last Saturday was not us. That is not us. We made some mistakes and that is not the type of team that we are. We are not a mistake-prone team. We have some things to prove this week."
On the last drive Saturday feeling like the final drive against Washington ... "Yeah, absolutely. After the interception I was looking around for a flag because I never thought that we were going to lose that game."
On what he did yesterday after the loss ... "I basically got home and tried to avoid watching the highlights, but you can't. It's a tough day because anytime after a tough loss it is a hard thing to go through, but you have to get through it and we will."
On the team feeling angry after the loss ... "I think a lot of the team is, but I obviously can't say how everyone is feeling. But I think that a lot of the team is upset with themselves over the loss. We know what happened, and they beat us, so we are upset about that."
On the coaching staff chewing out the team much after the loss ... "They know that we knew what we did wrong. So they knew that."
Fifth-Year Senior Free Safety Cato June
On if there is something that needs to be done to correct mistakes ... "A common thing that we're not doing is using our technique that we've been taught. We're not being very disciplined in reading our keys and things like that. Inevitably, big plays are going to happen."
On how a big play can occur ... "Every guy on the defense has a key to every read and then he has to react but when you over-react then you might miss something else and that can result in a big play."
On the mindset of a safety when a quarterback scrambles ... "As a safety you are the last line of defense. If you come up and react to him scrambling around you are going to leave somebody open downfield. It's difficult because you have to be disciplined when a quarterback is able to scramble like that because you have to stay with your man or stay in your zone and do your job."
On his feelings about the loss at Notre Dame ... "I'm upset. I'm probably just as upset as anybody is. Until we go out there next Saturday and make some things happen and win again that feeling is going to be in me. Every time you lose you feel bad and you think about what you could have done differently before to help the team win. But everybody knows you can't go back in time and that that game is in the past so right now all we can do is go out there and learn from our mistakes."
On coach Lloyd Carr talking about liking this team and that they stayed together ... "I like this team too. We took a loss and we lost together. There is no one person to blame and there is no one group to blame. We all lost together. We were all part of that loss. Now what we have to do is stay together. No matter what happens you have to go out there and play. No matter what the offense does the defense has to go out there and play. No matter what the defense does the offense has to go out there and play. If we keep that attitude about staying together I think we can make some things happen."
On how the loss affected him as a fifth-year senior ... "When it's your last it's always frustrating. For me, I've been to Notre Dame twice and lost so it makes me feel bad. But it's not about me, it's about what can we do as a team. I have a lot of personal goals and such but they have to fit within the team's goals. I can't do anything without my teammates. I'm disappointed, but I'm ready to move on."
On if this loss is the worst one for him ... "I don't know if it was the worst loss. What's the worst loss, every loss is bad. Whether you get beat by 50 or by a last-second field goal it still feels the same. Every time you lose you think about 'what if.' What if I had done this differently What if I had made that tackle or that play You think about how you could have made a difference. I wouldn't say that this was the worst loss ever."
On the problems that need to be worked on ... "There is a combination of things. They can be corrected. It's not so much a physical as it is a mental thing. We were having mental lapses out there on the field and that can't happen in the secondary. We're the last line of defense and no matter what happens we have to keep the ball out of the end zone. It's more mental than anything."
On the challenges Utah's offense poses ... "They have an experienced offensive line. Their quarterback is good and he has a strong arm and he is accurate. He has a few good receivers that are explosive and they can make some things happen. The quarterback gets the ball around to all the receivers. They like to use the tight end a lot, so offensively they have a lot of weapons. Their running back, I think he's hurt, but he was leading the nation in running. The other running back I hear is maybe the fastest guy on the team. We have a challenge in front of us as far as the Utah offense is concerned. Everybody is saying it's just Utah, but their personnel is good."
On if the defense goes into a game expecting the opponent's offense to make big plays ... "No, there's no expectation that big plays are going to be made against us. Yes, things are going to happen and this is football and you can't be perfect but the goal is to stop their progression. Our goal is to not let them score. If we keep teams from scoring then we're going to win a lot of games. Big plays shouldn't happen because we play defense to stop those things from happening. We want to stop the run and stop the pass. If those big plays happen it usually means that we did something wrong. It's not common for the offense to just make a great play. Sometimes people do make great plays as far as a great catch or a great cut but we still don't accept big plays."
Junior Inside Linebacker Zach Kaufman
On the performance of the defense against Notre Dame ... "It was a game that we should have played a lot better. The game plan was simple. It was just a matter of getting people where they needed to be. There were a lot of fundamental mistakes on our part. We just have to get in the right places and make the play."
On giving up one or two big plays in every game so far ... "It is really hard to eliminate every big play. You are in there for 50-60 snaps, but you try to eliminate them anyway. They had a big play-action that they got deep. If they do hit one you have to tackle it and play again."
On the breakdown of the defense ... "There are tons of different things that go on. If their linemen change, ours have to change. We have to deal with every little aspect. There are tons of things that we have to do in order to play right and if one of those things doesn't fit, then there is a hole and that's where the back will take the ball."
On the defense taking responsibility for its mistakes ... "It is not one person. We all have our mistakes. We need to work harder on getting ourselves to the right spots in the game."
On his mood going into the Notre Dame game ... "I was really excited coming into this game. I had only seen Notre Dame on television so I was really excited. I thought I did well but I would have liked to have done better. I made my mistakes just like everyone else."
On if the defense has reviewed the tape from the game ... "We looked at it yesterday and they hit maybe five big runs that brought their rushing yards up. If we eliminate their five biggest runs they did not get that much. We need to take care of that."
On the defensive outlook going into the Utah game ... "We have to play hard every game, this one especially. Coming off a loss, we have to step up and play real hard. I think it will be a lot of fun. When you lose a game you want to get back in the seat and get that taste out of your mouth."
On the defensive strategy against Notre Dame's quarterback ... "Our game plan was to show some different fronts to get him thinking. He is a great quarterback and he eludes sacks really well."
On Utah ... "They run the football really well. It is a big game. It is one of those games that we have to be prepared for."
Senior/Junior Center Dave Pearson
On the feeling of the team after the weekend ... "Obviously, it was a difficult loss for us, but we have a long season ahead of us. We have a good opportunity to go out this week and make a statement about who we are and how we can bounce back from adversity and get back on the road to winning."
On the offense's limited use of the shotgun this year ... "Actually we've done some shotgun, especially in the two-minute drill situations at the end of the Washington game and several times during the Notre Dame game. It took some practice getting used to doing it, but I think I have picked it up all right now."
On the team being angry after the loss ... "I think that we are all upset with ourselves on how we performed because we all made too many mistakes in order to win a game like that. For all of the hard work that we have put in up to this point, and then for us to go out and play like we did, it make us all a little bit mad."
On the offense never being able to get anything going in the first half ... "We never got anything substantial going in the first half, so that is definitely something that we need to work on and be able to make some drives right at the beginning of the game."
On what happened to make the offense do a better job in the second half ... "I am not really sure, but we called more running plays in the second half and we were able to get some movement on them up front. The backs did a good job of finding the holes and making some runs, and it just worked out better in the second half. I am not sure why it didn't work out as well in the first half."
On facing a team that they have never played before and don't know that much about ... "I think that you have to watch as much film as you possibly can to try and figure out as much as you can about the other team. You have figure out what type of offense and defense that they run. It just makes studying that much more important."
On seeing Utah's defense on film already ... "They will do a lot of blitzing and their defensive line is very tough up front. They have a lot of speed and have some good guys up there. So it will definitely be a challenge for us, but I think that we are all looking forward to facing that challenge."
Contact: David Ablauf, Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423
