Press Conference Comments from Michigan Football Players
10/18/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Player Comments from
Weekly U-M Football Media Luncheon
Previewing Purdue (Oct. 23); Reviewing Illinois (Oct. 16)
Leon Hall | Michael Hart | Marlin Jackson | Scott McClintock
Fifth-Year Senior Center David Baas
On the success of the running game ... "I'm enjoying it. People are stepping up and helping us out when they're called upon. Rueben (Riley) is doing a good job and the rest of the line keeps improving. I think that's why we're getting better week in and week out."
On the keys to that success ... "I think we're running the ball better. We have some backs that love to run the ball and love to hit the holes. We're doing better on cutting down on mistakes and we're blocking guys better. Our constant improvement each week is just helping us get better."
On Purdue's loss to Wisconsin ... "You hate to lose and I'm sure they hate to lose. We have no control over that. I know that Purdue is a great team. We're playing in their home stadium and they're going to come out and give all they have. We have to do the same."
On linemen getting recognition for the success of running backs ... "Linemen don't really get recognition. If the running backs do well, we know it's partially because of us. It makes us feel good when we can get the running backs some good yardage and give time for the quarterback to throw. I guess its more self-satisfaction then anything."
On the race for the Big Ten championship ... "We can control our last four games and that's what we're going to do. We don't' worry about them (Wisconsin). They're going to do what they're going to do and we're going to do the same, which is try to win out and win a Big Ten championship."
On playing at Purdue ... "I remember a lot of people saying that it's a difficult place to play. I remember two years ago, we played down there and it was a close victory. I don't think that really matters. The fact is that we have to go on the road and we have to win on the road. That's what we have to do; it doesn't matter where we play."
On the status of the offense ... "There are still a lot of improvements in our running and passing game that need to be made. There have been some changes and some progression, but we have to keep performing at a high level in order for us to keep winning games."
On how offensive line coach Andy Moeller has dealt with injuries ... "I'm surprised that he doesn't have a full head of grey hair by now. It's been stressful for both him and the line. You just have to deal with what's thrown at you and that's what he's had to do and that's what we've had to do as a line. We've had to adjust and that's part of the game. He's done a good job getting guys ready and helping people step up so we can have a good offensive line."
On the injury to Leo Henige ... "It's tough. Leo is a great player and he's contributed a lot and helped us out. Injuries are always tough; you really can't say anything else about that. Hopefully, he'll be able to recover well and have a great season next year."
On making changes to the offensive line ... "I wouldn't say it's disrupting. Every guy is a little different, but the basic knowledge about the offensive line is the same. You don't really have to adjust."
On the improvement of Chad Henne ... "I think he's getting smarter as each game goes on. He knows the offense a little bit more and he's making less mistakes. We all make mistakes; I probably made a few out there on Saturday. He loves to play and he's willing to go out there and give it his all to help us win. He's just getting better every single week and that's what we need."
On Purdue's defense ... "At the beginning of the year, people were saying that Purdue has lost a lot of people. But it's always going to be a good defense out there. No matter who's out there, they're going to play hard. I think their defense has shown that this year and we're expecting nothing less on Saturday."
Junior Tight End Tyler Ecker
On if more balls will be thrown to tight ends ... "We hope so if they are going to put everyone on Braylon (Edwards). That play we ran on Saturday on the goal line, we have been running every time on the goal line. We mixed it up a little bit and ran it naked. I was wide open so it ended up working out."
On the tight ends getting more looks ... "Of course you want to catch balls, but you just play your role on the team. We have such great talent that the ball can go anywhere. If they need to use us as blockers, we'll block and if need us to catch the ball we'll do that. We'll do whatever it takes to win."
On what has changed to get the ball to the tight ends more ... "All week in practice we catch tons and tons of balls. I think just in game-time, Chad (Henne) relies on Braylon (Edwards) who is an excellent receiver, along with Jason (Avant), and if they are going to put more guys on them, then our routes will open up. I think that's what happened against Minnesota and I hope it continues to happen."
On the offensive line ... "We've had injuries and some guys have stepped up like Rueben (Riley) is in there now. I think he is doing a good job blocking. The last two games we have moved the ball downfield against both the defenses. We have had some tough times putting it in the end zone when we get down there, but our line is moving the ball. We are running the ball a lot better."
On the offense's role in keeping Purdue's offense off the field ... "We always try to win in time of possession. We want our offense on the field more than our defense. Once our defense gets the ball for us, we are going to try and drive it down the field. It is extremely important that we have the ball."
On if he was rooting for Purdue against Wisconsin ... "Yeah, because we don't have any control over Wisconsin. We don't play them this year. We have control over Purdue since we play them next week."
Senior Wide Receiver Braylon Edwards
On the race for the Big Ten title ... "We don't play Wisconsin. You know we are going to do what we have got to do and try to keep this season undefeated and whatever happens, happens."
On what he has learned from Coach Carr ... "I am one of the biggest fans of Coach Carr, because I have learned that you take every game one game at a time. We didn't go into Illinois worrying about Purdue, and we are not going to go into Purdue worrying about Ohio State; we are going to go into each game, and that is going to be the game at hand. When we practice this week, it is going to be all Purdue; regardless of what happens, when we come back on Sunday, it is going to be all Michigan State. In the last three and a half years, that is what I have learned. What I have taken from Coach Carr is just worry about what is going on. Once you change your outlook and worry about something else, something will go wrong for you."
On the freshmen ... "Mike Hart, Max Martin, and Chad Henne: they are doing an exceptional job; they are making our job much easier than it could be. It could be a lot harder, and this could be a struggling season and we could blame the young offense for it. These guys are out here working hard. They are taking coaching; they are taking constructive criticism, and it makes our job much easier when you have guys that listen to you and that show you they want to get better. They are doing a phenomenal job this year."
On Purdue's Taylor Stubblefield ... "I don't worry about him. I have watched him play, and I like his leap moves; I like their quick offense. He has a lot of time to catch passes and turn them into something bigger, but when the game comes down to it, it is not ever going to be myself against Taylor Stubblefield. It is going to be the Michigan Wolverines against the Purdue Boilermakers, and I hope that we can beat the Purdue Boilermakers and continue the quest to the Big Ten title. All I care about is victory."
On when he noticed Mike Hart's talent ... "There were a couple situations in goal line drills, where he'd get hit in the backfield, bounce off the tackle, hit the outside and score a touchdown. He could somehow cross through the middle of the line, and nobody could see him. They just saw him celebrating in the end zone. We saw that during two-a-days, and it was just phenomenal. When he did it in a game, it just reaffirmed everything that he was doing."
On needing to finish Big Ten schedule undefeated ... "I knew the way the Big Ten schedule was shaped this year. That certain teams didn't play other certain teams. As is the case with us and Wisconsin, so I knew that if wanted to win the Big Ten this year, you were going to have to be undefeated. One loss may destroy you. You have to remain unblemished, and so far it is coming true. Wisconsin is a great team, and they have a couple games left, we're just going to have to see how it turns out."
On Kyle Orton ... "I didn't get to see much of him, just the second half of last Saturday's game. The spread offense helps him. A lot of times he is able to just dump balls off, and he has receivers that just make plays. He's not throwing 70-yard touchdowns, he's throwing five-yard passes that become 65-yards more to become 70-yard touchdowns. So he has guys that are just making plays. He has a system where he is just able to dump the ball off. He has a system where he doesn't have a lot of pressure. Everything is pretty quick with Purdue. It's really step back drop back, throw, kind bam bam bam' for him. But he has worked in the offense for the last four years, and he's gotten better in it every year. So now it's like second nature to him."
Fifth-Year Senior Wide Receiver Jermaine Gonzales
On if he's surprised by the impact by freshmen this season ..."I won't say it's a surprise. I've been here five years now and I've seen it before where freshmen and sophomores play huge rolls. It's kind of funny because during camp you don't know what the outcome of the season is going to be. This year, we couldn't guess that we'd have a freshman quarterback or a freshman running back starting. They're just doing so well for this team so far."
On if the offense has to score a lot of points this week ... "I feel that our offense will have to score enough points. I wouldn't say a whole lot because I really believe our defense can match up with Purdue's offense better than any other team in the Big Ten. I just know that both sides of the ball as well as the special teams will come prepared to play. It's going to be a dogfight."
On what about Chad Henne impresses him the most ... "The fact that how he can just stay confident and poised every week and get better every week. One big thing we notice as a team is that he improves every week. He just learns the offense, gets more comfortable back there and more familiar with the offense."
On Michael Hart's abilities ... "I just remember Mike coming in like a cat. He was doing the same things he's been doing in the games in practice. He's making the same type plays. Some guys come in and you can tell they can play the game of football but there are a few guys that just have the gift to play football and Mike is one of those kids. He just has a gift and he uses his talent well on the field."
Sophomore Cornerback Leon Hall
On the Purdue game ... "It's going to be a great challenge, probably the greatest challenge that we've seen so far this year. They have a lot of good receivers, so we're going to have to have the corners step up for this game. We need to have career games to come out with a win."
On the defensive game plan against Illinois ... "Coach (Jim) Hermann and (Ron) English really came out with a great game plan and put us in positions to make plays. They worked hard at it, and because of that, we came out with the win. They stressed to all the corners that we needed to play man-to-man coverage, because we needed to put pressure on the quarterback. We couldn't let him just sit back there and pick us apart with zone coverage. We knew we had to man up the whole game and prepare for that through the week."
On Purdue's loss to Wisconsin ... "We're always fired up to play on Saturday, and I'm sure the same goes for them. Everything is still at stake; the Big Ten championship is still up in the air. Regardless of a win or a loss, they're going to play hard against us."
On defending Purdue's Tyler Ingraham (who is 6'9") ... "I don't know if there's a perfect way to defend that, but you just really need to put your hands on him and keep him in front of you. You can't let him get behind you to that deep ball. They are capable of jumping over you, so you have to try to jump with him and see what you can do."
On the Purdue offense ... "They're explosive; they make the big plays. Kyle (Orton) knows where to put the ball; his placement is really great. I haven't had a great chance to see him other than the second half of the Wisconsin game, but he was looking pretty good. We're going to need to eliminate the big plays on Saturday."
On being a young cornerback ... "Anytime you have seniors leaving, it's going to be hard to replace them. The advantage that we have is the chance to learn from them; guys like Markus Curry and Marlin Jackson. I think it's a privilege and a benefit of ours to learn from them and learn from their experiences. Players like Grant Mason, Darnell Hood and I and a couple of the freshmen have a chance to get better, and when they leave, hopefully we can just step in and fill their shoes."
Freshman Tailback Michael Hart
On his ability to stay on his feet when trying to be tackled ... "I don't really think about it. It just happens I guess. I keep my legs moving and I have good balance, so I think that helps me out a lot with the balance and just keeping my legs moving. They think they can hit you and you're just going to drop, but because I'm small, I just keep my legs moving and keep going."
On his preparations now since Notre Dame ... "I don't think it's just me, it's basically the whole offense. The offensive line was just getting together. They're doing a great job now. I think it's the offense as a whole. You know, Chad is better with the passing game and the team is just doing a lot better. I think that helps the run game out a lot more. I don't know if it's just me, but the whole team is doing a better job."
On when he thinks people knew he could run the ball well ... "Probably just the first goal line scrimmage we had. The first time I carried the ball, I didn't know I got hit, I bounced backwards and I ran to the corner of the end zone to get in. That's when I got a lot of confidence in myself, that's when I knew I could play."
On if he knew he would be this successful early in his career ... "I knew I could play, but I didn't think I would do this well, but its fun. I'm glad it happened."
On if he thought he would be able to bounce off defenders as easily as he did in high school ... "Oh, it's definitely harder. High school I could bounce off one guy and then go to the end zone. Here, you know, everyone is coming. You bounce off them and they get back up and come after you again. It's definitely a lot harder here."
On the offensive line ... "I think you can see, as the weeks go on, we get more rushing yards every game. They are doing a great job, working together and working hard in practice. They are really coming together right now. They know all their assignments. They are just doing a great job getting all their blocks, just keep moving, just keep driving the defenders down the field."
On David Baas ... "Baas, he's a great guy for this team since he moved to center. He was an all-American left guard, and he's a team player. He moved to center and he has just helped this team out a lot more."
On if he wants to bounce out to the sidelines and get a huge run ... "You know you want to. You always want to have a long run. You know its coming, every week I'm getting a lot better breaking tackles and getting down the field."
On if his high school's offensive style helped prepare him for college ... "My high school coach was great; he did a great job teaching me in high school. I watched film with him every day. I think that's what helped me out a lot more too in the films. A lot of young guys don't watch films, but my coach in high school used to make me come in and watch film with him and I would break down film with him and I think that helped me a lot."
On if he tries to emulate any runner in the NFL ... "Not really, I try to run like Barry (Sanders), but it doesn't happen. Barry was a great back."
On why he came to Michigan ... "I just always wanted to go to Michigan. Academics and football, you know it's the best of both. You can win a national championship and get a great degree, so it was just the best of both worlds."
On the story of his commitment ... "I came up here my junior year during my spring break. I came up here with my coach, my little brother, and another kid on my team that wanted to visit a couple schools. When they offered me, I wanted to commit right there. I knew I wanted to commit, I knew this was where I wanted to go because it has just always been my dream. My mom wasn't up there at that time and I didn't want to make the decision without her. I just wanted to wait for her to come up here, see it herself, and get the ok. When that happened, I was ready to commit."
On whether his coaches, family, and friends back home were surprised about him choosing Michigan ... "They weren't, they knew I could do it. My coaches, my best friends, and my family, they all knew I could come up here and play. That's the people I listen to, the people that know me that I have been around. They are just happy for me. They knew I could get the job done. They call me every week to congratulate me. It's good to have the support back home."
On his expectations before the season with so many running backs looking to replace Chris Perry ... "I came up here early to get ready to play or to get ready not to play. I just wanted to give myself the opportunity to come up here and learn the offense and know that I did all I could to play and if it didn't happen, it didn't happen and just wasn't meant to be. But it did happen and I think all the hard work paid off."
On whether he had to prove himself more because of his size ... "I think everyone has to come in and prove themselves. Max (Martin) had to come in and prove himself and we're night and day. He's a grown man really when you put us next to each other. I think everyone has to prove themselves. Me being small, I think they expect less of me probably, but I had to come in here and prove myself just as every other freshman did."
Senior Cornerback Marlin Jackson
On Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton ... "He has been there for the past three, four years, so he really has a hold of the offense. When you are dealing with a quarterback that knows the offense like the back of his hand, he's going to be very dangerous because he always knows where to go with the ball."
On Wisconsin ... "It would be nice to play against the other undefeated team in the Big Ten, but we don't. We are just going to focus on Purdue right now. We need to focus on the task at hand, and Purdue is that task right now."
On sophomore cornerback Leon Hall ... "I think anytime you are a great competitor, you have to always want to get better. You can't ever be satisfied, and that's how Leon plays. He's a great competitor; he wants to go out and outdo himself each week and do better than he did the week before. He just wants to get better, and I think he has the will to get better."
On this week's match up against Purdue ... "It was a very aggressive game played last week, and the coaches probably have the same thing in mind. Whatever game plan they put in this week, we are going to go out and do our best to execute it. This week, we just want to focus on our techniques and focus on our coverages."
On his surprise that teams stay away from him ... "I'm kind of (surprised). I thought everybody figured that I hadn't played cornerback for a whole year, so I'd kind of be a step behind but teams have shied away from going to my side."
On whether he thinks he'll see some balls his way vs. Purdue ... "I know they are going to throw the ball anywhere. They are not going to be avoiding anybody. Their offense is a spread offense, where they throw the ball around all over the field, so they aren't going to be avoiding anybody. That's fun, knowing the ball is going to be coming my way."
On game plan this year compared to last year ... "I think it was a very aggressive game plan last year. I think the coaches probably have the same thing in mind. Whatever game plan they put in this week, we are going to do are best to go out there and execute it."
Senior Inside Linebacker Scott McClintock
On how it felt to get a couple turnovers against Illinois ... "It felt really good to get back onto the turnover board because we were stuck at 19 for awhile. Anytime you put an emphasis on that, as we've done all season, it's good to get back into the swing of things and force some turnovers for the offense."
On the importance of creating turnovers ... "One of the team objectives we have is to win the turnover battle. Coach Carr always says that if you lose the turnover battle then it's a lot harder to win the game. It definitely works against you, so it's something you have to try to overcome."
On what he remembers about playing Purdue ... "I was playing on the nickel team because Carl Diggs was here last year. I remember going into third down that they pass a lot and it's a whole different game plan. They throw a lot of things at you. It's all what gets installed on Monday and Tuesday and the coaches implement what they can and we try to execute what they give us."
On Purdue's loss to Wisconsin ... "Anytime you lose, it's hard to bounce back. I'm sure they're going to be ready to get that taste out of their mouths."
On Purdue's offense ... "They're explosive. They've got a lot of weapons just like our offense. They've got some good running backs, a great quarterback, great wide receivers and a good line. They're just an all-around great offense."
On Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton ... "He's seems really poised and really comfortable with his offense. He can hurt you with his arm and his running ability. He's pretty elusive and he's a great quarterback."
On running back Michael Hart ... "From what I can see, he's just really hard to bring down. He always finishes the play and fights for the extra yards. He's never satisfied and is always fighting as hard as he can. Whenever you have a back like that who's really relentless, it's pretty encouraging."
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