Press Conference Comments from Michigan Players
9/13/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Player Comments from
Weekly U-M Football Media Luncheon
Previewing San Diego State (Sept. 18); Reviewing Notre Dame (Sept. 11)
Sixth-Year Senior Quarterback Spencer Brinton
On his condition ..."Heath-wise, I feel that my shoulder is 100 percent back to the same strength I had before I was injured. I feel really good in the weight room. The obstacle that I'm facing now is trying to find my throwing mechanics again. That's been the hardest thing I've had to go through because when I was injured, I improvised a lot of things and changed my throwing mechanics. I got into some pretty bad habits because of that. So, that's what I'm trying to do right now. I'm trying to find my mechanics again so I can throw at the same velocity that I had before with the same precision. That's the obstacle that I'm facing right now."
On the process of recovering ..."Last night, I was trying to throw. You try to tweak different things, like where to put the ball to start off with, where to have the arm when you come through, and so on. So, I can't really put it on a level. As a quarterback, you just find it somehow, and that's what I'm trying to do."
On how frustrating the process is ... "It's really frustrating, especially to know where I was throwing before and where I am at now. To know that my shoulder is fixed and back to full strength, it's pretty frustrating because I know it's just a matter of finding that right throwing motion. It's been a real struggle. Before Notre Dame, I was throwing before the game and it was the most frustrated I've ever been since I had my injury. At a different position, you can just go out there and play and use your brute force or whatever it may be, but as a quarterback, something as small as a little motion keeps you from performing where you should be. It's really frustrating, but I've been through worse and I've been through harder times."
On when the shoulder injury occurred ... "It was 2002 when we were playing Iowa here. During the last part of the game I was able to get it in. There was not a time during the game where a hit that I took or a throw that I made made me feel that something was wrong with my shoulder. Two hours after the game though, my shoulder started throbbing and I knew that there was something wrong. I had never felt that kind of pain before. I continued to ice it and to practice with it. I wasn't able to really throw right away after that game; I kind of had to warm it up. Once I warmed it up, I was able to throw, so I pushed through it the rest of the season. When it really started to bother me was at the bowl game when we played Florida in the Outback Bowl. I took about a month off, and when I came back to throw, the inflammation had just swollen up since I stopped throwing. That's when it started to really go downhill."
On his goals for the season ... "My number one goal for coming back was to get my shoulder back and compete for the starting job. Obviously that didn't happen and I'm not even close to where I thought I would be. That's hard, but on the flipside, I graduated in April and I'm working on my master's right now. I've had to change my role on the team and help the younger guys out. To go out on my own terms, I've had to change my goals and I have different priorities now. Those goals have helped me go through this and when I finish here I'll be really proud of what I've done."
On the play of Chad Henne ... "What Chad has done is pretty remarkable for a freshman. He's a great talent. To be able to come in and perform the way he has and learn the offense in such a short amount of time is pretty remarkable. To see what he did against Notre Dame, and if he would have not made just a couple of mistakes, he would have probably been around 72 percent on his completion rating. He's already at 63 percent, which is something that we shoot for in our quarterback group. That's pretty remarkable to do that as a freshman going into Notre Dame. He's just going to continue to improve too."
Senior Wide Receiver Jermaine Gonzales
On the loss to Notre Dame ... "It was a disappointment. We had high goals to go down there and come out with a victory. Being in my last year, I won't have an opportunity to play Notre Dame again. It was really a disappointment, and we were upset about it."
On motivating the team after the loss to Notre Dame ... "As a senior group, we all came together. We knew we had to get this team's motivation back and get ready, because we still have a lot of football left. We have a great team that's just waiting to come here and try to upset us at our own stadium. So, we know we have to get everybody back up so we can get ready to play San Diego State."
On freshman quarterback Chad Henne ... "I've seen a lot of great things from Chad Henne. To be able to go out there and do the things that you do as a true freshman is very remarkable. He's a kid with great poise; he's calm and comfortable back there. You can't do anything but get better when you're in the position he's in. He just needs to keep working hard, keep studying the game, keep learning from his coaches and keep having that will and desire to do well as the Michigan quarterback."
On spreading the ball around to more players ... "There are a lot of opportunities for a lot of different guys to get balls. Chad reads his progressions really well; he does what the coaches ask him to do. Things can just turn out certain ways throughout the course of the game, but I feel that if he just keeps doing what he's doing -- studying and learning the game -- things will open up a lot more."
On the wide receivers' performance against Notre Dame ... "I think as a receiving group, we played pretty well, but there's always room for improvement. We could have played a lot better. There were misplays there that as a group we could have made and probably could have changed things, but we've got to learn from those mistakes and get better for San Diego State next week."
On San Diego State ... "They have a really tough defense. They're really fast; they probably get to the ball faster than any other team we play this year. So, we have a challenge ahead."
On his position switch to wide receiver ... "I really wanted to put the team first, and I figured that having being on the field as much as I could would be helping the team. I knew that if I made the transition from quarterback to receiver that I would have the opportunity to play more and help the team out any way possible. You consider going somewhere else where things may be different, and that crossed my mind, but Michigan is a great school and I'll be getting my degree in December. I knew that if I stuck around, great things would happen."
Senior Tight End Tim Massaquoi
On the criticism the Notre Dame game plan received ... "The game plan is designed for us to win, so people can say what they want. We just didn't perform the plays that they put in there and do the things we needed to do to win. There were plays there to go down the field, we just didn't complete them. There were plays going to me, and we just didn't complete them. The game plan was fine; it was a great game plan. We had a lot of things we wanted to do, we just didn't get them done."
On people saying the game plan is too conservative ... "I really don't understand that. If we would have executed the plays we needed to and not made mistakes, I don't think people would have said we were conservative. We would have made great plays and scored touchdowns, instead of kicking field goals."
On what needs to be corrected ... "It's doing the little things, doing the things that coaches emphasize that prepare us to make great plays. Some things we had there on Saturday, like our linemen lining up in the wrong formation and getting penalties. We're not playing as well together and we want to get it right, now."
On why Michigan is having trouble running the ball ... "It's a combination of our line, our running backs, our fullbacks and our tight ends. We're just not getting it done. It's hard for our backs to step in and fill Chris Perry's shoes, but they have to. That's the pressure that comes playing at Michigan. It's hard to replace the linemen that we lost last year, but our young guys have to step in. The tight ends have to step up and make great blocks and our running backs have to make great runs. We're going to get it done; it's just taking a little longer than we hoped it would."
On what went wrong against Notre Dame ... "It's safe to say that we took shots down the field, we just didn't complete them. We took shots outside but we couldn't complete them. We passed up the middle but just didn't get it done. It's just a combination of us not making great plays down the field."
On Chad Henne ... "Chad does a great job. He reads his keys and finds the open guy. The great difference I saw between the first game and the second game is that he stepped up and took more of a leadership role. I didn't expect that from a freshman, but he stepped up and took charge. As each game goes along, he's going to feel more comfortable. It's up to the seniors and the leaders to corral around him and get the rest of us going. He shows great growth each game and each practice and he makes great plays. He's a great quarterback; he's going to be real good."
On the team's expectations from this point on ... "Obviously we can't have any more mistakes and we have to go out next week and play hard. We still have great expectations for this team because we have a great team. We just have to go out there and correct the mistakes we made on Saturday and take it to San Diego State this weekend and try to get a win."
Sophomore Safety Ryan Mundy
On what set him apart for the starting position ... "I worked really hard through our winter conditioning and I did a lot of film study. I did a lot of talking with coach (Ron) English and Marlin (Jackson), Ernest (Shazor) and the older guys to know what I had to do to get the job."
On if fatigue was a factor in the game ... "I think fatigue was definitely a factor because we were out there for, I think, almost 70 plays. Early in the season it gets kind of hard when you get up around 50 plays. We were up to the challenge. We practiced sudden change and coming into the game we knew we were going to have sudden change. I can't remember how many opportunities we had, I think it was four in the fourth quarter, and they scored touchdowns on us. We were really disappointed in that and we didn't rise to the occasion. There is no excuse for that."
On what the defense thinks when they get a turnover but the offense doesn't score ... "It is kind of disappointing because I know the offense's goal is to be 100 percent on sudden change, just like ours is. Whenever the offense doesn't produce points, we think we just have to go out there and do it again. That is the mindset we have."
On what it is like to have older guys around him ... "I have just been following their lead since the spring practice. They are a great group of guys, so I am just trying to learn from them. Every experience is different and they have just kind of guided me through the way."
On who the leader in the secondary is ... "That is a tough call. Marlin (Jackson) is the captain, so I would assume he is the leader. Ernest (Shazor) and Markus (Curry) have leadership roles too."
On the goals for the team ... "We still have high goals for this team. We can't make any excuses. We have to go out and play hard against San Diego State. Then definitely when the conference games start coming in, we have to win all our conference games. We still have high expectations. We may not be able to get to the national championship game, but the main goal is to repeat at Big Ten champions and I think we can do that."
On if it is frustrating when the defense doesn't get pressure on the quarterback ... "No. My job is to cover the people for as long as possible. If we hold them up and no one gets open, they will eventually get to the quarterback. I guess it is a mixture of both. They are not getting there quick enough and we are not covering as well."
Sophomore Kicker Garrett Rivas
On Saturday's game ... "I would certainly rather have been hitting extra points than field goals. It just didn't work out that way."
On the difference between this year and last year for him ... "I know a little bit more about what to expect. I feel like I am a little more into the game now and I understand more about the game. I just feel like I have been there before."
On how he dealt with the two missed extra points ... "I just didn't have solid contact on them and certain technical things didn't go right. This weekend I had better focus and I was more into the game and able to play a lot better."
On if he changes the power of his kicks with the distance required ... "You're not supposed to. You are supposed to have one swing the entire time. It did look like that when I watched film yesterday it had just enough to get over."
On Matt Gutierrez holding the ball ... "I feel the most confident with Matt holding for me. Through the whole year last season and this summer we've been working together and we have good timing. That's makes me the most comfortable."
On kicking at home vs. kicking on the road ... "It is almost like you have to tune everything out when you get up there. You can't focus on the crowd or anything like that. I just get in there and focus on what I have to do. Really, as loud as the crowd gets, it gets to where I can stay in a zone and not even hear it."
On if the team still has a lot to play for ... "There is no doubt. This is just a speed bump. We've been knocked down and now we have to get back up and keep moving. That's the most important thing; that we keep going from here."
On the onside kick ... "I hit it like I wanted to. With an onside kick, you just have to get a good, lucky bounce. I was hoping for that, but I didn't get it."
Media Contacts: David Ablauf, Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423
