Press Conference Comments from Michigan Players
9/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Player Comments from
Weekly U-M Football Media Luncheon
Previewing Indiana (Oct. 2); Reviewing Iowa (Sept. 25)
Junior Wide Receiver Jason Avant
On the difference between Chad Henne and John Navarre ... "There are a lot of differences. Our offense is really hard to learn and it says a lot about Chad that he can come in and learn the offense well enough to run it right now. John was in the program and he went through ups and downs through his whole career. He knew how to handle adversity and things of that nature and he knew how to win games over the course of his career. He knew where to go with the ball and he knew his personnel really well. It's a lot different but we're going to get better."
On blocking for Michael Hart ... "It's not really a challenge for the receivers, we're just supposed to block for him. It's a lot different. The receivers are used to getting blocks down field and Chris (Perry) used to be down field all the time, so it was a lot easier. I couldn't say that it's a big challenge."
On Michael Hart ... "He's doing an excellent job. He runs hard and he gets some pretty big runs. There was a run at the end of the game (against Iowa) where he had to get a first down and he had a heads up play and stayed in bounds. That's the type of thing that you can't really teach players. He just has knack for football and he's done a great job so far."
On the process of jelling with Chad Henne ... "It's not that I disappeared from the offense or anything. It has a lot to do with the younger quarterback and different things of that nature. It's going to take time for a young quarterback and his receiver to gain some type of rhythm. Chad and I are gaining more and more of a rhythm as we go along. We'll get better and we're working on it every day in practice."
On the possibility of having Chad Henne and Michael Hart start at Indiana ... "It's kind of odd. These guys' talent level is so high that they're really special players. You look around the country and you see all the incoming freshmen coming in and playing big parts, but you don't see that happen at Michigan too often. It's pretty odd, but at the same time, we need them to help us win."
On whether the lack of experience causes problems on offense ... "It doesn't cause a lot of problems. It's harder because they don't know the offense as well as some of the other guys. We know we have to compensate for that in other areas of the game."
On when he knew that Chad Henne had the potential to play immediately ... "When he came in during the summer, he was throwing the ball pretty well. Right then you knew he had a chance of playing. He's a great athlete and he throws with great accuracy. I thought then that it could happen, but I wasn't really thinking that I would be catching passes from this guy this season. I thought the other two guys (Matt Gutierrez and Clayton Richard) would be quarterback."
On whether the team is looking for a decisive win at Indiana ... "As a team, our main goal is to win. I don't like any scary moments in games. I would like everything to go smooth, but it doesn't go that way all the time. If we could, I would like to win by a large margin. But the teams we play against can play football, so it's not going to happen that often."
On Indiana ... "They are a lot better. You can see that they are a different football team. The guys that are the team are guys that have weathered through bad years. That says a lot about their character. There are a lot of tough guys on that team and they go out there and play hard-nosed football. They're not scared of anyone and they went out there and dogged Oregon, which is probably a faster team than we are. They could do the same to us."
On the progress of the offense ... "We have a ways to go. We're moving at a good rate now. The defense is doing a great job and we'll be there once we get out the little kinks and problems that we have. We'll get to a place where want to be."
On the progress of the receivers ... "We have to do a lot better. We're still putting balls on the ground and that's not the sign of a good receiving corps. We need to do a lot of things to get better. We have potential to be one of the best and if we keep working, we will be."
On Braylon Edwards' touchdown catch against Iowa ... "That's just great concentration by him. I'd like to think that I have the same concentration to where I would make the catch if that same situation presented itself. It's amazing to watch a guy like Braylon because he's probably the most talented receiver that I've ever been around in my life. He's got that natural, God-given talent."
Fifth-Year Senior Punter Adam Finley
On playing multiple positions for the Wolverines ... "I came in wanting to [play] all three positions and the coaches here recognized that they needed a punter and right when I got here they told me to focus on punting."
On the possibility of playing in the NFL ... "That's there. I want to try to see where that goes and after that I want to get into research and development of different types of prototypes and medical devices."
On improving skill, strength and technique ... "Every time you can try to improve and after football season get stronger and get better technique. Any time you see improvement in any part of the game it's always a team effort. They are giving me a little bit of time to punt the ball and I think it has helped."
On U-M's performance against Iowa's special teams ... "Ed Hinkel is a great punt returner, but I think we maintained lanes better and got down the field better, and I tried to get the ball up better, and we really tried to attack and do a better job as a team."
On recognizing good punts ... "Every time you feel it come off your foot you know exactly what you did, how high you hit it, how far you hit it, and where you hit it. When you punt [the ball] a thousand times you develop that muscle memory and the way it feels. The more you do it the better you get at it and if you drop a ball poorly you can make up for it. It helps with consistency."
On playing at Indiana ... "I haven't played there in five years and it will be nice to go back an play pretty close to my hometown and play in the stadium close to where I grew up."
On differences between playing in high school and in college (when having to tackle players) ... "It's a lot different from high school to college, I found out real quick. Players are a lot bigger and a lot stronger, so even though I am a decent-sized guy, I just try to hit hard and hit low and wrap up."
Senior Tight End Tim Massaquoi
On quarterback Chad Henne ... "Chad is getting comfortable and now he understands his options and he is starting to look around the field and hit other guys."
On wide receiver Braylon Edwards ... "His confidence is real high right now. He is dominating his position more [than last year]. I think he is, if not the best [wide receiver] then one of the best."
On playing tight end ... "I just have to be relaxed and confident. I am playing a position that I know the plays and I am going to play as hard as I can and I will play as well as I can."
On the Iowa game ... "Any weekend we go in to win. We are a young team overall, so to say we want to go out [onto the field] and beat up on Iowa, no, it will not happen because [they have] a great defense. I think the bottom line for every weekend is to win, once you win, nothing else matters. You don't want to win and know that you did a lot of negative things and barely got by, but that you did your best and everybody went out and played and tried not to make many mistakes."
On the Michigan defense ... "Offensively [in practice] we can't get a yard on them, but that is due to their great athletic ability, a lot of guys know what they are doing and they go out there and make plays."
On the comparison between John Navarre and Chad Henne ... "They just can't compare, John Navarre makes plays that Chad Henne is not able to make right now. They are two different quarterbacks."
On coming to Michigan from Pennsylvania ... "We have a lot of Pennsylvania pride (on this team). We feel that Pennsylvania has the best football players. A lot of the guys from Pennsylvania came here because we thought it was a great school and a great opportunity and [football] just happened to be what is going on right now."
On Michael Hart ... "Mike Hart is just playing great football. He is going to get better, and he can make plays."
On the offensive line ... "There is always room for improvement, we could always get better, but we are clicking and guys are making plays all over the place, the ball is getting spread around a little bit. We are clicking, we just need to improve."
Senior Inside Linebacker Scott McClintock
On when he hurt his ankle ... "It was at the end of the first quarter of the San Diego State game. I was on the ground, and Lawrence Reid was in pursuit behind me, and he just fell on the back of my ankle, and just twisted it in. It's just a little ankle sprain."
On injury rehabilitation last week ... "It was about three or four hours per day. I would come in before class, about 7:30 in the morning. I'd be [at the training room] until I had class, go to class, then come back down and do it until practice. Then I'd try and get out on the field after I got my treatment done, try and learn the game plan, just in case I happened to get into the game. I spent most of the week in the training room."
On what the trainers did to treat the injury ... "A lot of ice and stimulation, heat it then ice it, back and forth. I don't really know the medical terms, but it was the same old thing you do for any injury, try and get the swelling down and do what you can, let it run its course."
On whether Coach Carr really wanted him to play ... "He was kind of nervous to play me or not. He didn't want to hurt the injury more than it already was. We talked before the game and he told me to be honest, let him know how it feels. I got it taped up and couldn't really move it. It felt good before the game, so I told him if you want to play me, I'm ready."
On whether this is an attacking defense ... "Sure, attacking, aggressiveness, and getting to the ball is one of our main objectives every game, so you can call us an attacking defense."
On the linebackers ... "We all have our pluses and minuses. We are all good at some things, and have got to work on other areas. As far as athleticism goes, we all have all-around strength."
On David Harris ... "He did really well, he was ready all week, he prepared, and didn't make any mistakes. He went in there and did a great job. He came off the bench and played phenomenal."
On why he played third downs ... "That was just a way of getting me on the field. To try and get loose, run around, and see if I can do anything. Third down is a passing down, I played that last year, so I was used to it. That is how that came about."
On overall impressions of the high ranking in turnovers caused ... "So far it's just happened because we have been working at it. We're playing hard, and whenever a defense does that good things can happen. As far as rankings, that is probably what has been happening. We've just been playing real hard, and plays have been going our way."
Junior Defensive Tackle Gabe Watson
On reviewing game film ... "I noticed a few things, like I didn't engage with the center long enough, a couple of times for example. Leon's (Hall) catch, that jumped out a lot, because (the defensive line) was rushing the quarterback, and we didn't see it, and after watching it on film I was like, 'Hey, he can almost catch better than me,' but it was cool."
On whether his performance was his best at Michigan ... "I guess I would agree (with those assessments). Like I said before, there were a couple of things I did wrong, that I have to work on, little fundamental things. Without having your fundamentals down, a lot of things can go wrong. I believe I played well, but there are still things I have to work on."
On the offensive line ... "We practiced a lot on the line game. It is a very good group of guys, they work very hard. You just notice a different intensity out of everybody, things like coming off the ball harder, and they continue to drive their feet, things like that. Their work ethic is better; guys just continue to work a lot harder."
On the challenges of a road game ... "It's a lot different, you can't lift your hands up and get the crowd into it, you lift your hands up and the crowd will boo you. It's a lot easier from a communication standpoint, on the defensive line, because when you are at home you can't hear a lot of the calls that are being made, but away is a lot quieter when the offense is on the field and you can hear the calls, you don't have to hesitate or turn around. In a lot of ways it is good, in a lot of ways it is bad."
On how good the defense is ... "We're good, but we can be a lot better. As you go back and look at the film, you notice that one guy may have made a mistake and that caused a big play or just the smallest things in the world make the biggest plays. We can be a lot better, and we are working towards that."
On the turnovers the defense is producing ... "We work a lot on strip drills in practice, and things like that. [We work] on getting pressure on quarterbacks, because we notice that when we start to get pressure on quarterbacks, they start to rush passes sometimes. So I don't believe [the turnovers] just happen, the ball just happened to be there, and this guy just happened to fumble the ball. We practice things like that."
On pressure to join teammates in causing or recovering turnovers ... "It's a big time motivation for everybody to try and strip the ball. It helps out the team so much. You have to be motivated."
On having Coach Jim Herrmann back on sidelines ... "You can hear him a lot more. He's very intense; he's on the sideline, and talking to the defensive line, linebackers and defensive backs. Up in the (press) box I never got a phone call from him, so I am not sure how he was up there, but on the field, he's cool, I like him."
Media Contacts: David Ablauf, Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423
