Wolverines Q&A: Hoke on Northwestern, Bye Week
11/10/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 10, 2014
By Steve Kornacki
Michigan head football coach Brady Hoke and Steve Kornacki will talk Michigan football each week on MGoBlue.com. On Monday afternoon (Nov. 10), the two discussed the 10-9 win at Northwestern, the bye week and looking ahead to the final home game on Nov. 22 against Maryland.
Q. What enabled Frank Clark to put pressure on Northwestern quarterback Trevor Siemian and foil the two-point conversion attempt at the end of the game?
A. Frank, instinctively, is a very good football player. No. 1, he was doing his job, which was a flex call from a defensive standpoint. The other part of it is that our coaches did such a good job in the press box, and we called a timeout to talk about what they were going to do. We look at other two-point plays teams have run, as much tape as we can look at, and Coach Mal (safeties coach Curt Mallory) called it exactly right up the box. He got on the headphones to (free safety) Jarrod Wilson and told him exactly what was going to happen. It was a really great job of coaching, and it was a great job by Frank of executing and being exactly the kind of player we think Frank is.
Q. What did Mallory see that led him to be so sure? Was it the formation they were in?
A. Yeah. We saw it last year in one of their games, and it was a play they liked to run (on two-point attempts).
Q. You noted that Will Hagerup had one of his best punting efforts. Was it the two he had downed on the one-yard line that impressed you most?
A. He struggled a little bit early. But in this instance, I thought he did a great job of pinning the ball (three times) inside the 20(-yard line), and the two that stuck on the one were really great. That makes for a long field (for the opposing offense). The gunners -- Amara Darboh, Dennis Norfleet when he's healthy, Jehu Chesson, Delonte Hollowell -- they've done a great job of getting down the field and competing.
Q. De'Veon Smith celebrated his 20th birthday with 121 yards against Northwestern. What did he do best in terms of preparation and effort?
A. He's always worked hard. With him and Drake (Johnson) and Justice (Hayes) there's a role for all of them. I think he got the hot hand, and you have to stick with that obviously. He had very good vision. There were two runs where his vision needed to be a little bit better, and he wanted it to be a little better. But overall he's a physical runner. He might not take it the distance, but he's going to make you earn tackling him. He breaks a lot of tackles and gets yards after contact.
But our offensive line -- we now have five guys who have played six (of 10) games together -- and it's been consistent. So, I think that also has helped how they came on (at tailback).
Q. It's a young offensive line that has really come together. What do you see there from center Jack Miller, guards Graham Glasgow and Kyle Kalis and tackles Ben Braden and Mason Cole?
A. We gave up no sacks (for the first time since Nov. 17, 2012, against Iowa), and Northwestern gave us more pressure than they had anyone else all year. They were tested big time, and the line and those backs did a good job of pickups (blocking defenders coming free).
When you look at the line -- I think there's timing, improvement from technique and how they are being taught, and how they're practicing. All of those things are part of it. And I'll give credit to our scout team and the job they are doing.
Q. How much of it is the linemen getting a feel for one another and knowing how the guy next to them is going to adjustment on plays?
A. Yeah, there's something to that. I'm sure Kalis and Ben (on the right side) and Mason and Graham (on the left side), that's all part of it. And then Jack is doing a tremendous job in the middle.
Q. You've had back-to-back Big Ten games with 100-yard rushers for the first time this season. How do you intend to use Smith, Hayes and Johnson, who had 122 yards rushing against Indiana, moving forward?
A. Sometimes, you break it up by possessions -- you're going to start this series. Sometimes, it obviously becomes a down-and-distance factor. Who's your best third-down back at maybe catching the ball, running on the draw or protection-wise. I think all three of them have gotten a lot better protection-wise.
Q. How will the schedule of the team vary during this bye week and what would you like to accomplish this week?
A. We gave them (Monday) and Sunday off. No. 1, we will come in (Tuesday), and we'll do some in-season lifting and some running. We'll do corrections (from the Northwestern game) and some technique work. Wednesday, we'll do the same thing only a little longer. We'll try to get some of the young guys in scrimmage situations because they want to. We'll probably begin inserting some of the game plan for Maryland on Wednesday. And then we'll come back Sunday, and there will be more (on the game plan).
Q. So, you get a little bit of a jump on Maryland preparation?
A. You do, but it's late in the season, and you don't want to wear their butts out. I go back to playing the Michigan State game and coming off that bye week and did we do too much on that Sunday (during the off weekend) that we were maybe a little more fatigued? I don't know. We use the GPS (monitor inserted in small pockets on player jerseys), and it's the first year of using it and getting some base lines (for comparisons). I want to be conscious of that, especially going into game 11.
You want to play fast and the only way you are going to play fast is if, No. 1, how you are mentally and how fresh you are from a physical standpoint. It's important in the development of players.
Q. Can you tell us how Jake Ryan has managed to up his game as a senior, becoming a Butkus Award semifinalist while moving into a new position at middle linebacker?
A. A lot of it is how (defensive coordinator) Greg (Mattison) coaches the inside linebackers. And a lot of it is that Jake's done a great job of playing the position -- which isn't the easiest thing when you are used to everything coming from one side (as an outside linebacker). He's really improved, and his football instincts are at a high level. And he is, to some degree, figuring offenses out in the pre-snap (read) with what he sees.
Q. The team has won three of its last four games, and each win has been a little different. What has been the common thread through those victories?
A. Staying together as a team no matter what. The energy that we've had and played with whatever happens offensively or defensively (is consistent). The guys are pushing each other. There's continuity. You just see them working together and cheering for each other.
