Postgame Quotes: Utah 26, Michigan 10
9/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Michigan Head Coach Brady Hoke
On the game in general ... "Obviously, we're very disappointed in the outcome of the game. I thought our kids came out very ready to play. I thought they demonstrated that the first drive down the field, and I think the defense, what they did early in the football game was indicative of how they prepared and how they practiced and how they got ready to play the game.
"I think, obviously, you have a punt return against you for a touchdown, anything in a kicking game is momentum, and we had some momentum and then we gave up the touchdown on the punt return, which is very disappointing. You look at it from the standpoint of taking care of the football, you know? We've talked a lot about that. Probably more than I'd like to or you would like to talk about it, but that's one thing we've got to do a better job of. That's constantly coached, and we talk about it. Sometimes those things happen, and we've got to make sure we're going back to work, working hard on it, and we can't have that happen through the Big Ten season.
"We talked as a team afterwards about what we need to do. I reminded them of the 1998 team, which was a team that went to Notre Dame, I was part of that team, and lost, and lost here at home against Syracuse, then went off and won the Big Ten or part of the Big Ten championship. Those goals, our goals are all out there. I do believe we have a team that can do that. Now you can't play the way you did today and do that. We realize that. But we've got a bunch of guys in that locker room who every day work their tails off and are supportive and believe in each other."
On what he sees in the team to believe U-M can contend in the Big Ten this year ... "That's a great question, but I think the one thing that I have is I'm with this group of young men every day. These kids, I know how they go to work. There are things that we did very well today. We did some things not as well as we needed to, and we've got to improve on that. We've got to go back to work, and that starts with me as the head football coach. It starts with the assistants, everyone who is in Schembechler Hall. We've got to do a better job for those kids."
On the second-half turnovers and the need to be able to finish ... "Yeah, and there is no question that that's one thing. We start a drive, we have some success with it, we get a sack, so you're behind the sticks again. You don't like to play offense that way. We had a penalty that put us back. So we've just got to finish those drives. First drive of the game really, the execution and what was going on was good, but we settled for three points. It was a great kick by Matt (Wile). It was good to see it from him, obviously, but we want seven points, not three points."
On the plan for the quarterback moving forward ... "I think number one it's way too early for me to assess that until Doug (Nussmeier) and myself look at the tape. One thing I can tell you is sometimes it's good for the guy to come out and just watch and see what he can see from the sidelines. So there are not going to be any answers to that tonight. We'll compete and challenge like we have every day, and then we'll have a starting quarterback against Minnesota."
On not reaching the red zone with the offense in the two losses ... "I don't think there has to be an overhaul. I think it's the execution, the little things that we need to do. Again, that starts here. We've got to do a better job with that part of it. I have a lot of faith in those guys who are out there on the field."
On Utah's first drive of the second half ... "I wish I could tell you exactly what happened. We were very disappointed in that drive though. I mean, that's not the way we wanted to start the second half. The couple under routes on third down, we didn't execute as well defensively as we needed to. I think the pace on one play we had just gotten set, and we weren't all the way where we needed to be, but that drive bothers us and bothers me."
On what the team did during the 2.5-hour delay and the goal coming out to finish the game ... "Well, the goal is to win. So that's why we come back out, to compete. In the locker room, I think, sometimes, and we had the one a couple years ago with Western Michigan, I think we went back out and played and then came back in. So you have a little bit of an idea about it. But this was a long one.
"We fed the kids a little bit. They ate some stuff that's good for them so that they can go out and play. They relaxed. They all have iPads these days, so some of them relaxed and especially when we knew it was going to be an hour and a half, maybe two hours. Then we came together. We had a great plan for warm-ups and what we did there, and really, they were excited to get back on the field."
On any particular area that stands out ... "I think the ball security issues are probably our biggest issue when you look at it overall. I think in the secondary, Jourdan Lewis played his tail off today. He may have played his best game. If you don't write about the play he made to keep them out of the end zone, then you don't know anything about the game, because that effort that he made from all the way across the field, I can remember Woody Hankins did that down in Ohio in 1996. Kept them to a field goal, and that was a 13-9 game. We show that clip every year of a backside corner doing that, and that's what he did."
On Willie Henry's interception ... "You know, Willie will tell you he probably diagnosed it, but I think Willie popped out, did a nice job, got his hands up. Willie's a pretty athletic 305-pounder. It was a good football play. I don't know what else to say about it. He made a good football play, and that's what you talk about if you're not to the quarterback -- get your hand up. And he got his hand up and did a nice job."
On how concerning pass protection is ... "I thought our quarterbacks stepped up. You know, sometimes on pass protection, when the ends are going up the field, sometimes you feel like, boy, they're getting closer. But there was a pocket in there the majority of the time. Not all the time. Obviously, when you have four sacks you're not excited about it totally, but I thought there were some good things in the protection, and Devin (Gardner) had a chance and Shane (Morris) had a chance to step up."
On his level of concern with the offense right now ... "I'm concerned about everything we're doing. Do we want to be better offensively? Yeah, no question. Do we want to score points? That's part of the game and what we want to do. So am I concerned? We need to play better. We've got to make sure we execute better."
U-M Senior/Junior Offensive Lineman Jack Miller
On the frustration of not getting in the end zone or the red zone ... "It is frustrating. We are obviously disappointed. It wasn't how we wanted to play today, to execute. We have to get better; there is no doubt about it."
On how to change the little things that keep adding up ... "I don't know if I have all the answers. I think the thing we know is that we can go to work every day, practice hard and prepare the best that we can. If we do that, we can let the chips fall where they may and see what happens. We are just focused on doing our best, and hopefully those things will start to piece together for us."
On if everyone is confident that the answers are out there ... "I think there is a lot of potential on this team, and there is a lot of season left. Guys haven't lost faith at all.
On the mood in the locker room ... "Disappointed. But our goal of a Big Ten championship is still out there, so no one has lost the faith. We are going to keep going to work and strive for that goal."
U-M Senior Defensive End Brennen Beyer
On how hard it is to stay focused during the weather delay ... "You don't have to be really intensely focused, but you have to keep in mind that you are going back out there, and you have a job to do. I think that we were able to do that as a team."
On the emotion of a loss ... "Any loss is not leaving a good taste in my mouth. Losing at home hurts, that is always a downer. A loss is a loss, and it is always going to hurt."
On what he is going to do to bounce back from this ... "We are going to stick together as a team. We have Big Ten play coming up, so we still have that opportunity out right in front of us. We are going to come to work tomorrow and go as hard as we can. We will take a hard look at the film and try to get every guy on defense better. We are going to bounce back and stick together as a team."
U-M Fifth-Year Senior Linebacker Jake Ryan
On waiting during the rain delay ... "It was weird. Probably one of the weirdest things that has happened to me during my whole entire football career. It was weird getting back out there and having no one there. "
On the flow of the game ... "We have our offense's back whenever we can take it. It's about execution. We didn't execute as well as we needed to, we didn't create turnovers as a defense, and that is what we need to do. You just have to get back to that and make your corrections."
On what the defense did well ... "We filled gaps well today. I have to give credit to Matt Godin, Ryan Glasgow, Bryan Mone and Willie Henry. They did a spectacular job taking guys up and creating holes. That's huge for us and huge for the linebacking core because we just have to go downhill and hit the ball. They did great, and I have to give them all the credit in the world."
On the team's mental state ... "We just have to keep our heads up. It's tough, but like I said before, our goal is still out there. That Big Ten championship is still out there. We just have to keep making correction. If there were guys hanging their heads, we would tell them to keep it up. We can't have that negative energy brought into the locker room."
Utah Head Coach Kyle Whittingham
On the game ... "It was a good road win for us, which have been hard to come by the last few years, so it was good to get a road win. [Our] defense played their tails off. One field goal is what they yielded. The touchdown was obviously on the pick six. I'm very proud of the defensive effort. [Our] offense never really got quite on track. But we did enough to put 26 points on the board, or I guess 19 with the punt return for a touchdown. We took care of the football other than the one interception. That was only turnover of the day, offensively. We were able to take the ball away four times for a plus three [turnover margin], which I think week after week if you win the turnover margin your chances of winning are astronomical. We were plus three, and that was probably the biggest difference in the game."
On the key to stopping Michigan's drives once they crossed into Utah territory ... "The turnovers were timely. I'm not sure how many of those turnovers occurred in that particular field position, but that obviously played into it. Getting out of the key third-down situations. I can't remember how many times they went for it on fourth down. But getting stops in a timely fashion. We're not a bend-but-don't-break defense, but when you give up a little bit, they were just at 300 [yards], 308 yards, that's a pretty good afternoon for your defense. The pass defense was much improved. They we're less than 50 percent throwing the football in completion percentage. We had three picks and [allowed] no touchdowns. That was great to see the pass defense step up."
On how they handled the weather delay ... "That was an interesting two hours, a little over two hours. We went in not knowing whether it was going to be 10 minutes or four hours, two hours or never finished. We didn't know what the situation was going to be. We kept our guys focused, got some nutrition in them and fed them. We got the pads off them. We had them lay down, relax. We've got a sports scientist that worked closely with us and told us to get them up and walk around every 20 minutes or so and then lay back down on their backs. We just followed his protocol and but really it's all up here [in your head]. You can do all that stuf,f but it's what's here [in your head] and here [in your heart]. They responded very well and came out and finished the game the way it's supposed to be finished."
On the defensive effort and containing Devin Funchess ... "(Gionni Paul) kept showing up as did Tevin Carter. Tevin Carter played really well at first glance. We have to watch the tape. There's still I'm sure mistakes that we've gotta clean up. But having Gionni in there, he's a playmaker, and that's exactly what he does in practice. He came away with an interception. He's the one that came up with that fumble recovery at the end there. He has a knack for turning the ball over. That's exactly what this defense needs. You see (Brian) Blechen get a pick as well as Tevin. (Devin) Funchess got some yards and got some catches, but Dominique Hatfield was on him a great deal of the time and a great deal of the time in man coverage with no help. He did a very good job."
Utah Junior Linebacker Jared Norris
On the big win and the 3-0 start ... "We prepared our butts off. We had two weeks to prepare for this game. This is a big game; it's a Big Ten team that was ranked in the top 25 at the beginning of the season. The biggest thing was that we couldn't take them lightly when we came out, and I feel like as a defense once we started hitting them a little bit, it didn't stop. Our offense ended up putting points on the board and controlling the football."
On how the fourth-down play unfolded ... "I couldn't tell you. I saw him running out, and I have to give credit to Marcus Williams because he made him cut back, so I could lay the hit on him and make the play. If it wasn't for my teammate, I would have never made that play."
On playing on the road this year compared to last year ... "First off, we have a lot of guys returning who have experienced those road trips. We have a lot more trust for each other on the field. I can feel it being more of a brotherhood already only three games into the season. I think we're winning games because everyone has each other's back and everybody knows where they need to be. If somebody is out of place, then you have your brother that is going to make up for you. Home or away, I don't think it will matter this season. It's all about the trust we have in each other."
Utah Junior Linebacker Gionni Paul
On playing for the first time in two years ... "It was fun. I feel like we're a family, and I've never felt nothing like it. It was a great win, and I'm happy and blessed to be here."
On Jason Whittingham not being able to play this week ... "Jason still traveled with us, and he is a leader on the field and off the field. For us playing without him, it was just like us playing with him. He was right there by our side and helping us out."
On getting an interception ... "As you know, I didn't play last season. We focused mainly on making turnovers as a defense and playing fast and physical. We worked on ball drills, interception drills, making forced fumbles, and it paid off in the game."
Utah Senior Wide Receiver Kaelin Clay
On his touchdown and how the year is unfolding ... "As far as the touchdown, I just went out there and trusted the special teams unit on the field. I did what the coaches brought me here to do, and that's make plays. As far as the season, it's going great. We're 3-0, and my accomplishments don't mean anything. I'm a team guy, and I want to win, so that's all that matters."
Utah Senior Defensive Back Brian Belchen
On getting the first interception of the game ... "It's something we've been doing a lot of drills for in practice. Our coaches tell us that it's going to happen and when it does, they will keep coming. It takes a lucky tip to get the first one. Then after that, it seemed like our guys were hungry for the ball and anticipating the passes and capitalizing."
On the moment when the team displayed the turnaround from last season ... "I think it was when Kaelin returned the punt for a touchdown. They were playing us tough, and we were playing them tough, and it was a huge momentum change. All week, we knew this was going to be our night. We practiced like there was no other option and tonight, the preparation paid off.
On the rain delay ... "It was restless. We were in this little locker room eating snacks, stretching, listening to music. Coach would update us every 15 minutes about when we could start again. Then they said 30 minutes until we're out there, and five minutes later they were kicking us out the door back to the field. We tried to stay loose and relax, but when we got back out there we knew we had seven minutes left to finish the game."
Utah Senior Wide Receiver Dres Anderson
On the third-quarter touchdown and all three phases of the game ... "All three phases started kicking in. Our defense was doing great all game. Kaelin did great along with the punt return team. In the third quarter, the offense got everything going, and we started getting first downs. When you start getting first downs, everything starts to roll after that."
On halftime adjustments ... "Get that first down and keep pushing the tempo. We could tell with the tempo that it was wearing them down because that is what we did at the end of the second quarter. We knew coming into the third quarter that we had to do the same thing, so we did, and it was successful."
On the return of Travis Wilson in the second half ... "Travis has been through a lot, and I knew that wasn't going to hold him back. It was just a little nose bleed. He came back and gave it his all. He did great."
