[Fuller]

Where has the line improved from the first week?

“Oh, they’re getting better, you know. Really building a good brotherhood amongst each other, great communication, playing with better pad level, really paying attention to details of what we’re trying to teach them. So, it’s exciting.”

What about that forecast? Do you prepare differntly for heavy rain? Do you do drills?

“No, not really. I mean, you always take it into consideration. Everybody has the wet ball drill and different things like that like everybody practices. We’re keeping our eye on that, but you just plan. You don’t change your gameplan. You just go with your gameplan that you originally wanted to and stay with it. I’ve been in situations where you change everything because of the weather and it really messes with your mindset.”

Jay says you guys are a weatherproof team for the most part-

“Who said that?”

Jay said you were a weatherproof team for the most part. What does that- do you agree with that?

“What, weatherproof? Yeah, absolutely. Whatever Jay Harbaugh says, that’s what I agree with. Oh yeah, absolutely.”

Is that a testament to your versatility?

“I just think that what we do offensively, it’s- we can spread out, we can bring it in tight, we can throw the ball deep, we can throw it intermediate, we can run the toss play. We’ve got a lot of different things. We’re not one-dimensional, so we can adapt and change quickly for what people are giving us.”

Was it significant to have the BYU game when you did? A turnover-free, kind of smoothed out offensive game?

“Uh, it was positive. I think it’s something that you build on, and that’s what you want to be, turnover free. Absolutely. That’s what you’re striving every week to be, so that was good. Really good.”

[The rest after THE JUMP]

Who’s developing behind the five starters, and what do you like about the younger guys?

“You know, David Dawson’s doing a nice job. Tom Strobel came from the defensive line over to offense, he’s doing good. Juwann Bushell-Beatty’s getting better every week. They’re all really getting used to me, going through the spring and now they’re really progressing well and understanding what we want. So, they’re all doing a really, really nice job. Blake Bars, Kugler- we feel good and bright about our future.”

Jim was saying after the BYU game that he thought he had a better feel who his team was and the identity, that sort of thing. Do you feel the same way about your offense?

“Yeah. I think as you go through game to game you get used to everybody and how you communicate and how they handle adversity, and you get to know one another and that’s part of the process of trusting one another. The quicker you can trust, the quicker you have success, so I think that’s been a real big part of where we are today.”

Is it just a gradual thing that you built, or-?

“It’s gradual. It’s gradual. They get used to your coaching techniques and how you coach and how you prepare and what you demand from them, so I think it’s just them getting to know you and you get to know them. The quicker you can do that the quicker you have success.”

Was there a lot learned from the Utah game, just because that was the first time you saw each other on the field?

“Yeah. First time playing a game, so any time you’re in live-action like that you learn a lot from that. Absolutely. Every time you play a game you get better as a coach and player, and you file things away that work for you and file things away that didn’t work for you and always remember the things that did and didn’t and you learn from them. Every day you come in and you try to get better, and you’re trying to learn from your mistakes and pick out what worked well for you, so yeah. Every time you play a game, every time you practice, you’re trying to be better at what you do.”

Obviously Utah’s a pretty good team, but how much have your guys progressed regardless of the opponent in the things you see?

“They’ve progressed quite a bit. We always say that from game one to game two a football team makes its biggest strides and improvement, and they’ve done a good job from that point. And, you know, we’ve gotten better every week and they keep getting better every day and that’s what you strive to do as you build toward playing Maryland.”

Are you seeing Jake [Rudock] processing the offense better? It seemed like last week, especially in the first half-

“Yeah. You know, he was never with us in spring ball, and he comes in the summer and we can’t have any work with him so really the first time he’s hearing it is in training camp. We’ve all been in situations like this. Usually as you work, game two, game three, game four, that quarterback starts to understand what you want, and every game he’s getting better. We’re really pleased with his progress.”

Was there a point in camp where you realized, ‘Okay, he’s going to get this. He’s going to do what we want’?

“Yeah, there’s points at different times with everybody. I can’t pinpoint when that was, but that’s why he’s here. That’s why we like him.”

How difficult is it for a quarterback to face different fronts in terms of like a 3-4 to a 4-3 in terms of getting linemen to the right position for what they’re going against in the run game?

“I think any time, coverages, fronts, and what you teach game to game- but Jake is a veteran guy, so when you explain a 4-3 or a 3-4 to him, or Cover 2 or Cover 4 or Cover 6 or Cover 1 he understands it, because he’s a veteran guy who’s played and Iowa and coming here…in my mind it’s almost like working with a free agent quarterback. He comes in and he’s got a good foundation and elementary understanding and some graduate understanding of what you want and how to process it.”

How did De’Veon play yesterday on that sore ankle?

“He’s doing good. He’s progressing really, really well. He’s doing a nice job for us.”

Was one of your bigger surprises maybe the blocking you’re getting from the receivers?

“Yeah, Jedd Fisch has done an outstanding job with them. No, we knew they had a willingness to do it, you’ve just got to coach it. And what you coach is what you get, you know. I’m excited about the way they’re blocking, really excited to watch them. Guys coming back, Jehu coming and blocking back and Darboh and Grant Perry. I mean, they’re all doing a great job. It’s exciting. It takes all 11 guys when you’re running the football to block. It takes the quarterback to make it out or carry our his fake, and so they’ve really done a nice job of understanding that and doing what we ask them to do.”

Kyle Kalis said he had kind of a light bulb moment in the summer where he knew he needed to focus and kind of push himself to be great. Did you see a difference in him this fall from the spring?

“Uh, yeah. You see more of a confident Kyle, and understand what you want. But they all have. It’s just different times. As you’re dealing with them and once you understand and get to know them, but yeah, different times you see different things.”

What are your thoughts when you see a kid like Drake Johnson come back? Second knee injury and he’s worked himself back.

“Tough. Determined. A team guy. You know, really wants it. He’s a football guy. You know, he bleeds it; you can feel it in the gut. He loves the game of football. He’s very passionate about it. It’s exciting to see. It really is. He’s got some zip to him, doesn’t he? Pretty neat.”

You mentioned De’Veon, but is he practicing? Do you anticipate he’ll play on Saturday?

“He’s working through. He’s doing a nice job right now. Really feel good about it.”

It’s maybe more of talk of potential than what they can do right now, but what do you see from the two true freshman that makes you hopeful about their potential for the future?

“They’re doing a good job. They see the field well, get the feel of the blocking schemes. Tyrone Wheatley’s doing a really nice job with them. Good.”

Wheatley’s working with the offensive linemen?

“I thought you were talking-”

I was talking about Newsome and Runyan.

“They’re doing good. Grant Newsome’s got measureables; you look at him, he’s got long arms. He’s got what you want. They’re progressing really well. He’s a smart kid. comes from a good family. Dad’s an FBI agent- er, Secret Service agent, and he’s doing a really nice job.

“Runyan’s doing a good job. Nolan Ulizio’s doing a good job. You feel pleased about all three of those guys and where they’re headed. They’re growing up, you know. First year in college, and going through a transition time and when you see them they’re on task. Don’t really have that flinch of their eyes or they’re overwhelmed, which is nice. That’s really a credit to coach Harbaugh and the leadership he has and the players we have in our locker room. Good players and good people come here to the University of Michigan, so it’s pretty neat.”

Who took Tuley-Tillman’s spot on the two-deep? Newsome’s listed there.

“Yeah, Newsome’s in there, Blake Bars is in there, Juwann Bushell-Beatty could be in there.”