[Fuller]

Things Discussed

• The offensive line played well
• Some insight into Shea Patterson's performance
• Injury updates on Aubrey Solomon and Lawrence Marshall
• A special teams question!

[After THE JUMP: Shea Patterson hype, except it actually happened in a game]

 

Coach, can you talk about the performance of your offensive line, both running game and the passing game?

 

“Yes. I thought they played really good. Tip of the cap every time the running game goes over 300 yards. Pass protection was really good. Thought they were sound, really making the right calls, getting on the right people, and that was a phase that looked good — very good — today. Some of the longer drop back throws, there was a nice, clean pocket there. Good start to finish.”

 

Coach, how much did Ben Mason have to do with that, and was there a concentrated effort to get him on the field a little bit more in this game?

 

“Always, Ben worked in there good. Again, yeah, anytime you rush for over 300 yards, your fullback’s gonna get a good amount of credit as well. Karan (Higdon) was running really well. Put up a lot of yards in the first half. And Chris Evans, his touchdown run, I thought was a heck of a play. Safety dove in there low and he reacted well, stepped out of it, and took it the distance.”

 

Jim, Noah Furbush, all over the field today. Can you just talk about his performance? Looked like you guys were disguising him, decoying him when he dropped back into coverage for that interception. What did Noah bring to this defense today and what’d you see out of him?

 

“Well, making the big play on the interception. He was really sound on the edge. Played the run game really well. He had a big tight end, fullbacks, but he was able to condense the edge. I thought he played a really good game. Khaleke Hudson played extremely well. Corners played really well, David (Long) and Brandon (Watson) and Lavert (Hill). Also, Devin Bush, I mean, he was flying around again. His speed was evident all game long. Rashan (Gary) put in a full day’s work and really had a lot of success stopping the run. Good, concerted effort there.”

 

Jim … did you feel like you were able to add more layers and elements to the offense today, and Shea (Patterson) looked more and more comfortable. Did you feel that way right from the start?

 

“Yeah, I thought we played well, start to finish. The ballgame — I thought Shea played really well again. He made some big time plays. Couple throws he made out of the pocket, or on the dead run, getting out of trouble. Those were big-time plays. Thought he was accurate, really accurate again. Playing cool. And making tight-window throws. Second week in a row, so thought he was more in the (groove), more in charge, and look to expand that next week. Take another step next week. He’s ascending. Playing really well.”

 

Is it nice to see that the guys came to work? The two players (Karan Higdon and Shea Patterson) talked about how they came to work this week focused and ready to change things around from last week. Did you notice a big mindset from the guys  this week coming to put in the work necessary to have a dominating outing like you did today?

 

“No question about it, the week of practice was really good. Yeah, there was a feeling everybody wanted to get rid of, and took nothing for granted. Worked really hard all week and that’s where we wanna be as a football team. One week at a time, put in the work, and play start to finish. Another thing, I think our team started faster, too, in this ballgame. And really played good. Really played their wits about them. Special teams was another really great contribution from the special teams. Blocked punt, Will Hart, thought he did a really good job punting the football. Jake Moody, there was a pretty stiff wind down there and we were kicking into the wind in that first quarter. He was putting those balls into the end zone for touchbacks, into the stiff wind, so excited about our freshman kicker. So, sound all the way on the teams, kickoff coverage was really good. We covered. Gave us great field position. Fourth-down stops out of our defense — we had a lot of things going our way today.”

 

Coach, your thoughts on Dylan McCaffrey’s play in the second week and the ability to get younger guys like Aidan Hutchinson out on the field?

 

“Yeah, tremendous on both things. Dylan, he’s got a real coolness about him when he’s out there playing. I see it on the sideline when I‘m calling the plays and watching him execute was good. Nice to see. A lot of firsts. Dylan’s first touchdown pass. Donovan (Peoples-Jones’) first touchdown reception, Nico (Collins’) first touchdown reception. That was actually surprising, when you realize how young Donovan Peoples-Jones is, and Nico. (Jake) McCurry getting a touchdown reception was really good as well. So yeah, to see all those guys play. Dwumfour — I thought Mike Dwumfour played really good when he was in there as well. Brad Hawkins got some more good reps and played well. Good to see our young offensive linemen get snaps, and they did, so to answer your questions, really good for both things. Get a lot of guys out there playing. I think 74 players played in the game, and did things, too, while they were out there. Not just got in the game, but acquitted themselves well. Lot to build on there.”

 

Coach, a little thinner on the interior defensive line, do you have any updates on Lawrence (Marshall) and Aubrey (Solomon)?

 

“Yeah, they were both out, working through something this week, and we’ll see when they’ll be back but we should get them back sooner rather than later.”

 

Coach, just talk about Jake Moody’s performance today, kicking-wise

 

“Yeah, just did. I was really impressed. Great to see the local guy — local Northville guy do good. I like Jake a lot. He’s another cool customer. There was a stiff wind down there, and he was kicking into it. First quarter, I think he had three kickoffs, and they returned one and we covered really well, to about the 12 I think. And kicking touchbacks into a strong wind, so, he’s got a strong leg. And excited to see him go out there and do well, again, for the second week in a row.”

 

You mentioned earlier with some of the tight windows Shea put the ball. The one to Oliver (Martin) on the sideline, the one to Donovan in the back of the end zone. Those are windows — is that the stuff you saw in camp, and that stuff that just kind of, you can’t teach him how to do, that’s just him making the play?

 

“Yeah, that’s really having the feel, the depth perception, the ability to throw different types of passes. That was a dead sprint on the run to Oliver — and really nice catch by Oliver Martin. He stayed with the route the entire way, came back, did a great job on the sideline. Drilled it in there, on the run, to his left, that’s — check, check, check, that’s plus, plus, plus. And then the throw to Donovan was really good. That wasn’t his first read, and that was a long throw. One sideline all the way to the back end zone, back corner of the end zone, and that one had to require some touch on it. But it had to get up and down quick before Donovan got out of bounds. That’s pretty high-level stuff.”

 

Jim, when Shea was in here, he was talking about running out through the tunnel for the first time as a Michigan player. It’s rare a guy as old as him is doing it for the first time. Did you have any discussions with him prior to that about what that moment was gonna be, or all that?

 

“Yes, had several discussions with him about running out of the tunnel. From our very first conversation, and then over the last months. And he keeps bringing that up — first time he got in the stadium for practice, we had in there, he pointed out where he saw his first game. And I was running behind him coming out of the tunnel. I wanted to kinda see what he was gonna do, and he touched the banner. He looked like he kinda went up and did kinda the reverse-dunk, getting some sugar on the flakes, going up and touching the banner. That was neat. I wanted to see that. And it’s awesome that it means something to somebody.”

 

Jim, how do you feel like the offensive line fared this week compared to last week?

 

“Who?”

 

The offensive line

 

“Yeah, I thought they — I thought they played good last week. And I thought it was an improvement. They took another step this week as well. Just calls, getting on the right guys, not turning anybody loose in protection. Giving the quarterback a chance to step up in the pocket and feel some space around him, just collapsing. Blocked really well in the run game, Hat on a hat. Just good, sound, fundamental football. I was impressed. Good to see a lot of guys get in the game.”

 

Coach, over here, on your left. Kind of a similar question — what do you attribute the improvement in the run game this week to?

 

“The guys, the players offensively, they’re just doing their skill. Doing what they’re — being confident in what they’re doing and executing it through a week of practice. That was about 90 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday and nobody was flinching or asking to come out. It was good. It was just, not taking anything for granted, wanting to improve and going out there and playing — starting fast, playing from start to finish. Thought we really did that today, in all phases. That’s why I think the offensive line also made a jump. I think they have the ability to get better and better, I think we do, as a football team, as well.”

 

Jim, in terms of Shea’s ability to improvise and read the field — it looks like he did that pretty well today — what did you see out of him, in terms of just the way he was able to use the field? I think he hit five receivers in the first quarter, for his first five passes, all to different guys. What did you see out of him?

 

“You brought up a really good point, I think he’s got really good vision on the field. I think that’s something I always — I’m asking him all the time just, ‘How are you seeing things? What are you seeing?’ It was really good, the throw to Donovan probably stands out in my mind as the one that really puts an exclamation point on it, because it looked like a zero blitz — the all-out blitz, man coverage, no free safety — to start the play. And we thought we had really the right play called, we were bringing Nico in from the outside receiver position from the boundary. And thought that was gonna be where the ball would go. And, as the play developed, I saw a linebacker drop off into that space. For him to calculate that, and then change the channel — if I was playing quarterback, that’s where I’d have been going with the ball, reading the initial coverage. To change the channel, and go to the corner, and throw it to Donovan — make that split-second decision and then make that accurate of a throw — I mean, you’re really seeing things well.”

 

What did it mean to you and the team, you think, to have Brenda Tracy back as an honorary captain?

 

“Oh, it meant so much. We all learned so much from Brenda. I did personally. I knew all of our guys did. She’s amazing. Her story is amazing, her work is amazing. What she’s accomplishing is amazing. And nothing can beat, the guys really appreciate her. ANd just the level of adversity, but how she’s — what she’s done with her life, you know, and how much she’s impacting anybody that’ll listen. … Honor to have her on our sideline.