[Fuller/MGoBlog]

Jabrill Peppers and Jourdan Lewis

Jabrill, can you give us a sense of what it feels like on that defense to lead this team in, in this case, three consecutive shutouts? What’s the atmosphere on that defense right now?

“You know, there’s still room for improvement. We just come in time in and time out with a great gameplan. It’s up to us to execute. We have a lot of talented guys who take pride in what they do, and when you have a group of 11 guys that are all doing their job and hungry to do their job then the sky’s the limit for us.

“We’re not going to pat ourselves on the back and all that other stuff. It’s time to go now. We’re getting into the guy of our schedule and we still have to improve on a lot, so that’s how we look at it. Just get in the film room tomorrow and try to correct the mistakes and take it one game at a time.”

Jourdan, take us through the pick and what happened. We couldn’t see the ball. Did he bobble it or did you strip it from him?

“Oh no, I took it from him. He had the ball and I guess he was trying to brace his fall and I snatched it out of his hands and I didn’t even know I had it. It was on my leg, so as soon as I saw it on my leg I just started hitting it.”

Did you guys hear the crowd chanting “Defense! Defense!”? I know you said you’ve got more to improve, but to get a third straight shutout and to have that feeling, isn’t there some type of emotion coming right now from what you guys are doing?

JP: “I wouldn’t say any emotion. This is what we expect to do. We work extremely hard, our coaches work extremely hard gameplanning and letting us know what they like to do out of said personnel on first, second, third down so when we’re out there we just keep that in mind and do what we’re coached to do to the best of our ability.”

Jabrill, that last drive in the fourth quarter, all the starters are out there and you guys are fired up. How important was finishing that third straight shutout?

“You know, we really don’t think about shutouts when we’re out there. We really just try to limit them to as much as possible. When we’re out there we don’ want to give them anything, and if a shutout is the byproduct of that then so be it but when we’re out there we’re just concentrating on three and outs, constant three and outs, getting off the field, let our offense give us a break and put up some points or let us put up some points. We don’t really hang our hats on a shutout but if that’s a byproduct of our hard work and what we gameplan for then so be it.”

[More after THE JUMP]

I think you know who is next on the schedule. Your first thoughts on Michigan State coming up?

JP: “You know, they’re a good team but we’re just trying to enjoy this win right now, and when we come in tomorrow we’ll watch the film and start the gameplan process.”

JL: “Yeah, we haven’t seen film on them yet. I know they’re a good team- they’re a great team, actually- so just enjoy this win, like Jabrill said.”

Talk about what a team victory this was, to score on offense, defense, and special teams and what that does for the momentum and camaraderie you guys have.

JL: “Honestly, it’s expected. That excellence is expected from all our coaches: from coach Baxter on special teams, from coach Durkin on the defensive side of the ball…offense, their job is to score points and it’s just expected. We have to be great. That’s the standard around here.”

They were averaging 240 yards rushing per game. Obviously you guys held Justin Jackson. What did you guys do defensively to keep them so bottled up?

JP: “That was one of the statements we wanted to make. I guess they were first in the Big Ten in rushing and we were I guess first in the Big Ten against rushing and we just wanted to come out here and make a statement. We knew they were going to try and run the ball early and we just wanted to fluster them, try to get vertical. The defensive line did a great job all game. The linebackers did a great job of fitting and it just opened things up for us to make tackles back there in that secondary, so it’s all a collective effort and we definitely took it personal to come out and make a statement against the run.”

Jourdan, could you describe where your confidence is at right now?

“Confidence? Um…it’s about the same. You can’t think about the play that you had before, you know. You’ve got to keep playing and, like you said, we have a big team coming up next week so you can’t focus on what you did in the past. You’ve got to focus on what’s coming up.”

Jabrill, could you explain how good Jourdan’s playing right now?

“Jourdan’s the best corner in the country. That makes everybody’s job a lot easier. When you’ve got a guy out there who’s going to shut down half the field, that makes all of our jobs easy, so we- it’s expected from him. It’s not like, ‘Oh, good job, Jourdan.’ We expect that from Jourdan. So, Jourdan inspires me to play better, along with Channing and Jeremy and the whole secondary. We just feed off each other and try to just make as many plays as we possibly can.”

Jabrill, you were explaining that you were just sitting next to the best defensive player in the country-

“Absolutely.”

My question to follow up on that is what does it feel like for you personally to know that you have him on that defense? What does his work do with you and your work and how do you get better with that?

“It just inspires me to be better as far as technique, as far as his knowledge of the game. It’s just…you know, I like to learn from the guys around me. They all make me a better player, but specifically him.

“I definitely feed off him, and when he’s having a good game I try to stick my face in there and make a couple plays, too. When you’ve got a guy who shuts down a whole side of the field you know they’re going to come at you. They can’t go over there, so it definitely makes my job a lot more exciting.”

Jourdan, Jabrill said you’re not necessarily playing for shutouts but just to go out and play but three shutouts in a row, the numbers you’ve put up defensively are pretty staggering and it must have meant something to have all the starters out there at the end. What do you guys think of the defensive stats you guys are putting up?

“It’s the expectation. It’s what coach Durkin wants. That’s what coach Durkin preaches every single time is get the ball back. Everything is an opportunity, so when we were out there it was an opportunity to get a shutout. Honestly, it’s just the standard.”

Jabrill, do you think you’ll end up playing offense this season, and do you want to?

“I can’t really speak on that. Right now I’m just trying to get my defensive assignments down pat. You know, they’re moving me around a lot so I’m just mainly trying to learn the playbook and learn different positions so wherever I’m at I can play to the best of my ability.

“The way I think about it is if we get three and outs I get another chance to touch the ball back there on punt return. They’re not going to kick it off to us unless they kick it off in the first quarter or after the half. That’s how I look at it. I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m not going to get any kick returns so let’s keep getting three and outs so I can try and get a punt return and somehow get the ball in my hands.

“I’m not really concerned with playing offense. I’m just mainly worried about getting better and improving with the guys on defense and continue to gell and continue to just keep getting better and better, because you guys see the shutouts but you guys aren’t in there in the film room when we’re making countless mistakes that get covered up by our effort. That’s what it all comes down to: try to play as perfect as possible and just keep getting better.”

Jabrill, the buzz early in the week was they were going to try and kick away from you, so they kicked to Jehu on that first play. Talk-

“Big mistake. Big mistake! Jehu’s the top guy with speed on the team, and I saw the way he lined the tee up and the way he angled it so I told Jehu, I’m like, ‘Okay Jehu, it’s coming to you. Just follow me, I’ve got your block.’ and they kicked it off to him.

“He did a great job of setting the coverage. He hit it. The guys on the special teams unit did a great job of springing him free and getting the proper alignment, leverage and keeping it and the touchdown was a byproduct. I think that definitely set the tempo for the game. That definitely sparked everything, to run a kickoff back on the opening kickoff. That definitely sends a statement to the other team.”