The latest installment of the weekly Assistant Coaches' Show, brought to you in a joint effort between WTKA (The Ticket 1050, Ann Arbor) and TheWolverine.com. Coach Andy Moeller joins Dennis Fithian this week to talk about his receivers, including the young freshmen, and much more ...

Here's Moeller:

On getting ready for Iowa: "We are getting ready to go. We have had two good practice days, Tuesday and Wednesday are our hardest days and we have had two good ones. Today [Thursday] we had another one, but we are gearing up and are ready to go. We have a big challenge here against Iowa, tough place to play, they are a very good team and a very good defensive team."

"Just like the ones before us, the competition is strong and we get to play another real good defensive team this week."

On the injury status of the offensive line: "It has been a unique year from that standpoint. To answer your question, no, but the guys who are in have to measure up. Several different guys in the lineup throughout the year, from that part of it, it has been a different year. That is part of it, you have to deal with it, the standard never changes and the guys who stand in have to measure up."

"As we have been going here we have been getting healthier. The news has been getting a little bit healthier and that is always a positive."

On players knowing two offensive line positions: "Absolutely, Rueben Riley is a great example of that. Rueben, throughout the spring started at guard for us, for six games, the Rose Bowl, and in the spring. He would practice for maybe two thirds of the day at tackle and that is proof of what you are seeing right there."

"He has had to move out and play tackle the last several weeks. You always have to be ready to go. You move guys around; early in the week we will change sides and play guys on the other side. When things happen guys have experience and it is not completely new to him when he is playing on Saturday."

On Iowa's small defensive tackles: "They are quicker, they are a little bit weight wise, wider than we have played. They are very active, they move a lot they twist a lot. Their ends are big on the outside and the strength of their defense is up front. Last year they had a very good defensive line, this year they do too. "

"They have some new guys in there [on the defensive line]. But then they have [Chad] Greenway and [Abdul] Hodge, arguably the best linebacker tandem in the country. They will be a very good defense, they have always played good defense. We expect them to be tough."

On stopping a stunt or a twist: "On earlier downs, or first and second down, more run oriented downs you get more movements. The whole line will slant to the tight end or to the boundary or they will bring an extra man. Those are the types of things you get in running situations."

"The twisting is when you have three or four down lineman who twist and exchange gaps on top of one another. One guy will veer inside and the other will loop outside. Those are more primarily in passing situations those you have to work hard in passing protection because either you zone them off or man them off and you might have to switch your blocking pattern."

"Those passing twists are a challenge and Iowa presents a tremendous challenge up there with their twisting."

"In the early downs, the ability to block movement, and get off of your combination blocks and get up to linebackers is key."

On influence blocking and "I think a lot of what you speak to are the blocking patterns depends on the type of back you have. We are fortunate that we have a great back who can cut back and can make guys miss when things aren't clean."

"We run different blocking patterns and not to get too technical we run a few different blocking patterns up front. One is isolation where the fullback blocks play side linebacker and we block back. "

"I think the one you are talking about it our gap scheme where we pull the backside guard and kick out and seal on the backside. Those are both inside runs, Mike [Hart] is a great inside runner, he is low, he can get through small cracks and he can make great cuts back there."

On Steve Stripling's influence on the offensive line: "I coached with Strip back at Indiana years ago when I was a graduate assistant coach. He is an excellent defensive coach and our defensive line has played well. I think our defensive line; we go against them every day. "

"The movement they do, no doubt, blocking Alan Branch, and blocking Gabe [Watson], and blocking LaMarr [Woodley] or trying to block them. We do that every Tuesday and Wednesday during practice."

On blocking schemes for draw plays: "To answer the draw question, the scheme is the same for the quarterback and the running back. The running back is usually the lead back in the quarterback draw so you get an extra blocker."

On who is red shirting: "We had five freshman come in and we are planning on red shirting all of them. We have up to this point, and I am very confident in that this year."

On the freshman: "[Cory] Zirbel is a tackle. [Tim] McAvoy is a great athlete who is trying to get bigger. Zirbel has great size out at tackle. David Moosman is about 295 pounds, he is about 6-4, he will be an inside guy for us. Justin Schifano is a big guy, he is about 6-3 and a half, about 310 pounds and he really moves well. Mark Ortmann is going to be a tackle for us, on the left side, he is 6-6 and 285 pounds and he is moving up there."

"They are all excellent prospects because they are smart kids and they can all move well. As they get older, their size and their strength gets bigger their futures will be bright."

On going to deeper passes later against Penn State: "We really started off in the first quarter, we were not on top of our game. The great thing about that game was as it went on, we got better, we protected better. They have Tamba Hali, a great defensive front and early they got to us. "

"We gave up two sacks. As the game went on, we ran the ball better and when you run the ball better you have a team that has to be concerned about the pass. It allows you to hang in there better on pass protection."

"Rueben Riley really took a step forward. He was challenged with the best end we had played up to that point and he played well. He is a little banged up and he is hanging in there and we need him to continue to play."

On the shotgun: "I think it comes down to your passing game. When you look at our passing game, they are rhythm throws, they are timing throws, and they are based on the quarterback's footwork."

"We go to the shotgun and Adam [Kraus] is capable of doing that as is Mark Bihl. That really just comes down to gameplan. It comes down to Terry Malone and coach Scot Loeffler."

"Communication is a problem. You have to be keying the football, the tackles usually cannot hear the count. In the shotgun, all five are further from the football. No doubt, when you are on the road, the noise is a factor you have to work on. Today we had the music blaring, you have to perform under pressure."

On this week's practice: "I think we prepared well, guys have been into it and this time of the year it becomes a grind. The kids are in midterms this week and it is taxing. They have done a great job."

On Ann Arbor Pioneer versus Huron: "I know that is the game of the season for both teams. It used to be on both teams home field [when the teams shared a field]. It is a great rivalry, obviously the best one here in Ann Arbor, and I am sure it will be a good game."

On the keys for the offensive line: "First we have to eliminate things that beat yourself. The crowd noise, playing on the road, staying focused, pre-snap penalties."

"You have to be patient running the football. They play the run very well, very sound, fundamental; this is not a team that gives up big runs. The patience of staying after it, so you have to stay after the run game."

"We are going to throw the ball, that is what we do. We have to protect Chad Henne."

On the draining of the fourth quarter: "It is when you get in those situations, but there is always a second wind. The game is on the line; there is a shot of adrenaline. The one thing we have here in our offense is we are always in a game. We feel we are always in a position, last week speaks to that, it was fantastic but we have to let that go and move on and it won't mean anything if we don't take care of business in Iowa City."