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 Erik Campbell joins Dennis Fithian this week to talk about his receivers, including the young freshmen, and much more ...

Here's Campbell:

On the level of intensity in practice: "It is a big game. When you have a big game, the level of intensity has to pick up a little bit. It will be an exciting game, they are coming in here. What we are going to try to do is win. However the game goes, we will try to take what they give us. You know I can't give up the game plan over the air."

On the wide receivers: "Guys have been working hard, and playing well. The surprises would have to be the two newcomers to the group, Antonio Bass and Mario Manningham. Those are probably the two biggest surprises we have.

"Steve [Breaston], Jason [Avant], and Carl [Tabb], the veteran guys, you expect them to go out every week and play well. But the new guys have come in, played well and have contributed to the team so far."

On throwing the bomb: "It is a shot play. When you take a shot like that, you are going to hit some. When you throw the ball like that, that far down the field, your percentages go down. Sometimes you are going to make it and sometimes you won't.

"Steve is finally back feeling better, he is playing better and he is playing faster so those things come into play right now. Early in the season, he dropped a couple but it [is not] over, keep feeding him and soon you are going to connect."

On getting continuity between wide receiver and quarterback: "Repetitions. Going over it time after time after time. It is eventually going to click. Chad [Henne] is a talented quarterback and we have a talented receiving corps and tight ends.

"Sometimes you have some drops in there but that's the good thing about the collegiate level. You can keep fighting every week and you can keep working as the time goes on."

On how close Michigan is to be atop the Big Ten: "That's just how the season has been, we are one or two plays away from a different outcome in any game. You have to keep going after it, you have to keep shooting for it. You just have to keep going after it and it will click. Sooner or later you are going to make a big play and score a touchdown in the running game or passing game."

On the strengths of the wide receivers: "Their first strength is catching the football. These guys do a great job of catching the football, and that is the most important and best strength they have right now. Hopefully they can keep that going through the entire season.

"I think right now the strength is catching the ball, and making plays after the catch."

On the freshman receivers: "We are surprised, but as a freshman coming in you never know. You know you recruited great players but you do not know until you get into games on Saturday. These guys have matured and played well on Saturday, that is the big surprise.

"Usually, freshmen make a lot of mistakes, get big eyed and forget how to catch a ball or how to run routes. These guys came in and started to play like veterans and after the first week they were ready to roll. They have been doing a great job for us.

"Going into the season, you would never have known that Mario would have the amount of catches or touchdowns he has now. Most of the time freshmen don't get the ball, maybe they do three or four times a year. But as you get older you do … these freshman are getting a chance to handle the football."

On Jason Avant: "Jason is a senior and he is playing very well for us right now. He has been very productive and Jason is a great competitor so he goes out there and works hard and works hard in practice every day. In the game he is going to give it his all and that is the type of guy Jason is, he is going to give it his all.

"He is in the captain role and he is trying to lead this team. Nothing is easy, but he is a guy who can handle that pressure, put it on his shoulders and he is out there and is doing a great job for us."

On the season thus far: "The biggest thing is to come out and compete every game. Come out in every game and compete hard, practice hard and things will happen. There is no reason to panic or anything because if you look at every game we have played so far we have fought hard to the last play of every game.

"We have come down the last second of the Big Ten games and you look at the film and you see that guys are working hard and trying hard so sometimes good things will happen."

On the guys more focused this week: "Oh absolutely, after a loss you better be ready to get back on the field as soon as you can. They are very excited right now."

On the tight ends: "Coach Malone works with the tight ends, he works with those guys every day and he has no problem with that."

On Adrian Arrington: "He doesn't like being on the sideline. As an athlete, as a competitor you never like being on the sideline. Right now he is doing well, he is rehabbing and doing what he needs to do to get ready to make his debut back on the field. He is getting ready to go."

On Doug Dutch: "In reality, he is a freshman. He is a red-shirt freshman so this is his first time touching the field. He has been developing every day so like I said, every game is new to him. Hopefully he can keep progressing like he is progressing and keep making plays for us."

On Carl Tabb: "When you are a senior, you have been around here and you know what it takes. Carl has done an outstanding job for us and that is what I expected him to do. To be able to come in and play, if you play any snap in the game, you are a starter so all the guys are considered starters because you never know when your number could be called.

"Carl has stepped in and done an outstanding job for us, made plays, and really did a great job in the Michigan State game, when he got his first real chance to start. I am looking forward to seeing him every Saturday."

On Penn State's defense: "It is a very good defense. They have no weaknesses. Great line up front, great line backing corps and of course an all veteran secondary. Their secondary is all seniors and they have been playing well.

"We have been able to watch them through the years as they were developing and overall they are off to a great start."

On Carl Tabb: "He is very observant. Carl is an outstanding player in all phases of the game and also is an outstanding person. A lot of times things go unnoticed, but special teams he has done a great job.

"That is what makes him a great person. He has had to do some dirty work without the football. He has caught several people on the kickoff returns when they are trying to run one back. He made a great tackle last week when the guy broke loose. Carl is an outstanding guy with unbelievable speed.

"When they do break loose, we have confidence that Carl will be able to make the tackle."

On the freshman receivers being able to block: "[Manningham] can block. If you can't block you can't play. You learn how to play without the football first. Their first day on campus, the first day we were able to really start drilling with them, you don't catch footballs first, we work on blocking first and route running and things like that, not just catching the ball.

"You have to learn the basic fundamentals first, because they know how to catch the football. That is what they love to do."

On whether the defense is angry when the offense doesn't execute well: "No. We are one big team. We are one family. We are all together. When one side is struggling, the other side will support us. We are all together, we keep fighting every day and those guys are doing a great job on both sides of the ball supporting each other."

On LaTerryal Savoy: "He is coming along well right now. He hasn't played yet this season and if he doesn't play he will redshirt but he is developing. He is getting stronger, faster, and is learning the system. He is going to be fun to watch next year.

"He is a bit different. He is 6'3, with that Braylon [Edwards] type height and is about 210 pounds, 215 so he is going to add a little bit of different type of spice. He is a wide receiver all the way."

On Adrian Arrington: "He is rehabbing, getting ready to go, and so when the doctors release him we will find that out when the time comes. We don't worry about that right now."

On not playing Penn State the last two years: "We have had a chance to study them and they have played other Big Ten teams this season so this is the year we have to get ready for them. They are not an unfamiliar opponent -- we have played them in the past and even though we have had a two-year break from them, we know Penn State history. They will come in here ready to go."

On practice this past week: "We have had great practices. Guys have been focused and ready to roll. They are working hard like they have been all season. We are prepared for Saturday and we are going to have a great game."