Everything Jim Harbaugh said after Michigan's win over Indiana
On J.J. McCarthy
You know how I feel, it's great that everybody else seeing it the same way, one of those once-in-a-generation type of quarterbacks at Michigan. He continues to improve, too. So locked in at all times. Like all the guys, like really everybody on our team, they play for each other. He certainly does. He's willing to do anything for anybody on the team. It's perfect we've got a quarterback like that. Some people ask me fourth and two, tied ballgame on the two-yard line, what goes into that decision? I know the ball is going to be in number nine's hands, or it could be in No. 2's hands, or it could be in Colston's hands or in Roman's hands. Mainly, I know, No. 9 is going to make a play. Just have great confidence that the odds are in our favor. Tremendous job by him responding. The entire team. I think at one point, they had 139 yards to our minus 8. We respond with a touchdown drive. Tremendous. The other thing that really hit me during this game because there's so many players to talk about. So many great performances by every position group, by every player that was out there. You see the development, you see the plays they're making. Then, the next wave of young guys, you see them coming up. It's time to give credit to the assistant coaches. An amazing group of coaches, every single one of them. Well-document with what Mike Elston has done with the defensive line, just been a great coach. You see him developing young freshmen. Chris Partridge, our linebackers have made a huge step, a huge jump this year in the way they're being coached and trained. Been phenomenal. Ron Bellamy, they're not only top-tier receivers, but the young ones, Semaj Morgan, had a chance to develop him in high school. That was a great play by Semaj. Fredrick Moore, not only that, he'll be an elite punt return blocker, which he was today. Special teams, thought their contribution was tremendous today. That was one of the best returners in the country that we were up against and our coverage units were tremendous. We were confident that we were going to get a big punt return, that happened. We had tremendous blocking. Well-coordinated. Jay Harbaugh does a tremendous job with the special teams. Coach Clink, our secondary has never been better. The tight coverage, the PBUs and interceptions, see them coming in droves. Two interceptions today, two fumble recoveries, tremendous. Kirk Campbell doing a tremendous job coaching the quarterbacks. J.J., already a great player but he's got him so locked in game-to-game. Coaching is so upper-tier, elite. Doing the same with Jack Tuttle, Jayden Denegal, Alex Orji and Davis Warren. Tremendous. Mike Hart, what can you say really? Here comes another young back in the game, he's got him ready to go and he was our leading rusher on 9 carries, 58 yards. Ben Hall. The leg drive, the strength, just does a great job. Grant Newsome, pretty well-documented, his players are all playing really well. He's in the box and he is diagnosing defenses like somebody that has been coaching for 20 years. It's that good. It's better than anybody that's up there. Telling us exactly where the shades are aligned, what we should be running, what's going to happen. He's giving coverages and fronts and it's as good as I've ever seen it from a coaching position from the press box during a gameday. The coordinators, it's well-documented. Take a pause, it's 10 straight games for Michigan football, a new record, over 31 points. You can start talking about the history of Michigan football, statistics like that. We all know how great Sherrone Moore is and how he coaches the offensive line. Where it all starts for us on offense. Jesse Minter, it was 139 yards after the three drives but I think they only had 100 after that and a shutout. We're really lucky, we're really blessed and I hope everybody appreciates it as much as our players do and I do. It's master class that what our coaches are doing. Really good. Did I get them all? They're all doing great.
On ball destruction drills and how much time Jay Harbaugh has put into it
The entire defensive staff, Jay's coaching the safeties. Just so thrilled with Keon Sabb's development. Way to have his eyes back on that play. Yeah, he gave up one earlier but he is a real force now. His second year, it's just so exciting seeing the younger players just being developed, popping and knowing the game. You know what it's going to be like as things progress and they know what it's going to be like. Once you do it, you know what you can expect as a coach and you can hold them to that level. The confidence that a player has once he's done it. The game slows down and you start to do some dazzling things like you see our guys end up doing. Special teams, we're so lucky with the job that Jay has done. He's a brilliant, brilliant coach. All the drills, you're right, all the drills we do on special teams, they translate over to offense, they translate over to defense. Devote a lot of time to it but so much good gets done in those drills, those sessions, those hours we put towards special teams.
On whether his program has ever been rolling at this level before
There's no doubt, I said earlier, these guys play for each other. So many third-year and above, third, fourth, fifth-year players that are on the team, veteran team. All the new players, the one-year players, the guys who've transferred in, they love it. So have our young players, they see it. That's the vibe I pick up. Guys are playing for each other. They prepare for each other, they fight for each other and they go out there and win for each other. Work together, you win together as Katie Harbaugh came up with a quote to put on my quote board. Work together, win together, is my new favorite quote on my quote board.
On the olive jar analogy
When things are stuck, you haven't gotten something in a while. Sometimes I use that analogy with turnovers on defense. You're close, you just can't seem to get it. The olive jar analogy is the olives are packed in so tight, they got the big screw in top, it's wide and you turn the olive jar over, nothing would come out because they're packed in so tight. If you can get just get one, one to get to shake loose, then they all just started plopping out. That's what I said to Dono. Hey, now you're in.
On whether the touchdown was a weight off Donovan Edwards' shoulders
Dono is a great back, so is Blake. It just kind of happens that way. Jack Tuttle getting a touchdown pass, you saw us get an interception and turnover. They weren't coming easy, that was something we were really working at. I think there's something to it. Once you get one, the other ones start to come.
On improvements in Colston Loveland and A.J. Barner's game
They're already really good, right? A.J., Colston Loveland, a freak of an athlete. He's a once-in-a-generation type guy too at the tight end position. A.J. Barner, he was already a really great blocker and now he's elite, I think he's the best in the country blocking from the tight end position. Grant is a great coach. There's something special about the way he's diagnosing things from the sidelines or from the press box. It's well-documented what I think of him and where he's going, it's all the way to the top in his profession. Just wanted to point that out. I've never seen anybody who is better pre-snap diagnosing defensive fronts and coverages, and blitzes. All of them.
On giving up a season-high in sacks
The first one, they brought more than we could block and we were in an empty backfield, we only went empty one other time after that. They caught us, they had a better defense out that we had play called. They have good players, too, and they beat us a couple of times. One time they beat us and it ended up being a touchdown pass because J.J. got out of the pocket. I'd say it's probably kind of like the price of doing business sometimes. They're going to make a play, they're going to have a better play called. To think you could go game after game after game without a sack, game after game after game after game without a turnover, it's very comparable to when we were comparing J.J. McCarthy to his incompletions to—what was it? He had more touchdowns than he had incompletions. Things like that don't continue to happen. Cost of doing business.
On Edwards waving off the substitution
He was rolling, he wanted to stay in and I wanted Blake, Blake's a really good goal-line runner, short-yardage runner. I think Blake is the guy I wanted in that situation. I understand the competitive nature of The Don and he helps us in so many ways. That was his competitive, fiery nature, he wanted to finish it off.
On what it means about the program where he's leaving no doubt against teams
What I knew about Indiana, we had talked about this as a team, they're fighters. They take their swings every year we play them, they are so well-prepared and ready to roll. This was no different. We're fighters, too. I guess that's what this says about the team. There was a real calm, a real understanding that, OK, we get punched in the mouth, we're going to respond. That's what is going to happen. Everyone has that kind of faith and the leadership of our team, character of our team. There's a devotion to the fundamentals of Michigan football. Just go to work and respond. That's the best strategy that you can do, that's what we lean back on.
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