Everything Jim Harbaugh said after Michigan's win over Rutgers
On the second half adjustments
Our defense was really good in the first half. Got hit on some deep balls and a matter of getting better and seeing the ball in the air. Throw a deep ball, let's get our eyes on it and have some fun and pick it off. Coach Clink is coaching that. Will did a great job, Mike Barrett, what a game he had. Tremendous place, the right place at the right time. The one he got, got his eyes back and saw the ball come out of the quarterback's hand. A really good thing for our team to set things up with field position. Haven't had that a lot this year. The best interception was the pick-six by Mike. Outstanding job by Will. Took tremendous team defense. Nine drives in the second half, they defended nine drives and only gave up one first down. Pretty special. To score the three touchdowns in a minute and 20 seconds. Heckuva job. Great job. Good team effort all the way around. They got us on the punt block, was a very well-executed scheme by them. It's good. Better start than the last time we were here, I remember that. Two years ago, we were down 17-0. Team didn't flinch. Heckuva game. J.J. McCarthy, he just does not get rattled at all. He was getting hit, missed a deep ball by a couple of inches. Hitting those in practice and we're really close on them in the games. Looked up after the game and saw he threw for 151 yards, it felt like 300 to me because of the plays he was making. Standing in there and making some incredible throws. Had touchdown throws and had a few drops. He was getting hit, too. Standing in there with a lot of courage. I watch him series-by-series, the kid is like Bjorn Borg out there. The Ice Man. Not exactly, you don't have to be. He's got a lot of emotion. There's a real quality about him. Doesn't matter if he's at home, doesn't matter if he's on the road. Cheering his name, booing him and hitting him. Ahead, behind, that 'it' factor is there with J.J. McCarthy. Another great game by Blake Corum, another 100-yard game against a really good team, a really good tackling team. So impressed. Always been a great admirer of Coach Schiano. You could tell as a team it tackles and practices tackling. They tackle in the spring and they tackle in the fall. I bet they tackle during game weeks. Just really well-coached. One of the best third-down teams we've played against. Best punting outfit in the history of college football, I don't think they've given up any yards with their punt game. Really good, really proud of our guys. They had momentum, definitely, Rutgers had momentum coming off the field in the first half. Our guys were real quiet at halftime. Get their minds right and go out there in the second half and our guys didn't flinch. Fun to be apart of.
On Jeff Persi
I thought Jeff Persi had a heckuva game. I have to watch all of the tape but I was watching him a lot. Down-by-down, I thought he had a heckuva game. Just love to see the guys that get their first start and see where they go from there. They take off. Same with Gio El-Hadi. Love those two guys so much, they're great team players. Get their opportunity and they play really well. I thought it was outstanding. Really tough. Schoonmaker had a tough ballgame by him. Donovan Edwards, he's such a homerun hitter. Good to see him have a heckuva game. Defense though, you go back to that. The run wall was there, the pressure was there. The DBs are starting to see the ball. See that ball come out of the quarterback's hands. You get a taste for that, it's fun, you know? See the ball come out of their hands and see the receiver catch it, even though you have good coverage. A lot more fun to turn around and get your eyes on the ball and intercept it. Hopefully our guys continue to get the feel for that. Great win. Really excited about this one. Best win we'll have all week.
On talking to J.J. McCarthy after overthrowing Andrel Anthony
That's what I was talking to him about was the ball flight. When a guy is wide open, it's good to put the ball right on him. I thought that he was wide open and he felt like the throw he made was right on, I talked to him about putting a little bit more air on it. He's gotta see it and he's got to make that decision. Don't want to make him the victim of overcoaching.
On whether he saw the adjustment McCarthy made on the ball
Talk to J.J. about that I guess. Little subtle things. Good. He had a heckuva good night. There's a ton of guys that get shaken or get rattled. Start melting like butter in a toaster when things get real tight. Not him. He always wants more. Something goes wrong, it just motivates him. Come back the next play. There's an 'it' factor about him, whatever that is.
On the receivers that don't see much playing time
Roman was out this week. Should be back next week. Hayes was out this, should be back next week. Makari was out. We had a few guys—Jaylen Harrell. Working through some things. Some other guys stepped up. Tyler Morris, I thought he had a great catch on a contested ball right at the first down marker. Got hit as he made the catch. Great to see him make the play. That was a big play at the time, too. Persi we talked about. The edge rushers, down some starters and the next guy stepping up. Persi, heckuva job by him. Will in his first start, I thought he did a tremendous job. Probably the oldest saying in football but next man up. Thought the guys acquitted themselves great. Mike Morris, again, wow. Continues to be a guy that you can count on... Everybody together. One of those things that pulls your team tighter together. No pointing fingers at the offense, no pointing fingers at special team or pointing fingers at the defense.
On the red zone success
Felt great. Felt good to make that improve. Felt great to get turnovers, get the interceptions. Doing it in some ways that we haven't before. Feel great. A great team win.
On the red zone offense in the first half
I was happy to get it in. Happy to do it by any means necessary. Felt like that was the best way to get it in. Use all four downs if we had to.