On what he saw from the Indiana film

It was a tremendous performance by our defense. The amount of pressure, the amount of sacks. The turnovers, two fumbles recovered, two interceptions, that was tremendous. Really good play our defense. The two linebackers, Mike Barrett, Junior Colson, are just playing out of sight. Secondary, Josh Wallace, that's how a corner, the physicality of the corner should have. Two TFLs in the game, really good coverage on the backend. Some corners are just really into cover and being a lockdown corner, if they're not going to be physical and tackle, it's basically having nine defenders out there trying to get somebody on the ground. He plays very physical. So many other good plays. Special teams, wasn't Tommy's best game but he was very effective. The hangtime was where we wanted it and had some kicks into the wind but it was great to see us cover kicks. Our guys were flying around on the kicks. We're knocking guys down, we're getting knocked down, leveraging the ball, things to improve but it was really good to see our kickoff coverage tested that way. I loved the big punt return, great blocking on that. We're really getting an identity when it comes to the cover teams and the return teams in special teams. Offense, started slow. Gave up some pressure, not on the players. The first one, that was really a coaching error. They gave us a look that they hadn't given all season. We got outplayed at times up front and we know it. It's going to have to be better if we're going to have the run game we need to have as we get into this week against a really stout run defense. Best third-down defense in all of football. The difference in the game, first half we had too many second and 10s, second and 9s, second and 8s that turned into third and 7s, third and 8s, third and 9s. Totally different in the second half. Now we're looking at second and one and second and two. Gotta play ahead of the sticks. As I said, Michigan State has got the best third down in all of college football. Gonna be important that our efficiency, especially in the run game and the pass game is keeping us ahead of the sticks.

On when did the offense flip

If I had to point to one play after the two points, sack, we had the big sack, as I mentioned we didn't have the right protection called as coaches. We didn't get the ball out our hands, held it too long. J.J. took another sack on the next series. A couple of the running plays we got split on double-teams where guys were trying to get out on the second level too fast, not staying on the hip and waiting for that linebacker to come to them. Second half, made the corrections. It was much better. Difference of two halves, really. If I had to point to one play, it was J.J.'s pass to Colston Loveland on the boundary there we picked up and third and eight on the third series. That got us going. Then we flipped the field after the quarter, we're down 7-0. Cornelius Johnson makes an incredible catch. Both of those throws were into really tight coverage. The one to CJ had to be thrown behind him because the safety was coming hard after his man blocked. He was covering Bredeson so he freed up the middle and it became essentially a robber, a whole player in their cover one. The throw he made to Colston, inches. Inches. I don't know the width of the football is but it only got in there by maybe a fraction of an inch. That got us going and the team never looked back after that. Even though in the first half we weren't getting the efficiency that we wanted on first down, we made some third downs and key fourth down at the goal line. J.J. to Roman Wilson, got up by seven and got another touchdown on a really good two-minute drive. Real good two-minute drive that left them no time on the clock. We were 21-7 at the half. Sum it up, it was a response. Guys making plays offensively. The playmakers, the guys who make the magic happen when it needs to happen. Blake and Dono both had really good games. The tight ends, as I said Colston. Max Bredeson had his best game, I thought. An elite-level blocker. A.J. Barner had a catch on the sideline, contorted his body. When you couldn't see the numbers and I looked at it on film the first time, nice play by Colston because it looked exactly like Colston. A.J. Barner, we've talked about the kind of elite blocker he is. The strain upfront was tremendous. Drake Nugent had one heckuva ballgame in pass protection and run blocking. So did Zak Zinter. His second-consecutive game where he is playing great. Keegan played good. LD played good. Barnhart played good. Each of them, LD had a play where he and Keegs got split on a double-team. Drake Nugen came off a gap block too soon. Karsen gave up a couple of edge pressures early. Kind of taking the turn that way. You sure can't argue about eight-straight drives and eight-straight scoring drives.

On J.J. McCarthy's flip pass to Donovan Edwards

It starts off, there's a free runner to his backside. That was the one where he got a brace and stepped up slightly and shrugged off that free hitter off the edge. Scrambling to his left and then made a play. Immediately, in my mind, I was like, woah, that was kind of similar to the one I did. He actually sent me a text, there was a meme going around I think on Twitter that he sent it to me. Sherrone sent me a text and a few other friends sent me that. It was pretty darn close. It sure was. It made me feel good. I remembered it but I don't think anybody else would remember it. I know Doug Karsch told me after the game, called it in the moment. Which is cool, you kind of think people forget stuff from almost 40 years ago. Very, very cool. The difference, I think, in the two plays, there was somebody right on J.J. when he made that flip. There really wasn't anybody around me when I did it. It was inches again. You talk about a game of inches, that ball was inches away from being batted down. J.J., his best quality as a playmaker, it really is. We've got total trust. I wasn't saying no, no, no. Not this time. Just really trust him. The odds are in our favor with the ball in J.J.'s hands. Knowing he's going to get the ball to Donovan or to Blake or to Colston or Roman or CJ. So many guys. A.J. Barner. So many guys available. He knows when to take it himself. It's really a good thing to watch. The chemistry, the cohesion, the offense is playing with.

On how he keeps his playmakers happy

It first struck me as unselfish. There's maybe four, five, six weeks back I made the comment that this may be the most unselfish team I've been around. I really think, by in large part a lot of factors, but what their parents have poured into them, number one on the list. If you know these parents and you know these families you know what they've poured into their kids. Work ethic, discipline and a humility. A real one. Now, it's to the point, I got it, these guys play for each other. Even more so, you could see it in so many ways. The guys in the press box and even guys on the field. When Jack Tuttle threw a touchdown pass, the whole bench erupts. Donovan gets the olive to come out of the olive jar and gets that touchdown. It's the whole bench, every single guy on the team is up and trying to run down the sidelines and being there. Just really cheering. Blake being the happiest guy of all the guys. It's a cool thing. They play for each other and that's the best kind of way. You can say any sports team, any sports organization, any business, I truly believe, would kill for the kind of culture and vibe that we have on our football team. It's very cool.

On whether he expects more touchdowns for Donovan Edwards this season

Yeah. Donovan, think of this, this hit me, too. I think the last time Donovan fumbled was maybe his freshman year. The third or fourth game. Last time Blake fumbled was when he got hurt against Illinois. These backs, their ball security, the way they lock up the ball, it's tremendous. There's a lot of carries in between those times. A lot of credit to Mike Hart. Nobody coaches ball security better. Nobody preaches it like Coach Hart does. You see it in the games. You see the backs taking the coaching and responding. It's quite a thing. They're helping in all the ways. Blake, Donovan, especially in the throw game. He's that viable receiver moving the chains, a checkdown to the back frustrates a defense. Big time. Blake, his running style, that low to the ground, hard running style is so effective. Really happy with the way the backs are playing. The new ones, Ben Hall, what about Ben Hall? Pretty good. We've still got Kalel Mullings, he'll be back soon. It's good. Our running game, challenging the offensive line a little bit, let's get back to the level where it's going to need to be for this week and especially those games in November.

On the legacy wall

You talk about family, we talk about family a lot. There it is right there. I got the idea for it, I wonder how many brothers have played here at Michigan. You start thinking about the Green brothers, the Glasgow brothers, gosh, father-son, Caden Kolesar, John Kolesar, John's father played here at Michigan. Father-sons who have coached here or father-sons who have both played here or coached. Dave Ablauf and I started doing the research on it, over 80 brothers have played through the history of Michigan football. Going back to the Hammerstein brothers, the Mallory brothers, the Speight brothers. There's just so many. Fielding Yost coached and his son played here. Fred Jackson, Jeremy Jackson. The Elliot's, a long string of Elliot's. Dave, Bump, Bruce. The Leone's, Mike and Tony. You could really go on and on. The Wistert's, three All-American brothers. That's why we don't have number 11 because those three brothers were all All-Americans. It's up there and it's huge, It's the biggest display we have in all of Schembechler Hall. The scaffolding is still up because it's so fresh. I think it's going to be something that really stands out. There's always some recruiting out there where there's a great Michigan player and his son turns out to be a really good player, too. I don't think it's going to hurt in that. You have a chance to have father and sons—how about the Hutchinson's? Chris Hutchinson, Aidan Hutchinson. The Brown's. I think those are the only two, the Hutchinson's and the Brown's that were both captains. It's a legacy. It's a family legacy. Right now, for people who have been in the building, it's a giant display right above the All-American pictures. That row that goes from inception to now. The legacy wall goes from inception of the program to now. We've got space for the next 15, 20, 25 years. The brothers are together. Lloyd Carr, Jason Carr. The Harbaugh's. Jack Harbaugh coached here, I played here, I coached here. My son Jay is coaching here, there's a three-generational deal. Probably not allowed to talk about this but there's going to be a player, a first one, I coached the dad and will coach the son coming up. That'll be a special first. Just so many good things up there.

On whether there's concerns about explosive plays being let up by the defense

Yeah, there's concern to get better. Definitely, our eyes, we lost a man there. It was a good strategy. The other team always has—there's an opposing will there. It's that versus yours. Though you love it to be perfect, it's not going to be. It wasn't just that play to start the game. Looked up at one point and saw 137 yards for Indiana and minus-eight total offense for Michigan. I think the thing that's really good, the positive you take from that, Coach Clink, when he talked to our team early, back week two or three, that message not to flinch. To rally and to not get flustered, not blink, not flinch. I see that in our team. It's not always going to go perfect but the way you respond. Just like somebody were to come up, boom, pop you right in the nose out of nowhere. What are you going to do? Are you going to slunk away or are you going to respond?

On what the Michigan State rivalry means to him

So much. It's a Big Ten game. It's a rivalry game. It's a trophy game. It's an in-state game. It's for the state championship. How much more can we pile on one game? That's what it means to us. All those things. You want to acquit yourself well, you want to play well. In our minds, this is an exciting week. A big week. We've got to put the puzzle together, again, different fronts up front. Different coverages, different blitzes. This is an aggressive, aggressive defense. Made a quarterback change, most impressive with the way the young quarterback played. Harlon Barnett has got them playing good football. We know they're a physcial team, they always are. They're going to give us everything they got. The cliche of throw out the records is never more true than this game. We gotta do what we do which is put the puzzle together, get prepared and practice it and go out and execute it to the best of our God-given ability.

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