Everything Jim Harbaugh told the media after Michigan's win over Nebraska
On the defense
They get a lot of attention inside our program. Really doing a great job. All the positions are playing really well. The linebackers, the interior defensive line are having a great season. Mazi and Kris Jenkins, Mason Graham. Just doing so good. The EDGE guys, just so many really good players doing a great job. They're really well-coached. Jesse and Mike Elston and Clink, what he's doing on the back end is really good and really special. The corners now, there's a great rotation with DJ and Mikey, Gemon and Will. The safeties, Rod Moore doing a tremendous job. Wish I had more Rod Moore's, that guy is a tackling machine. Gets them on the ground. Can't say enough really good things. How they're running to the ball, the team defense, it's been great. Keep 'er going.
On Donovan Edwards' status
No, I don't have an update right now.
On whether he's tempted to try different things on offense
I thought we did show some different things today. Got down to the red zone and J.J. scores on a quarterback sweep. Blake Corum was great on the block, it was a tremendous block by him. Got a wide-open Ronnie Bell, also, in the endzone. Blake Corum, another great game by him. I think he rushed for 140 yards but there wasn't a long one. There wasn't a 50-yarder today like there has been. Just really good, tough, running. It was important to them, so much hard work has gone into the team being undefeated. So many guys have done so much. Work so hard. Some guys have been banged up along the way. A lot of hard work has gone in and want to keep it going. It's important for them to keep this undefeated streak, this win streak, going.
On what went into the playcalling at the end of the half
I was beating myself up. They had 12 men on the field. I could've just taken the penalty and it would've been first and five, that would've been the way to do it. Blake had six more hard yards of running. I declined it so he had those six yards. Definitely did cost us one play because the clock had run and I should've called a timeout there. In the end, it did cost us one play.
On not using timeouts
When you're going for something on fourth down, you want the clock to run in case you don't get the first down. You don't want to give any time for the opponent to have a clock if you don't make the third down if you don't make the fourth down.
On the play action play for Blake Corum and his block
Been doing something different, right?
On getting a quarterback in rhythm with limited throwing opportunities
Yeah, I mean, that's valid.
On what the receivers can do to help J.J. with the deep balls
We were close, again, on a couple today. It was really pretty good coverage. Some of the deep balls we threw were well-covered.
On whether it's a tough line to keep running the ball compared to passing it
You balance it. When you're getting five yards a carry, six yards a carry. It gets tough to just say let's throw it. Put it on me. I'll take accountability that the pass stats weren't higher than they were. Be happy to be 10-0 and move on to Illinois.
On whether it has to change moving forward
We'll see. We're going to do what we think—when we're in game, gives us the best chance of winning the game. We've had these conversations before. You can go by air or you can go the ground. Today was the day we chose to go more on the ground. George Patton would be proud.
On whether he reflects on how far the program has come in two years
Just going 1-0. That's what we're trying to do each week. Really proud. Really proud of the team. The players are the ones that deserve the most credit. They work so darn hard and they're such a real tight-knit group. It's fun. It's a joyful, happy ride that we're on. It's not something—it's a mission but it's a happy mission. Not one that has any anxiety or any anger or any kind of fear to it. Just a happy ride.
On Gemon Green
Good, really good. Watched him closely on quite a few of the downs. Was really happy to see him back out there, happy to see him playing well again. Picked up right where he left off after missing the last game with a concussion. It was good. All those corners right now, it's good. There's depth. Whether DJ's out there, Will's out there, Gemon's out there, Mikey's out there. They're all playing really good as a group on the back-end as well as the safeties.
On Mason Graham
Really from day one, he came in probably somebody that—he just went to work right away. Showed up in the first couple of practices and then, OK, that's in shorts but lets see what it looks like in pads. Right away in pads, he was really good. Just a heckuva player at a position where you really need defensive tackles. Having him and Kenneth Grant come in the same class, those are the two guys that I was referring to back in the summer that were gifts from the football gods. They're continuing to play really good. Really bodes well for our team to have both of those two freshmen as good as they and they're freshmen. It's awesome.