On the defensive performance
Yeah, I thought they did an unbelievable job in the second half. The fight, the effort. You know, it was, I think they allowed 56 yards And just in the game, you know, that offense is averaging 40-something points a game to hold them at 20. It was huge. So, I thought they played really well in the second half. Really, really well in the second half. Not our style of ball int he first half but there's some things we got to plan out, but second half, it was good to see.
On the offensive struggles in the redzone
Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, we got to go execute. We just, we didn't execute at a high level. There were some twists, some movements, some zone runs that we didn't pick up. And it was one guy here, one guy there, but that was the story. When you look back at the iPad and look at the things, that's what it was. And we got to be better.
On what did he see on Indiana's defense
Yeah, I think it starts up front. They got a big front. They got guys that can hold the point really well and they move. It wasn't as much as the pressures where it was the movement of the front that they did a really good job in I thought we were getting a rhythm in the throw game, but had to get one in the run game. We never did. So, that ended up being the story of the game
On the Alex Orji challenge
You know, gotten the word buzzing down that possibly the knee would have been down. So, I wanted to challenge it again, fight for my kids. So, that's what that was.
On time coming off the clock on Indiana's last drive
Yeah, just talking about conversations of what the play call was going to be, what we were going to do. That's where that all came from.
On Kalel Mullings getting more carries in the second half compared to the first
Yeah, I just thought Donovan was practicing a little bit better. Then we just, we've got two good backs, so we rotated him in and ended up putting Kalel in the second half.
On the pass protection breakdowns
Yeah, I mean, really it starts with they got a pretty good pass rusher, number six, who's, I think, leading the league in pressures and sacks. So, he just did a good job winning his one-on-one matchups. It wasn't blitzes or scheme. It was just really one-on-one matchups that guys were getting deep.
On Ben Hall getting more carries than Mullings in the first half
Yeah, he practiced well, too. We just wanted to get Ben some carries. Throughout the whole year, he's been doing a really good job. I thought it was time for him to get some work as well.
On whether guys being hurt and not playing together is a reason for not picking up twists and stunts
Yeah, I think it's a little bit of both. I think it's guys, you know, getting a rhythm and playing together. But, you know, at the end of the day, we've just got to be better at doing that. We've got to be staying together. We've got to play as one more. And that's something I'll dig into, and we'll get fixed.
On why there hasn't been execution this far into the season
Yeah, we're just going to keep working on it. We'll watch the film and continue evaluating. Just proud of the way our guys fought. In a game like that, you can easily lay down, and our guys went to the last second to go fight. So I'm proud of the team and proud of what they did.
On where he's seen Davis Warren improved
Yeah, I mean, first, just taking care of the football, no picks. He did a good job of that. But also, there's, you know, when he's got the pressure in his face, he's got to move around. That's when the off-target throws are happening, and some of those misses are happening. So you're not allowed to get your feet in balance when those things are happening. So, you know, he's going to keep harping on himself, and people are going to beat him up. But I'm going to have his back and just continue to lift him up and make sure he knows he's doing as much as he can. And we've got to continue to help him around him.
On what he's seen from Alex Orji
Yeah, I mean, he had a good third down run in the second half, which was huge. It made it, you know, got us down on a long drive. So that was good, but obviously can't fumble the football.
On whether the expectations were too high heading into the season
I think every year we're going to expect the same standard. And our job is to go try to meet it. We're Michigan, and we're going to continue to fight. We're going to continue to grind to get better. So, yeah, the lost column is what it is right now. And nobody likes it. Nobody likes it more than we hate it. The kids don't like it. The coaches don't like it. And we work as much as anything. So those guys are hurting more than anybody in the world. So our job as coaches is to continue to lift them up and continue their spirits and make sure they're in the right place, and same thing with the coaches.
On whether he feels the team should be closer to the standard considering some close losses
No, I feel like we're going to strive to be great in whatever we do. We're not going to lower our standard. You know, we're not where we want to be, but we're not going to lower our standard. We're going to continue to fight.
On whether being bowl eligible will be a motivating factor in the next few weeks
Yeah, 100%. You know, you guys want to go play another game, another opportunity to play football together, put on the helmet, put on the jersey. That'll be a motivating factor for sure. But the motivating factor, number one, is to go win. So that's what we're going to try to do.
On Gio El-Hadi's injury and whether there was drop off because of the injury
I mean, Gio's a really good player, so I think whenever you lose one of your starters, it's going to affect you at some point. But I thought Dom Giudice went in there, played fast, played physical. So we'll continue to evaluate him and see if we can get him back.
On what went into giving Ben Hall carries early, did Hall out practice Mullings?
Yeah, a little bit of both. Ben was practicing really well, and it was time for an opportunity for Ben to get some carries. And so it felt like that was the best decision we needed to do.
On going for the field goal late near the goal line
Yeah. I mean, really it was the momentum of, you know, moving to football. And we knew that we wanted to get points with us later in the game, so we had time to go back down there and try to score. So that was the main factor.
On Zeke Berry and the DL performance
Zeke, just a huge play, huge pick, game changer, momentum changer, all the things you want to say. And for that guy to do what he's been doing to play corner, to play nickel, and play the way he's playing is really awesome to see, especially he had some struggles early in the year, but he's really gotten better and better. TJ Guy, continues to strive to get better. His passion, the way he plays. Cam Brandt, the same thing. Two guys that haven't played as much and are really standing out. And just overall, D-line, I thought really well. We've got to continue to get better. We will. But I thought those guys played hard and physical.
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