On the evaluation of Jack Tuttle's play and his chemistry with Colston Loveland
Just overall, offensively, it was not good enough at all. Disappointing in a lot of areas. Jack can't turn the ball over. We gotta get the guys that, when they're open, we gotta complete those passes. Just gotta be better. And I thought Colston played well. He made some plays. I thought Kalel played well, ran hard, but you have three turnovers in a Big Ten game. It doesn't matter who you're playing. You're not gonna win, so you just have to be better on offense. Aaron, you showed me the offense.
On whether there is a quick fix or this will take time
I think we just have to reevaluate and see and look. You know, we had a bye week. I feel disappointed in myself as the head coach that we didn't come out and execute at a better level. There's too many bits and pieces. Not enough consistency. So, you know, I have to look at myself, too. So there's no finger-pointing. I'm gonna reevaluate myself and see what I need to do to be better for them, for the players, and coaches as well.
On whether the QB competition will be ongoing
Yeah, I mean, you can't turn the ball over. So, you know, you don't wanna go to four quarterbacks. You don't wanna have to go through this process. But you got a guy that's — you gotta take care of the football. So we're gonna see what we gotta do, and we'll have that conversation as we go.
On having high expectations and thinking things should be better than it is
Yeah, I mean, I have extreme high expectations for the program. Going on year seven, I've seen where we've been, what we've done, and this is not indicative of who we are and what we should be. And it's my job to fix it, and we will.
On what the path for this team is moving forward
Yeah, we know we gotta go win next week. We should be motivated enough. You got an in-state rival, got Michigan State on deck. But we gotta get better ourselves. We gotta do everything we can from when we get on the plane to when we land to get better. And again, not finger-pointing, we can't, but we gotta keep each other accountable, and we will.
On whether he feels that Kalel Mullings got enough touches early in the game
Yeah, I think you can always get him some more touches. And, you know, he had 19 carries. I thought Donovan in the last game played really well and ran the ball well, so going back and forth, and then he had to fumble. So we tried to get Kalel back in the rhythm and probably do a better job doing that. But I thought he ended up having 19 carries. He usually averages around 25. So could have been a little bit early, but we also wanted to take some shots early. And we gotta connect on those.
On the QB competition moving forward
Yeah, we'll just see. We'll see how the week goes. Guys gotta, we just gotta take care of the football. So we'll figure that out when we get back to Ann Arbor.
On Kirk Campbell being on the sidelines
No, that was a change. We had him on the sideline and thought it'd give some juice to the offense and get those guys going. Obviously, we didn't execute at a high level. I thought we had some scheme plays that were good, but it's not about scheme. We gotta go execute.
On his thoughts and feelings on where things are
Yeah, I mean, my job right now is to figure out every single way that this team can get better. And not worry about emotions or thoughts, but making sure that the players in that locker room get better tomorrow, get better the next day, that we can go win this next game. So that's really all I'm focused on right now.
On making sure players stay focused right now
Yeah, I think our guys are very focused on the team. And the message I have for them and all the leaders in that room all indicated that when you put on that helmet, when you put on that jersey, there's a sense of pride. So we're not going to go out to practice or be around the building and wear the block in and not have a sense of pride and go play with that pride. So if those guys are in the locker room, they're going to be playing with that pride. And all of them are.
On whether the team has a grit issue
No, I don't think it's a grit. It's an execution thing. It's not that these guys aren't tough or gritty. We've just got to execute the little things. We've got to make the completions. We've got to find the proper hat placement to do the little things and not turn the ball over. If you don't turn the ball over, you win the game. But we can't live in the what-if world. So for us, we just have to go execute and possess the football.
On Will Johnson coming out of the game
Just something he's been working through, and no comment for you on that. Clayton?
On what happened during the fake punt
Yeah, I mean, you look at the defense, I think it was a three-and-out to start that. We went three-and-out, they went three-and-out, and then that happened. So it was a huge momentum shift. I think they got a point off of the fumble. They got a touchdown off the fumble. They got a touchdown off of that because our defense was playing really well and they averaged, I think, plus 45 with a 45-yard line field position. So that was a good call by them. And, again, I've got to do a better job there knowing the situation.
On whether he felt he couldn't run the ball effectively as the game got away from them
Yeah, I mean, the drive where we threw the pick at the end, I thought we were moving it pretty well and just forced it. Because you go down there and we really ran the ball well, but when you went down two scores, then you had to throw it and put yourself in the throwing position. And, you know, it just wasn't what it meant to be.
On whether he believes that there will be a change from Tommy Doman at punter
No, not at all.
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