On closing the game out

That's a good football team we just faced so we knew that going in and we knew it was going to be a fight regardless. We got up and did not let the kids up and they just fought back. They did a really good job but I thought our guys responded well at the right time, the defense stepped up in key situations and the offense did what it needed to do to help us win that game.

On whether he sensed the impact this week had on the players

I don't think there was that effect. It's always in your mind, human nature and things like that. I thought they did a really good job of staying poised and keeping the main thing, the main thing, as we like to say.

On LaDarius Henderson

LD was working through something, he'll be back next week. Myles got a little knee, ended up no structural damage or anything. Nothing crazy. Trente and Karsen, we knew, and I talked about this at the beginning of the year, it's going to take 10 o-linemen to win this whole thing and do what we want to do. Everybody is prepared, Trente went in and did a really good job. There was no budget on who would go in, he's a starting-caliber player so had full faith in him when he went in there.

On the unsportsmanlike penalty

I didn't see exactly what happened, it was a lot of body. I just know that guy pushed him or did something, he fell. After that, I'm not sure what happened so happy that we got it.

On navigating the stretch without Roman Wilson and his health status

Obviously, was out, not sure the exact knowledge of what it is but the trainers ruled him out at that time which was the responsible thing for us to do as a staff. They're always on top of that stuff especially when it has anything to do with the head. He was fine and he was on the sideline with us afterwards. Other guys gotta step up, next man up. That's how it is with Big Ten football. It's physical, things like that happen. Those other guys stepped up and did a good job.

On lessons he takes away from this game compared to last week

The same thing about trusting the process. Mentally preparing for everything. We have great support from everybody offensively and defensively. Jesse does an excellent job with defense, I don't have to worry about what's going on with the defense or special teams with Jay. It helps me maneuver the offense and do things like that. Just extra focus on everything and situationally worry about everything that's going on.

On J.J. McCarthy

I thought he did a good, obviously, the pick. He hadn't thrown a pick since Bowling Green so everybody is hard on him but he's played almost perfect to this point of not throwing a pick. Those things happen when you're playing really good teams. The guy busts down the coverage, saw it and, other than that, he had a chance at the touchdown with the last one to CJ. We just got to continue to make plays and create things to get guys open and I will continue to do that.

On whether McCarthy is health

Yep, he's all good.

On the fourth down decisions

Just field position, where we were. The kick line, we're always very conscious of where the kick line is, where we can kick it. If you punt it, are you gonna be in the endzone and the yardage exchange for us. It would be better for us to go for it, the guys executed in those situations and it ended up paying off.

On the defense

Those guys are the best in the country. We play them every week. Everybody talks about them every week. There's really no question to us who is the best defense in the country. They create turnovers, they create havoc every week. I'm just happy we have them on our team. Obviously, extremely vital against an offense that is explosive.

On the Tommy Doman punt at the two-yard line

It's huge. It's huge for momentum, it's huge for field position and when you have a defense like that, you've gotta drive it 98 yards, it's going to take a long time, it's going to take a lot of thought and execution. For our defense, they just feast off that. Excited for that, Tommy has been doing a great job all year, he's doing a heckuva job all year. Coach Jay does a spectacular job with special teams. Wasn't surprised with the field position, happy it happened.

On how much is he talking to J.J. during the game

I talk to him but Kirk does a great job with him. We all bounce back ideas constantly with each other. It's not just Kirk, it's Grant, it's Mike, it's Ron. All of us together, cohesively making decisions together is huge. We'll continue to that. Trust those guys with everything. They do an unbelievable job with their positions and that gives me the freedom to coach the o-line and call the plays.

On how big the two INTs were

Huge. Mikey is a great player, we all know the story on Mike. Seems like he's been here for such a long time. It's just really cool to watch him play at that level. He's playing at an elite level and happy he's on our team.

On getting into a routine without Jim Harbaugh on game days

Nothing different than what we did last week. Routine that we don't really like but something we have to deal with on game day. During the week, it's like normal. I just try to operate at a high level without him.

On whether the wind impacted how he called plays

Definitely. Definitely had a conscious view of which way the wind was blowing and when you could do what. Was definitely smart with that for sure.

On the scene on the field after the 1,000th win

First, we need to edit coach in there. With all the technology in the world today, we need to get that done. So we can do that. It's historic to be part of this university, this place, this team. Cool just to be part of it. Again, ecstatic to get that 1,000th win but they all knew exactly what time it was right after that, they all know what's ahead. Excited for that challenge.

On how much he's looked for the Ohio State game now that he's acting head coach

I mean, the only thing that hit me is that my mom is coming in next week. She's probably going to yell at me for cussing again. Besides that, no, it hasn't. Just trying to take it a step at a time. My daughter's birthday today. She's here and when I go home, I'm going to celebrate with her. That's the thing I'm thinking about right now. We'll prepare our tails off for that game starting tomorrow bright and early. Probably won't sleep a lot, which is alright, kind of what we do anyway. It has not really hit me and it probably will the week of.

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